On May the 25th Sophie and I will hit Europe for 7.5 weeks to celebrate her finishing Uni. Nice excuse hey?

This trip will be more of a backpacking trip on the ‘hop on hop off’ Europe bus. With this bus travel we can choose how long we stay in each place and have the safety of traveling with a tour guide on the Busabout bus. We have the freedom of ‘doing our own thing’ once we arrive at the destinations which is much better than having to hang about with a tour group. Since I’m now a ‘seasoned’ traveler I cant stand the thought of going on a tour so with the safety of the bus travel it’s a good compromise. Although I’ve been to half of these places before, I will enjoy returning and seeing them through the eyes of my daughter… instead of the Dishmop;)

We are packing lightly (aren’t we Sophie?) and taking backpacks with wheels (as opposed to a suitcase).  Afterwards, Sophie continues on to the USA with a friend so she will be gone for 3 months all up.

The MOTH is going to learn how to use email and if we progress well through the lessons, Skype as well. Otherwise we will resort to courier pigeons.

Here’s our map and itinerary…

ITINERARY

25/5/12     Melbourne to Paris

26/05/12    Paris (sleepy sleepy time)
27/05/12     Paris
28/05/12     Paris
29/05/12     Paris

30/05/12     Bruges, Belgium 6pm
31/05/12     Bruges

1/6/12     Amsterdam, Holland 6pm
2/6/12     Amsterdam
3/6/12     Amsterdam

4/6/12      Berlin, Germany 6pm
5/6/12       Berlin
6/6/12       Berlin
7/6/12       Berlin
8/6/12      Berlin

9/6/12      Dresden Germany 3.30pm
10/6/12     Dresden

11/6/12       Prague Czech Republic
12/6/12       Prague
13/06/12     Prague

14/06/12     Cesky Krumlov Czech Republic
15/06/12     Cesky Krumlov

16/06/12     Vienna Austria
17/06/12     Vienna
18/06/12     Vienna

19/06/12     Salzburg Austria
20/06/12     Salzburg (Sound of music tour) ‘High on the hills was a lonely goat herd’…

21/06/12     Munich 5pm
22/06/12     Munich
23/06/12     Munich Day trip to Neuschwanstein castle

24/06/12     Innsbruck Austria
25/06/12     Innsbruck

26/06/12     Venice, Italy   13.30
27/06/12     Venice
28/06/12     Venice

29/06/12    Rome, Italy
30/06/12    Rome
1/7/12     Rome
2/7/12     Rome Pompeii day trip
3/7/12     Rome

4/7/12     Siena, Italy
5/7/12     Siena

6/7/12      Florence, Italy
7/7/12       Florence
8/7/12       Florence

9/7/12     Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore) , Italy
10/7/12   Cinque Terre
11/7/12   Cinque Terre
12/7/12   Cinque Terre
13/07/12  Cinque Terre
14/07/12  Cinque Terre

15/07/12     Nice, France

16/07/12     Barcelona arrive late, Spain
17/07/12     Barcelona
18/07/12     Barcelona
19/07/12     Barcelona > Fly out (Jenny home and Sophie to USA)