1 week in Europe for beginners

That will be such a special time for you together! I have taken both of my adult daughters separately to Europe, and the memories are wonderful!

First, a question. Can you possibly make this a 2-week trip? That is a long way to fly and expensive to just have one week in Europe. If you can make this a 2-week trip, I think we may be able to give you answers much more in alignment to your wishes. A week is just too short for all of the requests.

For a 7-8 day trip, I would fly into London and home from Paris. Purchase multi-city tickets on one reservation- not two 1-way tickets. I would spend three days in London, take the Chunnel to Paris and spend three more full days in Paris. Take one day-trip at each location, if you wish, although you will already he pushed to even try to do everything you want in this short time at each of those two cities.

Another trip could be Switzerland/Italy which at a minimum should be two weeks.

Europe's destinations are huge and full of sights and attractions. So, with 7-8 days stay on London and Paris if this is priority. And there are also other attractive cities such as Copenhagen, Vienna, Rome, Lisbon, ...

With just a week and London and Paris being the priorities, stick to those two.

Trying to cram more places in will not be 'better'.

Fly into Paris, 3 nights. Fly to London or take the train. 4 nights. Fly out of London. This is called "multi-city" on scheduling apps. It avoids the backtrack of returning to the city that you flew into. Please don't add another city unless you can add some days. If you can add 3 more days, go to Budapest.

For seven to eight days, stick to two cities. Traveling between cities takes time.

As suggested, Fly into London and return from Paris or vice-versa. Take the Eurostar train between London and Paris in either direction. It will be much faster than flying as you go city center to city center. Just be aware of the check in rules for Eurostar especially timing.

Trying to cram another city or two in a one week schedule will mean you see little of anyplace.

Do those 7-8 days include travel to and from Europe?

reddishfam, you've told us about your daughter. What about you? Have you been to Europe? Where and how long ago?

I'd pick London OR Paris and just do one or the other (and I'd pick Paris). Both of those are full of more than a week's worth of things to see and do. Add in the flight from the US eating up much of the first day (airport, check-in, jetlag) and the potential transfer day between London<->Paris eating up another day, and you'd be shortchanging yourselves by trying to see both places (let alone Switzerland or Italy).

For me, Paris + Versailles is a great week and a perfect "dip your toe" in European travel option.

Rick has an itinerary for Paris: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/paris-itinerary
...and London: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/london-itinerary

With your limited amount of time, please consider only two cities. Anything more will just be a blur of planes and trains. If those are the two cities she really wants to see, then flying into London, taking the train to Paris, and flying home from there will make the best use of your limited time. If, you can manage to extend your trip to two weeks, then my advice will still be the same. You can easily spend a week in each and not run out of things to see & do.

You can easily spend a week in each and not run out of things to see &
do.

True. We've done exactly that! It can matter what your interests are, however, and your travel style. We like to take our time and not be uber-confined to tight itineraries and having to cram too many big attractions into a day, especially if those attractions are the ones that draw huge crowds. You and your daughter may be fine with more of a hit-and-run sightseeing approach.

In any case, both cities will be very busy in May, and there are attractions you're going to need to book in advance. It's pretty much going to be the same for all of Europe's most-visited locations. As May is right around the corner, you are a bit late in the game making arrangements so the two of you need to nail your destination(s) down and get after your bookings ASAP.

As above, with just a week to work with you really don't have time for more than just London + Paris, tops. The good news for you excited first-timers is that making a plan for just 1 or 2 cities is going be a LOT easier than for 4...in four different counties, and involving 3 different currencies, no less. :O)

Whatever you decide, spend some quality time with a guidebook and come back to us with questions you may have? Whatever you decide, you're going to have a wonderful time!

Welcome to the forum, reddishfam. London/Paris was my first overseas trip in about that amount of time. It was a small bite, not a deep dive. Unless you only want to see the inside of planes and trains, two cities is tops for that short amount of time (especially if the 7-8 days includes your travel days - if that's the case then I would only pick one city).

If you're going THIS May you need to definitely hammer it down asap. I also suggest flights into London, Eurostar train to Paris, fly home from Paris. Those train tickets may already be on sale and only get more expensive the closer you get to your travel date. Plane fares have been bouncing all over the place, so depending on where you're flying from you might have sticker shock.

