Five countries, one city in each

Fact sheet

Days

15

Countries

Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland

Cities

Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki

Recommended season

January

Group

12 to 15 participants; above 15 the route changes, and how is written further down

Language of the visits

English at all five main sites; German available in Berlin

Schengen days used

15 out of 90, counting the day of entry and the day of exit

Price

Quotation on request

→ Request a quotation · Download the itinerary in PDF

In the quotation we write which sites are confirmed and which are being confirmed, one by one, and we also write down the free day in each country, with the options we can cover.

The map, described

A line going up, straight. It starts in Milan, in the middle of the continent, and climbs in five stops to the Gulf of Finland: Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki. One city per country, three days each, four flights inside Europe and no trip outside the city. The line neither doubles back nor crosses itself: each flight lands further north than the last, and the return is bought from Helsinki. It is the simplest possible geometry across five countries, and that is the main reason this variant exists.

The route, country by country

The free day is not empty time, and it is the reason this variant exists. In four of the five countries one of the three days is left at the disposal of the institution that brings the group: it serves for a meeting the association already has booked, for a visit it wants to organize on its own, for a university it has a relationship with, or simply for one more working session. We keep it free, we coordinate it and we write its program, but the content is decided by whoever buys. None of the other three variants does this.

Schengen days used: 15

This route uses up 15 of the 90 days a Mexican national may spend in the Schengen area within a 180-day period without a visa. Every day of stay counts, including arrival and departure, and the count is cumulative across the whole area: the five countries on this route are all inside Schengen, so the fifteen days add up to each other and add to any earlier trip by the same participant in the last six months.

Since 10 April 2026 the European entry-exit registration system has been fully operating at all external crossings of the 29 countries that use it: the count no longer depends on passport stamps. The European Commission provides an official calculator of available days, public and also in Spanish; you need to know that it does not count stays begun before 10 April 2026.

Anyone who traveled to Europe recently may not have fifteen days available, and that check is made before the group is enrolled, not at the desk. → Visa and residence permit

What changes with 15 and what changes with 30 participants

Above 15 we do not sell the same route cheaper. We sell a different route, built on sites with larger capacity, and we write it in the quotation instead of discovering it along the way.

The fallback plan for the transfers

Four flights in fifteen days are four chances for something to fail. The rules we build the calendar with are four and they are written into the program handed over.

1. The calendar is built backwards from the constraints, not forwards from the flight dates. Here the constraints are three and all of them Italian or German: the Milan design museum closes on Fridays, the Milan water plant closes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the Berlin campus visit has the lowest capacity on the whole route, so it is booked first. Those first, then the flights.
2. No visit on the day of a flight, and never in the morning. Each transfer takes up the first half of the day, and that day's visit is in the afternoon, in the city of arrival. If the flight moves, you lose half a day and not a site.
3. The free day is also the reserve day. It is the hidden advantage of this variant: in four of the five countries there is already a day without bookings, and a delay is absorbed there without losing anything. On the other variants that day does not exist.
4. The overland alternative is checked when quoting, not along the way. For each of the four transfers the program states which alternative connection is available in that month and how long it takes, with the warning that the last leg towards Finland is the one with the fewest alternatives.

And one rule that falls on us: the person from the Istituto traveling with the group has the mandate to rewrite the day on the spot, informing the institution's office the same day.

What is included and what is not

Included: admissions and visits to the confirmed sites, the booking and coordination with all of them including the coordination of the free days, the guided working sessions in each country, the materials, one person from the Istituto with the group for all fifteen days, the final report handed to the institution that brings the group and the certificate of participation.

Not included: the intercontinental flight, the four internal flights and the overland transfers, lodging, meals, urban transport, travel insurance, which is compulsory and paid by whoever travels (the accident and public liability cover for the activities is taken out by us).

The season, and why January

Like every variant of the European route, this one is meant for January, and it is not an emergency fallback. All five stops are urban, indoors and with short distances inside each city; none of them depends on the weather, the farming season or a mountain road. In January the cities of northern Europe work at full pace while tourism is at a standstill, which means available counterparts and lower accommodation costs.

Two warnings we give first: the Berlin campus walk takes place largely outdoors, and in January two hours outdoors in Berlin are prepared for with the right clothing; in Copenhagen and Helsinki the hours of daylight in January are few, and in those two cities the itinerary is built around the hours of daylight and not around waking hours.

The Italian experiences in the catalog, by contrast, are almost never sold in January. The reason, month by month, is on the Seasons page.

Cover

The program includes an accident and public liability policy for the whole stay. The sums insured, the insurer and the policy number are published once it is taken out and are attached to the contract; until then they can be requested in writing, with an answer within two working days.

Do you want it to count as training, with a certificate? This route can be built as an Istituto program, with classroom hours in each country, a piece of work delivered at the end and a certificate of attendance. → For groups

→ Request a quotation

Related routes

Five European business models, compared (15 days, the variant we recommend) · Where things are actually made (18 days) · Six countries, and a meeting with the person who designs (20 days)

What changes compared with the other three

This page exists because it answers one precise question better than the other three: «can we fit in a day of our own?»

You choose this one if the association already has contacts of its own in Europe, if it wants to add a meeting with a university or a company it knows, or if it prefers to buy a solid structure and fill it in itself. It is also the variant with the fewest things that can go wrong, and therefore the one that can be organized in the least time.

You choose D, which we recommend, if the aim is to bring the international programs office a document that reads as a training program and not as a trip: same geography, same days, but each country has a subject and the subject is the content. It costs exactly the same as this one.

You choose B if the first question the office is going to ask is «did you visit factories or just museums?».

You choose C if the group wants the thing you tell people about when you get back, and has five extra days and an extra budget.

---