Europe in 2 weeks

Even being young and full of energy would not make this all-of-western Europe vacation possible. Just assume you will be back; pare it down to about 3-4 places (not 3-4 countries) for the 11-12 days available. If you don't mind cold weather, stay north, say a bit of Germany, Paris, Amsterdam, and depart from London. If you want a warmer vacation head south to Italy and "do" Venice, Florence, and Rome. I hope you don't have plane tix yet. You can more comfortably cover lots of territory by flying into one place and out the other (Open Jaws). That way you would not need to return to Switzerland, but could fly home from Rome or London. I love your enthusiasm for seeing all of Europe; it's more practical and enjoyable to do it several bits at a time. Over about 15 trips to Europe I've been to all the places you mention except Spain. I'll be traveling there this year. Bon Voyage!

Jennifer, it might be helpful to you to scroll down through this section of the Helpline and read the posts in Itinerary Planning Tips for First Time Europe Travelers. There is a lot of information there that will help get you started on your planning. Your proposed plan would be impossible to accomplish, so you need to scale it back a lot. Travel between cities can take a long time and would leave you with little time to see anything once you arrived at your destination.

Jennifer, I'll probably be the first to answer your question, but IMO the trip you're proposing is NOT possible in 2 weeks! Given the fact you'll lose the 1st day in flight and time zone changes, and want to spend "a couple of days" visiting your friends, you'll have far less than 2 weeks to see 6/9 countries.

I'd would highly recommend that you read the "Itinerary Planning" section in Rick's Europe Through The Back Door! Don't try to fit too many stops in a limited time frame, and "assume you will return".

It would help to know which area of Switzerland your friends live? Also, I would strongly suggest open-jaw flights! As part of your 2 weeks will be spent with friends, you need to choose the 4 other locations that you most want to see, and focus on those. Try to choose those that are reasonably close geographically. Even with a Rail Pass, Europe is a big place and travel time has to be factored in.

If you could provide further info, I can suggest some possible ideas.

Our friends live closer to Zurich and the 2 weeks is what we have to travel (time spent with them and flight days are taken out) so we have 2 weeks to see Europe by rail. We are more into sight seeing and taking in the vistas ourselves and taking pictures than going to museums etc. If we had to pick 4 places it would be Paris, London, Amersterdam and Italy (preferably Rome and Venice.) Would this be possible? and does it sound like a good itinerary...anything else you would add or take out of here and add instead?
Thanks for your help! Keep the tips coming! I am planning on buying a couple of Ricks books here soon.

With 2 weeks you have a glorious trip if you plan well. You are still a bit ambitious in your goals. Why not narrow it further. Do Paris OR Amsterdam and London. Plan on flying out of London. You could take a lovely train trip to either Paris or Amsterdam and stay about 4-6 days. Do several day trips. If you do Paris, you could then take the Chunnel train to London and stay 5-7 days. There are LOTS of things to do in London and MANY wonderful day trips you can do by train- York, Cardiff, Wales, Canterbury, Dover, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Windsor and other places are all "doable" as day trips. My husband and I have traveled extensively in the UK, Austria and the Scandanavian countries. We have found in over 20 years of traveling that we enjoy the trip more when we allow ourselves several(4 or more) days in one location. Feel free to contact me.

What are you trying to do here? Create a list of lots of famous places you've been to for a few hours, but not really seen, so you can impress your friends. You'll be spending a lot of time and money just running around, not really seeing anything. Go for quality, not quantity.

Make a list of cities, but don't think you have to see them all. Make a calendar. Put on the first venue with adequate time to get there. Then do a LOT of research on what there is to see there. You'll probably find you want to stay there several days at least. Then figure the time to get to the second venue and what you want to see there. Keep doing this until you run out of days (not places). No problem. Minimize your travel time and expense this time, and plan on coming back again and again.

Jennifer, you might want to pare down your Itinerary a bit more (drop Amsterdam?), as even with 14 travel days it's going to be challenging to fit everything in.

One of the most efficient ways (IMHO) to arrange this would be to visit your friends in the middle of the trip. Fly to Rome (4 days, not incl. flight time?), Venice (2-days?), Zurich (2 days?), Paris (3-days?) and train to London (3 days?). Fly home from London. This would be even more relaxed if you were to drop Venice as well. Keep in mind you have to allow for travel times as well.

In the major cities (London, Paris, Rome), I've found that one needs at least 3 days to even "scratch the surface", as there are so MANY things to see. For those cities, five days is better, but with limited time some compromises have to be made.

If Europe Through The Back Door is one of the books you'll be buying, there's an Itinerary planning section.

Good luck!

Sorry, Jennifer, you are crazy.

We spent 3 weeks JUST IN ITALY! In 2004, we spent 3 weeks doing Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Berlin and Dresden.

You are to young to do so much on one trip. You will enjoy it a lot more if you stick to one or two countries. You'll be back. We have - 13 times.

If you work in the transportation industry and want to give your friends a first-hand account of the roads, trains, and airports in Europe then you have the right idea because that's where you'll spend the bulk of your time. If you are interested in seeing some of the culture and sights of Europe than your plan will show you little of that.

