Europe 20-Day Itinerary

In 20 days (excluding the two days required to fly into and out of Europe), we were able to explore 6 countries and multiple cities. This post will compile the destinations in the order of how we traveled. Please click on the links for individual blogposts on each city.

Click on a pin in the map to read the blog post or scroll down for travel itineraries. Happy travels!

Germany: Munich 3-Day Itinerary

Read Day 1 here - BMW Welt and Olympic Park

Read Day 2 here - Neuschwanstein Castle

Read Day 3 here - Nymphenburg Palace and Deustche Museum

Neuschwanstein Castle

Nymphenburg Palace

Austria: Salzburg 1-Day Itinerary

Munich --> Salzburg

Read about Salzburg here - Mirabell Palace and Gardens, Salzburg Old Town, Mozart's birthplace, Fortress Hohensalzburg

Salzburg Old Town

Austria: Vienna 1-Day Itinerary

Salzburg --> Vienna

Read about Vienna here - Sch�nbrunn Palace, Vienna Old Town, Naschmarkt

Schonbrunn Palace

Hungary: Budapest 3-Day Itinerary

Vienna --> Budapest

Read Day 1 here - Rose Gelato and House of Terror
Read Day 2 here - Buda Castle
Read Day 3 here - Gell�rt Hill

Budapest Parliament Building

St. Stephen's Basilica

Czech Republic: Prague 3-Day Itinerary

Budapest --> Prague

Read Day 1 here - Prague Castle
Read Day 2 here - Staropramen Tour and Old Town
Read Day 3 here - Wenceslas Square and Kampa

View from Prague Castle

Wenceslas Square

Germany: Berlin 2-Day Itinerary

Prague --> Berlin

Read about Berlin here - Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, German Bundestag, Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin Wall Memorial, Berlin Cathedral

Berlin Wall Memorial

Berlin Cathedral

England: London 4-Day Itinerary

Berlin --> London

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's

Kensington Palace

Warner Brothers Studio Tour

France: Paris 3-Day Itinerary

London --> Paris

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

Eiffel Tower

Sacre-coeur

Paris 3-Day Itinerary: Day Two

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

Originally we wanted to visit Mus�e d'Orsay but it was closed on Mondays. So we walked to see Mus�e de Louvre instead. It was still relatively early in the morning and we thought we would see what the queue situation was like.

Mus�e d'Orsay

Mus�e de Louvre was actually a palace. It was very large and I remember thinking that it was a waste that I usually only saw the famous pyramid in photos when the place itself was much more grand than that. Upon sight of the extremely long queue outside Mus�e de Louvre we knew we did not want to waste our day waiting so we did a quick browse of the gift shop and left.

Mus�e de Louvre

Behind Mus�e de Louvre was Rue de Rivoli, a shopping street. There were many souvenir shops and other stores there. From Rue de Rivoli, we took bus 85 to the Montemarte area and walked to Sacr�-C�ur, Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. When I saw this structure on TV it looked more steep and a lot bigger but the walk up was not bad at all. You can ride the funicular up if you wish.

Sacr�-C�ur offers the highest point in Paris after the Eiffel Tower so you can also come here for a great panoramic view of the city.

Sacr�-coeur

Behind the basilica were many artists selling their work or drawing portraits for tourists. I had a delicious soft crepe there.

Behind Sacr�-coeur

It was raining in the late afternoon so our last stop of the day was to Galeries Lafayette. It was a huge, multi-building department store including clothing, accessories, and food. The main building featured a beautiful dome overlooking the multiple levels of glittery items.

Galeries Lafayette

Interior of Galeries Lafayette

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

Paris 3-Day Itinerary: Day Three

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

For our last day in Paris, we visited Mus�e d'Orsay in the morning. We queued for 45 minutes before we got in (EUR 11 for adults, EUR 8,50 for students.) Mus�e d'Orsay was smaller than the famous Mus�e de Louvre but it was a great option since we did not want to queue for hours.

I was amazed to see the works of artists I had studied as a child in person from Van Gogh to Monet. Each piece was beautiful and there were many Impressionist artists' pieces here.

Mus�e d'Orsay

Van Gogh

Monet

Next we went back to the Eiffel Tower but this time to ride the river cruise down River Seine. The hour long cruise cost EUR 14 per person and featured eight sights. For example, the tour pointed out the place where Rousseau used to live.

River cruise down Seine

After the cruise, we went to take photos of the Eiffel Tower from the opposite side of where we were two days ago.

