The Itinerary

This time next week I will be in Madrid after a flight from Paris. It is slowly starting to hit me that I will be finally doing what I have been dreaming of the past few years. Over the past few nights I have been researching our destinations carefully and planning the best route of travel. My main problem was getting from Europe to Syria through the cheapest and quickest means necessary. I was lucky enough to find affordable flights from Bratislava to Istanbul, and I heard that there is a really good train service from Istanbul to Aleppo (anyone know a better way to go from Istanbul to Syria?).

The itinerary so far looks like this (in order)..

Paris, Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, Nice, Milan, Cinque Terre, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Prague, Bratislava/Vienna, Istanbul, Aleppo, Damascus.

I will be travelling with two good friends although I have a feeling that we will separate on certain occasions. We plan to spend 2 nights in most cities, with the exception of Rome, Barcelona, Paris, and possibly Madrid where we’ll be staying for another night. To save time we’re making hops by plane from Paris to Madrid, from Venice to Frankfurt, from Amsterdam to Prague, and from Bratislava to Istanbul. I might be alone in Istanbul as my two friends are unsure of what they want to do after Prague.

I’m most excited to see Paris, Andalucía, Rome and Istanbul. Although my perspective of these cities/regions might change once I experience them. The highlight of trip will definitely be entering Syria. Usually I go from Canada to Syria, which is essentially going from one home to another. But this time I will be travelling for two months hopping from hostel to hostel and living out of my backpack. I think this will make coming into Syria even more special than usual. I will finally be in a place where I can speak the language, know the costumes, am able to pronounce the name of the food I’m eating, and know the best means of transportation from point A to point B.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be writing my trip journal on this blog or whether I’ll be creating another blog for the trip. I’m leaning towards writing the entries here, or on paper and scanning them in when I get back.

Finally, if you have any suggestions or advice about some of the places I’ll be going to I would really appreciate your help. There’s only so much information that “Europe on a Shoestring” can provide.