First Trip to Europe!

Janna, What types of things are you interested in? Are you a history person? Are you interested in art? Music? Photography? Outdoors activities? Or do you just want to experience new cultures and meet people? This info might help us give you some guidance. Also, for those of us who haven't done the Contiki highlights tour, can you let us know which highlights they hit? ; ) You may want to have a variety of possible plans for the last two weeks as you may decide that you want to go back to some locations or you may make friends and want to travel with them. My favorite spot is Scotland. I would say go there if you like history, photography, exploring castles and beautiful landscapes and meeting people. Scotland is a place where I've found it very comfortable to travel in and meet people. It sounds like a great trip. I'm extremely jealous. ; ) Pam

I am really interested in history, art, photography and I am hoping to meet a lot of people on this trip. My Contiki tour is from London, Paris, Beaujolais Wine Region, French Riviera, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Vatican City, Venice, Munich, Dachau, Rhine Valley, Amsterdam and back to London. I am pretty much open to any suggestions of great places to visit. Thanks!

WOW - 14 places in 16 days!!! If this is Wednesday we must be Venice. But I guess that will give you a bit of most of the highlights of Europe.

Indeed, you will be moving quickly. So, I think that you might actually find that you do want to go back to one of these places and spend a bit of time. Remember, you'll be back in Europe again. ; ) That said, another place to think about is Berlin. It's an exciting city. It has 20th century history (and older if you go to Potsdam). It's a happening place these days. There are some great art museums. I really enjoyed my visit of a few years ago. Pam

Janna, As this is your first trip to Europe and since you'll be on your own for a week both before and after your tour, the first "tip" I have to offer is that pre-reading Europe Through The Back Door would be a really good idea. That will provide you with a lot of good information on how to travel in Europe. For the last two weeks, I'd suggest not trying to fit too many places into the Itinerary as each trip to a new city will take at least half a day (and in some cases longer). All of the places you want to visit (Ireland, Prague, Spain) are in opposite directions, and while it would be possible to get to all locations in a two-week time frame, you'd need to plan the transportation carefully. I'm assuming you'll need to be back in London for your flight home? In terms of "the best places to see", you might check a few Guidebooks (including Rick's books of course) to get some idea on attractions that might interest you in each city you'll be visiting). Happy travels!

My first trip to Europe was asomething similar, seeing a lot of Cities and countryside in a few days (this was before Rick Steves was invented). It was a great introduction to europe and showed me places i wanted to go back to, and also a few that went much lower on my wish-list Your tour is from London to London, also you are flying into and out of London. the practical thing would be to spend more time in ans around London before the tour, and probably the Englosh countryside after- to avoid backtracking too much You dont seem to have an opportunity at the end of your trip of going back to some favorite areas on the Continent. pity- thats what I would have suggested. how about if you leave the contiki Tour at the end, but while you are still in Europe and spend the last week of your vacation in Paris and nearby France (cant remember your last large City in Europe). Ideal would be to change your return ticket so you return from the Continent (say Paris) rather than London. you will probably not miss anything by skipping the last day, it is probably mostly just travelling back to London with minimal sightseeing If you cant change your return flight you could take Eurostar back from Paris to London on your last day- you end up at Paddington (i recall) which is the station for trains to heathrow

I think you will be exhausted after zipping around to so many cities in such a brief time, so I would plan to stay put for your last two weeks. I would suggest a week in Paris and a week in London. You can do lots of day trips from either city if you want to see something new. But a week is not nearly enough to see everything there is to see in both of those cities. Another option would be traveling around the UK. It's easy by train. But I think you might like to avoid a lot of moving around after your tour.

I am now thinking of taking a train to Frankfurt from London once I arrive since it seems a bit easier that doing the whole plane thing again considering the Frankfurt international airport is a 2 hour bus ride away from Frankfurt and then I have about 2 and a half weeks to explore via train. And I am leaning towards doing my tour at the end of my trip and then I have 4 days after I arrive in London to explore before I come back home. So I guess my question is what is the easiest way to choose and book rail passes? I am getting confused with all of the options. I am 22 so then I would be able to get youth rail tickets. Any advise for booking trains?

