We are planning on a 9 night Europe trip in late September. I have never been to Europe before, and my wife has only been to UK and Italy. We are planning on having kids soon so this could be our last big trip for a while. Unfortunately we cannot do more than 9 nights due to work schedules. Originally, we had planned on just Spain and France. However, we are considering adding London. This is because we are doing this vacation with another couple. This couple is attending a wedding in London, and then meeting us in Paris. If we do London, we could fly with them to London (traveling with friends is always fun!). Plus London sounds interesting to me. What do you think about fitting in these countries in 9 nights? What would you recommend? We are just in the preliminary stages so not sure how we would split up the countries, and not exactly sure what we want to do within each country yet. Also, I live in Atlanta and have many non-stop options to UK, Paris, and Madrid. Sometimes they are more expensive than 1-stop flights though. How much priority would you put on booking a non-stop? Appreciate any insight!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23548 posts
Three locations in 9 days can work if you do the open jaw option. Unless there is a special reason for Madrid I would go from Paris to Amsterdam and home from there. You can easily get from Paris to Amsterdam via train. Not sure a discount airline with the limits on luggage would work well for your friends assuming that they brought extra clothing for the wedding. Sept would be a good time of year for Amsterdam.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
5 posts
Madrid is key...my college friend works for the State Dept there and I was planning on meeting up.
Posted by
Bainbridge Island
3255 posts
Three major cities in 9 days is a lot, but you are young and it sounds like spending the time with your friends is an important part of the trip. Each of those cities deserves a week, but you can also touch the highlights in a shorter time and have fun. Can you limit the London segment to 2 nights, or are your friends involved in the wedding and have to stay longer? If I were doing this, I would fly non-stop to London, spend 2 nights there; take the Eurostar train to Paris (buy tickets way in advance to get the best price and you'll save enough to offset the extra cost of the non-stop flight); 4 nights in Paris, then fly to Madrid for 3 nights. Fly home from there. You are fortunate to have the option of non-stop flights to your destinations. Take advantage. It's well worth it.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
5 posts
Thanks for the suggestion. My friends are attending the wedding, but not involved in it. So I think 2 nights in London would work.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
I like Sasha's suggestions on how to divide your time. Book open jaw (multi-city) tickets: Atlanta-London and Madrid-Atlanta. Book your Eurostar tickets ASAP (up to 120 days allowed) at eurostar.com to get the lowest discount fare. Fly on a budget airline (either easyJet or Vueling) from CDG to Madrid. Book early to get the lowest fare. Be aware of the limits on luggage size, weight, and number on budget airlines. You'll pay quite a bit in extra fees if you exceed them. Be especially aware of the strict check-in deadlines. If you don't have a boarding pass in hand when the deadline arrives, your ticket will be worthless and you'll have to buy a full fare ticket on a later flight. You also could fly Beauvais-Madrid on Ryanair, but Beauvais is a long way from Paris.
Posted by
Long Beach, CA, USA
360 posts
with 9 nights I would limit to 2 locations I personally would choose London and Paris to split time 2 nights in London is not enough for me
with jet lag and time lost traveling from place to place 9 days is not a lot of time
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17232 posts
Then you must go to Madrid! Sasha's plan, wiht the open-jaw flights suggested by Tim, would work. Or maybe switch to 3 nights paris and 4 in Madrid to have more time with your friend there? Of course 2 nights is not enough to see all of London, but flying from Atlanta you won't have that much jet lag (not like we do coming from Seattle!) And it is what you have. You are adding London mainly to fly over with your friends and have a quick look while they are at the wedding. You'll be back.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta
5 posts
Ok I obviously didn't do my research, and forgot about Barcelona. Would London/Barcelona/Madrid or Paris/Barcelona/Madrid be easier than my original plan of London/Paris/Madrid?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17232 posts
Yes, if you fly from either London or Paris to your first stop in Spain (Barcelona?) and then fly home from the other (Madrid?) Barcelona and Madrid are only 2.5 hours apart, center to center, on th ehigh-speed AVE train which is a pleasure. I would suggest the London-Barcelona-Madrid option, for several reasona. Architecturally, Paris and parts of Barcelona (the Eixemple district) are pretty similar. Of course Barcelona lacks icons such as the Eiffel Tower, but it has special sights of its own. Plus Barcelona has many cool, trendy modern hotels from which to choose, at great prices. Flights between London and both these cities are frequent and affordable. Last year we flew LHR to Barcelona and Madrid back to LHR for 49 GBP each on British Airways; no dealing wih tthe pesky budget carriers. I think that would make a really nice trip.
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Remember ,, two nights is only one full day in a city. Travel days are not much good for alot of sightseeing. I wouldn't do three places in 9 nights simply because I can't imagine any of those places deserves only one day.