1st mother/daughter trip to Europe

Given that she wants to go places where you haven't been (and you have been to many places - lucky you!), I would suggest Prague, Berlin, Budapest, Amsterdam, and go back to Paris!

Just because you've seen the major sites is no reason your daughter shouldn't see them also. Don't forget to add Switzerland to your itinerary to see the squeeky clean and amazingly beautiful scenery.

Agree with Charlotte, go east! Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest. You should be able to find fairly cheap airfares from Edinburgh and then train around the region.

Even before I read the other responses, my first thought was Prague, Budapest, Berlin, et al. So it's "unanimous."

Since you haven't been, one thing I always emphasize is that, while Prague, Budapest, and Vienna are spoken of as triplets, and have shared history and geographic proximity, they are as different as apples, oranges, and bananas - and Berlin is different again from each of them (strawberries?). So, even if you limit yourself to these four, your trip will still be tremendously varied. Of course, since these are all large cities, you will probably want to include smaller towns as well.

Budapest is fabulous--so much so that I am already planning my return visit, 18 months after my first. Vienna, Prague and Krakow are also beautiful cities with so much to see and do.

I'm feeling a little sorry for your daughter as you have ticked off all the best places.
How about to Northern Spain ??

Train to London - 4 nights
Train to Paris - 4 nights
Fly/train to Barcelona - 4 nights
Fly/train to San Sebastian - 2 nights
Train/bus to Bilbao - 1 night
Train/bus to Santander - 2 nights
Train/bus to Oviedo - 2 nights
Train/bus to Santiago de Compostela - 2 nights
Fly to Edinburgh via London/Madrid (??)

I have to admit though, that like others, my first thoughts were also Central Europe.

Fly to Paris - 4 nights
Train to Amsterdam - 3 nights
Train to Berlin - 4 nights
Train to Prague - 3 night
Train to Vienna - 3 nights
Train to Budapest - 4 nights
Fly to Edinburgh via London (??)

For beautiful scenery I immediately thought of Norway and Austria. The fjords and mountains of Norway are amazing. And Oslo is a wonderful city. The only city to rival it for cleanliness, in my opinion, is Sydney Australia. Austria has the Alps! Innsbruck and Salzburg are great places to wander around. Vienna is also lovely and a nice contrast.

And don't assume she'll have seen everything she wants to in the UK. You could add Cardiff, Wales as well as the Snowdonia area for beautiful mountains. Inverness and the rest of the Highlands- all the way to Orkney. All the islands. Lots to cover! So maybe spend a week and a half to 2 weeks 'somewhere else' in Europe and come back and have a week in the Highlands or Wales before heading back to Edinburgh for your trip home.

Sydney .... clean?? You must have been there during the Olympics Toni.

Priscilla,
I agree with some of the others - go to Germany, specifically, Berlin which is full of history and a thriving, vibrant and youthful city. East Berlin is amazing in its rise from the ashes, you will find great restaurants from VietNamese, Thai and other ethnic cuisines. We stayed in the Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. I think you both will enjoy Berlin, even though I don't know you. I was pleasantly surprised and found I loved it there. Spend 3-4 nights here.
I suggest one or two nights in Dresden, a jewel of another city risen from the rubble of WWII. A lovely big square with cobblestones and old historic buildings. Take a stroll over the bridge over the river and go people watching. If you want to see one church, go to the Frauenkirche, beautifully restored with worldwide donations after WWII. Lovely pastel colors inside with an impossibly high dome! Awe-inspiring!
Then go to Cesky Krumlov for a night or two, one sunny Sunday afternoon we went rafting on the Voltava River, such a refreshing and cooling break from our tour. This is a medieval town with great views of the countryside and a castle and good restaurants. Then find some other small towns in the Czech Republic.

Prague of course is a great city and very popular with young people. I loved Prague! We went across the Charles Bridge and rode the funicular up Petrin Hill with wonderful views of the city. There are gardens there to stroll through also. Also the Prague Castle is not to be missed. And, Golden Lane is a fascinating peek into the homes of workers who built the castle. Just loved my time there. I am a museum and church person so I tried not to include too many of those kinds of places.

Others have made good suggestions for places to go like Switzerland a place with breathtaking scenery and the Tirol in Austria, also Salzburg and the Black Forest area I hear (it is on my bucket list) is beautiful.

How nice to travel with your daughter, enjoy this special time together.

JudyB

My first thought was also something along the Prague-to-Budapest route, but then I started thinking about what I enjoyed there and it was mostly churches and museums, hardly any scenery to speak of.

