Total Europe Self-Launched: Munich to Athens (Alps, Italy, Croatia, Greece)

Land at Munich Airport and take the S-Bahn S1 or S8 into the city centre (about €13, ~40 min) rather than a taxi or pre-booked transfer. Check into a central hostel around Hauptbahnhof or the Glockenbachviertel. Spend the afternoon with a Viktualienmarkt food stroll and an evening in the English Garden beer garden, then join a free city walking tour (tips based, ~€5–10) if you want an instant orientation and to meet other solo travellers.

🚌Airport S-Bahn (~£11); city on foot and U-Bahn

🛏Central Munich hostel dorm (e.g. near Hauptbahnhof)

• →Viktualienmarkt self-guided food wander
• →English Garden beer garden evening
• →Free walking tour (tips based)

Book a Munich–Innsbruck train on the DB app or ÖBB Scotty/Railjet — roughly 1h45 and €20–30 if booked a few days ahead. Trains arrive right in Innsbruck's centre. Do a self-guided old-town loop: Maria-Theresien-Strasse, the Golden Roof, the Hofburg and the river houses of Mariahilf, with an optional cable car up the Nordkette (about €40 return) for the alpine panorama.

🚌Railjet/regional train Munich–Innsbruck (~£22)

🛏Innsbruck hostel dorm

• →Self-guided old-town walk
• →Golden Roof and Hofburg exterior
• →Optional Nordkette cable car

Take a train from Innsbruck to Fortezza and on to Dobbiaco/Toblach (about €15–25 with a regional ticket), then a local bus (SAD 442, ~€5–8) to Lake Misurina for a short lakeside hike with the Three Peaks in view. Continue by bus to Cortina and then a Cortina Express/Frecce Dolomiti bus or train via Treviso down to Venice Mestre, arriving early evening. Venice Mestre hostels are far cheaper than on the island and a 10-minute train from Santa Lucia.

🚌Regional trains + local buses (~£30)

🛏Venice Mestre hostel dorm

• →Lake Misurina lakeside hike
• →Dolomites scenic bus legs
• →Evening in Venice Mestre canals area

Join a GetYourGuide or GuruWalk small-group food-and-cicchetti tour (roughly €35–50) or a free walking tour covering the canals, Rialto and the ghetto. Afternoon is yours: St Mark's Square, the Campanile (€10), the Doge's Palace (€30) or simply the vaporetto Line 1 down the Grand Canal (€9.50 single, or a 24h pass ~€25). Buy the 24h ACTV pass to cover water buses, and remember the Venice access fee if you arrive on a peak-day day trip.

🚌Train Mestre–Santa Lucia (~£2.50 each way); 24h vaporetto pass (~£21)

🛏Venice Mestre hostel dorm

• →GetYourGuide cicchetti/canal food walk
• →Campanile di San Marco
• →Grand Canal vaporetto ride

Take a Frecciarossa or Italo high-speed train Venice Mestre–Florence Santa Maria Novella (about 2h, €20–40 booked in advance on Italo or Trenitalia). After checking in, do a Mercato Centrale and San Lorenzo food wander with the hostel crowd or a self-booked food tour (~€40–55), then a free evening in the Oltrarno.

🚌High-speed train Venice–Florence (~£28)

🛏Florence hostel dorm

• →Mercato Centrale food market
• →Self-booked food tour
• →Oltrarno evening stroll

Free day. Pre-book the Uffizi (€25) and the Accademia (€16) online if you want to see the David, or go budget with the Duomo exterior, Piazza della Signoria and Boboli Gardens (€16). Walk the Arno and cross the Ponte Vecchio, then hunt down the best cheap bistecca and gelato in the centre. This is where you save money for Rome — plan one paid museum, not both.

🚌On foot

🛏Florence hostel dorm

• →Uffizi or Accademia (pre-booked)
• →Ponte Vecchio and Arno walk
• →Boboli Gardens

Take a Frecciarossa Florence–Rome Termini (about 1h40, €25–45). Join a free walking tour from Termini or the Spanish Steps for orientation (tips ~€5–10), then a Testaccio or Trastevere street-food walk (GetYourGuide, roughly €40–55). Evening drinks in Trastevere — the hostel crowd will happily tag along.

🚌High-speed train Florence–Rome (~£32)

🛏Rome hostel dorm

• →Free walking tour
• →Trastevere/Testaccio food tour
• →Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps evening

Free day. Pre-book skip-the-line tickets for the Colosseum and Roman Forum (€18–24) and, if you want the full ticket, the Vatican Museums (€20–30). Otherwise, do the Pantheon (€5), Piazza Navona and St Peter's Square for free. Plan one paid ticket and one free afternoon with a gelato budget of about €3 per scoop.

