Getting Started????

Try this search result page:

http://www.ricksteves.com/search?utf8=✓&query=Train+itineraries&search%5Bdestinations%5D=true&search%5Btours%5D=true&search%5Barticles%5D=true&search%5Bforum%5D=true&search%5Bvideos%5D=true&search%5Baudios%5D=true&search%5Bproducts%5D=true&search%5Bphotos%5D=true&commit=Go%21

I hate to sound like a Rick Steves commercial, but getting a copy of Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door would be a good start. I used it 14 years ago (they keep it updated) and it was invaluable, it really made the trip possible. 10 days is not a bunch, I would start by figuring out how many spots you can hit. For 10 days, depending how you count, you leave the US on day 1, land in Europe day 2. I would stay in my first stop at least 2 nights, 3 if it is a major stop (Paris, Rome). Plan to be in your final stop at least the day before your flight, then fill in the blank between. Figure a travel day is mostly lost, so a stop in any city of substance takes two nights, if you are there just to see a small town or one sight, then you could do one night. In 10 days, you could maybe do 4 cities max, maybe mix in a stop for a few hours to a night in between.

As for route, look for a train route that keep you going in a continuous line, try not to backtrack or choose routes with multiple changes, they just eat up time travelling. If you wind up with long hops, consider flying on Budget airlines. I would also look at flying open jaw, into one city, and out of another as opposed to round trip.

With this, you might be able to do something like Paris-Munich (Bavaria)- a stop in Switzerland or austria- wind up in Italy by taking in one city (Maybe Venice, florence or Rome) flying back from there to the US.

Lots of train travel, but that can be fun and enjoyable to see the sights as well. If you limit the distance/countries then you can explore a bit more, maybe two stops in France and two in Germany, or Switzerland and Italy...depends what you are interested in.

You need to figure out your own priorities. The suggestion to read up is excellent.

My only advice at this point is to avoid the trap of spending too much of those 10 days traveling between cities. See less to see more.

If your 10 days includes travel back and forth to Europe that only leaves you 8 days. If you have 10 full days in Europe I would encourage you to divide that between just two countries otherwise you will be spending too much time traveling from place to place. I go to Europe every summer for a month for 12 of the last 13 years and spend, at the minimum of 5 days in any one place. Every time you move you basically loose one day: checking out, transportation, checking in. This recommendation is valid only if you really want to get to see where you are staying rather than just being able to report that you visited a, b, c, d, and e countries. I would also recommend that you get a copy of RS "Europe thru the Back Door" as it is an excellent primer for first time visitors to Europe.
I remember being told during my first trip to Europe, where I took RS Best of Europe tour, that I would not be able to see everything I wanted to see and to just remember that I would be back. That has now been 11 backs.
Happy travels.

jsennette90,

If you dont want to do any work or dont know where to go, look at a tour. They will do most if not all of the work for you so all you need to do is show up. Note that some of your $$ will end up going to the tour, so your $$ won't go as far.

Getting RS "Europe through the back door" is a great book on the how to's but i think you aren't even at that point. Since you dont know WHERE to go, yet, i would opt to figure out WHERE then HOW.

I would spend some time googling what the countries have to offer you and maybe some will call you more than the others. You won't be able to do any of them justice spending 1 or 2 days in each so i would do some homework on what each has to offer and go from there.

If you have an likes/passions then that may make your decision easier, but that will be up to you.

Also, depending on WHERE you want to go a car maybe necessary. Without knowing WHERE you want to go, no one can say yah/nay. My comment/experience to this is that i dont care to drive here or there and so far most of my travels have been by train and if not, bus. If i remember correctly, i had to use the bus once to get to a place to stay/see. I do use buses to get to attractions, but thats to be expected.

You can google what to do/see/experience in those places too. You can also google for their "tourism Board" web sites too. Friends/family are also good resources.

If you have any local libraries in your area, check out their travel section. Book stores will have them too.

happy trails.

October is a great time to travel.
Best advice? Pack lite! No, really lite! Over packing is a trip killer. Pack super lite and the worst that hapens is you get to do some shopping!
We meed to know your interests to help provide trip guidance.
But.........
Set aside notions of you have to visit several countries in order to justify your trip.
Please consider staying within the boundaries of france, germany and italy can provide several distinct cultural experiences. So there is only your own self generated need to think you must travel fom country to country to have a fulfilling taste of europe.
For first time visitors i strongly advocate doing everything possible to reduce travel stress in order to maximize trip enjoyment. This does mean striving to stay minimum two nights ar each destination.
Tell us more about you and trvael companions please.

js,

To begin with, it's great that you're getting such an early start on your planning, as it will allow lots of time to work out the details.

I would also suggest reading Europe Through The Back Door, as it has a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe, and as I recall includes a chapter on "Itinerary planning". Once you've finalized where you're going, use the country or city-specific guidebooks for information on hotels, sightseeing, local transportation, etc.

