First trip to Europe! (London / Paris / Amsterdam / Barcelona / Rome)- any and all advice welcome

Don't bother with a Visitor Oyster Card. You can't get back your deposit. Either buy a regular Oyster Card on arrival (You can load a travel card and some pay-as-you-go cash on it) or, since there are 2 of you, go to a Major TRAIN station (not a tube station) and get paper travel cards (they are good for 7 days, but since you will be there for 5, you will get good use of them). These will have the National Rail symbol on them. The plus of the paper travel card is that they qualify you for the two-for-1 (2-4-1) deals that are offered at many sights, restaurants, stores, etc.). Check out the current offers and details at this website [https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london][1] (London Days Out Guide). You can print out the vouchers at home or wait and pick up a booklet of them at the train station when you buy the card.

Are interested in gardens? We love Kew Gardens. It is lovely any time of year and you can spend a whole day or just a part of one wandering around. The shop there is also one of my absolute favorites!

Windsor would make a nice day (or 1/2 day) trip. You can take the train from Paddington Station (one easy, quick change at Slough). The castle is great and the town in nice, with good shopping. And you can watch the changing of the guard there much easier than at Buckingham Palace.

Thanks! Yes, gardens are definitely of interest to me. I will look into Windsor!

As for the Oyster card, do you mean we can't get back the 3 pound cost of the card or something else? Because even with that it seems like the cap of fare cost per day makes it a much much cheaper way to take the tube than anything else. Or am I completely misunderstanding how the card works? I know we can get whatever's leftover before we leave, at the machines.

Also we're technically only in need of a tube pass for 3 days. The first day is almost 100% going to be walking exploration before the inevitable crash and the last day will just be one ride to st pancras. Does that change your recommendation?

If museums and galleries do not feature high on your priorities, then consider adding Florence and Venice, rather than spending all your Italian time based in Rome.
London - 4 nights
Eurostar train to Paris - 4 nights
Thalys train to Amsterdam - 3 nights
Fly to Barcelona - 3 nights
Fly to Venice - 2 nights
Morning train to Florence - 1 night
Evening train to Rome - 3 nights

I did consider Venice, with less time in Rome but decided against it because Venice didn't really appeal to me. I'm ok going to Florence from Rome, and maybe somewhere else another day. But the one exception to our lack of interest in museums etc is Rome/Florence. Plus I assume we'll be tired. I added extra time for maximum pizza eating as well. And unfortunately/fortunately the Barcelona to Rome flight has already been booked so it's staying as is, but we can splinter off from Rome a few times. I had to buy everything or I'd change my mind a million times! Thanks to this forum I avoided cramming a million things in. Originally I was having a night in Iceland, adding Munich and a few nights in the Swiss alps AND all the places I mentioned above, in the same time frame. Crazy.

Vueling flies Barcelona to Florence direct, but alas, too late, you've already booked.

London: Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) Bus: http://eng.bigbustours.com/london/home.html. Harry Potter tour at Warner Brothers Lot, if interested in that. Jack the Ripper Tour.

Paris: HOHO Bus tour: L'Open Bus,http://www.paris.opentour.com/en/Paris-bus-tour/pass-bus-opentour/. Giverny – Claude Monet’s house in the country: http://www.grayline.com/tours/paris/giverny-claude-monets-home-and-gardens-small-group-minibus-5875_86/#.UxAdPVwhxg1. Photo opportunities galore, w/in the grounds and the surrounding area/town. Chateaux Day Trip w/Wine Tasting & Lunch: http://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Skip-the-Line-Chateaux-de-Chambord-Chenonceau-and-Loire-Valley-Wine-Tasting-Day-Trip-from-Paris/d479-3731LOIRE. Viator is a third-party company when purchasing tickets. Its best and usually cheaper in dealing with the company directly. For example in Paris, Paris City Vision, http://www.pariscityvision.com, is the main company that viator tours will book through.

Enjoy your time, I head back to Paris 27 May.

