Hey guys! I recently posted in an /r/AskReddit thread mentioning I was planning a trip through Europe for this summer. Someone responded and mentioned that I could get some good advice and pointers here, as of now I've planned out a general slew of places I wanted to visit and an approximate number of days to spend at each place.

I'm going to have company for half the trip, but the second half I'll probably be alone. This is the first time I've ever traveled solo (I planned a hiking trip for my girlfriend and I last year that went really well though), and my second time flying. I'm from the United States and this will be my first time out of the country as well, I'm planning on picking up my passport within the next month. From the research I've done so far I'm trying to shy away from the Eurail Global Pass and I'm going to try to take advantage of other forms of transportation and buying single train tickets. Any sort of feedback and tips would be greatly appreciated! For reference, I'm a guy and I'll be 24 by the time I leave for the trip, I'll be graduating from my masters program this summer and wanted to do some traveling before settling into a job.

My budget is ~$5.5k, give or take, broken down so far to -:

• $1.5k on airfare

• ~$500 on travel, new SIM card, new backpack, travel gear if I feel I'm missing any

• daily hostel budget @ ~$40

• daily food budget @ ~ $40

• daily flex budget @ ~$20

So far these are the places I want to visit, I'll divide them into two groups (places my traveling partners want to go, and places I want to go).

With my friends:

• Toledo, Spain [2-3 days]

• Barcelona, Spain [2-3 days]

• Amsterdam, Netherlands [3 days]

• Munich, Germany [3-4 days]

Solo:

• Bern, Switzerland [3-4 days] (I wanted to do some hiking here, suggestions for better towns or places to visit would be wonderful)

• Florence, Italy [2-3 days]

• Rome, Italy [4 days]

• Prague, Czech Rep [3 days]

• Budapest, Hungary [3-4 days]

• Croatia [Remainder of trip] (not sure where I'd say but I wanted to travel along the coast as well as visit the Plitvice Lakes)

As of now I think I need to drop a location but I'm not sure where. My guts telling me to drop Prague and spend a longer amount of time resting while in Italy so that I don't get burnt out. I'm pretty introverted by nature and I'm thinking I'll want some time to slowdown and relax once I split paths with the group (they're going home, not traveling on). I've been a big fan of Baroque art and took a few classes on it during my undergrad and I wanted to visit some art museums while I was there. This was actually the inspiration to visit Toledo, Spain, as one of my favorite artists, El Greco, did a lot of work while there.

Am I stretching myself too thin? Is there anywhere I'm going to regret not spending enough time? Spending too little time?

Is my budget on track? I feel like I could make it work for cheaper but this is kind of my last hoorah, as I'll be settling into my career and paying off loans for awhile. Where are the best places to fly into Europe for cheap? I'm a big dude, I'm 6'3 and ~240 lbs and I'm worried I'll be uncomfortable if I cheap out on the flight. I took a red-eye back from a road trip to California a few years ago and it was pretty bad but it was also really cheap.

When is a good time to book stays in hostels/flights? I have the money sitting aside for the trip now so it's not a big hassle to pay ahead, but I'm also worried I won't have a lot of flexibility and was considering winging part of the trip and possibly playing each city by ear.

If you were planning a trip like this, for someone interesting in art, architecture, and hiking, would you slow down and spend a week or so at a few places, or so the whirlwind style trip I have planned out?

If I missed anything let me know, thanks!