is two weeks enough time to go....

[dudeman]

From london to paris to pamplona, barcelona, munich, amsterdam and up to edinburgh before leaving from london. Me and a friend or two are going to pamplona for the run and I need some info on what else is cool to see and do, I mean besides amsterdam. I will be checking out some Hemingway bars and sights fo sho. I wanted to check out some wwII sites in france and germany, maybe stonehenge too. So does all that sound doable in two weeks?

[lemlern]

That sounds intense! Are you flying from place to place? I am thinking you are going to be spending more time traveling and less time enjoying your trip! If I was you, I would definitely not get rid of Pamplona. I am kicking myself for not being able to go this year because of a stupid summer class I have to take. But maybe stick to the Western-most part of your trip and do germany and amsterdam another trip. I hear edinburgh is absolutely breathtaking and I am actually planning on spending my two free days there during my study-abroad in Ireland.

[simply_angelic]

^^ Agreed. You definitely will not have enough time. I had 2 months and I thought I would be able to do so much more than I did...it's just not feasible, with travels days and all things included. Europe will always be there. You can always go back.

[Slacker]

Nope, not NEARLY enough time. I could spent 3 months doing JUST THAT!

I'd do something like Barcelona, Amsterdam and then London and maybe edinburgh. Ended up staying almost 3 weeks in amsterdam lol. Great place. Make sure you stay at the Flying Pig Downtown, AWESOME place! #2 best place I have stayed in europe.

[raoulduke]

So what's the #1 Slacker?

And I'm afraid I'm gonna have to tow the line and agree with the other guys here, not nearly enough time.

[Esterina]

14 days... 7 destinations... travel time... = less than a day in every city !

You'll have plenty of time to travel some more next year, and the year after that...

[dudeman]

I didn't think it was, now the hard part. I got to pick out what to do. gracias por su attencion.

[Esterina]

Choosing is always a problem! I understand.

If you like to travel on a fast pace, in my sense take the two cities that are too far out of the itinerary and everything works out fine : Munich and Edinburg. Still a bit heavy as itinerary, but feasable.

If you'd rather take your time, I'd suggest you cut off kilometers. Your itinerary as it is, is covering quite some field for such a short time. Then you could do a few cities in two neighbouring countries (France/Spain or France/Germany for example). Less time wasted in traveltime. Changing places is so time consuming !

[lilchappy]

Getting into pamplona takes awhile. Are you planning on busing it in or train? I took a bus from Barcelona, and the schedules fill up quick. 6 hour trip during the night. Got there at 4 am to the largest party ever.

My advice would be to stay on the western side and cut out Germany (thats hard though). Pamplona, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam. If you want to go to germany, find a cheap flight from A-dam or something because getting to Germany from those places would be about a 6 hour train and waste about 1/2 day.

I will be there in July, Paris, A-dam, Brugge, and Berlin. Let me know when you get your dates set.

cya...lilchappy

[marc873]

Man if I were you, I would go London to Spain, up through France and into Amsterdam, maybe spend an afternoon in Brussels on the way. The flights from A Dam to London are easy and cheap. With 2 weeks you could hit these areas and head outta London and not be super rushed. The trick for you is gonna be to slow down and see where you are going

[dudeman]

How do you guys prefer to travel train, bus, or plane? I have always heard that flights over there are a lot cheaper than in the states. Yeah I got to include amsterdam.

[joe7f]

I'll second Marc's suggestion of spending just a day in Brussels. I found it to be a pretty industrial / bureaucratic city but definitely worth seeing if only for a day or two. You may want to consider night trains as a way of minimizing your "wasted" travel time (I personally find the train rides an integral part of my travel experience and a way to practice some of the language with locals or meet other backpackers)

How about

1-3 London
3-6 A'dam (someone may have to verify this, but I think the Eurostar goes to Amsterdam and Brussels in addition to Paris)

Day 6 is a beast... A'dam - Brussels - Paris

6-8 Paris (night train to Barcelona)
9-11 Barcelona
11-13 Pamplona and fly back to London (out of Madrid, Bilbao or Vitoria) on the 13th day/night.

Munich is a great city and I am sure Edinburgh is cool too but, as my dad frequently reminded me, you can't see everything.

Btw, one thing that surprised my father and sister when they went from London to Paris is how much the Chunnel train costs! It is certainly convenient but flights may well be cheaper (unfortunately it is usually expensive to get out to Stansted and in from wherever you fly such as Girona instead of Barcelona).

Get with your friends to decide which cities are must visits. Your beginning has to be well planned. The Pamplona stay has to be fairly firm. Everything else is probably more flexible.

Have fun!

--Joey

[marc873]

We took a Thalys train from Amsterdam through Brussels, to Paris. Its high speed too, so travel time shortens some. You HAVE to have a reservation on Thalys, not just a euro pass, by the way. We learned the hardway

[MissChick]

Originally Posted by raoulduke

So what's the #1 Slacker?

he's probably going to say the circus in berlin.....it was by far the cleanest place we stayed

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by MissChick

he's probably going to say the circus in berlin.....it was by far the cleanest place we stayed

She is right.

It was really clean, well to be more specific it was almost like a hotel, a nice hotel, but with roommates.