nzsl - have you thought of travelling around by bus?

It sounds as though you'll need to be spending a great deal of time on transport; perhaps you can take the night services that will cover your accommodation cost as well as transport in the one hit.

Companies such as Eurolines (see www.eurolines.com) might be a viable alternative for you.

I would really question how well you would be able to get a feel for so many places in such a short time. It's not something I would ever contemplate, so I'll leave it for others to make concrete suggestions for you.

To me, it sounds like the people who plan travel to Australia from the other side of the world, then think they can see it all in 2 weeks!

Good luck with your plans, Di

Sorry - this is going to be an exercise in frustration. Moving every day (esp by bus which is interminable) will take up almost all of your time. You will have - at most a couple of hours for each city - so perhaps time to see one sight.

You will be spending your entire vacation - and a significant sum of money (esp in Switz and Scandinavia - which are all VERY expensive) and probably get very little in return.

So - while you may be able to get to 15 places in 15 days (but if there are strikes or some other problem not) there will be no point in it. Better just to get some videos.

If you tell us which countries ar must sees and provide a specific budge tin euros - people may be able to make recos.

Think this might be a troll - it is unusual for a NZer to have such limited English, and really, would anyone actually ask such a question?

Also bear in mind that the daughter's 14 days winter holidays will also need to allow for the best part of 2 days each way for flights and transfers at Auckland and Heathrow.

Perhaps connecting Express buses from capital to capital, with possible "drive-by" photos out the window is the best that could be hoped for on such a schedule?

Unless you take a tour ("If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium"), you cannot hope to visit even half that number of cities in 15 days. Or as bendigo observes, in about 10 days onace you account for travel from NZ.

So, choose your top 5 or 6 "must sees", look at tours to see if there is one that hits most of them and consider that you can cover the most territory in the least time with a tour of this sort even if you don't really see or do much of anything but ride a bus.

Good luck.

Did not notice the 14 days - agree that it will take 4 to get to and fro NZ - so the OP only has 10 days really - so at a huge rush see 6 or 7 places on drive throughs - or do 3 places and actually see something.

Hostels will be near stations.
27 no, you might get a fair hit at say 7.
August is the most expensive time to come on holiday to Europe as this is the peak period.
Some reservations are mandatory, others merely ensure you get a seat. look at seat61.com for advice
Sleeper trains might be of interest to save on a hostel and get you to the next place.

Since you don't mind which city and to keep the costs down I'd stay in the North of Europe and avoid capital cities so maybe

Heathrow to whichever London airport flies to Liepsig or Dresden airports, Train to say Pilzen then Nurembourg, Strasbourg, Reims, Gent, Amsterdam and fly back to Heathrow. I've not checked trains and there may be better cities to visit have a look at bahn.de for general europe train timetables. That gets you to Germany, Czech, France, Belgium, Holland and UK.

Obviously it's up to you what you do, but if you're on a budget then more time in fewer places will definitely be cheaper

) Is Euro rail the cheaper way to travel on Global pass for 15 days in Europe and cover as many as countries ( heard it takes us to 24 countries ) in our first trip?>

If you go at that pace a Global Eurailpass for 15-consecutive days is IMO a no-brainer - lets you just hop on any train anytime in those countries except in France you must have a seat reservation - usually 3 euros - and yes I have traveled many times like that - I prefer it but most do not and I'm sure many will tell you it is too rushed to see anything - but that's a personal opinion -

check out these fantastic sources IMO for planning a rail/railpass trip - www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com(download their free and superb IMO European Rail guide for lots of suggested itineraries - http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id2.html and www.seat61.com - good info on online discount individual tickets which however often have to be booked weeks in advance as they are sold in limited numbers and often cannot be changed nor refunded.
finally keep in mind that a Globaal Eurailpass is first class travel and for a family especially there are significant benefits in first class - in many ways a much more relaxed ride for the trip of a lifetime - so compare first class fares to the cost of a first class pass IMO!

I'm with bendigo - this can't be for real.

C) Anybody traveled Europe ( covering many cities/countries) in 15 days, if it is not possible to do all 24 countries in 15 days ?>

Well I once travelled on night trains from city to city for about a month but would not recommend it to the average traveler - that said you do not seem to be average so taking some night trains can help you cover ground - but all 24 countries - I think there are more now would be impossible unless you are trying to set a Guinness Record or something.

Troll alert.

I like your sense of humor!

Don't do 15 places in 15 days!!!!!! It will not be worth it to say the least. I did a trip with friends last winter and we took the train to London, Paris, Bordeaux, Berlin, and Amsterdam in 15 days and realize that I had been o those cities before. You always discover something new whenever you go. We tood the train and it was great and so much easier than flying. We spend 2-3 days in each city and you need it to really get a flavor. Trains are fast but you will be using time each day to travel. We had a great time, but if you are trying to do so many cities in 15 days you will need a holiday from your holiday. Europe is always there and you will have a much better time ad save a great deal of money if you take your time. Get a supersaver rail pass for 5 days of travel and don't get the Eurrail pass for 15 days. 2-3 day in a city and then travel to the next place will be just fine with a 5 day pass.Remember that you still need to pay for your seat reservation and some are not cheal even with a pass. Europe is to be enjoyed and savored. Your daughter will fall in love with Europe and let her take in a bit at a time as it is just packed full of treasures and it will serve as a baseline for future travel.