🚌Rome Metro/bus 48h ticket (~£7)

🛏Rome hostel dorm

• →Colosseum + Roman Forum (pre-booked)
• →Pantheon
• →Piazza Navona and gelato crawl

Take a regional train Rome–Ancona along the Adriatic (about 3h45, €20–30). Book the Blue Line or Jadrolinija/SNAV equivalent Ancona–Split overnight ferry yourself on Direct Ferries or the operator site — a reclining seat is around €40–55 and a shared cabin €60–80pp; departures are usually after 19:00 and arrive around 07:00. This replaces the tour's included overnight ferry and cabin.

🚌Train Rome–Ancona (~£22) + overnight ferry (~£45)

🛏Overnight ferry (reclining seat or shared cabin)

• →Adriatic coastal train ride
• →Overnight ferry across to Croatia

Arrive by 07:00, drop bags at the hostel and grab breakfast at a bakery (about €4). Climb the St Domnius bell tower (€10) for the best view of Diocletian's Palace, or take a GetYourGuide group walking tour of the Old Town (~€20–25). Afternoon is free: Bacvice beach is a 15-minute walk. Evening drinks on the Riva.

🚌On foot; ferry dock is central

🛏Split hostel dorm

• →St Domnius bell tower
• →Diocletian's Palace walking tour
• →Bacvice Beach

Catch the Jadrolinija car ferry (about 50 min, €7–9 return fare from Split to Supetar on Brač) or a faster catamaran, and spend the day on Supetar's historic lanes and the white-pebble beaches around Zlatni Rat (local bus from Supetar, ~€5). Swim, eat peka, and come back on the evening ferry.

🚌Local ferry + island bus (~£16)

🛏Split hostel dorm

• →Brač ferry crossing
• →Supetar old town
• →Zlatni Rat beach swim

Take a Flixbus or Arriva bus Split–Ston (about 2h, €12–15), walk a section of the Ston-to-Mali Ston walls (€10–15) and try local oysters for lunch. Then continue on a Ston–Dubrovnik bus or the Pelješac peninsula wine-country road (about 1h15, €10–12) — a self-paced version of the tour's scenic drive.

🚌Split–Ston–Dubrovnik buses (~£22)

🛏Dubrovnik hostel dorm (or cheaper Lapad area)

• →Ston Walls walk
• →Oyster lunch on Pelješac
• →Pelješac scenic drive

Pre-buy the Dubrovnik Pass (€35) — it covers the city walls (otherwise €35 alone), several museums and some bus rides; walk the full circuit early to beat the crowds. Lunch in the old port, then afternoon at Banje or Lapad beach and the cable car (€27) or a free walk up to Srđ if you fancy the hike. Pack for an early cross-border bus to Kotor tomorrow.

🚌City bus day pass (~£4)

🛏Dubrovnik hostel dorm

• →City walls walk with Dubrovnik Pass
• →Museum of Croatian War of Independence
• →Mount Srđ cable car or hike

Take the bus down Kotor Bay (about 2h30 with border crossing, €15–20) — one of the finest bus rides in the Balkans, comparable to the tour's scenic drive. In Kotor, spend the afternoon in the old town and pre-set an early alarm for tomorrow's fortress hike. Evening by the bay in Dobrota.

🚌Cross-border bus (~£17)

🛏Kotor old-town or Dobrota hostel

• →Kotor Bay bus ride
• →Kotor old town stroll

Do the free self-guided sunrise hike up to the San Giovanni / Kotor fortress (start about 06:00, €10–15 entry, 3–4h return). Refuel with a bakery breakfast, then rent a kayak on the bay (~€15–20) or take a local bus to Perast and the Our Lady of the Rocks islet (boat €5). This is the cheapest and best day on the trip.

🚌Local bus to Perast (~£2); kayak hire

🛏Kotor hostel

• →Sunrise hike to Kotor fortress
• →Sea kayaking
• →Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks

Take a local bus from Kotor to Virpazar (€6–9) and hire a small boat or join a shared lake cruise into Lake Skadar's channels (€15–25). Back on a local bus to Podgorica for a cheap night, or continue south towards Bar. Montenegro is a wildly underrated cheap stop — use it as your buffer before Albania.

