I know I know. My Europe travelogue for last year’s trip has not been finished writing just yet. Ha ha. 
. I’m still stuck in Amsterdam while my last year’s travelogue to Italy still a long way to go. Well, you know, shooting photos in field is always more exciting than processing works in studio. While I’m still processing mountains of photo stocks for Europe travel last year, my itinerary for my next Summer field trip to Barcelona, Switzerland, Berlin, Copenhagen, Brussel and London has also been finalised. I named it my Europe Travel MkII.
To have a bit of memory refresh on my previous Europe travel Mk-I last year, I traveled to some cities in Central Europe (or you can call it as Western Europe). 7 cities that I briefly, yes, briefly traveled to were London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. I classified it as a photo taking trip as we did not really have enough time to explore those cities in the fullest. It was just a sightseeing cum photo taking trip in 14 days. We missed out exploration on the local culture and many other attractions. So for this Summer Holidays, I decided to travel in a slightly more relaxed pace and wish to travel more like a local.
For a couple of days longer this time, Jean and I will travel around less cities but longer period. Switzerland and Brussel are my original picks. Berlin is an alternative to my original pick of Munich. Copenhagen is somewhere that unexpected. Initially I have inlcuded Prague but the complicated and expensive transportation cost between east and west of Europe put me off. I’m going to miss Prague again! So my final itinerary is drawn up as below (London is a must since I love London so much and our round trip flight to Europe is arriving at and departing from London):
- 1st day: Arrive at London Stansted airport;
- Same day: Fly to Barcelona;
- 1st – 4th day: Barcelona;
- 5th Day: Fly to Basel, Switzerland;
- Same day: Take train to Lucerne;
- 6th Day: Take train to Interlaken;
- 6th – 7th Day: Interlaken;
- 8th Day: Take train to Basel and fly to Berlin;
- 8th-9th Day: Berlin;
- 10th Day: Fly to Copenhagen;
- 10th-11th Day: Copenhagen;
- 12th Day: Fly to Brussel;
- 12th-14th Day: Brussel;
- 15th Day: Take Eurostar to London;
- 15th-16th Day: London, and
- 17th Day: Fly home.
With some experience gained from last year’s trip, and adhered to my own travel tips on how to book cheap transportation and cheap accommodation, I had no problem to have booked all our accommodation and transportation in the trip. I managed to book hotel double bedrooms for the same price of B&B bunk beds! I was also able to book the cheapest Eurostar tickets and the cheapest flights from Ryanair and EasyJet. Based on our needs in time, cost and comfort, we had actually options to choose between flights and trains, which would not be possible if we book them last minutes!
After all, I have spent much lesser in accommodations and transportation than my last year’s trip to Europe but still able to stay better and travel faster! This is why I advocate early planning on your next vacation trips. I could then use those money saved for better foods and sightseeing, or even buy a Swiss Made watch for Jean!
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20 Comments to “My Summer Holidays and Europe Travel MkII Itinerary”
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Hey hey what month are you traveling to Europe?
I might be going next year (provided I get cheap AAX flights).
Thanks for sharing your itinerary
I will make this as my reference because my family is planning to visit Europe this year. Do you know what is the best time of the year to go to Europe?
@Jilianne,
I can’t say when would be the best time of year to visit Europe, since everyone has his own preference. I personally prefer to visit Europe in late Spring because I love cooler temperature, colourful flowers and beautiful sunlight for photography. Accommodation and transportation would be cheaper than in Summer and there would be comparatively less crowds. However, since you are from UK, you may prefer Summer when the sun is going to be hot…
@Che-Cheh,
Sorry for late reply! I’m traveling to Europe in May/June, or late Spring, early Summer.
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