2 week Europe trip in February

London for 2 days, Paris for 2 days, Dublin for a day-and-a-half, Milan for 3 days, Venice for 1 day, plus travel in between? Honestly, I think this is a LOT, and will be a LOT of schlepping!

Two days in either London or Paris is not NEARLY enough time. And yes, you could make a "flying visit," but with travel factored in, you will be really shortchanging yourselves.

At a minimum I would assume I was going to go back many times over the years, and just delete London from my itinerary. Venice is only about a 3 hour drive from Milan, so... there's an argument to made for cramming it in there - but then there's Dublin. Maybe delete Dublin as well, and up your time in Italy? (Or factor that extra day in as travel time to Rome, which is more than a 5 hour drive south from Venice...)

Honestly, I think you will have a much better time - and be able to savor and appreciate a lot more - if you trim down the number of cities, then put things in an order that shortens travel in between.

As for the Moulin Rouge... yipes. I think there will be quite a few comments about why that might be considered a tourist "trap" and a bit of a waste of money. If you have your heart set on it, okay, but I can think of a lot of other places I would go to first in Paris - and many other places I'd spend my food dollar. I'd suggest taking a romantic stroll through the back streets of Montmartre, and making sure you see the Moulin de la Galette, which is very cute. You could then see the Moulin Rouge from the outside just before you hopped on the Metro and went somewhere else. :-)

Just my two cents'!

And an "oops!" I just noticed that you are flying out of Dublin (and into Dublin?) b/c of airfare. That does change things. Maybe get rid of Paris rather than London, this time.

Others will of course have SUPERB feedback!

@ Angie,

welcome.

Im more of an enabler and want to see the reports of any of these whorlwind tours that people want to take.

If all you want is a taste, a taste is what you got.

happy trails.

Have you ever been to Europe before? If not, get a copy of RS "Europe thru the Back Door" which can be purchased elsewhere on this web site as it is an excellent book full of information about visiting Europe for first timers as well as those who have not been there for a while. Second, get a guide book for all of the places you want to visit so that you can do your homework and planning before you arrive. You state 2 weeks. Is that 14 days on the ground in Europe or is that minus one day going and one day returning leaving you only 12 days actually in Europe? Given the number of places you have listed that you want to visit, you will spend most or all of a day moving between locations - checking out, traveling, checking in, etc. That might consume 5 or 6 days of your time. That does not leave enough time to do justice to really seeing any of the locations you have mentioned. I go to Europe every summer for 11 of the last 12 years and I have found that concentrating on just a few locations gives one a better understanding of the places you visit and since there is so much to see in most of the places you listed, I suggest that you reduce you list by half dropping London and Dublin for another visit. Good luck and happy travels.

Angie, have the two of you traveled together before? Travel can be romantic OR it can be a stressful time of bickering (Actually, it can be both in the same trip...) If you're both on the same wavelength about sightseeing, moving between hotels, eating at different times then go for it. You can sleep when you get home ;-)

Get out a stubby pencil and do some math.

Two weeks minus two days of traveling to and from leaves a dozen days.

You've got four pretty big displacements, each of which will burn a full day, hotel-to-hotel. Now you're down to eight days. Pull out the three for Milan and three more for Milan; that's six, so two are left.

You're giving Dublin one an a half, so you've got a half day to split between London and Paris.

Unless my stubby pencil is broken, you're either going to be touring or traveling in the dark - - when will you sleep?

You don't have time to get off of a path. Most food tastes about the same in all airports and train stations.

Your attention is invited to a mildly interesting web site called something like Sleeping In Airports.

Is flying out of Dublin really cheaper than the cost of getting to and from Ireland?

Scissor, chain saw, or ax - - pick one and start cutting.

I would also be concerned about the rapid adjustments you would have to make in dealing with different languages, currencies, customs, etc. Another consideration is the weather. Northern Europe is quite cold and dark in February. Italy is much more pleasant at that time of year.

Angie:

I used to travel as fast and far as possible in 2 weeks. $9.50 gasoline (per gallon) slowed me down. I now realize what I missed a lot by not taking a smaller region and seeing it 'better'.

Remember that the first and last day of your trip will essentially be wasted days. And every time you move to another city will be another wasted day.

London, Paris, Milan, Switzerland, Venice, Rome and Dublin is an unmanageable itinerary for 2 weeks. You really need to pick three of these cities, and save the others for another visit.

I now fly open jaw (into one city and out of another) and travel in straight lines to avoid backtracking. I would like visiting Paris, London, Dublin. Or, Milan, Florence, Venice and Rome. Or, Prague, Vienna, Budapest. Or, Munich, Western Austria, Vienna. Or, London, Belgium, Amsterdam.

Another issue is European budget flights, which don't go everywhere. Dublin and London are good places to catch budget airfares all over Europe, for example.