Mother/daughter, 50th/16th birthday trip to Europe

That is almost impossible to answer. There are dozens of " major cities" in Europe to pick from. What time of year? Have you been to Europe before? Besides "trendy" ( no idea what that means regarding cities), has your daughter mentioned any particular cities that she's interested in? How many nights will you be in Europe? 14 nights, or do those 2 weeks include your travel days to and from the States?

If you have 14 nights on the ground, pick 3 cities that are within easy reach of each other. With only 12 nights, I'd stick with just 2 large cities like London and Paris. Remember that each time you change places you lose anywhere from half to a full day of sightseeing. You will also save time if you do a multicity (open jaw) ticket into your first city and home from you last city, rather than a round trip ticket.

Easy. London, Paris, and any third city you like that’s easy to train to from Paris. Amsterdam would be a good pick, but there are others. Fly in to London and out of city 3, do them in that order, connect them by train. For your first trip that will work fine. Get the Rick Steves books for all three cities and start doing your homework.

There, you’re done. You’re welcome. Go have a nice trip.

“At a slowish pace” - pick two places even if you have 2 full weeks on the ground for a slow pace.

At what time of year will the trip be?

Pick any two capital cities in Europe and both criteria will be met. Why don’t you each pick a location and see if they can be linked by sensible flights or trains?

London and Paris are a very predictable selection but easily connected by train. Budapest, Berlin, Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague and Amsterdam fit both categories. Rome and Athens are good for history. Inter-European flights are already available for next summer and prices only head one way.

She who pays the piper calls the tune.

Obviously involve your daughter in the research but all in all, the decision is yours because you are funding the trip for her.

You two need to go to the library and look up travel books on the areas of Europe that interest you both and then plot an itinerary.

With a two week trip that I assume includes round-trip transatlantic flights, I will advise staying in no more than 3 hotels because you don’t want the memory of your trip to be the hassle of packing, unpacking, getting to an airport, getting to a train station, checking in and checking out of hotels....

Consider planning day trips using public transport from one of your destinations to expand your experiential travel.

That you prefer to travel at a slow pace is something I heartily recommend because zipping through Europe denies you both the opportunity to savor all that you will be spending so much money to enjoy & experience.

By “trendy urban sites,” are you referring to perhaps “instagram-able” places? We have a lot of fun when traveling with our photographer daughter hunting down views, art walls, funky restaurants and beautiful food, etc. for her Instagram feed (OK, and mine). Following her research, we end up at lots of interesting places we wouldn’t seek out/find on our own. I agree with London, Paris and Amsterdam as a classic itinerary that may tick your boxes.

My vote would be London and Paris. Others have said to go to a third city and you of course could do that. But I find that there is more than enough to keep you both busy and entertained and delighted just with both cities. Also consider some day trips outside of Paris and London which would be and excellent way to see more of the area and not feel like your in just two cities for the whole two weeks.

I would start researching what interests both of you by going to YouTube and seeing the excellent free videos from Rick Steves and others on both cities and any other places you want to visit. I would also look at the wonderful scrapbooks on this fourm that has tons of information and photos of London and Paris and other cities and places that the RS tours go to. It is a great way to gather information and insight as to what to see and do. Both Paris and London are fulled with art, architecture and history along with trendy urban sites. I also like Instagram to look at photos of Paris and London to plan my trips and find places to eat and drink, pubs, bakeries, cafes, resturants and shops are all on instagram. I used Instagram when planning my last two trips to London and Paris and am going back to London this May. It helped me find resturants and pubs and what my hotel looks like too!

Of course take out the Rick Steves guide books and any other guide books, of any of the cities you are thinking of going to from you library to read before you buy the guide books. This way you can read up and see what cities interest you.

Of course there are other cities to visit that are amazing but those two cities are the biggies and easy to get around and have a lot to offer. Theatre in London. Walking tours in both Paris and London. Shopping in both cities, beautiful churches, lovely boat rides in both cities. Beautiful bridges to walk across in both cities and castles in London. My favorite museums are in Paris and my favorite museum in London is the Victoria and Albert museum.

Once you have looked at videos, photos, read up on cities come back and ask more detailed questions in order to make your final decision. But you can't go wrong with Paris & London. I can't wait to go back to both cities and I have been both several times and have not seen it all.

Have fun planning and going on your mother daughter trip.

Does anyone these days really go to a library when there is so much more information available online, such as YouTube? Guide books are out of date before they are published.

If she wants photos there is always the graffiti lane in Ghent.

