First Time Europe Traveler

I think you are being a bit overly ambitious! You can see castles in the UK- and take lots of rail journeys to see various /differing sides of British life. But travel by rail to Switzerland and Italy from the UK is just not really reasonable with just 10 days. (and by the way are you counting arrival and departure days??? If so you really don't have 10 full days on the ground).

I'd reconsider your plans. Maybe split the time between 2 countries. You could do London and Rome or London and Lucern (fly between the cities). Or just stay in the UK- spend time in London and then see parts of Scotland, Wales or Ireland- or sites outside of London.

Do you mean you'll be in London for ten days and then go wandering for an indefinite period, or that you've ten days for the whole project?

We've got 10 days for the whole project - didn't think it was short, but am guessing by the replies that it might be. We are not trying to see the whole countryside - just select bits from small areas - something to come back to when we have more time.

you also did not say where you are flying in and out of. If you can fly open jaw, that is preferable.

A couple of 50,000-foot level options:
1. Flying open jaw: Fly into London. Days 1-4 in London (with maybe one day trip). Take Eurostar (have to book ahead for tickets) or budget airline to Paris on day 5. Remainder of day 5 to day 10--see Paris. Day trip to Versailles or other day trips. Fly home from Paris. (or substitute Zurich, Rome or Venice for Paris--your preference). The point is to just stick to two main cities with a couple of day trips. 10 days is not that much time. Make sure you see things, but also have time to relax and enjoy.

1. If you cannot fly open jaw, focus your 10 days on London, maybe even parts of Scotland. Consult Rick Steve's books on the UK and you can find train schedules on line. Since it is your first time in Europe, it is better to focus on the larger cities as "base" and do the city with a day trip or two. HOWEVER--Always consider in your planning, how long will it take for you to get there. You don't want to plan a day trip and realize it is 4 hours to get there by train and then you only have about 2 hours before the last train back leaves.
   

You really need to look at an European map and notice the distances between London, Switzerland, and Italy. You have to do your own homework. Go to the library, check out guide books and travel DVDs, especially the Steves videos, and decided what you want to see. This site works best when you have specific question and a basic understand of what you want to do. With ten days I would stay in England (after a couple of days in London) and MAYBE a run to Paris. No more you do not have the time. Think of it as flying into New York with a trip to Washington DC and maybe Philly. You don't have the time to go from New York to New Orleans, then St. Louis and back to New York.

Well that is ambitious, not perhaps if you pare it down a bit you can see a few things without simply doing a tour of airports and trian stations.
It would help if we knew where you are flying in from!

Remember a few points when planning, first two nights in one place is only one full day to sightsee, and whenever you travel from place to place you spend at least half a day in transit(checking in and out of hotels getting to train stations and then the journey itself)

angie,

As the others have mentioned, that IS a very short time frame for a European trip. Your profile doesn't indicate where you're travelling from, but you'll need to allow for your two travel days. You'll generally arrive in Europe the day after you depart, and the last day will be spent on the flight home. You'll also have to contend with jet lag for the first few days after arrival.

As you're travelling in July, you have a VERY short learning curve to get up-to-speed on travels in Europe. I'd highly recommend that you read Europe Through The Back Door as it provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe. After that use the country or city-specific Guidebooks to plan hotels, sightseeing, transportation, etc.

July is peak tourist season, so Europe will be busy, crowded and probably hot. Especially at that time of the year, it's a good idea to pre-book hotels. It would help to have a bit of further information on what you hope to see there. For example, what prompted your desire to see those three countries, and are there any specific places you're hoping to see?

Ken (and others), thanks for your replies. They are much appreciated. We will be flying in from Texas into and out of London. We understand about the time difference and the travel days. My husband has traveled this path before in less time and I particularly wanted to concentrate some time in Northern Italy, mostly for the food and the ambiance. We wanted to take the trains as part of the experience and to see some sights along the way. We have consulted a map and understand the distance between the countries - I was just looking for interesting places others have been, maybe along these routes. Ambitious, we realize, and we will do what we can. Just more to look forward to coming back for.

