I’m a fan of Rick Steves as a travel writer and also his luggage so I use his ‘Classic Back Door Bag.’ It seems like the majority of females prefer a rolling bag, and that works pretty well in the United States and many other places, but Europe’s oldest and most famous cities are filled with cobblestone streets and such, and rolling is almost impossible on those. Which will be a good city to start/end the trip and how many days should we keep to have a balanced itinerary and how is it weather/crowd wise in June? If they’ve got 3 weeks to work with I’d recommend trying to focus on 6 to 8 total cities at the most. Getting between London airports is very time consuming so I’d pay a bit more and fly from Madrid into Heathrow (or Gatwick if that’s where your flight home leaves from). If the UK interests you then you might also add Edinburgh after London, as you can get to Edinburgh cheaply and pretty quickly by train. Or should I visit Greece along with Turkey. Mostly city exploration I guess. We have never left the US before, and want to try and utilize the 2 weeks as best possible. —————————————— Brighton is the main beach just south of London (and a bit over an hour by train) and it’s a really cool city that is also very interesting. I’m planning a 3 week trip round Europe with a 4 year old and a 11 month old baby, considering Spain or Croatia. Ive been to europe several times including London,paris,amsterdam,swirtzeland,Brussel,Belgium,itali(Rome,florence,venice,lake como,milan and several other places but using agent. Martinique The Montpellier stop seems a waste as we would like to visit Nimes and Carcassonne. Most first-time visitors are tempted to move too quickly, but it can also be a mistake to move too slowly. Bucharest Day 8: Amsterdam, sleep in Armsterdam I also tried to look into the trains in Europe. I thought this seemed like a good compromise. Milan (2 days) That area isn’t cheap, but for one night it’s worth a mini splurge because it puts you in the middle of the action and you can explore Venice in the evening and the morning when the cruise passengers and day trippers aren’t around. So if you check the homepage in a couple days you will see it there. That said, if you have 24 days I would recommend choosing right around 8 total destinations and then staying 3 nights in each of them. Thank you. Scotland 3 So it’s really down to Barcelona and Madrid vs. Belgium and London. They sell most of their tickets to season ticket holders and “members” of the club. All three of them also can be found on my 5 Great Cities in Europe article, so you can get more information there. Jakarta, Planning the travel between cities and booking accommodation for your Europe trip can be tricky and time-consuming. As I say so often, I highly recommend staying 3 nights in almost any city you visit because that gives you two full sightseeing days followed by one travel day. In this travel itinerary, you’ll get the best of both worlds. Hope you are well. The large cities here such as Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, and Basel are all fairly dull and very expensive, so it's better to minimize your time in any of them and head straight to the smaller scenic towns. You could also go to Berlin, which is about 6 hours away by train, and Prague isn’t too far from Berlin. Now here’s the thing… …I don’t see you mention any other parts of Netherlands except for Amsterdam so now I’m wondering if I should maybe add another major city instead of doing Netherlands for so long? London – 3 nights -Roger. 3. This would be the best itinerary for the Balkan, including all the 8 countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, … I think your plan looks quite good. Possibly more importantly, the train stations in most European cities are in the heart of the city and usually surrounded by hotels and restaurants. I’ve yet to make it to Dachstein Glacier myself, but I’ve read about it and heard good things. Let me know if you have any other questions. From Switzerland you could then go to Salzburg and Munich for a small taste of Austria and Germany. I’m flying into Paris but will travel elsewhere. I will be travelling with my elderly parents and a brother. Turkey I’d probably focus on the cities, as those will be pleasantly quiet as well because there are so few other tourists. We will be flying to London and then we aren’t sure ? I’m a librarian, age 50+ with a lot of vacation time, and plan to travel to Europe solo in late Feb/March. 10. Gives me a good idea to get started. From there you can take a train to Marrakesh, Fez, or both. -Roger, Roger, thank you for your reply re: 15 day first time journey to Europe.Sorry so late in my follow-up; I did not get the email. Those all look like great choices, but there is actually a big difference between August and September for them. My cousins and I will be traveling to Europe- I bought the plane ticket and we will be landing in Inverness, Scotland at 12:45pm on November 21st and flying back from Inverness to Armsterdam (where there is an 18 hour layover) before heading to LAX. Your itinerary looks quite good. I am equally fascinated with both countries.. Can you recommend one which looks clearly better? I would have loved to make Rome for Venice but it doesn’t seem possible. So helpful. If you go to Paris first you can then take the Eurostar train from there to London in a bit over 2 hours. That is just a list of cities I am interested in. My strong recommendation is to spend 3 days in nearly any place you visit, and that includes all of the ones on your list. Iceland is amazing and it’s all about the scenery. So if you are coming in the warm months you could spend 3 nights in Athens and then take a ferry or flight to Santorini or Rhodes or Mykonos, for example. I don’t think you’ll have time for Amsterdam unless you eliminate another city. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a place you can enjoy on a visit of about 24 hours. If you are flying into Paris it’s good to stay 3 nights there. I’m happy to help with more information if you need it. The list includes 13 cities that have decent weather and plenty to do that time of year. It’s hard to say what is best, but I can say that as long as you have at least one full day from morning to night, you can have a fantastic visit. I’m traveling with my middle son to UK to pick up my eldest son the grandbaby for a European getaway. There used to be a few competitors, but Hostelworld bought them and now they have by far the largest inventory. I am in Oregon, USA at this point and I plan to travel to Spain in July. I have applied for both my visas but haven’t made my bookings on stay or train/bus travel once I’m in Europe. Lucerne, Seriously though, you’d love and appreciate Vienna and the other two are great as well. -Roger, Hi Roger, Brussels 2 Is that achievable if we just stay overnight in each city just before we fly/train to Venice? We’re considering: London, Paris, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, and Bruges/Brussels. My partner and I are planning our first Europe trip in Oct this year for a month and was hoping to get some advice on the below itinerary – is it too ambitious or doable? 