Thanks! We're definitely doing the Harry Potter studios

If your itinerary weren't already decided, I would have suggested that maybe it would be a better fit for the interests you've described to spend less time in the big cities and more time in smaller towns. But there's always next time. :)

In the UK, because there's (almost) no language barrier, it's especially easy to venture off the beaten track and away from the areas that cater to American tourists. There are interesting neighborhoods - and interesting pubs - all over London. Find one that looks appealing (you can scope them out on Google Street View ahead of time) and just explore. With your interest in food, maybe use this list of farmers markets as a guide: http://www.lfm.org.uk/markets-home/ Most of them sell prepared food, and even if they don't, you can always sample some of the fresh fruit. If you see any tomatoes from the Isle of Wight, you should buy them - they are delicious. (Heads up: "Tomato" in British English is pronounced "to-MAH-to," but "potato" is still "po-TAY-to." Like I said, there's almost no language barrier.)

Thanks! I do think I'd like a mix of smaller areas and cities because people/culture/the vibe of cities is much more interesting to me than a smaller city but I'd like the photo ops of the outlying areas. I'm basically into everything about cities except endless museums :)

That's a lot of questions on a lot of destinations in one post! I'll just answer a couple based on some of your interests…

For "off the beaten path" or "slightly odd" things to do, check on the Atlas Obscura website for each of your destinations (as well as the surrounding areas). I adore museums and can spend hours in them, but even I need a break now and then and I like to hit up places like that. I usually have an idea of at least one I want to hit, but anytime I surf Atlas Obscura, I end up with about a half dozen more that all of a sudden become priorities for me.

Bars to get drunk at? I like checking Time Out for their reviews and descriptions of what the clientele are generally like at a given place. Whether your preference is to drink cheap booze and dance til 6AM with a bunch of 20-somethings, or belly up to the zinc bar and throw back some 15 Euro cocktails with fashionistas in their mid 30s to 40s and be asleep by 10PM, Time Out will have a listing for it somewhere.

Quirky view of Eiffel Tower for photography? I got up pretty early before any crowds started milling around and found some of the best shots I got were taken when I was standing directly underneath the tower and pointing the camera straight up from the base. The shots in black and white came out really good. I also like to photograph "found art", a lot of it is street/graffiti art or murals painted on the sides of buildings. For my interests, some of the better stuff is found in the "less desirable" neighborhoods. Where to eat with a view of the Eiffel? Les Ombres - not cheap, especially for dinner - but if you are willing to get the fixed price lunch there, it's a splurge, but not one that will break the bank.

"Best place to go for 'local delicacies' in Amsterdam"? Before someone here recommends you go try one of the pancake places or tells you which herring stand has the best fish, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're looking for some cheeba. Try Amnesia. Small place on the Herengracht canal, not a far walk from Centraal, but world's away from those cruddy places in the Red Light District that appeal to Spring Breakers and other dumb tourists. There are entire websites that feature photos of the "menus" so you can get a better understanding of the product before you even walk through the door. These sites also talk about the atmosphere of each coffeehouse, typical customer base, helpfulness of the counter staff, etc. Do you need a guided walking tour in Amsterdam? No, it's compact and easy enough to do it on your own with a guidebook. But if you want to spend the money because you feel having a guided tour will be more informative or just plain convenient, then spend the money to do it.

Is renting a car a ridiculous idea? No. It's definitely cheaper than hiring a private driver, especially when there are only 2 of you to split that cost. You don't have to know how to drive a stick shift, but if you want an automatic, reserve that type of car well in advance and make sure the rental place switches your GPS to English so it's not guiding you in Italian.

Ceidleh- thanks so much! I realized after I posted that I need to put this in separate country posts, which I will do. But I'm glad I did because your response is very helpful. That atlas obscura is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you thank you thank you. The rest of your advice is right on the money as well.

Rome -Naples is just over an hour by fast train, then you can get a ferry from Naples to Sorrento or Capri. (There's a train too , the 'Vesuviana’ I think, but a ferry would give you more time on/nearthe water). I think renting a car could be a hassle, because just getting out of an unfamiliar city like Rome with all its traffic could take a really long time. I believe there is also a ferry from Salerno to the Amalfi coast.

Frozzi that is an awesome idea! Thanks

It's late so I'll just add a few comments that came to mind after reading your post.....