I think you should add Johannesburg to the trip-by burro.

don't do that! the only way that wouldn't be awful is if you picked only 1 country and went to 15 cities/towns in it...and even that seems a bit pointless. Pick a few spots and stay in them longer.

F) after buying Euro rail pass, it says 'reservations' attracts another fee ? >

In most countries you can still hop on any train anytime - but in France, Italy and Spain and on a few trains like the Thalys trains between Paris and Brussels and Amsterdam/Cologne you must pay for a seat reservation or supplement - usually this is just a few euros in France - always 10 euros in Italy and about the same I think in Spain but on the Thalys is a whopping $30-40 - the only train I know of with such a steep surcharge.

So for most folks the added fees will not be significant though making a seat reservation before boarding is a hassle - but in countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Blegium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Eastern Europe amongst others you can still hop on virtually any train anytime and the flexibility this provides to chose which trains to take as you go along to me and others is priceless.

this is a VERY ambitious plan!! good luck. i would LOVE to see this trip report. if you wanna save money though, skip going to Europe and just check out Busch Gardens in Williamsburg VA. You can see 5 European countries in 1 day

Rent a small plane and just fly over cities. I bet you could do 100 cities in one day.

Or do as my son once did when he and his gal went to Rome - I asked if they saw the Vatican, the Colosseum, Forum, etc - they said yes they saw postcards of those places in the train station bookstalls and that was it!

You folks are not really helping him with your snide suggestions...I think he should forget the trains and take his family by bike...much more interesting.

SS

I prefer train travel in the USA to tick the boxes - once managed New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia by 8.30 am one morning - and that was just by catching the early train out of NY City!

To get ticks on the "list", also worth counting countries you fly over on your way. Our recent trip from Australia "gave" us: Indonesia, Malaysia, India, UAE, Iraq, Turkey, and assorted bits of Europe before we even landed at Heathrow!


In the unlikely event that the OP is serious, it would be possible to land at Heathrow, overnight in London, Eurostar to Paris next morning, night train Paris to Rome (via Switzerland), afternoon train to Venice via Florence, overnight in Venice. that would be a fairly efficient use of about three days.
After that, perhaps head off to Germany? - but I need to defer to other for this.

What a lovely tour of bus and train stations you have planned, so next time you will actually visit the cities and see the sites?

I thought 15 days and 15 cities was ridiculus, but when you even mentioned doing 24 I fell off seat laughing.you are either pulling our legs,, or woefully poor at geography, I think you need some good maps,guide books too.

My standard refrain is 2 nights in any one city equal only one full day of visiting, and thats my bare minimum, in large cties like Rome, London and Paris I personally think bare minimin should be 3 nights.

You have too many places. Edit list. Dont care if you are going back and figure you can sightsee then, with 15 places in 15 days you STILL will be in no position to judge where to go back to...

OP has not returned with comments - OP are you there?

Please tell us you are serious - if you really want to do 24 countries in 15 days - then we'll take you seriously and respond accordingly.

I believe the OP is currently on a 200 city tour of Asia. With the poster who claimed to be a nomad and was planning her trip 3.5 years in advance.

Hello alls!

Thank you for the feed back, in particular PalenQ , Timetolivenow, biboburler and rest of the crew.

True enough, I admit that's not possible and would like spending possible at least 3-4 days in one city and narrow down our trip to cover limited affordable towns/countries in our frist trip to Europe (in April with my daughter 15 yr old for 2 x weeks ) possibly London / Paris / Amsterdam and if possible Hamburg (as we got a friend there too). Let us know your thougths suggestions to plan Pls.

And As our plan B in August, as we have been offered a house to stay in Strasbourg for 3 x weeks in August both my husband and I like spending there around the other bit of Europe perhaps few towns/cities sight seeing that we couldn't make before covered here. How do you think/suggest / a possible travel plan for us?

Many Thanks folks , your constructive criticisms are well taken!

NZ-SL

"You folks are not really helping him with your snide suggestions...I think he should forget the trains and take his family by bike...much more interesting."

Nah, bike would take too long. Broom with a saddle is the only way to go.

You might want to start a new thread for your new (and much more realistic) plan. I suspect your current caption will mean that many people who might have some very helpful input simply won't respond.

LSky: The OP has come back w/ much more reasonable questions/ideas.

nzsl: London / Paris / Amsterdam is totally doable in 2 week. Adding Hamburg leans towards the too much in too little time, but you could squeeze it in - Say 5 days in London, 5 days in Paris, 2 days in A'dam, and 2 days w/ your friend in Hamburg. But IMO just London, Paris and Amsterdam would be better.

As for your Plan B - that would be fine too. If you had a free place to stay for 3 weeks, you could take a few 2 day/1 night and 3 day/2 night excursions w/ just overnight bags.

thanks janis, I thought they were joking.