First trip to Europe

What fun! I think a good place to start is for you and your mother to write down a list of places that you have always wanted to go in Europe or things you have always wanted to do there. See where your lists might overlap. You might also group some of the choices that are located near each other.

I think looking at some of the RickSteves TV shows can be a good inspiration if you are unsure where to start.

What a fun trip this is going to be! With that long you can take your time and not be consumed with trying to "see everything"

I'd suggest you start with Rick's Europe Through the Back Door as a basic general information guide book then you can drill down to which countries you want to include.

Consider flying "open jaw" which is flying in to one location and out of another (for instance flying in to Rome and out of London). I'd do your southern-most areas first and work your way north. Having lived in FL you get pretty used to AC at night and that can be a problem in Europe. I'd make sure all your lodging has AC.

You may want to look at some tour itineraries to give you ideas about locations but add more days because you can't move as quickly and efficiently as a tour and you'll want to spend more time! Take a look to start with at Rick's 21 Day Best of Europe. This give a wide range on experiences from the Netherlands to Rome. See if any of those locations sound like fun for you, then add days in each location. IN fact, I'd request his tour brochure just to have as a wish book for locations!

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/europe/europe-21-days

In my view the biggest mistake first-timers make is to try and cram too many places in to their time. Plan for 3-4 nights in each spot with big cities like Paris, London and Rome getting 5 nights.

You'll have a great time planning!

I suggest you start by getting a copy of Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door. Your public library may have one. It has a lot of information about planning a trip to Europe, including budgeting and transportation. While it's not really a guidebook, it does include some suggested itineraries and destinations. See also the "Explore Europe" and "Travel Tips" links above on this website. You may also want to look at some guidebooks about regions or countries that particularly interest you.

Six weeks is a long trip, but you can fill it with great experiences. I think the key is not to try to "see everything" by moving to and from and lot of places. Every time you change countries or cities or towns, you're spending money and time on transportation. So choose some priorities and give them the time they deserve. This may be your first trip to Europe but hopefully it won't be your last. As you move along in your planning, bring specific questions to this forum (which is organized by topic and country).

Agree with all of these comments.

Europe Through the Back Door was my introduction to traveling in Europe when I used it 35 years ago, and it still is good now.

Don't try to see everything, even if it is 6 weeks. If you are staying several nights in one place, stay in an apartment where you can soak up the local culture. Take time to wander the streets, shop at grocery stores, people watch.

With focus culture, new food and architecture a lot fo European countries and destinations are a match. Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona or Sevilla, Berlin & Potsdam (palaces), Florence, Amsterdam and some other cities come to my mind. But do bot miss smaller old town areas such as Romantic Road & Bamberg (Germany), Alsace, Bruges or Hallstatt.

Tip 1: the list of European UNESCO world heritage sites is a good indicator.

Tip 2: The European visitor website will provide lots of information and inspirations.

I think a good place to start is London. You won't have the language barrier and it's a good way to ease into Europe. There are easy transport options from there via train, ferry, and plane, and most major US cities fly there nonstop. There are some great travel skills videos here: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/travel-talks

Also make sure you fly open-jaw, that is, book one ticket that flies into one destination and out of another so you don't have to backtrack.

I don't have any places to recommend because there's too much to choose from! I just wanted to offer a few thoughts.

I believe knowing a little history of the area you visit really enriches your experience. Learn the pleasantries in the local language and use them. Observe not so much the culture, but the customs of a place, and by doing so you'll soak up the culture. For example, if dinner is at 9pm, eat at 9pm. If siesta time takes place, take a siesta. If aperitivo hour is the norm, have a cocktail and aperitivi on the piazza. Try to find out about festivals taking place during your visit, preferably in a small town, and understand the origin of the festival.

If you have six weeks for your trip, you could plan your trip to cover areas that have very diverse architecture. The country cottages of rural England, the palace of Versailles, the half-timbered houses of Germany, the trulli in Southern Italy, and of course the beach cabanas in Forte dei Marmi (!).

Have fun planning!

All good advice so far... particularly binge watching the newer RS videos. The suggestion to start in London is also excellent because of langauge - but of course they don't use euros.

One way to start is to break things down into chunks. Then plot how to connect these chunks in a logical path without too much backtracking. Just getting familiar with the geography will be a big help and Google Maps is actually pretty cool for that while watching/pausing the RS videos.

For example maybe start by saying 6 weeks - 6 countries/regions. Plan to stay at least 2-3 nights in a place so you can soak in the culture. That would be 12 to 15 moves. Remember travel between cities will take up half day each time with checking out/traveling/checking in so that would be 6+ days just moving around.

Then identify two/three top places of interest to you in each country. Art here, Culture there, History somewhere else. You could of course spend all six weeks in art museums across Europe... but mix it up with mountains and countryside too. London plus (Stonehenge?). Paris plus (Normandy?). Brussels or Amsterdam plus. Berlin or Munich plus. Venice or Florence plus. Madrid plus.