Eiffel Tower

Champs-�lys�es was a long shopping street filled with stores from high street to luxury designer. It was beautifully lined with two rows of neat trees on either side and was one of the few places in Paris we visited where there was not the wafting scent of urine.

Champs-�lys�es

In the evening, we went to eat dinner at a delicious restaurant called L'Office. I recommend trying it out! Service was attentive and our server patiently translated each menu item for us in English. Make sure that you make a reservation ahead of time because they will refuse those who just show up at the door. I used La Fourchette to make the reservation.

That was the end of our 22 day Europe trip! There was a lot of walking, cobblestones and trains involved but each day was filled to the brim with new sights to see and activities to experience.

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

Paris 3-Day Itinerary: Day One

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

The evening before, we arrived from London to Paris. For the metro, a single ticket cost EUR 1,80 and a day pass cost EUR 8,30. If you are in Paris on the weekend and under 26 years old, you are eligible for Le Ticket Jeunes Week-end which cost EUR 3,85 per day.

First stop of the day was to the Notre Dame de Paris. There was mass ongoing when we visited and unfortunately it became a bit noisy indoors because many tourists were inside hiding from the rain.

Notre Dame de Paris

Inside the Notre Dame

From the Notre Dame we followed signs and walked along the River Seine. To my surprise we saw a proposal in action! At first I saw a group of people on a bridge holding up a large banner that said, "Will you marry me?" Then I looked down the river and saw a river cruise headed toward the bridge with the happy couple at the bow of the boat waving towards their friends. What a nicely timed execution!

River Seine

The famous love lock bridge in Paris had all their locks removed a few weeks before we visited the city. However there were many other love lock bridges around the city. In fact, I saw love locks everywhere from gates to doors to window frames.

Bridge with love locks

Not far from the Notre Dame is the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. It was such a quaint little store and kept relatively quiet indoors despite its popularity among tourists. The scene where the characters in Triumph in the Skies played with the cat in the bookstore jumped to life for me when I saw the purring cat on a green velvet bench with my own eyes.

Shakespeare and Company bookstore

Our next stop was the ever-so-famous Eiffel Tower. Despite it being a complete tourist destination, I actually enjoyed my visit here. We opted for the stairs option because the queue for the elevator up to the top was longer. The elevator cost EUR 14,50 per person and stairs cost EUR 5 for adults and EUR 4 for students.

Base of Eiffel Tower

The stairs only allowed us to go up to the second section of the tower but the height was good enough for a panoramic city view since Paris' buildings are relatively low. In the first section there was glass flooring for you to look down at the queuing people and a small theatre playing a video of the origins of the tower. There was also a restaurant and a gift shop.

City view from the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower by day

We came out to see the tower in the evening again. It closes at 12am but we did not go up again because we wanted to see the tower itself. It gave off a different feel by day and by night. After sunset, the tower sparkles at the turn of every hour in addition to being lit up.

Eiffel Tower by night

A few metro stops from the Eiffel Tower brought us to the Arc de Triomphe which was also beautiful lit up at night. The structure was much larger than I had imagined and I enjoyed standing in the middle as I watched the cars zoom past in all different directions to the 12 avenues converging to that point.

Arc de Triomphe

Read Day 1 here - Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
Read Day 2 here - Mus�e de Louvre, Sacr�-C�ur, Galeries Lafayette
Read Day 3 here - Mus�e d'Orsay, River Seine, Champs-�lys�es

London 4-Day Itinerary: Day Three

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's

One of my most anticipated places to visit on this trip was The Making of Harry Potter at Warner Brothers Studio. I booked my ticket with Golden Tours because the Warner Bros. website was sold out of the time slot I wanted. Golden Tours included the bus ride and admission to the studio (GBP 63 each.)

Golden Tour's Harry Potter bus

There were two pick up points and I chose the Gloucester Place one. The Golden Tours instruction in the email was confusing about where the pick up point was. To get there, alight from Baker Street Station and turn right when you leave the station. Keep walking straight until you reach the street that says Gloucester Place and turn right to find the bus stop. The bus stop sign will say "Harry Potter Studio Tour."

Bus stop sign

The bus I took was scheduled for 10:10am but came at 10:20am. The double decker bus was completely full and we were given our admission tickets from the driver after boarding. The bus ride took about an hour to reach Leavesden where the studio was without any stops in between.

Exterior of the studio

Queuing up to enter!

