how I traveled to 6 countries in 16 days!
As a European, I love traveling to cities just one at a time, but this time I went full-in! Here is my Europe 2 week itinerary!
I got me an Interrail ticket and traveled to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, visited a few friends on the way, spent a night at home in Switzerland, and then traveled down to Milan and Rome, stopping by Pisa and Florence on the way back.
In this guide, I will be talking about:
- where to go/ my route
- how to plan
- what to pack
- my expenses on my Europe 2 week itinerary.
I traveled with a friend of mine from the US, in case anyone was wondering if I traveled solo. Also, I picked up my sister on my way to Italy, so she joined us on that trip.
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Table of Contents
WHAT TO PLAN
First, let me explain what I planned for my trip and what I used.
Our trip went from the 8th to the 23rd of May, in case anyone wants to know.
TRANSPORTATION
We both got the 22 days continuous Interrail/Eurail train pass. I know, we could’ve used it for more days or just get the 15-day pass, but I didn’t plan early enough. But that’s my stupidity. Anyway, the Interrail pass is for Europeans, while the Eurail is for Non-European residents.
One thing you should know about the Interrail pass is that you can only use 1 out- and 1 inbound trip from and to your country of residence. So you should plan accordingly.
You can check out the discounts and prices here
ACCOMMODATIONS
We booked our hotels a few weeks before the trip. Personally, we didn’t need fancy rooms, just a room with beds and a shower, located in a safe area.
You can look for hotels you like, based on your budget and expectations. We booked all our hotels on Booking.com, all for very good prices.
Get 10% cashback when you use my link!
[convertkit form=1700482]MY ROUTE
Like I mentioned earlier, I visited various cities on my list. I will now show you my route and which cities I visited. We first did the loop from and to Switzerland, and then went down to Italy from there.
MY “EUROPE BY TRAIN” ROUTE
Paris was our first stop! I personally haven’t been to Paris before, so I was super excited!
Arrival: May 8th
Departure: May 12th (4 nights spent)
Spendings: $207.80 (approx. same in Euros at that time. Also, my friend paid for that hotel, so I saved about $100 with that.)
Wanna know what I did in Paris? Check out my Paris Bucket List!
I also wrote a post about what exactly I spent money on in Paris and a Paris Food Guide.
Our second stop was Brussels, Belgium. I was super excited for this one as well. I tried to pick cities I haven’t been to and which are in good reach from the previous place on the route.
Brussels is only about 2 hours away from Paris, which was really convenient for us.
Arrival: May 12th
Departure: May 14th (2 nights spent)
Spendings: $198.50 (the hotel price was split, so if you would get a room for yourself only, all these prices would be a little higher)
Here is my Brussels 2-day Itinerary Guide for what to do and see in Brussels!
Amsterdam was another exciting city! We spent about 3 days here as well, including a trip to Lisse to the tulip fields (which ended up not blooming anymore but well).
Arrival: May 14th
Departure: May 17th (3 nights spent)
Spendings: $271 (this time, I paid for most of the attractions we visited, like Keukenhof. Also, the hotel here was more expensive, $150 for me (split price)
To read my Amsterdam Bucket List Guide, click here!
Cologne was on the way to our next stop, so we stopped here to meet up with a friend from my USA study abroad year since I haven’t seen her in more than a year!
We just got lunch together and talked a bit. We only stayed in Cologne for a few hours. But it is a fun city to visit, so you can stay longer or visit other cities in Germany if you haven’t been! There are lots of castles to see and foods to try!
Our weekend stop was Speyer, Germany. One of my best friends from my study abroad year lives here, and I haven’t seen her in a year as well!
Since we stayed at her house, I didn’t have many expenses that weekend.
Arrival: May 17th
Departure: May 19th
Spendings: $26.20 (for restaurant visits)
There are many other amazing places to see in Germany, we went to Speyer mostly because our friend lived there, but the city is beautiful and has a typical German old town!
On Sunday the 19th, I headed home to get my sister and also to just take a little break. My friend continued the trip on that day already, so we split up.
The next day, we got on a 7 am train and I started my “second” trip.
