32 Days

I am traveling to Europe this summer, and from mid-June to mid-July I will be backpacking through Germany, Austria, and Italy. By backpacking I really mean taking trains from city to city while staying in youth hostels.

My trip doesn't have much focus, since one of my favorite things to do when traveling is walk around cities aimlessly. Hopefully in the final draft of my plans (which get more and more fine every time I revise them) I will have a balance between cities and scenery. I do plan on visiting a few places I have been before (including the concentration camp at Ravensbrück and even Freiburg im Breisgau, which I visited with People to People). Most of my travels will lead me to new places, however, including Hamburg, Vienna, Naples, and Nuernberg.

Here is a basic outline of my plans so far. Out of the 32 days I have to work with, 10 of them are designated "travel" days. If you have traveled to Germany, Austria, or Italy or have any other suggestions or advice to give, I'd love to hear from you! Drop me a comment (I won't make it public if you don't want me to...I do moderate my comments) or send me an email (if you happen to know it)!

Cities in which I plan on staying overnight:
Wesel/Hamminkeln (My host town...I'm staying here roughly a month altogether)
Hamburg (Famous harbor, access to Ostsee and Nordsee)
Ravensbrück
Berlin
Nürnberg (They have a famous F1 track...which is used for other forms of racing, too)
Vienna (Awesome food)
Rome (Colloseum, aqueducts...)
Naples
Genoa
Innsbrück (Scenic area, access to scenic train routes)
Freiburg (Black Forest)

Places I plan on passing through:
Bremen, Hannover, Wolfsburg, Dresden, Leipzig, Graz, Venice, Pisa, Munich, Stuttgart, Worms