All good advice above. I would say to be flexible in the order of your visit, based on ticket prices for flights and Eurostar. I also want to encourage you and your daughter not to try to cram too much in to this short trip. Don't make it about a checklist of "must-see" sights or daytrips. Focus on being there and absorbing the environment. Neither city is conducive to the HOHO bus, but both offer local bus rides and river "cruises" that allow you to see a lot of the landmarks and give you a sense of the city's geography. Indulge your personal interests, whatever those might be. In both cities, walking (and in Paris, strolling) is a big part of the experience. Enjoy this special time together.

Just a slightly different twist, perhaps a bit of a dissenting opinion. My wife and I have done a 4 day trip that included Paris, Rome, Florence, a bit of time in Switzerland. Was it fast? You bet. We also got lucky that none of our transportation plans went awry. Still, 100% zero regrets. That is the amount of time we had prior to a professional meeting and, while we didn't get a lot of depth in any one place, the trip memories are still a highlight. As everyone above has said, it all depends on your travel style. We tend to not be very interested in museums and travel pretty fast....if there's someplace we really love, we have tried to make note to go back and visit again someday. That was our very first trip to Europe and we were beyond thrilled to do the basics of wandering around seeing the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in person...walking around Rome and Florence. We managed to tour Notre Dame, the Vatican Museums, parts of the Louvre, the Roman Forum, a castle in Montreux Switzerland, and got a taste of each place but we mostly just enjoyed the thrill of actually being in those places and wandering around. We are also accustomed to walking a lot. Do be sure to book ahead for any must-see sights as mentioned. And we had to ruthlessly prioritize what was most important to us....it came down to a longer time in one area or a survey of a few things we'd always wanted to see. Due to life circumstances, we've not yet made it back to Italy or Switzerland and are 100% glad we took a brief peek at those places.

My advice would be for you and your daughter to really think about what pace of trip would realistically work for both of you (most people do not like to travel quickly it seems so if that's the case, I wouldn't push more than 2 areas), what you want to see in each place, and maybe rank the items in Paris/London vs. what you might add in Italy or Switzerland. Then look at your transportation options...times and prices should be available. Keep in mind that transportation issues are always a real possibility. For our trip, we started with...hey we want to see what Paris is like (we've been back since) and we really have always wanted to be in Italy....two days is better than zero....and went from there. Best luck on your planning and trip!

reddishfam,
Lots of wise advice from posters so far. I would add one thing. When planning your day's activities, whether in London or Paris, be sure to figure in the time it will take to go from one place to another. That means walking time or bus time or metro/underground time, navigating stations and platforms and entrances and exits, waiting in line time (for entrance or for security checks)....it all adds up. If you go to one museum at, say 10:00 a.m., and plan for another at 12:00, you will use up maybe a half hour in transit, no matter which form that takes. Depending on the size and popularity of a place, give yourself enough time to actually be there. And schedule in time for lunch or a sit-down to rest your feet. A good suggestion is to plan two main things per day, one morning and one afternoon, then add in your maybes if you have time to spare, or if something catches your interest on the fly. Evenings in both cities offer a variety of plays, concerts, etc. to add to your adventure as well.....maybe the opportunity for something in that category will appear.

And I do agree that if even one of your 7-8 days is a travel (arrival or departure) day, maybe stick with just one city. Both Paris and London are chock full of options. And with one city, the day you would have spent traveling between the cities could be spent on a day trip (Versailles or Chartres, or Windsor or Stonehenge, just to name a couple from each place).

Best of luck on your trip. Amusez-vous bien!

If you're at all open to a tour, the Rick Steves 7-day London tour or 7-day Paris tour are ideal for beginners. I've been on both. You'd have a mix of structure and free time and orientation to each city's transit system. I agree with others, I wouldn't stretch 7 days to four countries.

Have a great time no matter your decision!

I echo the opinion to stick to London and Paris. You will still feel like you are rushed, but she'll experience a taste of each of these great cities. If the trip is THIS May, all the more reason to simplify in order to maximize opportunities to get tickets for your chosen activities, and to make reservations as quickly as possible.

Has your daughter prioritized some activities in each city? With only a week, I suggest looking at the "must sees" to determine if one part of a week is better in London or Paris (e.g., market days or special exhibit hours/dates) although the flight schedules/fares may dictate which city first.

Have a wonderful time! Come back with a trip report!

IF you were to squeeze in a visit to somewhere in Switzerland and Italy, and IF you were to get there sometime in addition to Paris and/or London, one option would be Zermatt, Switzerland and Cervinia (officially Breuil-Cervinia), Italy. They’re on opposite sides of the Matterhorn mountain from each other, basically on the Swiss/Italian border. In a single day, you can take a series of trams/gondolas/cable cars to get from one to the other, and back.