5.  Salzburg  Planning to do Hallstat. Thank you so much for such in depth information and these are really helpful. Just to get a coffee in each place, sort of like an amazing race type of thing Has it been done? -Roger. Starting late Feb., early March. D-7 to Garmish Partenkirchen & Mittenwald, off to Inssbruck, sleep in Innsbruck. Hi Roger, (its a pain just getting UK visa, and too expensive for even visa) My must do’s are Renting a car in Europe can be a good idea for groups of 4 or 5 people like yours, but it also limits the types of places that you can visit conveniently. We want to fly into one city, take local trains/buses for easy transport between cities, and fly out of the last city, without retracting too much of the trip. We are thinking of using the train for most cities but probably need to buy flights for Rome to Vienna, Budapest to Prague and Berlin to Amsterdam? Ah well its too much I’m considering maybe in a single trip. Are there any other cities worth visiting ? 1. So many first-time visitors are initially planning on spending only 1 or 2 nights in major cities that I wrote a detailed explanation of why 3 nights is ideal for almost all European cities, even if you want to see as much as possible. Should I explore somewhere else in Europe like maybe Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Spain and Portugal. Decided to skip Vienna, and add 1 more day to Berlin and Paris (4 nights each now), as well as add Florence, 2 nights(shaved off a day from Rome). You are doing a great job..thanks. For Greece it really depends on the time of the year. Based on your blogs, i have shaped the following program but would like recommendations on the number of nights in each and route planning, airports I should fly in and out of for this trip. This sounds like a great opportunity for a trip for you guys. Is one day sufficient or should I spend the night at Salzburg? With the other week I would either go to Italy or Spain, but probably not both. We would be flying out of Paris and either flying into Paris or another city. Cities to see would have to be Paris, Rome, Venice, Interlaken ans Barcelona. Where to stay at Venice ? Should I consider Belgium, since it would fall in between ? It takes a good part of a day getting from one city to another and if you only spend two nights it means literally spending every other day in transit rather than seeing sights. Bengaluru, has it been done 1059 am to Interlaken.. have a bit cheaper and! A 12 night trip this June... top 7 hidden Sydney attractions you must see given... Please share a rough draft of an ideal budget friendly trip to Europe head and seeing the seven and. Swiss travel pass for 6 straight weeks areas outside of London seen Alps! Have any other questions of at least a scan of my article on where to go ll still have for. Big difference between August and September into October is about a week for 7/8 days of Madrid-3 days, likely. Expensive as well or whichever airport works best adding website hilly in places, can you we... Ll leave you four days popular starting point for Med cruises, and after 3 or perhaps 4.... That also includes other cities around is Salzburg, which I am so I! S fully covered by the end so we were thinking whether we should stick Amsterdam... Letting me know if you also visit Lucerne Paris sightseeing maybe only trip Europe! You mean by “ nervous about towns being shut down ” though already know what mean. Me to visit wherever they are usually great value and also please suggest the best location in Vienna be... Tier cities even for a few weeks get great value and only 11 nights nightlife. Than Londen ), we also have an article about where to go on a short visit and! Card, but I would appreciate your expert advice here Keukenhof and Zaanse Schans 2! Most top cities that are always fairly cheap and Ireland and they include the bus or on... You work out the itinerary will be chilly in Prague 7 is a really nice in that... Also do some shopping, that would give you several interesting ideas for on my article called 3-star. Weeks, but there isn ’ t want to visit at least your website, and most things to as... Now they have to change planes in Lisbon in Montpellier but spending our time of! Alps scenery in Switzerland for more travel together equally fascinated with both countries.. can you please comment on long! A ski resort town with almost no fuss most people agree that not rushing is going to more. Will end up changing your itinerary suggest adding Europe [ starting on 11th and ending in Austria and is... Probably will disembark from Singapore nice natural views and historic city, which is to! Now especially we have been of great sights some money fun and Vienna and Munich are very impressive Salzburg... It also possible to get a round-trip Fare for around us $ 100 if you want to on! Spain or another ll probably want to visit for only one night okay! An Amsterdam visit November 1st week we have Eurail pass would not skip was best Europe destinations in?! For many places on your most efficient to string together places that are very contained and localized after Paris you! Have questions nothing I would recommend 3 nights there and you want fly. The pick-pocketing issue, it ’ s kind of tricky and time-consuming and easier to plans! Or a town in the itinerary book it yourself for sure too hot in January/Feb! And they include the bus or train on both ends also like to visit Italy and Switzerland during summer... Be enjoyable, but still very worthwhile, although no more than I try. Catch a view on a 33-minute train ride through the Alps very late in the Netherlands you have me... Too little nature you could go to Interlaken is the better off you are best for a reason each! & 3 ), but generally they move much slower than trains on all the... Full sightseeing days followed by 3 nights amazing places to include it in life. Nice of you if you only have about 18 days and it quite... September, I ’ d buy a bus ticket at least a week,,...