Totally confused!!

Well if you have only done Paris by a guided bus tour ,, you really should go back and relax there for at least 4 or 5 days... just sipping a nice coffee or glass of wine while people watching ,, or perhaps a daytrip to Versailles??

As to what to do next ,, that is so hard,, everywhere you mentioned sounds great,, and even if you have been,, have you really seen all there is to see of a place,, I mean,, one can spend weeks in places like Rome, London, Paris, and still not have seen everything.. right?

Remember,, being somewhere for 3 days is hardly touching the tip of the ice berg..

As for good food,, that is so subjective.. my personal thoughts are France first, then Italy, then Germany/Austria,, and last ,, ( sorry folks) the UK.

Susan & Monte: What does this part of your post mean? "My husband thinks our marriage rests in your answer!" Can you elaborate on that? We don't want to be saying things and then have no idea which way they are cutting in terms of any disagrement between the two of you. We want to help, not make things worse.

If you one of you want to send me a PM, go ahead and do so.

Susan and Monte,

I'm a bit reluctant to offer advice on this question, as I don't want to be responsible for any "issues" between you. However, a few "general" thoughts....

You indicated that you would "fly from Copenhagen to anywhere to start our land trip", but I didn't see any mention on the airport you would be using for the flight home? That will undoubtedly have a bearing on which locations you'll choose to tour.

On the question of whether to visit places you've already seen or try new places, my "usual method" (when not on a RS tour) is to mix those to some extent. For example when I was travelling on my own this year, I tried a new location (Stresa & area) and also revisited a place I had been before (Varenna and Lago di Como). I really like travelling that way, as it gives me an opportunity to sometimes renew old acquaintances and also to see how a particular location might have changed since my last visit.

It would help if you could reach a "consensus" and give us some idea on which locations are most important to both of you. If you're both somewhat in agreement, hopefully that wouldn't have any negative impact on your marriage.

Cheers!

Susan - How can you really go wrong with any of the places you've mentioned? I love to go to new places but also love to return to old favorites. How about combining some new places with places you loved.

Is this going to be your last trip to Europe? If not, don't worry about trying to see too much. You could do southern France and northern Italy and a bit of Switzerland in two weeks.

Whatever you decide, I hope you'll enjoy your travels!

Kent, Sorry, but I should have wrote that was a joke! Its just we're going nuts here! Maybe I Should say Rick's shows are driving me nuts.I'll see a show on the UK and say to my wife " Lets go there ", then he shows me France or Italy and I'll say " You know Susan, We could do those places instead"! They he does a show on Switzerland or my favorite,Germany! So I say, when will the madness stop ! Kidding aside,We just like to hear other people's opinions! We took a trip last year into some towns that wasn't in Rick's books base on what we learned from people on this site! Thanks to all who take the time to help other people out! Monte

We will fly Sacramento or SF to Copehhagen and take our cruise first, then we can fly openjaw back home from wherever we end up. No tickets purchased yet since it is so far away.

Also, "is this our last trip?" We hope not. However, our daughter is starting college and will probably get married in the next several years..so our next trip my be awhile.

No marital problems (28 years so together so far)just Monte trying to be funny..he is a jokester!

Now we know what we say won't harm the marriage I'm going to suggest Belgium and Holland. You've been to neither and each meets your criteria.

You've never been to the UK? You have 2 - 2 1/2 weeks? Here's what I would do. Fly to Paris, spend a 3-4 days and take the Eurostar to London and then see the UK. London is the most magnificent city and lots of ops for day trips out of London or spend some time in London and then head out to other places - Bath, York, Cornwall, Wales.

As you have so little time. we'd recommend spending 10 days in UK and 10 in Paris area. Both London and Paris are very special cities. Paris is in a league of its own.There are nice side trips to be had from both places. Your proposed itinerary is more travel than experience of the places themselves. Don't move around too much, see things at leisure and take another trip soon !!!

Susan & Monte,

It's a great relief to hear that we won't be affecting your marriage! Now I can offer a few more comments without feeling guilty.

First, looking at the criteria you mentioned:

- You can fly from Copenhagen to anywhere

• Your favourites are Italy & Switzerland

• You have about 18 days

• You can fly open jaw from anywhere

• You love countryside, mountains, cities & museums & good food, but also want to take it easy

With those in mind, I'd probably consider something like this:

Fly to Milan, train to Varenna on Lago di Como; tour Bellagio or other towns on the lake (2-3 days?)

Train from Varenna to Chur (Bernina Express) and then either to Appenzel region, Zurich or Lucerne (2 days?)

Train to Alsace region - Colmar, Strasbourg, Nancy, Reims or maybe Dijon or Beaune (WINE!!!) (2-3 days?)

Train to Paris - since you've been there before, a "re-visit" will allow you to see things that weren't covered by the Bus tour. 2-3 days should be adequate unless you really like Paris.

<<< at this point, you're at about 10 days - there's the option of adding some time in France for perhaps Normandy and Mt. St. Michel, OR >>>

EuroStar to London! There's LOTS to see in London so allow at least 4 days for that! You can either take day trips from there to other spots like Bath or York OR adjust your time in London so that you can spend a day or two in each/both of those towns (both are wonderful!). Bath would be a good choice for your last stop, as it's relatively close to both LGW & LHR, and therefore easy access via train, Coach or rental car.

You shouldn't have ANY trouble at all finding flights home from one of the London airports (I prefer Gatwick as it's smaller and the airlines I use operate from there anyway).

This is only one suggested Itinerary. I'm sure the group here will have lots more!

Good luck with your planning!

Thanks so much for all the ideas. Funny how it seems so difficult...what a problem to have!

I just want to offer some alternatives:
1> Fly Copenhagen to Munich 3 days then train to Salzburg- 3 days then train to Innsbruck- 3 days Vienna 3 days then train to Budapest 3 days then that leaves a few days in case you want to extend your stay in any one place

2> Ferry Copenhagen to Stockholm 3 days then ferry or train to Oslo 4 days Norway in a nutshell- extended 5 days

3> Fly Copenhagen to Edinburgh 2 days train to Aviemore 4 days train to Inverness 5 to 7 days train to Glasgow 3 days

Just more fodder for your discussions! My husband and I go through this almost every time we travel also. Once we started out planning to go to London and Scotland and wound up in Scandinavia...