OK, since your Contiki tour is zooming you all around the continent, it does make sense for you to spend your free time doing some slower travel. If you're going to Germany right after you arrive in London, you will probably find the area around Kassel pretty interesting. I would spend some time there with your aunt. The lodging price is right, and you could see some interesting places cheaply. You like architecture? It's a 20-min. train ride (about 6 Euros) from there to Hannoversch Münden, which has a stunning collection of half-timbered buildings. Then from HM, you can explore Lower Saxony. Hameln and Rinteln have some amazing Weserrennaisance buildings. Celle's half-timbered old town is gorgeous as well. Goslar is one of Northern Germany's most popular destinations. The larger cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen lie further to the north. All of these places are accessible to you from Hann. M. with a daypass called the "Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) Ticket", which is just 21 Euros per day for one person, 29 if traveling with a companion. After a few days, head to Berlin, which isn't on your tour, for a few days. Loads of history and art there! If you have more time, I'd suggest Brussels, Bruges, and/or Antwerp, which were also ignored on your Contiki, on your way to London. Or maybe you can talk to Contiki and meet them in Amsterdam to start your tour. With some planning you wouldn't need a railpass for travel like this; get advance-purchase tickets for 29-39 Euros from Kassel to Berlin, and for 39+ Euros Berlin to Brussels, if you buy well in advance from the German Railways site: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en Cheapie tickets can be bought 92 days in advance; snag them quickly before they're gone.

This map shows you where you can travel by train in Lower Saxony on the daypass I mentioned: http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/mdb/pv/dbregio/ausfluege/niedersach/MDB84487-niedersa_ticket_2010_11.pdf

Janna, "what is the easiest way to choose and book rail passes?" Before deciding on whether or not to buy a Railpass, or which Railpass to use, you'll need to do some "number crunching". Make a list of all your rail journeys and try to determine the approximate cost of these using P-P tickets. Use THIS Map for an approximation. That will give you some indication on which option will be the most cost effective. In some cases, using a combination of a Railpass for longer and more expensive routes, and P-P tickets for cheaper routes is a good method. You could also enter your Itinerary into This website and it will provide somewhat of an "estimate" on which Railpass will be most suitable. A few things to keep in mind with Railpasses. First, these DON'T include the reservation fees that are compulsory on the "premium" trains such as the TGV in France or the EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita in Italy. You'll have to pay "out of pocket" for those (especially in Italy, DON'T be caught without a valid reservation or you'll be fined on the spot!). I can tell you that from personal experience! On my trip last year, I noticed that the Conductors are now carrying wireless Debit/Credit Card Terminals, so the fine will be out of your account even before you get off the train! In terms of how to "choose and book"a Railpass, you can purchase these from the "Railpasses" section on this website. Once you have your details somewhat finalized, if you have any specific questions, you could also invest in a short phone call and Rick's Rail experts will be able to help you "fine tune" the details. Good luck!

Janna, A few more things to mention..... With a Railpass, you can easily arrange reservations when in Europe. Either arrange these for the outgoing journey when you arrive in each city, or at least a day or two before you'll be travelling. You'll need to visit the Rail station anyway to validate your Railpass (information on that will be provided with the Pass). You may find it very helpful to read the "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door. It's really very easy once you figure out how the system works. You may also find it helpful to have a look at This video for a short tutorial on "riding the rails". Cheers!

Don't forget the royal wedding the end of April. Traffic will be disrupted in the city and who knows what else will be altered in the city for it.

The Frankfurt International airport is NOT 2 hours away from Frankfurt, it is only 11 minutes away. You must be thinking of that Ryan Air airport, Frankfurt Hahn. That is 120 km away from Frankfurt and the bus that shuttles back and forth between there and Frankfurt will cost you 12 euro and take you about 1.5 hours.