The lifts run both during the main ski season (where you’d have lots of skiers with you) and outside of it (fewer skiers in May), and you can go as foot passengers at either time. Start in Zermatt after breakfast, ride WAY up to the border, then ride down into Cervinia, in about 2 hours. Have a fabulous lunch in Italy, maybe do some quickie sightseeing, then ride back up and down to Zermatt, getting back there about 5:00 or so, with time before dinner. Getting to/from Zermatt would take some time, and as others have mentioned, the transportation could affect your overall plans. But, the two of you could include exciting scenery and a taste of a place in both Switzerland and Italy, and still provide a couple of days each in Paris and London.

Also keep in mind that tours can cover more ground in a short period of time because someone else is handling the logistics of checking in and out of hotels and transportation. For example, a tour might drop you off for sightseeing, then take your luggage to the hotel for you. You will spend a minimum of 1/2 day every time you change locations,

Honestly, I would love to see you pick one city with only a week to spend. London and Paris both can easily fill weeks. Someone mentioned the RS seven day tours. If it fits your budget, and if there are any openings fitting your time schedule, doing that would certainly help you maximize your time in either city, as planning, guiding and logistics are included. Your trip then becomes a very efficient, add water and stir operation. No meter what you choose, and your week includes arrival and departure days, remember that you’ll only have part of those days, but not the whole day. 3 and 3 would be your next best bet, but it would be a quick, on the surface only visit in each city, and factor in half a day getting from one to the other. Either way, try to do as much advance planning as possible. It you are museum/art/church-driven, you’ll have to be ruthless in establishing your priorities. It might be better to pick one or two things at the museum or church that interest you and head straight there rather than wandering through any site in either city without a plan. Lay out your days so that you aren’t backtracking between attractions. Do you prefer walking or taking public transportation? Plan your time accordingly. Alternatively, if by “seeing” the cities you mean, three days of strolling streets and parks, enjoying the atmosphere, looking at the exteriors of buildings with maybe a museum or church thrown in, eating and people watching you’ll get a taste of each city in 3 days. Which appeals most? Maybe that’s where you should start. Let your travel style determine your itinerary.

Or something else to consider: Rick Steves’ Family Europe tour would grant your daughter everywhere on her wish list: London, Paris, Wengen, Cinque Terra, and Florence. She would be older than the other kids, but last year, on our tour there was someone who had just graduated from college.
It would be a great way for her to be introduced to different countries and to start thinking of future trips. It’s really a great tour. You could get a better picture of the tour by reading scrapbooks people have made.
Edited to add: just looked at tour dates. There is a sale on a tour starting May 31!

reddishfam,
Have you made any decisions re your trip, or narrowed anything down? Often contributors to the forum questions appreciate feedback on their suggestions. It is always nice (and helpful for contributors) to get the perspective of the OPs on what the contributors have suggested.

If you stick to London and Paris (as the majority of posters here support, as do I) and you're factoring how to get around: consider using each city's excellent bikeshare systems as your primary form of transportation!

You'll see so much more of each city on bike (or on foot) than in a taxi or on an underground train. Not that the London Underground/Overground and Paris Metro aren't excellent systems (and well worth using), riding a bicycle allows you to cover a lot of ground efficiently while actually seeing the city, understanding its layout, etc. In Paris, especially, the bicycle infrastructure is protected and connected - low stress, well marked, you name it.

After that, buses are great for moving around and seeing things. But really: May is a great time to get around these great cities on a bike. It's not overly hot, humidity is low, and all of the flowers are in full bloom.

Just my $0.02, but many European cities are best experienced on two wheels.

I agree with choosing London and Paris as this is her first trip to Europe...very rewarding and enlightening. Spend the entire 8 days split up between London and Paris.

My first trip included London, obviously, but not Paris. That was reserved for the second trip 2 years later. The first trip had both Berlin and Vienna substitute for Paris after visiting London.

Did we scare off the OP with too much info?

Haha! I’m not scared off, and I appreciate all the valuable input. I’m sharing these with my daughter, and letting her make the decisions. 😃

I’ve been to Italy and Switzerland. I think I raved about those trips so much that she wanted to add those. Now she sees through all your advice, that we might want to just take our time and enjoy a couple of places. She is leaning toward Paris and surrounding areas.

Thank you ALL so much! You’ve helped us make some decisions that will help our trip be unforgettable!