3 weeks to Western Europe

Because I don't know anything about you, how many of you go, when, where you live, what you like, which languages you speak, how old you are, are you renting a car, etc., it's practically impossible to give you useful advice. Generally you can do all three weeks in one country, like in Germany, France, or you can put three or four neighboring countries like Netherland, Belgium, Luxembourg, or Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and so on.

Thanks for making those observations! Sorry, is my first time getting into the Forum. There are four of us traveling Husband and two children 22 and 17. We live in the south of the US, this trip is our first as a family, both my husband and I have been to Italy but at different times. This is our son's college graduation gift. We all are easy going and just want to have a great experience wherever we end up going. I am just looking for suggestions.

I take it this is your first time to Europe.

London (4nts)
Paris (4nts)

Either, Provence (3nts) & Côte d'Azur (2nts)
Or, Alsace (2nts) & Swiss Alps (3nts)

Venice (3nts)
Florence (2nts)
Rome (3nts)

A good starting point might be to plan on spending about 3 nights per city (not country) - that gives you two full days for sightseeing, and then the third day is a travel day to your next destination. Some people like to move a little slower than that, some a little faster - it's a matter of personal preference. But if you don't know which is the case for you, I think 3 nights is a good place to start.

If you only want to see capital cities, you could see 7 of them in three weeks at that pace. Or, you could see 7 different places in one country.

What interests and preferences do the kids have, particularly the graduate?

Besides sight seeing and learning about the history of the place, my son loves museums, cooking, eating good food, music and overall a very outdoor person.

Have you considered going to your local library and checking out guidebooks and travel DVDs for the areas you are interested in seeing? I mean, your question is so broad that no one has an idea about where to begin with an answer. Just look at a map and put some pins in it.

Important is the time of the year concerning the weather and European tourist season. If you go in July or August I would prefer a more northern country, in general places north of the Alpes. Foor coocking and good food in general the best place remains the countries around the Mediterrenean Sea. For museums depending the interest you can go everywhere, but the UK has a wide variety of really excellent museums, but look first what of interest is. History where to start and..........................where to end?

I am partial to Italy, it has everything your son wants. He might also enjoy Berlin and Paris, so perhaps four nights in Paris, four in Berlin, and distribute the remaining time among Venezia, Firenze, Cinque Terre and Roma.

You should count nights you will actually be in Europe rather than days.

"Should I limit to 3 to 4 countries or can I do more?" It's good to set some limits for how much traveling around you will do.

Agree with Wil - summer heat and crowds make Italy and southern Europe less enjoyable. Rick says the same:

The most grueling thing about travel in Italy — particularly in the
south — is the summer heat in July and August, when temperatures hit
the high 80s and 90s... Peak season (roughly May–Oct in the north and
May–June and Sept–Oct in the south) offers the longest hours and the
most exciting slate of activities — but terrible crowds.

Museums, good food, history, music... you will find these pretty much everywhere in Europe. If your son is an "outdoors person" it sounds like you may want to include some walking/hiking/biking - so besides the megacities that have been suggested, consider also some places where nature is king. You can in fact blend your interests - find some trails in the Belgian Ardennes while you check out some World War sites, for example, or hike sections of the Rhine Castle trail in Germany on a visit to the medieval castles and old-world villages there. The Netherlands is good for easy biking and museums. Here are some places near Arnhem:

Open-air museum
War Museum
De Hoge Veluwe National Park and Kröller-Müller Museum

Getting around from country to country: Railpasses have generally become expensive and difficult to use in some countries (France and Italy come to mind) but there's a one-country pass worth considering in part because it offers destinations in MANY different countries. A German Rail Pass offers reasonably-priced transportation on both trains and IC buses and can get you all around Germany of course but also to...

Strasbourg, France
Liege, Antwerp, Venlo, and Brussels, Belgium
Zagreb, Croatia
Copenhagen, Denmark
London, England
Salzburg and Innsbruck, Austria
Prague, Czech Republic
Bolzano, Trento, Venice, Verona, and Bologna, Italy
Krakow, Poland

Rick's book Europe Through the Back Door is not the one that you take with you, with specific sightseeing and logistics info, but it's a great start on itinerary strategies, travel skills, and inspiring looks at his favorite places. Many articles on this site are excerpted from it, such as https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/itinerary-tips.

Basically, Rick's favorite three weeks in Europe would look like his Best of Europe in 21 Days tour. However, it would be common to add extra days in Amsterdam and Paris at either end. And independent travelers aren't usually organized to travel quite as quickly as a tour group, so that means cutting some destinations on this list. An easier plan would be like taking his Best of Europe in 14 Days and stretching it out.

Check out the rick Steves family tours. They are two weeks long and then you can add some days on both ends of a RS tour. They are London to Florence and Amsterdam to Rome. A couple are on sale right now.

Thank you all for your input, when I started planning this trip I felt at a lost due to my lack of knowledge, thanks to your suggestions and input I now have an itinerary. Still feel I need to hear from more experienced travelers, so feel free to suggest

Fly into Spain (Madrid) Jun 10 arriving the 11th

Madrid 3 nights (day trip to Toledo)
Barcelona 3 nights

Fly from Barcelona to Rome

Rome 3 nights
Florence 3 nights (day trip to Siena)
Venice 2 nights

At this point need help deciding between Austria or Switzerland, not sure how unrealistic it is to do both!? Also want to travel by land(train) to Amsterdam but need suggestions on places to see in Germany.

Amsterdam 3 nights

Have family here,

Flying out on July 3rd