Perhaps I am a dinosaur, Jennifer, but I get guidebooks out of the library when I am planning a trip. I think a good guidebook is way more helpful and easy to read than roaming the internet and watching videos. Even if the guidebook is out of date, it hardly matters in the initial planning stages. Mountains and oceans and historic sites don't move. Later in the process, I will buy an updated guidebook and check the internet for the very latest info.

As for Tricia, there is an infinite number of cities to choose from. I would select two -- or possible three -- that are close geographically and have easy day trips to get to small towns or rural areas so you can get out of the city a couple of times. I like a variety of experiences.

Another idea might be two large cities in the same country. London and Manchester, Madrid and Barcelona, Berlin and Munich, etc.

Guidebooks such as DK Eyewitness can be good as they’re loaded with photos. Guidebooks that are loaded with endless lists of chain hotels and restaurants that have long closed, not so much.

I always suggest YouTube as a good starting point. There’s so many travel vlogs made by younger people that may put some ideas in your daughter’s head.

As others have said, we can better respond if you provide us with some details.
In the meantime, my suggestion is for a week in Paris (could do one day trip or tour to a Loire chateau, for example); and a week in Italy: 3-4 days in Turin and 3 days on Lake Como. You can fly out of Milan for the 2nd half of your openjaw ticket.

Easy, pick two out of the three

London
Paris
Rome

Three cities in two weeks is what I'd call slowish. History and architecture in all of them. Being a long way from 16, I don't know what trendy is, but I imagine you can find it in any major city. Choose a route in a straight line, fly open-jaw into one end and home from the other. Allow an extra day in your first city for jetlag. Don't count your last day as a "Day." If you have 13-14 nights on the ground, then 4-5 nights in each place - depends on which ones. If you can make it a little longer, all the better. Choose places that you can take the train to.

Where you go depends somewhat on your dates. For instance, if you're going in summer, maybe avoid the extreme heat in the south. It also depends on your budget, for instance Paris and London are among the most expensive.

I have to admit, I am a little surprised that James E didn't suggest Budapest. The ruin bars seemed trendy to me, but then, as I said before, I'm way past 16. Berlin is another that has some trendy to it.

i tend to think of Amsterdam as a place an under-25 often does stuff they don't necessarily want their parents to know about and might be best visited with college friends in a few years.

I'll also admit to being a big pusher of Berlin for the under-25s- lots of urban trendiness in various stages of gentrification, and lots to do that the demographic typically really enjoys while being less 'adult content' than Amsterdam.

Chani, sounded like a first trip to Europe, for that I think London, Paris, Rome and fourth would be Budapest. No, I changed my mind. For a first trip I make London and Budapest tied at 3rd. No! just spend the 2 weeks in Budapest, you will be happy you did.

Thank you all so much for the insights! We have never been to Europe. "Slowish" is because I have knee issues and can't necessarily keep up with a tour group. I agree about Amsterdam being more adult than maybe a 16 y/o could enjoy appropriately, However, she is quite mature for her age. Trendy in terms of Instagram and whatever is most popular according to social media as that is her world. LOL.
The 2 weeks is variable depending on final itinerary ideas and flight prices. Since my original post, she and I have agreed on London and Paris.....Budapest is an option, but not likely for this trip.

I would go for longer if only my budget would allow. Looking at April 2021.

London and Paris are wonderful for a first time Mom and Daughter trip. You can easily spend two weeks in both places taking day trips in both places.

Amsterdam is amazing and you don't have to go anywhere near the coffee shop/red light areas if you don't want to. The Anne Frank house, the Van Gogh museum, riding bicycles or cruising the canals--all things a 16-year old would like. Easy connection via high-speed train from Paris.

Also since you haven't been to Europe before, London is a GREAT place to dip your toes in - good place to start, learn how to use the Tube (subway), see how Europeans "do things" differently than America, before venturing to Paris.

I think London, Paris, and Amsterdam would be perfect. Fly into London and out of Amsterdam, and train to Paris and Amsterdam. Easily manageable, starts you in more familiar English-speaking country, and those are nice train rides.

I too still enjoy guide books — I find it much easier to get my first overall impression of how things fit together and details of a place by reading a guidebook. Then for up-to-date info on opening days at sites and museums, and actual travel tickets, and looking for restaurants and lodging, etc, of course the internet is indispensable. But I find it really hard to wrap my head around a place initially without a good guide book.

From experiences with my teens at similar ages, I would suggest London & Barcelona. And Paris if you can add a third. My teens loved how different Barcelona was- architecture, art, dining, beaches,nightlife. We also really loved Berlin but I'm not sure its a first visit city. We've also spent a month in Italy but London, Paris, Spain & Germany were preferred. My last trip with my daughter was London and Istanbul. I enjoying planning and although so much can be done online, looking through some guidebooks early on can be really helpful. And like others have suggested, I would look to your daughter for some ideas of what she is interested i,n but at the end of the day you are footing the bill and it is a wonderful gift for your daughter.

