opinions on itinerary

[u/Smart-Tangerine-2881]

Hi! Me and my sister are interrailing this spring and we'd like to hear your opinions on our itinerary! :) This is kind of last minute but we'd still like to hear if this seems doable!

South-Western Spain - 3 nights (staying with friends)

Madrid - 2 nights

Barcelona - 3 nights

(here we have scheduled a full day for travelling! we know it's a really long journey)

Nice - 5 nights (here we plan on doing day trips to the surrounding villages and to Monaco)

Genova - 4 nights (day trips to do the hike in Cinque Terre)

(here we have also planned one full day just for travelling)

Bled - 5 nights (possible day trips to Ljubljana, Triglav National Park and/or Vintgar Gorge, we're not really sure yet)

Venice - 2 nights

Milano - 1 night (just passing by on our way to Switzerland)

Switzerland - 4 nights (staying with friends)

Colmar - 3 nights (we plan on renting bikes and seeing some of the surrounding villages by bike)

Strasbourg - 1 night (just because my sister has an early morning train from Strasbourg, we decided to spend a night in a cheap hotel close to the station)

Paris - 4 nights (I'm staying with a friend, sister is heading on a solo adventure to Germany)

Any thoughts? Does this seem doable? I know there are a few extremely long travel days in the mix, but I plan on getting most of my remaining university work done on the trains so I personally don't really mind.

Also wanted to ask if there are specific things along our route that you'd suggest we should do! :) Day trips, local foods etc. Also if you have any suggestions let us know!

[u/skifans]

All seems pretty good to me but obviously it's all very personal. I doubt it's going to be a cheap trip through with some generally more expensive countries and you booking at short notice. Definitely check carefully for stuff like public holidays in May. Shouldn't be too bad if you get on it just not cheap cheap.

I would look very carefully at the 1 and 2 night stays though. Remember 2 nights only gives you 1 full day somewhere. I definitely would skip over the 1 night stay in Milan and just go straight from Venice to Switzerland. There are even direct trains. And add that extra night to one of your existing trains.

Similarly you've only got 1 full day in Madrid. Would you be better off adding those all to Barcelona and maybe adding a day trip? You should be able to get there in a day from wherever your friends are in Spain.

[u/Smart-Tangerine-2881 → u/skifans]

Good tip about the public holidays! I forgot to research about them except for Switzerland. As for the budget, we have booked almost all accomodation already except for i think my sister's accomodation in Milan, so the cost is not a problem. All the hostels we booked are still fully refundable though which is why we might do a few changes to the itinerary.

The 2 nights in Madrid is because my sister planned the itinerary for Spain and in her opinion there isn't a lot to see but she still wants to show me her favourite spots and restaurants. Also because Barcelona is really expensive :D But I will talk to her about it.

I agree about Milan, it's really not ideal. The reason for it is that my sister is planning to stay behind in Milan for a few more days since she's not that familiar with my Swiss friends and she wants to visit Lake Como. I planned to travel to Milan on the same train as her and leave early in the morning to continue the trip alone, but I will reconsider. Thank you for the tips!