🚌Local buses (~£14)

🛏Podgorica or Bar hostel/guesthouse

• →Lake Skadar boat trip
• →Virpazar village wander
• →Cheap Montenegrin dinner

Bus from Podgorica or Shkodër into Albania (cross at Muriqan/Hani i Hotit, €10–15), then the inland bus south via Tirana to Saranda (about €15–20, long day — leave early). Alternatively fly or take a bus to Tirana for a night and do the coast the following day. Arrive Saranda for a cheap Albanian dinner: a full meal costs about €6–8.

🚌Cross-border + Albanian long-distance buses (~£28)

🛏Saranda guesthouse

• →Albanian overland route
• →Evening on Saranda promenade

Explore the free Ionian coast: Lekuresi Castle viewpoint, a bus or taxi to Ksamil's beaches (€5–10 each way), and the hot springs nearby. Skip anything overpriced — Albania's beauty is almost all free. This is a good rest day before crossing to Corfu tomorrow.

🚌Local minibus/taxi (~£8)

🛏Saranda guesthouse

• →Lekuresi Castle
• →Ksamil beaches swim
• →Buneci hot springs walk

Take the fast ferry Saranda–Corfu (about 30–60 min with Ionian Seaways or Sarris Cruises, €20–30 one way — book on Direct Ferries or directly). In Corfu Town, stay in the old town and spend the afternoon walking the Listeia, the Old Fortress and the seafront. Corfu costs more than Albania, so stock up on supermarket lunches.

🚌Fast ferry (~£22)

🛏Corfu Town hostel or guesthouse

• →Ionian ferry crossing
• →Corfu old town walking route
• →Old Fortress

Day trip by local bus (the Green Bus from Corfu Town, about €5–8 return) to Achilleion Palace (€10) or to Paleokastritsa for a swim and a clifftop walk. Return for a cheap gyros dinner in town. Pre-book tomorrow's bus to Ioannina for Meteora.

🚌Local island bus (~£8)

🛏Corfu Town guesthouse

• →Achilleion Palace and gardens
• →Paleokastritsa beach and viewpoint
• →Corfu Town evening

Take the morning ferry back to Igoumenitsa (€10–12) or the direct Corfu–Igoumenitsa crossing, then a KTEL or Flixbus to Ioannina and on to Trikala/Kalambaka (about 4–5h total, €20–28). Stay in Kalambaka, right under the monasteries, for two nights. Sunset over the rock pillars from the free viewpoint is worth the whole day of travel.

🚌Ferry + intercity buses (~£32)

🛏Kalambaka guesthouse

• →Meteora sunset viewpoint
• →Kalambaka evening

Hike or cycle between the monasteries yourself — the Kalambaka-to-Great Meteoron trail is free and takes about an hour up. Monastery entry is €3–5 each; the Great Meteoron and Varlaam are the best. In the afternoon, catch the bus back towards Delphi or Ioannina, or overnight again in Kalambaka to break the journey.

🚌Local buses / onward bus (~£15)

🛏Kalambaka or Ioannina guesthouse

• →Great Meteoron monastery
• →Varlaam monastery
• →Kalambaka hiking trail

Bus via Lamia or Trikala to Delphi (about 4h, €22–30, changing at Lamia and Amfissa on the KTEL network). Check in at a guesthouse in Delphi village. Afternoon at the ancient site — arrive after 15:00 when the day-trippers have gone — and watch the light fall across the ruins and the Pleistos valley.

🚌Intercity buses (~£26)

🛏Delphi village guesthouse

• →Delphi village wander
• →Late-afternoon valley viewpoint

Visit the archaeological site and museum first thing (€12 combined ticket, or the expanded site pass if you're heading to the Acropolis tomorrow). Then take the KTEL bus from Delphi to Athens (about 3h, €18–22) arriving at Liosion station, and Metro into the centre. Evening in Plaka and Monastiraki with a €4 souvlaki and views up to the lit Acropolis.

🚌Delphi–Athens bus + Metro (~£20)

🛏Athens hostel dorm (Psirri or Monastiraki)

• →Delphi archaeological site and museum
• →Plaka and Monastiraki evening
• →Acropolis night view

Pre-book the Acropolis skip-the-line ticket or a GetYourGuide highlights walk (€25–35 including entry), then do the free highlights loop: the Ancient Agora, Hadrian's Library, Syntagma's changing of the guard and the Filopappou Hill sunset. Finish with a coffee at Shedia Home, the social-enterprise café G Adventures supports — a nice way to close the loop with the original itinerary. Depart the following morning.

🚌Metro/tram 24h ticket (~£4)

🛏Athens hostel dorm

• →Acropolis and Parthenon
• →Ancient Agora
• →Coffee at Shedia Home