First Timers' 14 Day Trip to Europe....where to after London, Paris?

You can easily get from London to Paris in less than 3 hours on the Eurostar. You can also take a train up to Brussels and Amsterdam. Munich and Vienna is a little difficult to get to from Paris, and would be expensive cities to get to.
From Paris, you can fly on EasyJet to many cities very inexpensively to these great tourist cities within a couple of hours:
Barcelona Bologna
Budapest Copenhagen
Edinburgh Kraków
Lisbon Madrid
Milan–Malpensa Naples
Nice Prague
Venice
Venice (2-3 days) would be good and you could take a fast train to Florence or Rome for the remainder of your time.

Everyone sitting down? Buda........... no!!! I cant say it. I have to be honest!!!!! The first trip to Europe should be London, Paris, Rome and you have just enough time to do it well. Ignore any and all advice to the contrary.

No way would I recommend going all the way to Munich or Vienna when the core of your trip is London-Paris. Paris and London are each worth 4-5 nights at a minimum. I have stayed shorter in both cities and always regretted not having more time, even though I have been to both multiple times. It always takes time to get one's bearings in a big city. Maybe add on Bath or York in England, or add on Normandy or the Loire in France. I am a big proponent of not limiting yourself to big cities, and this is especially true in England and France. With five days to spare you could do both Loire and Normandy. So many people miss out by only doing the big cities, please consider visiting smaller cities and town as well.

Hi,

With 14-16 days you could add Munich after visiting Paris or, as you say, could spend the rest of the time in France...just a matter of priorities and planning. If not Munich, I would suggest staying in France. But Munich is doable either by flying from Paris or taking the train. Take the early ICE train from Gare de l'Est to Frankfurt Hbf., arrives just before 11 am. Take the ICE Frankfurt Hbf to Munich, you'll be there before 15:00 hrs. You transfer once, both legs on the ICE.

The only "correct" answer that really matters is contained in your words "...explore the places we'd like to go". Where do YOU really want to explore? Personally we could (and have) split that much time just between London and Paris. But that's just us. At any rate, we would not add more than one additional place fairly close by as travel time between places always take longer than one expects. Better to experience a few places well than a number of places just half way. Hope this helps. TC

88,

I'm just having a terribly hard time deciding what's worthwhile for a first trip! Any advice is appreciated!

EVERYTHING IS WORTHWHILE!

Right now you are the "kid in the candy shop" and cant see straight due to the fact.

Im sure you have some ideas and where you 2 want to see/visit/explore and so sit down and make a list and brainstorm. Note that dont rank then until you are done with making your list and then rank them. Since your trip is not a SOLO but a Joint Venture, make sure both parties are agreement. If you cant agree on places then have each pick One or Two places and go from there.

Once you get onto the continent getting around isn't a big deal in my opinion and i see puddle jumpers as being easier and usually less expensive than here. The train infrastructure is really great and i use it as much as possible.

Note that you can easily spend 2+ full weeks in just one country and not see all there is to see/do/experience.

good luck and happy trails.

I agree with James that London, Paris go well with Rome. The problem is (at least for me) that to be in Rome in June is a little masochistic. It is already too hot to enjoy outdoors. I would suggest Amsterdam. Easy to get there by fast train and also Amsterdam is quite different than London or Paris.

Weigh the options after seeing London and Paris. It's a matter of deciding what in your estimation is worth it as respects to time, expense, energy, the specific sights you're targeting, ie, flying or spending literally a day on the train getting to Vienna or less so Munich (ca. 8-9 hrs from Paris). It's all personal, (some good advice above), I have no problems spending a day on the ICE trains getting to a place, and have flown also within Europe...all a matter of choices as to what you are willing or not to cope/put up with along with the expense and time.

In June especially I would not want to spend the entire trip in cities. Provence is only 3 hours away by train (Nice is farther) and offers the options of return from Marseilles or, if you take an afternoon flight back, Paris (with a direct train to the airport from Avignon).

Of course it's really up to you, what do you like?

After reading the replies here, I most like the idea of London and Paris plus a few days in a smaller place in either country. From London, a 2-4 day trip to the Lake District or Devon/Cornwall, or a couple of days in York. From Paris, lots of choices for 2-4 days - Reimsj, Loire Valley, Colmar/Alsace, Burgundy . . . . I'd spend at least 5 days each in London and Paris. If there's not enough in the city to keep you there, there are lots of day trips from both.

Remember - Less is More

Personally, I'd stick to JUST London and Paris with several day trips. That way you get to explore those areas in a bit more detail and are not so rushed. You'd have a week in each destination, and could really enjoy a leisurely pace. Or start in Paris , then London then head to Scotland. Of the choices you listed, I'd pick Amsterdam. I love Vienna, but Austria deserves plenty of time on its own.

My first trip abroad was to London for a full week, with a day trip (such a tease!) to Edinburgh by train and I must say a week there and a week in Paris sounds perfect for a first trip, the only country I'd consider including would be Belgium since it's so easy by train. Vienna and that area are deserving of more than a day or two, best saved for another trip.

Before thinking you should add destinations to London and Paris I recommend you take a deep dive into creating a list of sites, places, events, dining, etc you desire to experience. Proritize the list and then determine how much time you will utilize in accomplishing this list. After doing this exercise you should have a better idea of how much remaining time of your trip is abailable for another destination.

Paris, London, ferry to Dublin.

We did London - Paris - Bruges/Brussels in 2012 and wished we would have given ourselves more time in Belgium! It was an easy trip and the travel times were short. We flew into London (and right back out to Paris due to the Olympics), then took the train to Brussels (then a smaller train to Bruges and back), then the Eurostar from Brussels to London. It was perfect! It's hard to go wrong with a country known for chocolate, beer, and waffles!!

My first trip to Europe was Paris & Copenhagen. I liked going to a place that was slightly different. Copenhagen is a quick trip from Paris