Spectacular Europe Self-Launched: London to Barcelona in 18 Days

Land at Heathrow/Gatwick and take the Tube into town (Piccadilly line from Heathrow ~£5.60 off-peak to Zone 1). Check into a hostel dorm or budget hotel near King's Cross, Earls Court or Camberwell — all well connected and far cheaper than the Ibis/Kensington circuit hotels. Use the afternoon to shake off jet lag with a free wander: Trafalgar Square, down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, then along the South Bank. Grab dinner from a supermarket meal deal or a £8-10 pub pie.

🚌Heathrow Express is pricey — use the Tube Piccadilly line (~£5.60). Oyster/contactless caps daily fares at ~£8.90 in Zones 1-2.

🛏Hostel dorm or budget hotel (King's Cross / Earls Court), £25-40

• →Self-guided arrival walk: Trafalgar Square, The Mall, Buckingham Palace
• →South Bank stroll past the London Eye and Tate Modern
• →Free evening at a hostel social night

Do the coach tour's 'Westminster, Parliament, City and Thames' loop yourself on foot and by bus. Walk Westminster Bridge, past Parliament and Big Ben, up Whitehall to Trafalgar, then take a £1.75 bus to the City for St Paul's and the Tower of London exterior. In the afternoon hit a free museum — the British Museum, National Gallery or Tate Modern all cost nothing. Evening: stroll Leicester Square, Chinatown and Soho, exactly as the tour does, but on your own clock.

🚌Walk + single bus fares £1.75 each (daily cap ~£8.90). Skip the £35pp Windsor Castle add-on unless you really want it — it's a half-day train (£12 return from Waterloo).

🛏Hostel dorm or budget hotel, £25-40

• →Westminster, Big Ben and Parliament on foot
• →Free entry: British Museum or National Gallery
• →Evening walk: Leicester Square, Chinatown, Soho

Use the spare day for whatever takes your fancy: Borough Market for cheap eats, a walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, Camden for vintage shopping, or Greenwich via the DLR (£3). If you want the Windsor Castle experience, take the train from Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside (~£12 return, 55 min) and pay £30 direct entry — cheaper than the tour's €35 optional.

🚌Contactless Tube/bus, capped ~£8.90/day.

🛏Hostel dorm or budget hotel, £25-40

• →Borough Market food browsing
• →Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens walk
• →Optional: Windsor Castle by train (~£12 return + £30 entry)

Eurostar London-Paris starts around £39-60 booked 2-3 months out (2h15). To replicate the tour's Amiens stop, take an early Eurostar to Paris, drop bags, then a TER train from Gare du Nord to Amiens (~1h10, £18-25 return) to see the UNESCO Gothic cathedral and the floating hortillonnages gardens on foot. Return to Paris in the evening. If you want to save a day, skip Amiens and just enjoy Paris — the cathedral is genuinely stunning but optional.

🚌Eurostar ~£45-60; Amiens return TER ~£20.

🛏Hostel in Canal Saint-Martin / Montmartre / Belleville, £28-45

• →Eurostar crossing
• →Amiens Cathedral (free entry) and old town
• →Optional: Jules Verne House museum (~€7)

Start with a pay-what-you-want Sandemans or FreeTour.com walking tour (tip ~€5-10) covering Notre-Dame, the Louvre exterior, Pont Neuf and the Latin Quarter — the equivalent of the tour's panoramic city tour but with more flexibility. Afternoon: Metro to Montmartre, climb to Sacré-Cœur for free, wander Place du Tertre. Optional Versailles: RER C from central Paris (~€4 each way) plus €21 palace ticket, versus a coach tour at £60+.

🚌Metro single €2.15, carnet of 10 ~€17. Versailles RER return ~€8.

🛏Hostel, £28-45

• →Free walking tour (tip-based)
• →Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur
• →Optional: Palace of Versailles by RER C (~€21 entry)

Book Eiffel Tower second-floor tickets on the official site (~€19) about 60 days ahead — the summit costs ~€30 and sells out first. For the Seine experience, the Batobus hop-on boat pass (~€21/24h) or a one-hour Vedettes du Pont Neuf cruise (~€16) is far cheaper than a private tour booking. Spend the afternoon grazing Rue Cler market or Belleville's street food, then picnic on the Champ de Mars.

🚌Metro/walk. Book Eiffel tickets at toureiffel.paris only — avoid resellers.