Your profile doesn't include your location, but I assume you're travelling from somewhere in North America? If that's the case, you'll generally arrive in Europe the day after you depart, and the last day will be spent on the flight home. That means you'll have only eight days for actual sightseeing. You'll likely be jet lagged for the first few days after arrival, so may not get as much touring done as planned.

In order to decide where to go, I'd suggest making a list of the cities you want to visit in each of the countries you mentioned, listed in order of priority. You'll likely only be able to visit three, so pick the top three off the list. You may get some good ideas by watching some of Rick's videos on the areas you want to visit. One important point to mention is to allow adequate transportation time between destinations. Each change of location will generally require about half a day (when all is considered) and there will also be a cost with each move.

With more specific information, I'm sure the group here will be able to suggest a really good Itinerary for your first trip to Europe. Good luck with your planning!

jsennette90:
I'm joining a 10-day bus tour on 10 November 2014 which starts in London thenceforth to the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy and back to London. It's my first time to travel Europe so I've been reading Rick's 50 tips on travelling...very informative! I hope this tour would work for seniors like me.

I agree at the least I should pick up a copy of Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door for starters. Thank you all for sharing your valuable suggestions!!

October is a great time to travel to Europe. Getting the RS book is great, especially for first timers. Once you have decided where you want to go, say Paris to Amsterdam or Rome, be sure to look into open jaw tickets as already recommended, it will save you so much time backtracking. Then come back here with specifics questions. You can also look up on this same sight for info on packing light, what tourist scams to be aware and lots of really good travel tips from seasoned travelers. You can learn so much with good advice on traveling and from mistakes we have all made. Good luck.

Good advice so far. Take a look at some of the RS tours, several fit your number of days. Note that following a tour itinerary and doing the same itinerary on your own is nearly impossible - there will be no bus waiting for you, no one whose job it is to keep you on track and avoid mistakes.

I would say pick one country and visit three cities. This will give you a good sense of where you are. Or, consider a tour but make sure you choose a good one (see RS tour comments).

I agree with looking at some tours to get ideas on where you want to go, but as others said you can't do a tour itinerary on your own in the same number of days as a first timer.

I also suggest ordering the RS Tour book with the tour DVD and pouring thru them, then I suggest watching Rick's PBS program either on your local PBS station or on Youtube. The only down side to that is that he makes ~everything~ look great so it's hard to narrow down!

My disclaimer is that I am a very satisfied RS tour customer.

You need to do a lot of homework for your own satisfaction. Go to a public library and pull books, travel DVDs, etc. and review all until you get a personal feel for what is your greatest interest. No one here knows that but you. From your comments, you know you absolutely cannot do France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany or Austria as potential destinations in ten days. At best, it might be two countries - even that can be a stretch. Lee will push Germany, others Italy, a few Paris but in the end it has to be your decision. So get to work. Come back when you have specific questions that don't need a guidebook response. It will be fun and the trip more meaningful for you.

Travel at the first part of October. We ran into places being closed after the first week of Oct. in Germany. Check the open dates/times on their websites.

Two countries is plenty. I suggest Paris for half and Munich for the other half. A day trip to Salzburg will show you part of Austria.

jsennette90,

hows the saying go...."give the person a fish and they eat for a day....."

If youre going to make a habit of traveling KNOWING in the INS/OUTS will allow you to do it easier the next time. If you dont want to learn, fine, but understand its not that difficult and there isnt any one right way of doing it. There is no reason you cant take a tour part of the way and go solo for the rest either. There are people on here that "wing it" to. But you have no idea on where you want to go, so that will hurt the most. Id rather spin my wheels here, at home, where it doesnt cost me anything. Once you land overthere, the clock is ticking and your $$ is dwindling.

happy trails.

We did a Salzburg-Alps-Munich-Paris routing for part of our trip this year, and would recommend that kind of routing. We drove in Austria & Germany (spousal unit wanted to take a fancy German car down the autobahn) but the Germans do mass transit well and thoroughly and then a high speed rail trip between Paris and Munich really in only a half day affair, and will leave you some unstructured time to wander the city once you've gotten off the train and stashed bags at the hotel. (Provided you're not talking Sunday in Germany when most things are closed.)

The Paris Metro is easy to navigate, if insanely crowded at times.

Getting your hand on as many guidebooks and reading up is great. All of Rick Steves' books are a good start, and they are readily avaialbe at public libraries, so can save money on this preliminary search.
If it were my first time to Europe, and I had ten days, I would do London and Paris, maybe throw in Rome or Amsterdam if your budget and interest allows. Or, do a Munich, Salzburg, Vienna route. Get a calendar and map out, and just start plotting and writing. You'll soon figure out what is feasible and what your priorities are. Work in pencil.
Usually when folks want to go to Europe, they have something that is drawing them there? What are your European fantasies?