You can also book one day tours out of major hubs like Paris that take a long day but mean you come back to your same hotel at night... They can be somewhat expensive but they provide road transportation and a guide to places you wouldn't otherwise reach in the time allotted. If you stay four nights in a place the middle of the three days can be a "tour" day.

Then get on a hotel site - I usually use Booking.com to locate properties, even if i call them directly as recommended by RS. Not to book anything, but to get price ranges of accommodations in each place of interest. And the hotel sites plot the ratings (9.0+) and locations of hotels on maps that usually also show main sights. This will give you price ranges to use to figure out how far your funds will stretch. And, this may suggest skipping some areas - however wonderful (think Switzerland) because it won't fit in the budget.

The RS guidebooks also describe getting around in Europe using various train line sites like Bahn.de for Deutsche Bahn, Trenitalia.it in Italy, etc. Learn how to look up the train routes connecting your preliminary dots. Again this give cost ranges and travel times between sites. Of course, again you can't book anything now, but pick a day of the week a month away and see what is available by schedule and cost.
This will also helping picking among rail passes or using some on the spot ticket purchases.

With all respect to others commenters favorite places...I would do Madrid for the Prado Museum alone, Paris for the St Chappelle windows, the Middle Rhine valley for the castles, Berlin for the history, Prague for the amazing preserved charm, Innsbruck if you need Alps, the Dolomite Mountains for rugged, highly accessible beauty for hiking, Vienna for what the 19th Century Europe looked like. Florence and the Tuscan countryside for art/.food/ and some relaxation at an Agritourismo for some down time during the trip. I will quit there.

Have a great time!!

I think that the Explore Europe and Travel Tips sections if this RS website are so important that I provided links to them. Both of you need to spend time researching and starting to plan this early is excellent for doing that.

Explore Europe allows you browse countries and look deeper into each one.

Travel Tips gives you very important practical information -- especially for newbie European travelers.

And since you are planning to use public transportation, I cannot stress enough how much better your trip will be if you pack light and do laundry along the way. Each of you will need to manage your own luggage and traveling the way you say you want to do is not compatible with taking large bags.

The Travel Tips section has info on packing light. This video by Sarah Murdoch is a real eye-opener for most who see it. And there is great information in the Packing Forum about this topic, often with opposite opinions on the value of packing light.

Please note that parts of Europe can be cold and rainy in June, so if you decide to visit them, pack accordingly. Unless you limit yourself to the Mediterranean countries, you are likely to experience some surprising summer weather for a Florida resident. Even Portugal was a bit chilly in early June this year.

I know not all of this information directly answers your question, but understanding these considerations can certainly affect where you go.

Good for you, I wish I had six weeks to travel Europe. I strongly suggest looking at some of Rick Steves' videos to see where you might like to visit. I would also suggest considering May instead of June. You say crowds are not an issue but you have not been to Europe, so I guess you might say that. Believe me, crowds are an issue :). Don't fall into he trap of "I got a really cheap flight into and out of London, but I really want to go to Slovenia." So many people on this board post of having done something similar, it's almost comical. Definitely fly open jaw. England-France-Italy is a good combination with this much time, but don't count out Spain even though it's a geographical outlier.

I agree with the previous suggestions to begin your research by reading Europe Through The Back Door. That provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe. After that use the country or city-specific Rick Steves guidebooks to plan in more detail, including hotels, transportation, sightseeing etc. You should be able to find all the books at your local Library or larger bookstores.

It would help to have some idea what prompted this desire to visit Europe? That should provide some insight into which cities to visit. If you could provide a bit more information, the group here will be able to provide more detailed replies.

These videos may give you some ideas.....

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz0UCZkPqbA

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZPjdzZ_9bQ

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6tgY681e4

One other concept you could look at would be to take a short Rick Steves tour to get up-to-speed on travelling in Europe, and then do more self guided travel on your own.

Good luck with your planning!

My 2 cents...for accommodations, look at AirBnB. I find that staying in a local home, with or without owners present, gives more of a sense of experiencing the culture. One of my best experiences was in Munich, sharing with a couple and their young baby. They were so helpful in telling us where to go, and then we had dinner with them at night.

I traveled Europe by train for 6 weeks back in 2003. We started and ended in London, and basically made a loop around Western Europe. We visited 15 cities, staying 2-3 nights in each place. You’ll probably want a slower pace - we took three overnight trains to maximize our time and while it was fun at 23, I wouldn’t do it now - but maybe this will give you some ideas of cities to link up.

Our itinerary:
London
Paris
Barcelona
Nice
Geneva
Milan
Florence
Rome
Venice
Munich
Vienna
Prague
Berlin
Amsterdam
Brussels
London