8 weeks in Europe need a plan

I have visited 83 foreign countries and 80s of the countries in Europe. Done it on my own, with tour groups by bus, river cruises, taking the trains, etc.

Hiking will slow down how much you see, but you can still do some of this, preferable in scenic places.

If you want concentrated History, Italy cannot be beat. It is filled with ancient, medieval, renaissance and modern history. Also, it has much in the way of art and culture.

For many years, I did a lot of long distance cycling on my road bike in the USA. Did 100 mile rides twice and many 400 mile rides in a week. When touring Europe, I sometimes tried to take bike tours and generally found the quality of the bikes were poor and most bike tours were less than 15 miles. You can find those here and there, but still, they were of medium value. Not sure about renting a nice bike in Europe.

We are in our late 70s and prefer group tours, since the tour company takes care of everything. We love Gate 1 Travel, which has very affordable tours. They have several different types, including small group tours, with no more than 15 or 20 persons.

For scenic places like Switzerland and Norway, do your research and either find a tour or do it on your own. Also, for Norway, recommend a cruise up the coast to the North Cape, going into all those amazing fjords was special.

Areas that are away from large cities of interest:
The Basque region of Spain (on the border with France) and the Bordeaux region of France, opposite the Basque region.
The coast of Croatia, Split and Dubrovnik are amazing, as well as places in the interior.

Take a river cruise on the Danube from Germany to Budapest and spend some days in Hungary.

What time of year?
What a wonderful "problem" to have. Enjoy planning.

Tackle the low hanging fruit first. You are arriving in London--how much time do you wish to spend there? Do you wish to spend time in England, Wales? Next, you'll likely be taking the train to France, so ditto those questions for Paris and the wider country. You can cover at least a month if you sort out those two places. Then, which neighboring country would make sense to come next, rinse and repeat--bit by bit, you'll have a trip planned.
You said what you don't want to include, but what countries would be on your list TO include?

Do you have budget limitations? I ask because Switzerland and Norway are a lot more expensive than the other obvious options.

There are also some highly popular scenic areas where the best accessible-by-public-transportation accommodations can book up very early during prime-weather months. That's one reason we need to know what time of year you will be taking this trip. The other is that some parts of Europe can be very hot in high summer, and others may feature muddy footpaths in the spring.

I have to say that free airfare can make Switzerland a very appealing prospect! That was why I went, and it was just free for one of us. It made possible a place that we probably would not have considered -- of course I promptly squandered the savings on accommodations, but it was indeed a special trip!
Austria would probably be a good alternative if you have sticker shock.
Even though you said you don't want to focus on big cities, use them as a structure your transportation will be built on, then you can look for smaller towns and research the transport logistics. Just mapping out those larger cities you will transit between will also help you look at the big picture.

That is such a general request that you probably should do some research and be a bit more forthcoming with ideas. For 8 weeks worth, 5 days each place that is only 10 cities in entire Europe. So right there you are narrowed down. Get out a map. Every city in Europe will have accessibility to all the things you list. And if you have not been, then you have not been and all of it will be new.

David, OP says in her original post that she has been to Northern Spain and hubby to Sweden and dates are April 25 to June 16.

teresaan,
This is a start only:
8 weeks...not large, busy cities. Just roughly:
first 8 days in England and Wales (Lake District, Salisbury Plain, Oxford/Cambridge, all the typical must-sees. They are must-sees for a good reason)
Next 12 days.....France (Brittany, Loire Valley, Alsace region, Provence, Burgundy...take your pick of 2 or 3)
Next 12 days...Italy (Tuscany, the Veneto, Lake Como area or Val d'Aosta,...too many to mention)
Next 5 days...Austria (please include Vienna!)
Next 12 days...Germany (half in Bavaria and half in the north)
That is seven weeks. Add/subtract days as you find where in these countries you want to see.
What a fun problem to have! Although I wouldn't leave out Paris. Paris is special. To me the best #1 place to see in Europe!
Have fun!

You can hit each of the bases on discount airlines, then do trains and busses to explore from the 7-day base.