Important question: are you willing to rent a car? There are great trips you could do through the countryside in Germany, or Hungary, or well, lots of places with great scenery and quaint villages. Without a car, you could certainly visit the Alps. Switzerland is expensive, but easy by train. Austria and France have alps too. But May is not the best time - hiking trails could be closed or muddy.

Belgium/Netherlands/Germany is close and easy by train, and it wouldn't be too hard to squeeze 3-4 nights in Paris into that, maybe Normandy too. Or Paris-Amsterdam-Hamburg-Copenhagen.

Sicily (best with a car, but doable by train/bus) and Malta

A week in Iceland (costly) but scenery you won't see anywhere else.

Portugal and northern Spain. Or Portugal and Morocco (not Europe, but fascinating). There are flights on Royal Air Maroc between Lisbon and Casablanca and on TAP Portugal to several Moroccan cities.

Okay, that's enough dreaming for me for now.

Suggesting where to go will be heavily influenced by how long you are proposing. 2/3 weeks infers very different holiday itineraries.

Late May should mean decent weather and long daylight hours.

Croatia, Slovenia and Hungry would be good at that time of year and offer great scenery. Moving around is expensive and takes time, so I would suggest that you spend a minimum of three or preferably four nights in each location. Alternatively, northern Portugal and northern Spain are stunning, then fly up to Scandinavia and take a fjord cruise for a contrast.

Hi, Priscilla!

I love Berlin, I spent 3 weeks in Germany last summer and it was a very good trip but I was interested in churches and historical sights. How about southern France? Perhaps spend a few days in Paris at the end and fly out of CDG? I spent almost a month in France two years ago, beautiful scenery everywhere; perhaps add a few days in the chateaux country? Fly into Nice and spend some time there and in Provence?

Thank you all for the wonderful ideas you've given me!

I must confess... the idea of traveling somewhere I've never been to before, was my idea not hers.

The truth is that she'd love to travel anyplace, even to the places I've been to before.

I've considered Netherlands/Belgium/France; Belgium/North of France/Northern Spain;
Greece/Italy; France/Switzerland/Italy...

I'm having a difficult time narrowing down the choices for several reasons:

1. I don't know where she will travel to while studying abroad.
2. I dislike having to backtrack because I think it's a waste of precious time. (flying home from Edinburgh)
3. Need to figure out if student group flight really saves us $ (in the big scheme of things) & deadline to decide is in 2 days.
4. Once we decide on student group flight, the airline is only willing to extend the date of return (to US) to 2 weeks (after semester ends)
5. I feel like a child in a candy shop... because... there are so many beautiful places to choose from!

Thanks again to Charlotte, Tim, Nancy, Harold, Christ, David, Toni, Judy, Chani, Jennifer & Zoe!

I don't know where she will travel to while studying abroad. Even if she visits some of the places, there's plenty left to see and enjoy together. Be selfish and choose where you really want to go. She'll be back again and again, with and without you.

I dislike having to backtrack because I think it's a waste of precious time. (flying home from Edinburgh). Would it help if you fly on your own and meet her at your starting point and then she goes back to Edinburgh to fly home while you fly direct? Unless you want to spend time in Edinburgh, there's really no reason for you to fly together across the Atlantic.

Need to figure out if student group flight really saves us $ (in the big scheme of things) & deadline to decide is in 2 days. Once we decide on student group flight, the airline is only willing to extend the date of return (to US) to 2 weeks (after semester ends) Well, there are so many possibilities here and way too little time to decide. Ask yourself: [1] do you really need more than 2 weeks for this trip? If you do, then would you consider staying on after 2 weeks on your own? [2] How long will it take for her (with or without you) to get from Edinburgh to the starting point and how long from the ending point to get back? Your 2-week trip may end up being more like only 10-11 days on the ground. If you need to make a fast decision, it's probably going to be to forgo the group flight rate. Remember, you're going to spend a lot more on your own flights - will it be worth it for a 10-day trip?

Hi Chani,

Thank you once again for your great insight!

You are so right when you say that my daughter will travel again & again, with or without me.

I suppose I've been so busy looking at the trees that I've lost sight of the forest!

I do want to go to Edinburgh, so she can show me her favorite places, before we head off on our trip.

BTW, the deadline to decide on the group ticket has been extended, but I'm still waiting to hear about the date extension possibility.

The more I think about it, if we cannot extend the departure date from 2 to 3 weeks, we will just purchase her ticket independently.

I just came back from AAA & purchased Rick Steves' 'Great Britain' & 'France 2015' books!

Thanks again Chani! ;-)