🛏Hostel, £28-45

• →Eiffel Tower 2nd floor (€19, book direct)
• →Seine river cruise (~€16-21)
• →Rue Cler or Marché d'Aligre food browsing

TGV Paris-Lyon takes 2h and costs £25-45 booked in advance on SNCF Connect (Ouigo budget trains can be as low as £10-15). Check into a hostel in Presqu'île or Croix-Rousse. Ride the historic funicular (F2, €3.60 return) up to Notre-Dame de Fourvière for the free basilica and city views, then walk down through Vieux Lyon's traboules passageways. Evening: bouchon dinner or a £6-8 kebab + local Beaujolais at a wine bar.

🚌TGV Paris-Lyon ~£25-45 advance; TCL metro €2.00/single, 24h pass €6.50.

🛏Hostel in Presqu'île, £25-35

• →Fourvière funicular and basilica
• →Vieux Lyon traboules walk
• →Optional: Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie (~€12)

Take a TER/TGV Lyon-Geneva (~2h, £25-40) then an SBB train Geneva-Zurich (2h45, ~£45 booked via sbb.ch; a Saver Day Pass ~£45-50 can cover the whole Swiss leg). In Geneva, store bags at the station and walk to the Palace of Nations, the Jet d'Eau and the English Garden flower clock — all free and outdoors. Switzerland is expensive, so carry supermarket lunch and stay in a hostel dorm (Zurich hostels average £40-55/night).

🚌Lyon-Geneva TER/TGV ~£30; Geneva-Zurich SBB ~£45 (Saver Day Pass).

🛏Hostel dorm (Zurich City or Oerlikon), £40-55

• →Lake Geneva waterfront and Jet d'Eau
• →Palace of Nations exterior and English Garden
• →Free walking loop of Geneva old town

Do the tour's Zurich day independently. Old Town (Niederdorf), Grossmünster tower (CHF 5) and the Bahnhofstrasse are a free morning wander. Take a Lake Zurich boat (short cruise ~CHF 8-12) or use the S7 train to Rapperswil (~30 min) to see the castle and wooden bridge, then ride back along the lake shore. Supermarket Coop/Migros picnic on the lakefront keeps costs sane.

🚌ZVV 24h zone pass ~CHF 13; boat cruise ~CHF 10; Rapperswil train covered by pass if zoned correctly.

🛏Hostel dorm, £40-55

• →Zurich Old Town and Grossmünster tower
• →Lake Zurich short boat cruise
• →S7 train to Rapperswil Castle (free grounds)

Recreate the mountain day solo: SBB train Zurich-Interlaken Ost (~2h, Saver fare from CHF 25), then the Berner Oberland Bahn to Grindelwald. The Firstbahn cable car up Grindelwald-First is ~CHF 60 return and leads to the Cliff Walk suspension bridge — book the combined ticket online for a small discount. Bring your own mountain lunch (the tour includes one, but a CHF 12 supermarket picnic works). Late afternoon train to Lucerne (1h15) for the Chapel Bridge and lakefront before returning to Zurich or overnighting cheaply in Lucerne's backpacker hostel.

🚌Saver Day Pass (~CHF 52) is often the cheapest way to cover Zurich-Grindelwald-Lucerne in one day.

🛏Hostel in Lucerne or Zurich, £40-55

• →Grindelwald-First cable car and Cliff Walk
• →Interlaken region views
• →Lucerne Chapel Bridge and lakefront

Take the scenic SBB/Eurocity train Zurich-Bellinzona (~1h45, ~£25 with a supersaver), stop to see the three UNESCO medieval castles (Castelgrande is free to walk up; museum €5). Continue to Como (30 min, ~£5) for the lakeside cathedral and gardens, then a regional train to Milan (~40 min, £4-5). Evening: Milan's Piazza del Duomo exterior is free; the rooftop terrace costs ~€15 if you want the view.

🚌Zurich-Bellinzona supersaver ~£25; Bellinzona-Como ~£5; Como-Milan ~£5.

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse near Centrale/Porta Romana, £25-35

• →Bellinzona castles (Castelgrande free)
• →Como lakefront and cathedral
• →Milan Duomo square and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Regional train Milan-Pisa (~4h with a change at Genoa or Florence, ~£20-30 booked on Trenitalia), then walk 20 minutes from Pisa Centrale to Piazza dei Miracoli to see the Leaning Tower and cathedral for free (climbing the tower is ~€20 and must be pre-booked). Continue by regional train Pisa-Rome (~3h, ~£15-20) or a Flixbus (~£10). Check into a hostel near Termini or Monti. That's a long day — an early start is essential.

🚌Milan-Pisa ~£25; Pisa-Rome ~£18 (or Flixbus ~£10).

