Planning: Mapping It Out
I’m slightly geographically challenged. I have an excellent sense of direction (if I do say so myself), but when it comes to being able to place things on a map, well let’s just say it’s not exactly my forte.
That posed a bit of a problem when it came to figuring out my itinerary. I had a list of cities that I rattled off, but I couldn’t really tell you how far apart they are or where a good number of them are in relation to each other. I needed a map. A good one. Off to the book store I went, but to my surprise, price tags were upwards of $20. $20! For a map! No thanks. That’s why we have the internet. After a little poking around I found a decent, grammar school geography class map that was perfect for my needs (like I said, I’m a bit geographically challenged). I needed a way to “stick pins” in the map so I could see if any logical patterns would emerge that would help me to decide where to fly in and where to fly out. Using my trusty list, I marked down the cities on the map in 3 colors: definitely, hopefully, and possibly. (And yes, I realize those aren’t colors).
With all of the points laid out before my eyes, it finally hit me: holy crap there’s no way I’m going to cover all of this. Soon followed by: why the hell is Athens so far away?! And Stockholm?! Come on now, Europe, how about some better planning? I wanted to sleep on it before I started to eliminate any cities. Visions of Dijkstra’s danced through my head. At least it was a break from those photography nightmares I’ve been having.
The next day I decided that it would make the most sense to see where the Eurail could take me. Maybe that would help in my decisions? This Eurail route map is a godsend. Especially the mini map in the bottom right corner with estimated travel times. Fantastic. I printed it out and started to connect the dots, cross out some lines, connect again, rinse and repeat.
Enter reality check.
With rough underestimates of how much travel time is needed and how many days I would stay in each place, I would need at least 90 days to complete the map with all of the points I put on it. That’s 30 days more than I actually have. And since I don’t want this to be a complete whirlwind tour, I’m going to have to prune back a lot. That means going from 32 to…well less than 25 but likely less than 20.
The likely candidates will be the outliers: Lisbon, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Budapest are first on the chopping block. I’d also like to maximize my time in Spain and Italy because that’s where I’d like to go most.
The good news is that I’ve made progress. The bad news is that I still have a long way to go, but I’m not complaining. If I’m having this much fun planning, I can only imagine how much fun the actual trip is going to be!
Tags: eurail, Itinerary, map, transportation, travel
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Yeah, as much as I love Sweden, I’d probably recommend cutting it out. It’s outlying and pretty damn expensive. Also, maybe Greece. Again, this seems like sacrilege as I lived there for 18 months and love it to death, but it can be a nightmare in the height of summer, and would involve a lot of time. I’m assuming you’re getting a Eurail pass then? If you can get a cheap flight, sometimes the time saved is worth it. This site has been a godsend to me in the past, as it searches budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet (if you have a choice, always go for Easyjet over Ryanair, even if it costs you a bit extra!)… it’s also good for inspiration as you can plug in starting point and leave destination blank to see where you can go from there and for how much. http://www.skyscanner.net/
I’m a city girl, so personally I’d prioritize London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Berlin, and make sure you set aside enough time to do each one justice. Edinburgh is rather gorgeous and magical in a Harry Potter sort of way. Dublin is very expensive, and could be a bit of a pain to get to. If you want to see a bit more of classic England without sacrificing a lot of time, you can make easy day trips to either Cambridge or Oxford from London. Florence is also pretty amazing. Venice can be magical too, but also stinky in the summer.
And oh, be mindful of where you end up on Sundays! Lots of more traditional places completely close down, so you might want to make sure you’re either in a city or somewhere you’ll be able to also explore on Saturday or Monday, just in case. On my trip to Italy, we were in Venice on a Sunday in the off-season and EVERYTHING was closed except the churches and one bar. Seriously.
Thanks Stacey!! I’ll definitely check out skyscanner!!! And good to know about the Sunday thing. I probably wouldn’t have even thought of that!
Reading this makes me wonder if I should put Edinburgh back in my plan – I do love Harry Potter! it wouldn’t be too difficult to add it on right after London… hmm…
It’s awesome that you’ve been to so many of these places (and lived in Greece!!!) I’m quite jealous!!