HK47

I'm considering the following itinerary in April or May next year. My lease ends April 23 so I would have to do either 30 days ending April 21-22 or 30 days starting April 24-25.

Paris - 5 Days
Barcelona - 5 Days
Florence - 4 Days
Milan/Lake Como - 3 Days
Budapest - 4 Days
Munich/Bavarian Alps - 3 Days
Berlin - 5 Days
Amsterdam - 3 Days

1. Is this itinerary a little aggressive? Should I cut one city like maybe Milan or Munich? Budapest is a little out of the way but sounds really nice.
2. What kind of price difference could I expect between April and May? I checked a random hotel in Paris and it was $130 in April vs. $170 in May. Is that representative? I had also read that May is the beginning of high season in Italy.
3. Will the hours for museums/attractions be significantly worse in April vs. May? Do lines start to get bad in May?
4. How bad is the weather, really? Paris forecast says <2 in of rain for April. Is this just a bunch of random drizzles but nothing that really keeps you inside for half the day?
5. Which city should I fly into/out of? I would be flying from Chicago, so was thinking flying into Paris flying out of Amsterdam.
6. Is this the kind of itinerary you get a Eurail pass for? It seems borderline and I suppose depends on how many day trips I want to do.
7. Is $8,000 (excluding airfare) a reasonable budget? It will be my girlfriend+me and we will aim to stay in boutique hotels/airbnb the whole time.

PS I'm aware that the list is 32 days and with transit times it will be more like 36 if I want to get full days.

JBord

Initial thoughts, I reserve the right to add more later!

First of all, I live in Chicago (I see you're flying out of there) and do 1-2 Europe trips every year, but I'm jealous you're going for a month!

1. I don't think it's aggressive. Some people will say you can't really get the feel for a place in only a few days. To me, that's fine. As long as I can have a great time and see and do the things that are important to me. My only suggestion is once you figure out your travel between each of these locations, it might make sense to cut one of them out. You'll spend quite a few half days of travel time with your itinerary, which will cut into some of your time in each location.

If you drop one, I'd suggest Milan. Sounds like you haven't been to Budapest, it's one of my favorite cities in Europe, and I think many people will agree. In my opinion, you could also cut a day from Berlin if you need it for travel time...and you may want an extra day in Munich.

2. May will be more expensive, but you're also likely to get much nicer weather, in my experience. Early May is sometimes cheaper than the second half.

3. I don't think you'll see much difference. For the best things, lines are always long. I stood outside the Van Gogh museum in below freezing December weather for over 30 minutes last year.

4. Bring collapsible umbrellas. I never go to Europe without one. The rain doesn't keep anyone inside. I've been in Paris in July and it rained heavily every day except one and never hit 70 F. You never know.

5. Paris and Amsterdam work if you do a loop, and both offer nonstop flights to Chicago. You could also go into Amsterdam and out of Budapest, Munich, or Berlin. Work your way down to Spain, then over to Italy, then finish up with Germany or Budapest. I'd probably first see what the best airfares are in and out of those different combos.

6. Probably. You might also consider some of the discount airlines for getting to Italy, Barcelona, and Budapest though, as they're a little removed from the rest of your stops.

7. Yes. Some of your destinations will be really affordable, you could stay in a really nice hotel in Budapest for under $200/night usually, for example. But others, especially Paris, will be pretty expensive. I would definitely be able to make $8000 work, but it depends on what level of comfort you want and what you want to do while you're there.

The only other suggestion I might make is to consider adding Vienna, unless you have a reason not to. It's about half way between Budapest and Munich so fits in your itinerary, and it's a really great city.

submonte

Difficult to say. It depends why you have chosen as above.

I would say:

Add Vienna (3 days) and Venice (2 days)
Reduce Budapest to 2
Reduce Berlin to 3

Go in May (weather!).

Budget seems to be low.

Ghentleman

Flying in/out of Budapest and Spain often has lower fares to/from US.
Transport between cities will take a big chuck out of your budget.
Definitely consider train options. Unfortunately most sleeper trains are being phased out but I love the experience. Not too expensive if you can share a first class double considering you save a night in a hotel. Paris-Milan-Venice still exists. Daytime high-speed trains can also be very cost and time-effective, considering you go from one city-center to another. Paris-München-Berlin-Amsterdam all very good in any direction/combination.
Budget is low if you want to stay in boutique hotels and eat out all the time.
May has higher chance of good weather than April.