European Travel in Aug-Sept

For adventure get a bike with the passenger booth. There are very narrow roads in the Medieval towns. You would have to squeeze through those winding streets with inches on either side to spare.

I do drive a motorcycle, and I've always wanted to drive a bike with a sidecar. This however could prove to be too cool for even me. I'm probably not worthy something THAT cool.

Perhaps, I'll do this if I dedicate a trip solely to Italy some time. Or perhaps, that might be the trip I should take now... hmmm...

You can rent motorcycles with sidecars?

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Not sure, should be available.

Rome, Florence, Venice, are great cities. But waaaaay too crowded in August- early September.
Milan is empty at that time of the year, though... only there's not much to see (The Duomo, Palazzo Sforzesco, The Last Supper and that's it). Not even people... all the Milanese are off on vacation.
So I'd rule out Italy, and book a vacation there for Spring or Autumn.

Southern France (Nice, another great city) would be similarly packed.
Barcelona is truly worth a visit, and perhaps it would not be as crowded (I've been there twice; late December and Summer, during the Olympics -which was certainly crowded- but I enjoyed it throughly both times).

All this said, I'd rather go a bit North, and visit Paris and Germany (cities like Nurenberg, Köln and Berlin); or make a Germany - Denmark visit.
Also Amsterdam is worth a good visit.
None of this places are as crowded as the South of Europe.

As for Belgrade, definitely not worth it (even if I have some old forgotten friends there).
Zagreb (Croatia), Ljubljana (Slovenia) but mostly Dubrovnik, Split (Croatia), Sarajevo and Mostar (Bosnia) are the cities from former Yugoslavia most worth a visit.

Hmmm.... researching the cost of driving around Europe, and it's pretty decent (sans fuel). I'd probably have to see how many miles I'm allowed to put on the car per day. That could be a limiting factor of how far I wander.

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Alternate Trip

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This might be more efficient.

Too many cities for a 2 week trip.
But it's a nice start.

Damn!

I'd so love to meet you...but we'll be in the UK when you aren't and all.

Thanks for the clue..

NO, not not not now!!!

Listen to Baez, I do, and I'm ms. grumpy. Baez has told truly great stories, trust me. There's just about noone I'd listen to more.

A work in progress, sir. I need to evaluate what a reasonable amount of time on the road is per interval and what that means in terms of the places I visit.

I might cut Italy out all together and save it for some point in the future (don't worry osso, I'll let your drown me in ideas for that!).

I might stay more north... I don't know. I still need more ideas I think. Sor far the input here has definitely inspired me!

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Don't worry. One day I'll venture off to the bunny island in the southern hemisphere.

Poisonous bunnies, I hear.

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Never mind me, except once in a while, listen to Baez.

Yes, cut italy out, she shouts.

I sound a tad hysteric, and I beg your pardon. I care too much.

Whatever, have a wonderful trip.

we're gonna miss each other by about a week.
I'll be in London heading for home on the 22nd august.

Organizing your trip route in the more northernly regions of Europe at that time of year is probably a good idea. It isn't just the tour bus crowds that get thick that time of year. That's also when many European businesses shut down for vacations and the workers migrate southward to the beaches.

Regarding driving a car while in Europe, you may find this site informative:

http://www.ideamerge.com/motoeuropa/

The costs of fuel (in relation to what you pay in the USA) would be the only problem.

All major car rentals have offices all over Europe.

You can cross the border - especially from one Schengen country to the other - the same way like crossing the border between one province and the next ... no passport, no papers needed to show.

Northern Europe (Scandinavia) is a tourism spot during the summer like any other place: summer is THE main holiday period here in Europe.
(And thus, some shops are only open during that time, castles and similar as well.)

To get an idea of Europe, it can be done in two weeks.

I haven't had the ability to work on this since my schedule at work has been up in the air. Time to resume.

Here is my most recent road trip map: Click

I have 14 days and about 24 hours of travel time devoted to driving. I figure, I'll enjoy this trip the most by picking the places I'll stay the longest. Basically, I should divide this up into 3 or 4 legs.

fly away
Berlin - 2 nights
drive - 7.0 hrs
Amsterdam - 3 nights
drive - 2.5 hrs
Brussels - 1 night
drive - 6.5 hrs
Zurich - 2 nights
drive - 4.0 hrs
Frankfurt - 2 nights
drive - 5.o hrs
Berlin - 1 night
fly back

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Time to see what I can find on the couchsurfing network!