To ask for opinions on this backpacking route?

[checonfusione]

I’m looking at a two and a half week backpacking trip next summer, and I think I’ve found a route I’m happy with. I’m just looking for opinions on whether I need to do longer in some places or less time in others:

1. Porto - 3 nights
2. lisbon - 3 nights
3. Malaga - 3 nights
4. madrid - 3 nights
5. barcelona - 4 nights

I think it’s pretty doable and cost effective with hostels in some places, Airbnbs in others and then a splurge on a hotel in Barcelona. AIBU to do it this way? Is there anywhere I should drop/add?

Croatia is very expensive, depends on your budget

I’m sure if you live in Porto it’s all a bit old hat. Personally I thought it was fantastic and would like to return one day and ideally do a boat trip along the Douro and spend some time in the valley. It has excellent restaurants and plenty of see for a couple of days.
it just seems like a fairly shallow succession of obvious city breaks strung together. Surely one appeal of backpacking is spending a bit longer in a region to appreciate it in more depth.

Oh I just realised I misread, your family are in Porto (not living there).
i totally disagree with their assessment tbh.

I’m finding a few decent deals, I think it helps that I’m searching so far out!

I can’t do the whole three month thing - my job wouldn’t allow it.

What about

Prague - 3 days
Bratislava - 1 day
Vienna - 4 days
Salzburg - 2 days
Munich - 2 days

Could get a boat up the Danube between Bratislava and Vienna. Trains for rest.

Longest is 4 hours, rest much shorter.

The pp is right, and not just accommodation but eating out in Croatia is super expensive. In Dubrovnik it’s now €40 to walk the 2km city walls. I didn’t bother at that price.
I also thought the food was pretty average most places (despite what Google reviews said).

I think I’d aim to take about 3 grand for the two weeks, so I could just budget a bit more for Dubrovnik! I’m picking up a lot of overtime at work which is going straight into the holiday fund 😂 I’m now torn between the two plans

What’s the itinerary? I would do at a minimum Dubrovnik Hvar and Split / Trogir for Croatia

Either the Portuguese and Spanish one, or Lugano to Venice to Pula, Split and Dubrovnik

If you want to do Italy I’d just do Italy and head south to more unusual places then take the ferry to Sicily which is my personal favourite place to visit. It’s such a lovely country and trains are reasonable too, even walk up fares

Italy is one of my favourite countries ever. There’s so many choices!

I feel your Croatia / Italy one is more varied and interesting as a whole trip. All your Iberian peninsula ones are more similar.
i think Lugano is a long way. Could you do Verona/Garda instead

Lugano is about 5 hours on the train to Venice, into the centre of Milan. So I’d probably break it up with half a day in Milan doing some sight seeing before heading onto Venice. Flights work out about £200 in total from London into Milan and then out of Dubrovnik, which is good!

I would be a bit worried about the heat but the itinerary sounds decent.

We have done similar trips in cooler climes using trains including Eurostar - caveat we have 4 kids with the youngest being 7 so slightly different priorities perhaps. We have enjoyed Paris - Lyon - Black Forest (plus EuropaPark) - Strasbourg, and Amsterdam - Efteling - Antwerp - Brussels and think the pacing of AT LEAST 2 nights at each stop is important for it to feel relaxing. Personally I adore Barcelona and think rounding off with a 4 night mini-holiday with souped up accommodation at the end is a great way to do it.

Looks great. You're never going to 'complete' any of those cities in a few days, except perhaps Porto, so I wouldn't stress about whether it's enough time, 3 or 4 days is fine to get a good overview and you can always go back to anywhere you really enjoyed.

Although I would possibly go for a hostel in Barcelona and splurge somewhere else, perhaps Malaga. The reason being that Barcelona is probably the most expensive city so even an expensive hotel might not be that fancy, but you could get a really nice hotel in Malaga for not a lot of money.

It’s a good trip, as I say I think plenty to see without the huge train ride to Lugano but it’s your trip! I think it’s more a proper trip than a string of cities put together. Eg I loved Porto and loved Lisbon, but I saw them two years apart. It might get a little bit samey seeing them all together. I think the new trip is a more interesting variety of landscapes and cities. split is not amazing but there are things to see and it’s a great base for the ferries (eg Hvar) and easy to see Trogir.

i also agree with the pp about focusing on Italy and Sicily which could also be good!

Enjoy planning it!

Ah, just seen its next Summer. Having done city breaks in Spanish summer temperatures (40C+ in an unseasonably hot May) I'd advise against it. It's really not pleasant walking around in those temperatures. Either go in spring or autumn or go somewhere more temperate.

Who pissed on your chips.

I am sick of the snark on here. I thought the pp being rude was just a troll but disappointing to see this from a regular poster.

Seriously what do you get for putting someone down?

I also wouldn't do four days in Barcelona (but if you are planning on going make sure you book your Sagrada Familia/Park Fuel tickets months in advance (you can get late tickets but it is stressful)

If you are thinking about Croatia, what about Bosnia/Serbia- both beautiful countries, have decent hostels, and good transport.

I think some people like to feel superior about their holiday choices.

Because sitting in an all inclusive serving British food is so much better than seeing places!

In fairness I will always defend anyone's holiday choices.

I don't like the snark about all inclusive either.

I think holidays are a blessing and should be spent doing exactly what makes you happy.

If you've never been to these places before, it's a perfectly fine itinerary. (Porto is lovely.)

The Portugal/Spain plan looks great. Apart from Madrid is really overrated - took DH to see Real Madrid as a massive fan, but we struggled to find much to do. Loved Malaga (will you go to the Alhambra?) and Barcelona, great mix or beach/port and culture. Very hot in summer though, could you go in May/September?

I’m thinking of potentially shifting to early October in the hopes of catching some better pricing