In the last few years, lots of relatively inexpensive airlines (like EasyJet) have sprung up around Europe that can get you around the continent quickly and cheaply, although that means needing the time to get to their airport, check in, and go thru security. Of course, there are regular airlines that can do the same, but sometimes will cost more.

There are slow trains, fast trains, and really fast trains, and some require reservations.

Perhaps you could do a combination of plane and train to get you where you want to go, within your dates. In Northern Italy, are you considering as far south as Emilia-Romagna (Bologna, Modena, Parma), or even Tuscany (Florence, Sienna, etc.), Northeast (Venice and/or the Dolomites), north-central (Milan, Lake Como), or northwest (Piedmont, Aosta, Genoa, Cinque Terre)? So many possibilities!

@angie, this bunch isn't much into the whirlwind tour. 10 days is plenty to go from London all the way to maybe Milan if you wanted.

London
London
London to Paris 2.5 hours
Paris
Paris to Zurich 6 hours
Zurich
Zurich to Milan 4 hours
Milan
Milan to Venice 4 hours
Venice
Home on an open jaw ticket

Go have a blast.

A couple of comments. The OP never mentioned Paris yet some responders seem intent on throwing that in. Also, the OP has stated in a reply that they are flying into and out of London (not open-jaw) so I assume they already have their airfare.

Angie, because you have to backtrack to London it won't leave a lot of time for other places but if you're insistent I would fly from London to somewhere in Switzerland for a couple of days and then train to northern Italy for a couple more days (maybe Lake Como area) and then fly from Milan back to London. I don't think you're going to have the time for several long distance train rides, so a lot of your vacation time will be spent traveling from one place to another.

angie,

Thanks for the additional information. As some of your arrangements are now "written in stone", that limits the choices. Would something like this work.....

• Day 1 - Flight to London
• Day 2 - Arrive London
• Day 3 - London
• Day 4 - Flight to Switzerland (one possibility would be an EasyJet flight from LGW to Basel-Mulhouse / BSL, 2H:35M - once there take a train to Lucerne, about 1.5 hours)
• Day 5 - Lucerne (you could visit Mt. Pilatus, take a cruise on the lake or just explore a beautiful city)
• Day 6 - Train to Florence (~5H:35M with 2 changes - I suggested Florence as it provides good opportunities for exploring - it's a great city and has lots of nice restaurants as well as incredible history - while there you could also take a day trip to Siena, Lucca or other locations)
• Day 7, 8 - Florence and area
• Day 9 - Flight back to London (one possibility is EasyJet from Pisa / PSA to either London LGW or LTN - if you take a late afternoon flight, that should allow enough time to see the famous tower before going to the airport - enjoy a fine dinner in London on your last night there).
• Day 10 - Flight home

There are many ways this could be arranged, and this is only one suggestion. As you can see, you'll spend a good portion of your trip in transit from one location to another (each change of location usually requires at least a half day). The three locations suggested above should provide you with a quick look at the three countries you want to see, but I'm not sure there will be any Castles in any of those cities.

Once you've decided on the Itinerary, it will be easier to provide more specific information on hotels, transportation, sightseeing, etc.

angie its about 800 miles from London to Milan. Consider traveling from Dallas to Chicago and back, and places in between, in 10 days. You'll spend a couple of days' time just traveling on the train.

angie.fnb: On my first trip to Europe, I had a choice between a fast-paced tour or a more deliberate/slow tour. I went fast and was so glad. Subsequent trips were slower, but still not to the liking of a goodly number on the Travel Forum. Decide what works for you. Have a grand time.

@angie, this bunch isn't much into the whirlwind tour. 10 days is plenty to go from London all the way to maybe Milan if you wanted.

London
London
London to Paris 2.5 hours
Paris
Paris to Zurich 6 hours (Paris because it breaks up the trip nicely)
Zurich
Zurich to Milan 4 hours
Milan
Milan to Venice 4 hours
Venice
Home on an open jaw ticket or a discount airline back to London for your trip home. If you need an extra day to make it work then just lay over for the night in Milan.

Yes, I offered something slightly different than you asked for but is that a crime? When I am looking for help I have gotten some great ideas I didn't expect. then again this may not be a great idea, but I am rambling .......

Go have a blast.