Click on over to the Rick Steve tour page and look at what the 21-day tour covers. Not even as much as you want, even using an extra week!

I think you already have your mind made up, and its your money and time, so go ahead. But if its advice you're seeking then pare it down to one city every 3 or 4 days. You have a whole life ahead of you at age 25 (barring some health issues you don't feel comfortable talking about here), so why not do what Rick says and assume you'll be back?

Amen, Amen, Amen to what all the posters have said. I'm sure I am not as travelled as many on this board but I have been to the UK & Europe enough times to know to slowwwwwwwwwwwww it down & parrrrrrrrre it down drastically. It just takes alot more time to sightsee than first timers realize & don't even get me started on travel time.

Thank you for all of your input. The more I think about it, you are all probably right. I've thought about it and I'm thinking (I think this will work) that Switzerland is are starting and end point, no open jaw flights (because we want to travel light on the rail, so we would leave the rest of our stuff at our friends in Switzerland.) So I was thinking Paris, Amdersterdam and Germany. I keep hearing that Italy is a trip in itself and London isn't connected by the rail and is a more expensive town, so we could always come back and see London and Ireland together. But those 3 places I mentioned before I'm sure can be done comfortably in 2 weeks...right? If for some reason we do have time to spare I was thinking Rome...but we shall see.

Jennifer,

I think Paris, Amsterdam and Germany are definately doable in 2 weeks. For Germany stops you should consider the Rhine (Bacharach or St. Goar), Rothenberg and possible Bavaria / Tirol area.

Yes, the shorter plan is feasible. But you'd do even better to pack less stuff so you can fly open jaws (covering more sights with less travel).

Jennifer I think you can do Paris, London, Amsterdam and Italy (Rome and Venice) in the time allowed. You have already cut out time for landing in Europe and getting over jet lag. Whether it is a "good itinerary" or not depends on how deeply you wish to see each site. In 14 days you can spend 2 nights in each place (3 in some) and still have a little breathing room. Keep in mind in all likelihood all you will have time to do is take in the highlights of these places and you will leave wanting more - which is not necessarily a bad thing. Because you are young you should have the energy. I agree with the other posters - pack light and look for open jaw flights to maximize the trip. Also when I go with a more "aggressive" travel schedule I like to place at least one leg on an overnight train or even fly between places to save time. This summer i am in the UK and Italy and I am flying from London to Pisa -it saves countless Hours. I fly into the UK from the States and fly out of Italy.

Jennifer, you are getting really good advice here. Pick three or four cities at the MOST for your two weeks. I suggest you fly into one, travel in a line accross Europe and fly out from the last destination - open jaw. I would start in Switzerland and head to London through Paris and Amsterdam and save Italy for another time, or, just do Italy. Last year I took my family to Italy and we spent 14 days just seeing Venice, Florence, Tuscany and Rome. Follow the advice you are getting in this thread and "assume you will go back". Take your time and REALLY SEE the places you go. I went for the first time in 2004 and have been there 7 times since. I have not yet been everywhere I want to go, but that makes planning the next trip fun! Have a great trip.

Jennifer,

Germany is nice but you can't possibly pick a city in Germany over Rome, Venice or London. Every city listed can be a trip by itself. However, you have to pick your top destinations this time. Hopefully you'll be back but it always seems to take longer than you want it to.

I would choose London, Paris, Rome and Venice as my 4 top cities in Europe (NO QUESTION). You could even squeeze in Amsterdam for a night or two. This still gives plenty of time for travel.

I, too, agree with the other posters that you shouldn't over do it. I think your last plan is great, and those places are the closest together. Everyone has their own ideas about their favorite European cities -- you have to figure out yours for yourself.

Definitely save Ireland/England for a trip in itself, as well as Greece. Also, England is connected to the continent via the EuroStar (through Brussels or Paris).

And while overnight trains are a great invention, they are tiresome, and I wouldn't rely on them. I am 25, too, and I did the overnight train thing when I studied abroad 5 years ago. Not sure I would go through it even at 25!

I would also recommend, while you're probably going to focus much of your time on the big cities, get into some of the smaller towns. Look through Rick's books, pick some backdoor travel stops, and spend a night there.

You might want to consider flying open-jaws. Maybe into Zurich then home from your final destination. This will save you alot of time and it's usually not any more expensive. I would say that visiting just Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Amsterdam, and Paris would be a VERY filled two weeks. Have fun planning though; it's half of the fun! :)

Jennifer, I think recognizing that getting an overview of Europe is a great way to plan future trips will give you the attitude you will need when you find that you are just not spending enough time in each place. On our first trip, my daughter and I did that, and it had paid off well in all the others trips we have taken and planned.

I have one question for you. You mention that you are leaving your extra stuff at your friends. If you don't need this stuff for the trip, why are you taking it? The hardest part my daughter and I had was packing light. It was MUCH harder than fitting 7 countries into 27 days! However, requiring ourselves to learn how to pack light was the most important thing we accomplished.

You are going to have a great trip! Enjoy it thoroughly!