The tour took about 2.5 hours depending on how slowly you went through and I really enjoyed myself! There were many props and behind the scenes designs on display which helped me appreciate the crew behind the movies even more. Ten years worth of Harry Potter films were shot at this studio and I was so happy to see each thing that linked to the different movies.

Great Hall

Gryffindor Common Room

There was a section where we could ride broom sticks in front of a green screen and pretend to fly while a video of scenery played behind us. It cost GBP 25 for a USB with the footage on it. Butter beer was GBP 3 next to Privet Drive.

The bus left the studio at 3:30pm and we were back at Victoria Station by 5pm.

Privet Drive

King's Cross Platform 9 3/4

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's

London 4-Day Itinerary: Day Four

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's

London --> Paris

It was our last day in London but we didn't depart until the evening so we checked out of the hotel and left our luggage at a storage at St. Pancras International Train Station. Each piece of luggage cost GBP 10.

King's Cross station was next to St. Pancras station and I wanted to see what Platform 9 3/4 looked like. It was modern with automatic gates and didn't allow people without tickets to enter the platform. However, next to Platforms 9 and 10 was a Harry Potter gift store. The small store was packed full and on the wall next to the store was a sign that said Platform 9 3/4 with a cart halfway in the wall for fans to take photos. The queue was quite long and it cost money to take a photo but it's a good option if you do not have time to make it to the Warner Bro. Studio Tour.

From St. Pancras station, it was not a far walk to the British Library. The black barred section in the photo below was the King's Library.

British Library

We visited Hyde Park which wasn't particularly pretty but was famous for the Speaker's Corner.

Hyde Park

Harrod's was easily visible after a short walk from Knightsbridge station. The famous department store was very large and I did not go beyond the first floor to avoid getting lost and absorbed into walking around for far too long. On the first floor there were designer handbags, a raw oyster bar and a delicious confectionery section.

Harrod's

Interior of Harrod's

In the evening we took the 4:22pm Eurostar from London to Paris. It cost about CAD 130 per person and took 2.5 hours to reach Paris.

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's

London 4-Day Itinerary: Day One

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's

Berlin --> London

Departing from our hotel in Berlin at 7am, the metro with all the transfers took 1 hour 20 minutes to reach Sch�nfeld Airport. We reached the airport 1.5 hours ahead of our flight time and barely made it to the gate!

The security checking process was confusing and frustrating. People who had flights coming up were told to cut queue by airport staff so the line barely moved. As well, there were a lot more people in the queue than the security process could handle. After making it past security we ran down a flight of stairs, down a long hallway and up some more stairs before we reached the immigration booth. We had to queue some more to have our passports checked and only sat for a few minutes at the gate before we walked out to the plane.

We flew with Ryan Air from Berlin to London and expected some delays. Fortunately, the flight left close to on time at around 10:15am and landed at 10:45am London time (11:45am Berlin time.) A bottle of water cost EUR 3 on the flight.

We arrived at Stansted Airport and bought a National Express bus ticket to London Liverpool Street (GBP 10 per person.) The bus was scheduled at 11:45am and we reached our destination at 1pm. At Liverpool Station we were able to easily purchase Oyster cards for a GBP 5 deposit (refundable.)

British Museum

From Holborn underground station, it was a short walk to the British Museum. Admission was free so it was very crowded with many student and tourist groups. There were fascinating exhibitions though and was worth the visit.

Inside the British Museum

After the museum we walked to Covent Garden, Seven Dials. The name was derived from the seven streets that converged to a centre piece like a dial. The atmosphere was great with the narrow streets, red brick buildings and plenty of cafes, restaurants and shops.

Covent Garden, Seven Dials

From Seven Dials it was another short walk to London Chinatown. It was a small Chinatown that was pretty clean and lined with restaurants. Across from Chinatown was the Soho area filled with bars and pubs. Many Londoners stood outdoors enjoying their drinks after work.

Piccadilly Circus was an area with many old buildings that had huge TV screens plastered on them. It looked like London's version of Times Square with the abundance of advertisements for products, shows and musicals.

On the walk to River Thames

Leaving that area, we walked towards River Thames and came across the Horse Guards Parade area. Past that, we could see the London Eye from across the river. Walking to the side of the river where the London Eye stood, we could see the Parliament and Big Ben in its entirety.

London Eye

Parliament and Big Ben

Read Day 1 here - British Museum and River Thames
Read Day 2 here - Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge
Read Day 3 here - Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Read Day 4 here - King's Cross and Harrod's