We first stopped at Milan and planned a 4-hour stay to take a few pictures by the cathedral.
Unfortunately, we had a little delay with the train and arrived at the station about 2.5 hours later than planned. We still made it to the cathedral but had to really push for the pics. Sellers tried to sell us things and us trying to just take our picture so we could leave. Picture that. Ugh.
Our last big destination on our Europe 2 week itinerary was Rome.
I have been before, but Rome never gets boring! I also had a friend here, who we had dinner with, but we didn’t stay at her place this time since we had not much time to see everything we wanted, and she still had school.
Arrival: May 20th
Departure: May 23rd
Spendings: $751 for 2 people, so $375 for one person. (including the food we got for the way home and what we spent in Pisa)
This city was probably our most expensive, even though we literally walked 80% and took the underground like 20% of the time.
Read my Rome in 3 Days Itinerary Guide for what we did and saw!
What was expensive here were the train reservations for Rome since we wanted to be there the fastest way that was possible per train, because we didn’t have much time. My friend flew back to the US the day after, so we had to leave on time.
Of course, we could’ve taken a plane, but nah that fossil fuel should be saved, and I had my Interrail ticket already anyway.
I will soon write a whole guide about my exact expenses in Rome, so sign up for my newsletter to get notified!
Florence wasn’t really targeted, but we had to transfer here for going to Pisa, so we spent a little time here as well. It was super stressful though since we tried to get to a specific basilica, and we got lost haha.
We got to the last city in my Europe 2 week itinerary! We had everything planned out, so we had an hour at the tower for taking pictures, and then walking back to the train station for about 20 minutes.
I am totally up for adventures like that, but I know my sister would’ve rather taken the bus instead of walking, so that’s totally up to you and how much time you need at a place.
We arrived at our home-station at about 10 pm.
HOW TO PLAN – STEP BY STEP
Here is my guide on how to plan your Europe 2 week itinerary! (or any Europe trip with more than one city!)
- Set a time frame
- Pick your destinations and figure out how long you want to stay in a city so you can reduce your city-load if needed
- Write a Bucket List: It’s super important to know what you want to see in a city! If you want to see everything in a city like Paris, London, or Rome, you need more than just a weekend to do so! But in case it gets tight, here is my London in 1 day guide if you need it!
- Set a Budget: You will definitely want to know how much money you have for the trip and how much can you can max. spend in each place.
- Pick your transportation: I totally recommend getting an Interrail/Eurail train pass if you wish to travel by train (coolest experience). If you wanna travel by plane, I can recommend Skyscanner. Their tickets are always cheapest.
- Book accommodations on Booking.com
- Reserve tickets for special attractions. When things were sold out, I got them on GetYourGuide!
- Get excited! You’re gonna travel across Europe!!!
MY SPENDINGS FOR THE EUROPE 2 WEEK ITINERARY
Drumrolls, please…
$1,094.70 + $358 for the train pass
I think that’s not too bad, considering we have seen 6 countries/ 10 cities for that price.
WHAT TO PACK
I have written a whole Europe packing guide! Feel free to check that out for packing tips and more.
Depending on how you travel and if you take suitcases or a backpack, you can adjust the amount of clothing to bring. The above-mentioned guide also helps you with what essentials to bring and things you don’t need.
I hope you enjoyed this Europe 2 week Itinerary Guide and you check out the related posts for more information.
[convertkit form=1700482]Here is everything I mentioned in this post:
- Interrail/Eurail Ticket
- Booking.com (10% cashback)
- Paris Food Guide
- Paris Photo Spots
- Brussels Bucket List
- Paris Bucket List
- Amsterdam Bucket List
- Paris Budget Guide
- Get Your Guide Tickets
- London in 1 day Guide
- Skyscanner for Flights
- Europe Packing Guide
I hope this helps you! Also, comment below which cities you wanna visit on your Europe itinerary!
Until soon,
Wonderful work! Thank you so much for the inspiration.
It’s just great how you listed everything you did, all the costs and the time you spent in every place. Very helpful! I’ll definitely add some of the places to my own bucket list for my Europe trip.
Keep going!
Thank you so much! I appreciate your feedback!