Hi All. We are a couple in the late 30's. This will be out first trip to Europe and we don't have any idea of how many places we can see on a trip of a max of 16 to 18 days and which are the best places for a first trip. We are thinking on going maybe for October 2017 or November which ever is better. Thanks for the help.
Update, I have done some research. What do you think about Madrid, Paris, Venice and Rome/Naples. It is to much?? Should I skip Madrid???
General rule is you lose a half day traveling every time you change locations, so 3 nights in each spot gives you 2 1/2 full days.
With 18 days, that would indicate maximum 6 places. Some spots deserve more time, like London, Paris, Rome. Occasionally, a 2 night stop is fine for one specific sight you want to see.
Well, what interests you? Big cities, smaller places? Museums? Nightlife?
I like to fly into one city and out of another--open jaw--to avoid backtracking.
And I like visiting cities that are a straight shot from one to another and easy to get to from each other. Like London and Paris. Or, Budapest-Vienna-Prague. Or, Rome-Florence-Venice.
I also like visiting 2-3 cities/regions and then catching a cheap European budget airline to a completely different end of the continent on the way home.
I don't know what you are most interested in, but a classic London, Paris, Rome trip would give you a great start to your trip, and with 16-18 days you would have time to see quite a bit and still include some day trips. Around London you could visit Oxford, Cambridge or Windsor. Around Paris you could visit Versailles or Giverny or even the Loire Valley (we took a fast train to Tours and then visited 4 Chateaux on a van tour. It was fast paced, but we loved it). From Rome you could visit Ostia Antica or Hadrian's Villa. Limiting your overnight stops gives you more sightseeing time. Really, the possibilities are endless though! I hope you have a wonderful and exciting trip!
Aelis, Europe is big continent! For a first trip, it's less a matter of how "how many places we can see" as much as which of them are going to suit your interests at a comfort level with language, transport and whatnot you are willing to take on. The worst thing you can do, IMHO, is to try and cram so much into so little that you don't have time to learn or recall much of anything at all! You might spend most of your time (and money) just packing up, moving on, unpacking, trying to get your head around a new location...
We've spent 21 days JUST in Italy and loved every minute..and that wasn't our first time. We hope to go back several more times for a month or two! Other RS members will say that same about France, Germany, Greece, Spain, etc. What you need to do is to get some guidebooks, spend some time with online travel sites, and then decide which places have attractions/activities which most appeal to you.
Trip planning isn't everyone's thing. You may decide that it's more your style to sign up for a tour where most of the itinerary, hotel reservations and transport arrangements are made for you. Conversely, some of us - myself included - are independent travelers who are OK with putting a lot of time and research into creating our own trips. There's no right or wrong with either choice as long as YOU have a good time.
You might want to look at Rick's "Best of Europe" tour? It may be a good opportunity to get your feet wet with friendly company and support that will help you to feel confident enough to venture out on your own next time?
Like Kathy said: if you don't know what you want, you are a good candidate for one of the RS tours. At least look at their itineraries and see what is feasible.
I sent you a private message - recommendation for some tours that I really like.
Happy Travels.
To add to the good advice above:
October is generally better than November, for one thing there is more daylight. But November can be fine, especially south of the Alps.
In either case, I'd move from north to south, generally, if your itinerary has a north and south. IE, don't start in Rome and end in Amsterdam.
Don't ask, "What's the most we can see." Rather, "What's the best trip we can have"?
Just to expand on that: The most train rides and one-night stays is probably not the best trip you can have.
Read a ton of guidebooks T see what speaks to you!
Leave a little slack time for serendipity to strike. And try stuff out with an experimental, low-stakes frame of mind. That's how you will learn what sorts of things you really like about Europe!
October may be better weather and longer days as others noted.
You can see whatever YOU want on the trip! Most large cities seem to have pretty decent English speaking customer service people since they know there will be tourists. You may be more comfortable starting out in a city.
One thing that was fun for our trip was to choose a concert to go to in one city - we purchased tickets online ahead of time. Maybe there is some music or theater or opera performance you'd like to see. You could search what is happening in Oct or Nov that interests you and plan your trip around that.
Rick Steves includes the notion of "cultural hairiness" as a guideline for itinerary planning. The idea is to visit countries that offer less culture shock first (generally, that means northern countries first, the south later. )
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/itinerary-tips
With just 2+ weeks you certainly don't have time to cover the entire continent; you might just stay mostly to the north this time, then visit southern Europe on a follow-up trip in the next few years with the travel skills you acquired previously.