🛏Hostel near Termini/Monti, £28-40

• →Piazza dei Miracoli and Leaning Tower exterior
• →Optional: climb the tower (~€20, pre-book)
• →Evening in Monti or Trastevere

Self-guide the coach tour's Imperial Rome day: Colosseum + Roman Forum + Palatine Hill combined ticket is €18 booked at colosseo.it (skip the €70 guided option; a Rick Steves audio guide is free). Walk to Piazza Venezia, the Pantheon (€5) and Trevi Fountain. Evening: bus 8 or tram to Trastevere for cheap trattoria pasta (£10-12) and a wander through the cobbled lanes — the 'evening transfer' replaced by a €1.50 bus ticket.

🚌ATAC 24h ticket €7, or single €1.50. Book Colosseum direct — resellers add 40%+.

🛏Hostel, £28-40

• →Colosseum, Forum and Palatine (€18 combined)
• →Pantheon and Trevi Fountain
• →Trastevere evening wander

The tour flies you Rome-Madrid; you can do the same cheaply on Ryanair or Vueling from Ciampino/Fiumicino (hand luggage fares often £30-60 booked 6-8 weeks out). Alternatively, take a night train or a long road day — the flight is faster and usually cheaper. Land in Madrid, take the Metro (€5 airport supplement or bus 203 for €5) into the centre, and check into a hostel in La Latina, Malasaña or Lavapiés. Easy evening tapas crawl.

🚌Ryanair/Vueling Rome-Madrid ~£30-60; Madrid airport bus €5 or Metro ~€7 incl. supplement.

🛏Hostel in La Latina/Malasaña, £25-38

• →Budget flight to Madrid
• →Evening tapas crawl in La Latina or Malasaña

Follow the tour's central Madrid route on foot: Paseo del Prado, Cibeles and Neptuno fountains, Puerta de Alcalá, Plaza Mayor. Drop into the Prado during its free evening window (Mon-Sat 18:00-20:00, Sun 17:00-19:00) instead of paying €15. Wander Retiro Park and the Palacio de Cristal, then visit the Santiago Bernabéu only if you're a football fan (~€35 tour ticket, booked on the club's site).

🚌Walk + Metro single €1.50-2.00. Prado free evening slots book online.

🛏Hostel, £25-38

• →Paseo del Prado, Cibeles, Puerta de Alcalá
• →Plaza Mayor and Mercado de San Miguel
• →Retiro Park and Palacio de Cristal
• →Optional: Bernabéu Stadium tour (~€35)

Take an AVE train Madrid-Zaragoza (1h20, ~£25-40 advance on Renfe), see the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (free entry) and the old town. For Poblet Abbey, catch a regional train from Zaragoza to Lleida or Montblanc (2h) and then a local bus/taxi — this detour adds hours and the tour does it by coach. Simpler alternative: continue straight to Barcelona (AVE Zaragoza-Barcelona ~1h30, ~£25) and visit the free Santa Maria del Mar basilica instead. Overnight in a Barcelona hostel.

🚌Renfe AVE Madrid-Zaragoza ~£35; Zaragoza-Barcelona ~£30 advance fares.

🛏Hostel in Gràcia / El Born / Sants, £30-45

• →Zaragoza Basílica del Pilar (free)
• →Aljafería Palace exterior and old town
• →Optional: Poblet Abbey via Montblanc (adds ~4h)

Do the panoramic tour on foot and by Metro: Las Ramblas, La Boqueria market, Plaça Catalunya and the Gothic Quarter. For Gaudí, book Sagrada Família online at sagradafamilia.org (~€26 basic) 4-6 weeks ahead — the tour's €65 guided version is pure markup. Add Park Güell's monumental zone (~€10) if you have time, then end at Maremagnum or Barceloneta beach for sunset. Evening vermouth and pintxos in El Born.

🚌T-casual 10-ride metro card ~€12; everything central is walkable.

🛏Hostel, £30-45

• →Sagrada Família (€26 direct booking)
• →Gothic Quarter and Barcelona Cathedral
• →La Boqueria and Las Ramblas
• →Optional: Park Güell monumental zone (~€10)

Last morning for a Barceloneta beach walk or a final café con leche before heading to El Prat airport (Aerobús €7.25, 35 min, or Rodalies R2 train €4.60 from Passeig de Gràcia). If you've got a late flight, Bunkers del Carmel gives a free 360° city view. Fly home or continue onward — Barcelona is a great jumping-off point for Valencia, the Balearics or southern France.

🚌Aerobús €7.25 or R2 Rodalies train €4.60 to BCN airport.

🛏—

• →Barceloneta beach walk
• →Optional: Bunkers del Carmel viewpoint (free)