Help I'm overwhelmed with planning

Hi Lucinda, You'll have a great time! How long are you staying in Europe? When are you planning to go? For simplicity, you might want to focus on just a couple of areas - something like Paris and London depending on how much time you have. Rick Steves' books can give you most of the information that you'll need. Once you decide on your itinerary, you can purchase your airline ticket to fly into one city and home from another.

Lucinda: Relax. You will "do it up right" if you have a good time. Period. Going to Europe can seem like cramming for a test. It isn't. It's an opportunity to have a wonderful time doing the things you love to do. I once traveled as one of the adults supervising a student group. One of the other adults wanted to see every art museum possible; the other wanted to hit every interesting little restaurant possible. Both were right, both were doing what they liked. Read some of Rick's books in a bookstore and see which places really grab you. Then zero in on those. My general advice would be to match your itinerary to the time and budget available. Don't rush. If you have only a week, do one major city with a day trip somewhere nearby. Now having said all this, I will confess that no matter how often I return to London and Paris it never seems to be enough. And the South of France seems like a dream come true to me. Others feel the same way about Italy or Spain or Bavaria. Read their suggestions, but most of all pay attention to what you like to do in the US when you travel. Have a great time!

Lucinda, when are you planning to travel in Europe and how long will your trip be? You might want to visit your local Library and have a look at a copy of "Europe Through The Back Door". Europe has changed considerably in 25 years and that will provide you with good information on how to travel "well" in Europe now and also Itinerary planning. The country-specific Guidebooks will provide LOTS of information on sights to see, transportation, Hotels, etc. Check your local PBS-TV listings, as programs covering the areas you want to visit may be aired. You can view short clips of the programs on You Tube. ¶ As your plans take shape, I'm sure the group here can help you get everything sorted so that you're not "overwhelmed". Good luck with your planning!

I just returned from 15 days in Europe (4-London, 2 nights Normandy/Brittany, 6-Paris,2 Bruges, 1-Brussels)first time for all those cities. Of course, each destination required much more time, but we loved our travel experiences and now know where we want to go back next time. We didn't try to do everything everywhere, we hit the highlights and just enjoyed being in each area. I borrowed guidebooks from the library, had RS 2010 Europe, read TripAdvisor & lived on this helpline. Also, make sure you read the archived questions & answers. Don't be afraid to PM people who seem to really know the areas you are interested in. The people on this site love to travel in Europe and are so willing to relay their great experiences & advice.

When I sat down a year ago to sketch out my 8 week Europe trip (July/Aug 2010), the first thing I did was shell out the $150 and bought the 80show DVD set of Rick Steves Best of Europe, Europe Through the Back Door 2010, and Best of Europe books. READ them thoroughly and let your travel dreams begin. Prioritize your 'must see' sights and then geographically map out the most logical path your trip will take. One very good tip is to rip out the sections of the Best of Europe book that pertains to your trip and staple those small sections separately. In each city, I whipped out the guide for the section, used it extensively, and then left it for another traveller to use. When you go to Munich (which was my favourite place of all this summer), take a walking tour through "Munich Walk Tours". I took the Hitler's Munich and the Beer and Brewery Tour through this company and they were both great. The nice thing about these type of tour companies is that if you are travelling alone, you meet up with other alone-travelling people and often the tour ends at supper time and it is great to ask the other travellers if they want to have supper together. This worked out twice for me in Munich...both tours ended at the Hofbrauhaus and it is a great place to socialize!!! Have fun and do some reading to help yourself organize your trip.

thanks so much for all your encouraging answers,I have RS paris, Munich and Bavaria, Best of Europe and Europe through the back door, I will be going in Mid march for two weeks, has anyone gone at that time that could share experiences and tips?

Lucinda, for travel in mid-March, one tip that comes to mind is to pack appropriately for the weather. It will likely be quite "chilly" especially at night so be prepared to "layer". Also, some rain gear would probably be a good idea.

You can see about 82 shows, including Travel Skills 1,2,3 for free on Hulu.com. You'll find full videos on London, Paris, Munich and Venice.

Each time I go to Europe, I try to cover less territory so I can spend more time being there than being in transit. The only way I can convince myself to whittle down the area I cover is to just promise myself I'll go back. And I do!

For me, researching and planning the trip is half the fun. We just returned from 10 days in Switzerland, and I started by reading 3 guide books to determine which places appealed to me most. Then I spent many hours on the message boards for Rick Steves, Frommers, Fodors, and Tripadvisor. I found great hotels this way and we were more than pleased with each one we booked. Before we left home, I printed out google maps with directions from the rail station to the hotel so we would know exactly how to get there. It was a great trip, and I can't wait to plan the next one!
You may be surprised to find how much signage there is in English and how many people are fluent in English. We conversed with other travelers from all over the world, and everyone spoke enough English to have a conversation.
Whatever you see, it will be something new and wonderful, and you will love it!

one thing that rick stresses in his books, and you may be reluctant to do at first, is an open-jaw itinerary. it really frees you up and can save an entire day of travelling back to where you started. you may already be aware of this, though.

If you enjoyed your last trip with little more than a Lets Go Europe book....why not maintain some of that spontaniety? I find that if I take too much advice and plan too many things I might be disappointed as some things will not live up to what I imagine. Some people love the detailed planning, but I love the 'surprises' and the 'road less travelled' If you are traveling alone (which I have) you might want to give yourself the security of some planning, but be open to the serendipity of travel. For me travel is about the adventure. There is no right or wrong way to travel. I have been to all the cities listed... loved them all. You can see my photos from my trips at terrykathrynlawrence.com. Just travel smart, and make it 'your trip..'not someone else's. If you loved Europe as a college senior you will love it now. Have always used RS guides to some extent.

my family and i did a 3 week tour of europe last summer and spent our time in italy germany and southern france. we cut out paris due travelling time and we focused on nice/st. tropez instead.

we had never travelled previously and lived and breath europe through the back door. Rick did not steer us wrong and our holiday went smoothly, we learned to eat away from the tourist centre in florence and our meal costs were cut in half. With 2 teenagers this added up very quickly as my son would order 3 or 4 helpings of the same dish, he is a big football player.

we stayed over night in venice (was the most expensive day we had) but it was absolutely wonderful and would do it again. Very different experience.

as for london, paris and munich - beautiful places but lots of travelling unless you fly from paris to munich or overnight train, cheap flights easyjet and ryanair. Depends on how long you are going. We built in no longer than a 4 hr car ride or train ride during the day, we wanted to spend time in a spot versus sitting in a car for 8 hrs. Mindya we did have a traffic jam from Garda Lake, italy to austria - 2 hr drive took us 8 hrs, raining, cold and winding but everyone was very cheerful and all drivers took it in stride not like north america.

pick a few specific places stay put for a couple of days and explore, then move on.

happy travels

Hi Lucinda,

With only 2 weeks, I would not choose more than 3 cities, especially if your 2 weeks includes the longhaul flights.

Work out the transportation from city to city, including the travel times. Don't book your flights until you've figured out the itinerary, and do fly open-jaw. Going from London to Paris is faster and easier by train (Eurostar). If you book about 3 months in advance you can save considerably (1/2 or more). There are also "smoove" fares from Paris by rail (don't know if that includes Munich). They go on sale 3 months ahead and are bought up quickly.

Book hotels in advance - and check the cancellation policies before you commit. In most cases, you can easily change or cancel. It is a waste of time to try to find lodging on the spot - and usually costs more than advance bookings.

Anyway, that's what I do. Once you have the basic itinerary, then just have fun planning what to see and where to eat. And remember, you won't be able to do it all, so just relax and enjoy everything you do.