If you do it yourself (not on a tour), pick four or five cities that are not hundreds of miles apart and don't push it by spending half your time traveling.
Example, you can do the high points of Italy visiting Napes area, Rome, Florence and Venice in 12=14 days and still have time to add one more city.
Another example, Paris, Brussels, Brugges, Amsterdam, Cologne, Trier, Luxembourg return to Paris.
Britain is wonderful, London, day trips to Cotswolds, Cambridge, Canterbury, Stonehenge, Salisbury, then train to York then end in Edinburgh.
One thing that you can get more easily from an organized guidebook, versus random searching, is information about interesting smaller towns that you might not have heard of and that are reasonable side trips or mid-ways stops between the more famous big cities. Just hitting the capital cities doesn't give you a full picture of a country. The Explore Europe section of this web site gives you an overview of destinations covered in Rick's books.
I love eastern Europe, but I think a first trip should be London, Paris, Rome. 18 days is perfect as it will provide you an overnight trip out of each city to see some smaller scale places. London and Winchester for example .... or Bath for a night. Rome and Sorrento or Orvieto or .....
keep it simple and enjoy
One of the best things you can do is go to your public library and check out travel DVDs and guidebooks for the areas that interest you. And, most importantly, have the attitude, " I will see that the next time." Only you can decide what you want to do.
When my husband and I planned our first trip we went north to south. We knew a few key places we definitely wanted to visit and we knew we wanted to rent cars because we wanted the freedom to poke around and stop when we wanted.
From there we started reading guide books, looking at photos of places on the internet, watching Rick's shows, and reading these forums. We planned on 2-3 nights in most places. We saw London, Paris, and Rome, but it was the little places in between that captured our imagination and have had us going back to Europe every summer since 2010.
So I would start with the two or three key places you really want to see, and then plan a sensible itinerary from there. Sensible is as others on this thread have said - consider travel times between places and consider staying a few nights or more in a place so that you have a full day or two to explore it.
Enjoy!!
We have found October to be a great month to travel throughout Europe.
We recommend plagerizing the Rick Steve's travel itineraries in order to gain an idea of routes and destinations to start planning a trip.
And if, after 40 years of continuous travel throughout Europe, we could start all over again.........
We would spend the extra money, set aside our ego of "gotta do our first trip by ourselves" and take a Rick Steve's tour since it would be the most effective method to maximize enjoyment while learning so much in order to enhance future trips!
Nope, RS pays nothing for us to write the endorsement; just decades of travel experiences leads us to believe in the positive results of RS tours.
Take the long view and prioritise FIVE different trips to Europe ...
A) London, Paris, Belgium, Amsterdam
B) Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest
C) Munich, Austria, Switzerland
D) Italy - Venice, Florence, Amalfi Coast, Rome
E) Spain - Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Madrid
Update, I have done some research. What do you think about Madrid, Paris, Venice and Rome/Naples. It is too much?? Should I skip Madrid???
Where are you coming from? Might help as to flights, but first impression is yes. Fly into Paris, then to Naples, train to Rome, train to Venice, flight to Madrid, then fly home from there. Depending on where you are coming from, the city order could change, but you get the idea. You can use discount European airlines for trips inside Europe.
To answer your question: Yes.
In the time you have, five destinations, many far apart, 3 in Italy, for newbies--is too many.
Leave off either Paris or Madrid, and have an excellent trip.
We are flying from Puerto Rico, right now we only have direct flights to Madrid. We will need to have a stop in USA to flight to or from another city.
You have some good prices if you go SJN to MAD, then return from Paris (ORY) connecting through MAD. Air Europa has the best price, Iberia a bit more. This gives the best scheduling.
So go to Madrid, then fly to Naples (Ryanair goes there but only 2 days a week in October), train to Rome, then Venice, then fly to Paris on easyJet.
What do you think about Madrid, Paris, Venice and Rome/Naples?
Stick to just Italy. If that is your main interest. Add Florence if you like but you have plenty there to keep you interested without adding extra flights to Madrid/Paris.
OP states only direct flights from PR go to Madrid. I would stay strictly in Spain. So many wonderful places to see. Look at Rick's Spain itinerary. You can base out of major cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Seville) and take day trips to nearby locations. Enjoy your first trip!
Decent connection to/from Italy thru Philadelphia with American.
Philly is the worst airport I have traveled from.
Haha. There you go. That's something I would never know.
Now you know djp-syd!!! Lol
