cartilage
Description
3 Week Europe Itinerary with an Interrail / Eurail ticket through Belgium, Netherlands, France, Italy and Greece.
We saveed a lot of travel time by taking night trains outside of France. Some ferry companies have discounts for Interrail / Eurail ticket holders, just check on their websites.
| Our 3 Week Interrail / Eurail Itinerary |
|---|
| 1. Strasbourg |
| 2. Brussels |
| 3. Amsterdam |
| 4. Paris |
| 5. Menton, Cannes, Côte d’Azur |
| 6. Rome |
| 7. Pompeii |
| 8. Athens |
| 9. Nafplio |
| 10. St. Raphael / Back to France |
| 11. Bordeaux / Arcachon |
Gallery
Overall costs
$ 1200
Duration
21 days
Rating
Itinerary:
1. Strasbourg
The tour started in Strasbourg where we visited the old Cathedral, a quarter with lots of water channels called Petit France and the European Parliament.
If you are in Strasbourg you should try Tarte Flambé with a local wine.
2. Brussels
We just stopped for one day in Brussels and went to the main square with the Town Hall, the Atomium and the most famous sight of the city Manneken Pis.
If you’re interested in a few more days in Belgium check out this 5 day Belgium itinerary.
3. Amsterdam
Amsterdam is famous for its water channels, the thousands of bicycles and some magic herbs. All of that can be seen in the centre. A boat tour through the channels is nice or on bad weather a visit at the Heineken Brewery.
4. Paris
There is a fast train (Thalys) running from Amsterdam via Brussels to Paris which you can take with your ticket.
We visited the main sights such as Notre-Dame, Champs-Élysées, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and the skyscrapers at La Defence.
We also went up the Eiffel Tower and to Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre on sunset.
5. Menton, Cannes, Côte d’Azur
The TGV Méditerranée runs from Paris to Marseille in 3 hours and then proceeds with several stopps along the Côte d’Azur to Nice. We stayed in Menton which is on the border to Italy and did a day trip to Cannes and Monaco.
We tooked a night train to go from Monaco to Rome.
Instead of going to Italy you could also continue towards Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
6. Rome
Rome was a classic tourist program with the Colloseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon and the St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
7. Pompeii
The ruins of Pompeii are in the south of Napoli and easily accessible by train. We spend a day walking through the site and tooked a train to Bari in the afternoon.
Bari was the start of our overnight ferry to Patras in Greece where we arrived in the morning.
With a few extra days you can also visit the nearby Amalfi Coast.
8. Athens
There is a small and slow train running from Patras to Athens. Once we arrived we walked through the centre and visited the Acropolis and its surrounding sights.
Athens is also an excellent starting point for Greece island hopping trips.
9. Nafplio
We went to Nafplio to spent some time on the beach but decided to leave after one day since the beaches in France had been so much nicer.
10. St. Raphael / Back to France
It was a longer way back to France, we first had to take the train back to Patras from where we went by ferry to Ancona in Italy. From there we had to take a night train to Pisa where we got off to see the famous tower in the middle of the night.
After two hours there was another night train coming from Rome which brought us to St. Raphael on the French Riviera.
We stayed on a small beach outside the village. With a few extra days you should consider exploring the Provence which is just behind the Riviera or take some hiking trips in the Calanques.
11. Bordeaux / Arcachon
To espace bad weather we then decided to go to Bordeaux and the Atlantic Ocean.
South of Arcachon is the Dune of Pilat which is the tallest sand dune in Europe with excellent beaches.
If you have time for another week I would strongly recommend to follow the Bay of Biscay into the Basque Country.