I love Paris but that's because I also love museums and art, but it's not great to visit for people with walking issues (as the Metro itself is a mobility challenge) and it might not be that interesting to a 16 year old. I know a lot of Americans in their 20s and 30s who find Paris a huge disappointment, and a 16 year old might feel similarly.

London is wonderful but is there a particularly reason to do so? It is also very expensive.

I'd consider Amsterdam at the top of my list - it's highly instagrammable, has a great youth culture, just stay in the Jordaan and avoid the more touristy and seedy red light area. Or better yet, base in Haarlem for 3 nights with Amsterdaam as a day trip and another day trip to the Keukenhof (Tulips). Nothing more instagrammable than that, seriously! I did this exact trip with my 60 year old aunt and 80 year old grandma last year, all via public transit.

From the Netherlands, how about something completely different, like Madrid or Barcelona (or better yet, both?) For 2 weeks, 3 bases (say, Haarlem, Barcelona, Madrid) would make a wonderful trip.

About traveling with a mobility issue - Please don’t write off large cities where subways/metros appear to be THE mode of transportation. As someone with a mobility challenge, it’s my experience that with some research and planning, visiting big cities like Paris and London are very doable using public surface transit. I have an impairment that limits my ability to use stairs so I often avoid subways (metro, tube, underground) and instead I use surface transit - city buses, trams, taxis whenever possible. Buses and trams almost always take more time than an underground option and you can get stuck in traffic, but there are no stairs or long transit tunnels involved; they often deliver you to the door of your destination; you can see where you are going, adding to your sightseeing experience; and you may see things that you want to spontaneously check out (just pull the stop cord and get off at the next stop!). Rick has a helpful article specifically about buses https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/city-transit/buses

To get the most out of surface transit, I sort of reverse engineer my travel choices. When considering hotels, I google map the hotel address and search the area for bus or tram stops (I also search for nearby bakeries and laundromats - but that’s another post). If I find a stop within a block or so (on the map look for little bus icons) I click on the icon and an identifying number, name, letter will pop up. I then google that bus line map, ie: “Paris bus 69 map,” to study it closer. I look for where that bus goes and other lines that it connects to. I find that the closer you are to the city core (whatever that might be) the better the surface transit service is. As just one example, in Paris, the lower Marais is well served with buses on Rue de Rivoli.

OK, I admit I am a total map nerd, so this process is actually fun for me and I have the added advantage of being a regular transit rider in my home city. But it’s totally worth the time and effort if you have a mobility issue.

Once I’m in a city I use the Citymapper app on my smartphone to figure out my transport on the go (this can drain battery power in a flash, so make sure that you have a portable charger). Without a smartphone, you could use a paper transit map.

The other issue for me in European cities is negotiating cobblestones. Not a lot you can do about that except look for the alternate flat walking surface (it may be on the other side of the street) or take it slow. We were in the cobblestoned old town of Lyon last year. I had read enough to know it might be a challenge and it was. We just cut our visit short and moved on to the next fun thing on our itinerary for the day.

FWIW - We have found Amsterdam to be delightful, appropriate for all ages and very easy to navigate using the extensive tram system.

I have knee issues and can't necessarily keep up with a tour group.

The US is much more friendly to the disabled than most of the world. But if you can manage 3 steps places like Budapest with substantial tram and bus service would be a good choice Not much you cant see within a very short walk of a tram line.

For me, knee issues means avoiding hills and stairs like the plague. My recollection is that Budapest is level, even Buda Hill once you are up there (by bus or cable car). It's easy to get around the Pest side (where most of the sights are) by tram and metro. Only the #1 metro line has stairs (one flight). In Amsterdam, which is level, there are bridges to over the canals, so that's up and down, but not a lot of them on most walking routes. Trams will take you most places. Paris and London mean lots of walking and while some metro/tube stations are handicap-accessible, quite a few require going up/down at least one flight of stairs from street level and changing trains can mean another flight or two to negotiate and a lot of walking between lines as well. Buses in those cities get bogged down in traffic so using them is often inefficient.

The key here is the 16 not the 50. Paris and Berlin.
Paris because it's Paris and there is so much you can do and see together and Berlin because it's a special place that blends the modern and the old so well. Shake a leg (and a bad knee) in Berlin. It's a party place if you want it to be and a 16 year old will love the opportunity.