First time Europe itinerary

Glad to hear you are at the beginning stages of your planning because you need to look at a map of Europe!! Nice wish list. Impractical but nice. For a two week trip, either group two cities together; London and Paris, Barcelona and Madrid, Rome and Florence or spend your time in one country. Buy Mr. Steve's "Best of Europe" guide book. Read it. By doing so you'll garner the insight that will help you create a practical, affordable and doable travel itinerary.

I know that you know that all those countries in a 2 week trip just isn't feasible. But I know a way you could connect 3 of those cities in a 1,2,3 swoop. And it goes like this: fly into amsterdam, train tp Paris, and take Chunnel to London.4 nights in Amsterdam with a side trip. 5 nights in Paris. 5 nights in london. Then fly home from London.

look at a map and cut out the outliers to start. athens, ireland, and amsterdam are all out there compared to locations in italy, france, and spain. i'd consider doing a paris/florence/rome trip or a paris/barcelona/madrid trip. or possibly a italy-spain trip but 4 destinations is pushing it for 2 weeks. look into open jaw tickets (fly into one city, out another) and seriously consider an intra-european flight possibly from paris to anywhere else, if the train time is going to be longer than 6-7 hours. i mean you could potentially do florence/rome/athens if you flew from rome to athens... or paris and amsterdam. but you need to try to concentrate the bulk of your trip in one geographic area with maybe one outlier. and it's still gonna be a very busy trip.

Tanya,, those are all great places,, but at this time, I might take Athens off the list,, theres a fair amount of civil unrest there right now, and for a first time visit to Europe you might as well keep to places with minimal internal strife. I guess if you were interested in doing some of the Greek islands using Athens as a transit gateway would be fine, but as a destination in itself,, perhaps another trip. I agree with everyone that taking an open jaw flight into one big city and out of another is a great idea, and that for 2 weeks 2 or 3 big centers might be best( there are always great daytrips to consider from each main stop) . When is this trip for,, summer, fall , winter?

Tanya, As this is a first trip to Europe, my first suggestion is to read Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far in your planning. That includes topics such as "Itinerary planning" and "Rail Skills", and will answer a lot of questions as well as providing information on "how" to travel in Europe. One thing to keep in mind is that with a two week trip, you'll only have 12-days for actual "touring". The first and last days will be used for flight times. Using open-jaw flights would absolutely be the best idea! Given the fact that you only have two weeks, it would be highly advisable to choose locations that are relatively close, so that you don't waste a lot of your VERY limited time in travel from one place to another. On this trip, I'd skip Athens, Barcelona, Madrid, Ireland and Amsterdam. For a first time, seeing "the big three" (London, Paris, Rome) are a good start and they'll whet your appetite for a return visit to see other places. Here's one possibility to consider: > Flight to London (arrive day after departure) > London - 3 days > EuroStar to Paris > Paris (3 days) > Flight to Florence ( EasyJet from Paris / ORY to Pisa and then train to Florence) > Florence - 2 days > Train to Rome (about 1.5H) > Rome - 3 days > Flight home from FCO This is only a "rough" guideline, and the details would need some fine tuning. Have a look at the country-specific Guidebooks to plan sightseeing in detail in each city. Also, check the listings on WXXI (PBS) to see if any of Rick's programs are airing in the near future, as they may provide some ideas. Good luck with your planning!

Prioritizing your cities is a must otherwise you will spend a lot of time and euros in transport. Also if airfare is an issue you will find Paris & Rome particularly high. But if no matter then I suggest USA-Paris(4day) fly to Rome (on cheaper intereurope airlines) see Rome and then Florence and the surrounding Tuscany by bus then Rome to USA.
But if you are on a tighter budget Madrid, Barcelona or Ireland are less costly in gen. for air and lodging if you plan ahead.

with 2 weeks I suggest you spend a week in London and a week in Paris. You can do some great day trips from both locations. This is a great first time trip and you will experience two of the world's greatest cities.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I have bought Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door and Best of Europe. We are planning either for spring or fall. We have about 17 nights. I for sure want to go to London, Paris and Rome with a possibility of adding another city.

I agree with the others that you should stick to 2-4 locations max. One thing to remember, however, is that you can fly within Europe for under $100 one way if you book in advance. You could do: London 5 nights train to Paris for 5 nights,
fly to Florence for 2 nights, train to Rome for 5 nights. That way you open up the geography a bit. Get an open jaw ticket so you don't have to back track. EDIT: I see that someone else gave a similar response above, so I second what Ken said.

You've received good information. If you were to stick with your original 9 cities, you'd have to take one of those incredibly fast moving bus tours. You'd come home absolutely beat, and remember little of what was thrown at you. Europe is best taken a little slower. I agree with the itinerary above.

Hello, I am also starting to plan a 2 week trip to Europe with my sister from May 1 to May 14 and first time traveler to Europe! Our desired cities are Paris/Rome/Florence. I'm uncertain if I should fly direct to Rome from Vancouver or should I be considering Paris first? Both are expensive. Ideally, I'd like to fly to Rome and then train to Florence. My sister and I are wanting to visit the Space outlet. While on the way to Florence, wondering if there is a train route that lets me view much of the Tuscan countryside and perhaps even a stop in Umbria. I'd love to find a route that lets me stop in one or two small towns on the way. After leaving Florence, I'd then like to stop in Cinque Terre, hike the small towns, train to Genoa, and then fly to Paris. I would then spend the remaining time in Paris with a day trip to Chateau de Versailles. Then fly home direct to Vancouver. What do you all think of this proposed itinerary? Should I cut out Cinque Terre..though I heard it's spectacular! Is this doable for around 12 days? Thanks,
Roselyn

Roselyn, I don't think it matters whether you start or end in Rome or Paris. Take into account that your first day on the ground is usually not very "productive" due to lack of sleep and jetlag. If your 14 days include the trans-Atlantic flight days, then you really only have about 11 full days of sightseeing. You will lose much of one of them on the flight between Italy and Paris. The fast trains between Florence and Rome (about 2 hours) do not stop in Umbria. It takes longer to get to Orvieto than to Florence by train from Rome (and longer to go between Oriveto/Florence than Orvieto/Rome). A better way to see the countryside would be to take a day tour from Florence - maybe wine-tasting. I'd plan 4 full days in Rome, 2 in Florence, 4 in Paris. If you have more days than that, add to any or all of these 3 cities. Even then, you will just be scratching the surface. PS - I don't know what the Space outlet is.