A pretty good mix of
- West, Central and Eastern Europe
- post renaissance and ancient classical history
- Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim cultures
- Saxons, Germanics, Slavs, Latin and Greeks
- coastal, mountains, cities, villages
- cost; cheap to somewhat expensive

Something like this

• 7 days in London and the UK (3 days in London then get out).
• 7 days in and around Budapest (3 days city, 4 days rural and village)
• 7 days in and around Romania (2 days city, 5 days rural and village) Option is Bulgaria instead of Romania. I know outstanding tour guides in both.
• 14 days in and around southern Croatia / Montenegro (almost entirely nature, mountains, coast and ancient walled towns) I know an outstandng tour guide / trip planner.
• 7 days in and around Athens (3 days in the city, 4 days in the Islands)
• 7 days in and around Paris (hard to skip Paris, but you could replace with Rome or any number of places)
• 7 days in and around the UK (maybe fly back to Scotland and work your way to London for the trip home)

Not sure whether you are referring to small group day tours or small group multi-day tours. I assume the former, but if it's the latter, I suggest finding out what is available to book on relatively short notice and building your trip around that. If your plan is to do it on your own, I suggest following Rick's advice, which is to put everything on the table, figure out how much time each place needs (including getting there), and cutting the list down as needed. I use a spreadsheet for this purpose. A great resource for transportation is seat61.com. Maybe re-read Rick's Europe Through the Backdoor, which has lots of great information about itinerary planning, etc. Unlike at least one of the other posters, I suggest starting in your southernmost destination and working your way back to London (unless you like hot weather)--e.g., fly from London to Sicily and take the trains/buses from there. Skyscanner.com can help you find flights.

Fantastic with having 8 weeks at your disposal. Since you have emphatically rejected 3 countries, any geographic preferences?

Are you interested in any specific country where you want to explore, check out cultural and historical sites, towns "deep in the heart" of said country, ie, in depth visiting instead of the perfunctory bird's eye view.

I would suggest, first of all, France, with 8 nights min. in Paris. Tons of places to explore in France without being inundated by international tourists, likewise with Germany, aside from the tourist frequented cities. I suggest North Germany and eastern regions.

You should consider how flexible is your travel style, assuming you have one, eg, comfort level, etc. The travel style in a way dictates the extent of your itinerary.

I agree that Wales and Lake District(add Hadrian's Wall) fit your interests-but I would allow at least 10 days for the England portion of your trip. And I know you don't like cities, but if you haven't been to London before, its history(the British Museum and so much more) is not to be missed and London Walks has a lot of history tours.

We stayed outside of London last spring, and got a “Two Together” train pass before leaving the USA. As we were taking each train together anyway, and not during the rush hour when the pass isn’t accepted, we got discounted train fares in England, and the pass more than paid for itself almost immediately. See https://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/

So Scotland is on your “no” list, but what about Ireland? Our first time there was actually a self-supported bike trip down the west coast, from Galway as far south as Portmagee and Skellig Michael. Skellig Michael is an isolated island off the mainland, reached by a pre-arranged boat, with a hike up lots of stone steps to stone “beehive huts” built by monks centuries ago, raided by Vikings, then re-established as a church. It’s unoccupied now. except for a limited number of daily visitors. The scenery is unbeatable there, and throughout Ireland.

Pub culture and Trad music are quintessential Ireland. A fantastic music festival that extended 2 years ago in Ennis (very small city), the Fleadh Nua, is happening late May/early June this year.

Buses are better than trains for Ireland, although some locations are reachable by train. Anticipate some rainstorms

Nice, France (not an ENORMOUS city) offers a great hub on the French riviera for scenic day trips to historic sights and towns. The old town quarter itself offers Roman/French/Italian history, and potential hiking on its hilly streets and passageways.

France offers lots of bikeable options we’ve done, including the hilly Champagne region (we went during harvest time in the fall), the flatter Loire valley amongst historic chateaux, and the Pyrenees near Cauterets, where we saw part of the Tour de France in 2024. LOTS of great hiking options around, too, and fantastic scenery.