• In order to get some idea what sights might interest you in each place, I'd suggest checking your local Library for Rick Steves guidebooks. They always have a good summary of the most important sights in each city, ranked with one-to-three triangles. They also have good information on things like transportation, restaurants, etc.
• As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd also recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It provides a lot of good information on how to travel in Europe.
• As a first time traveller you'll also have to contend with things like how to get money, travelling with phones or other gadgets, Plug Adaptors and charging cameras, etc. You didn't say if you had done any research on things like that.
• As you're "serious about photography", be sure you have enough memory cards, spare batteries, etc. What type of camera gear are you using?
• Have you researched protecting yourself against theft and scammers? Are you planning to use Money Belts? Barcelona especially has a reputation for that, but other cities can be problematic also.
• Getting to the Amalfi Coast with such a short time frame is challenging, as you won't really see much on a day trip. Rather than use an organized tour, you could take the high speed train to Naples, and then arrange a private driver such as Monetti Taxi (recommended in the guidebook) to give you a one day "condensed tour" of the area. You could perhaps cover Naples, Sorrento and Positano, and if you're interested Pompeii or Paestum.
• I wouldn't recommend renting a car, as there are a few "caveats" to be aware of. For example, each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used with your home D.L. There are also some "traps" such as the dreaded ZTL (limited traffic) areas, speed cameras (both of which come with hefty fines), expensive parking and fuel, and you may have to drive a stick shift.
• There are also some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using trains and other public transit in Italy. If you need further information, post another note and I'll send you a PM with my usual "boilerplate" on the subject.
• Perhaps you could clarify what "activities" in Amsterdam you're planning? If you want to visit a "Coffee Shop", I'm not sure how accessible that is to tourists at the moment. Hopefully one of the others can clarify that.

I'm sure you'll have a great time, and it's good to see that you're doing your homework with trip planning. BTW, I'm a retired Paramedic and worked with many Nurses. One of my relatives is currently going through the R.N. program.

Thanks Ken! I have read the Rick Steves book and done an exhaustive amount of research re: charging, money, phone usage, theft etc. I feel pretty covered on all that. As for my camera equipment it's my trusty iPhone :) I don't feel like carrying a real camera around Europe and the quality is great, definitely good enough to sell if I decided to do that. But mostly the photography is for my own amusement.

I definitely think I'm going to take the train to Naples. Whether we take your suggestion to hire a driver or ferry to Capri as someone else suggested is tbd. We are also taking the train to Florence. What else should I know about trains in Italy? Thanks!

Was just in Amsterdam last summer, for food I can recommend the following

French fries - Vleminckx at Voetboogstraat 31 - it is a storefront with FF to go. Always a line but it moves fast.
Poffertjies - small Dutch pancakes - also considered fast food, they have small stalls all around
The Pantry - a restaurant specializing in Dutch food. Liedsekruistraat 21 - We ate there two nights in a row. If you go early no reservation needed but the place is small. Try the smoked eel. We were four people and just ordered a small plate to try. We went back the second day specifically for the eel.

In Paris my sister and her family did the sewer tour. Defiantly different.

There's a restaurant Rick Steves recommends in Barcelona. Although we had his book with us, we didn't read that part and went on the recommendation of our Air B&B hosts. (We happened to chat with a couple on a Rick Steves tour there, which is how we know RS recommends it, also.) We liked it so much, we went twice, even though it's vegetarian and we aren't. It's called Teresa Carles. http://www.teresacarles.com/tc/eng

In London, our two favourite meals were near our hotel near Paddington Station: Lebanese food: Ya Hala http://lebanese-restaurant-london.co.uk

Indian food: Spice of India http://www.spiceofindialondon.co.uk

My favourite meals in Paris were 1. Au Phil du Vin in the Latin Quarter: http://auphilduvin.fr (not near or with view of Eiffel Tower, though) and 2. Warm banana/Nutella crepes from a street vendor near the Eiffel Tower (after a chilly, windy climb up the tower).
(My favourite photos of the tower were taken 1) near the base, looking up at it with flowers in the foreground and 2) from the Tuileries with the gardens/statues in the foreground)

Thanks Barbara and BB!!