One? Two? or Three home base(s)

I have visited 83 foreign countries and in my late 70s. We still do two overseas trips a year, although shorter ( 2-3 weeks rather than 7-8 weeks).

Also, we lived in Augsburg, Germany working for the US Army from 87-91.

We have traveled by our own car (while in Europe), rail, group bus tour, river cruises, ocean cruises over most of Europe.
Since my wife and I travel together, we don't need to rent a private apartment (great for larger groups). Also, we like staying close to city centers so we don't have long to travel to sight see in a city.

We have done some "basing" in one location and using it to visit other places, but found that we don't like doing this unless we don't have to travel more than an hour and a half to get to the other places.

Also, basing in a large city, prices for lodgings are higher. London, Paris and Rome, you pay close to $300 per night for 4 star accommodations or nice B&Bs at great locations.

Also, travel can be expensive. Driving in large cites is painful due to heavy traffic and parking for rental cars is expensive and hard to find sometimes. Rail or bus is better, but getting to the train or bus station can be a pain.

Therefore, picking your lodgings can depend on what mode of transport you take. In some cities, lodgings next to the train stations many not be the best area to stay.

The more we have traveled, we have been to the major cites 2, 3, 4 or 5 times, so we focus on the countryside and smaller cities and towns.

Also, we now love group tours where the tour company takes care of everything, lodgings, transport, most meals, admissions and tours. Yes, you can save a bit by doing it on your own, but that takes a lot of planning and execution is not always efficient.

I advise you to check out affordable tour companies and compare the cost and what sights you see against what you would likely spend doing it yourself. There are several companies. Gate 1 Travel, Odysseys, OAT, and Road Scholar. There are many more, check them out.

If you elect to do it on your own, for France, I recommend Strasbourg, near the German Black Forest and Switzerland.
There are some great place to visit from there.

If you do the Rhone River, Lyon is nice, but you need to move south down to the Med, so basing might not be best.

If you like Bavaria and Austria, consider Salzburg, Austria or Berchtesgaden, Germany.

Also, for England, consider Chipping Camden in The Cotswolds. You need a rental car for that place.

Touring in Eastern Europe is great, Budapest is special. Eastern Europe tends to be cheaper than Western Europe.

They are a bit spread out, but thats okay. Check discount flights and maybe rethink a bit to cut travel time. The one that confuses me is Bratislava. Why?

Personally I would take a map and a compass set to about 150 km, maybe 200, and draw circles around your proposed home bases and see what falls within the circle. Second, as Canadians I don't think you have to play the Schengen zone game like US citizens do. That makes it easier for you. But I think I would plan a 30 day one or two base stay just to see how it goes. Part of problem with being gone for an extended period is dealing with the problems related to your original home base. Just getting the utilities, insurance, taxes paid when I am gone can be challenge.

Good luck -- it will work out.

As a Canadian, you do have to plan around the 90 day Schengen stay, so the first thing is to plan on being in the Schengen area for 87-88 days in case something goes awry. Day of entry is day 1 and then count from there. Then you have a buffer. They frown on an overstay no matter the reason.
With the way my husband and I like to travel, I would say do 3 bases. Often, if you find an apt to rent, the monthly cost is far less than even a 2-3 week stay. I’ve even paid for an extra day or two if it means I get the monthly reduction in cost.
I have been to Lyon, Wroclaw and Gdańsk, loved all three but would find it somewhat difficult to stay in any of them for longer than a couple of weeks at a time, especially Wroclaw and Gdańsk. Fabulous museums, great food and lots of history, but day trips would be very limited in my opinion so your options might run out quickly.
Then again, your specific interests will make a huge difference as to a good base or choosing 3 different bases.
I love the idea that Frank gave you about choosing a distance from the places you may want to stay, draw the circle and see what the area offers for what your interests are. I did that exact thing for one of our long term trips and it helped immensely.
Our longest stay in Europe was 71 days. I wanted to stay longer, but then I always do…..

It would help to know what your interests are and whether you have been to Europe before (and where). Do you intend to rent/lease a car for some of all of these locations? Why these three countries?
Unless you've already spent a lot of time there, Krakow is a better choice for Poland, IMO. Great city, relatively affordable and loads of side trip options. I can't imagine spending a month in Gdansk.
I don't think three home bases is too many. For me, it's too few. I traveled in Europe for 7 months between June 2018 and January 2019 and visited 15 countries. Shortest stay 3 days, longest stay 3 weeks (in Krakow), lots of 1-2 week stays. I also prefer apartment stays, cooking and eating in, and down time. I don't have a checklist of marquee sights.

These last 2 trips in 2025 and 2024 I used basically two cities as bases roughly: Paris and Berlin with Metz as a back-up on these two 12 week trips.

First choose what you want to see. Next decide what mode of transportation you will use. (Car vs Train vs Bus.)

Then, get a map, or print out a map from the internet, and mark the places you wish to see. Then look at nearby cities or towns that offer decent transportation options.

Then....look at train schedules and see how long it will actually take to go from your "home base" to these locations. (That's if you plan to use public transportation.)

My next three months stint which starts next month, will be doing this. I have planned stays from 5 days to 2 weeks at key locations offering decent rail options to the smaller towns/villages I wish to visit. I will be using public transport so the availability or rail options and buses played a part.

Personally, on a 30 day trip, unless you want to travel very slowly, I would have more "home bases" to explore from.

One note, the further east you go, the less expensive it will be.

You might also look into accomodations that include kitchens. Either apartment rentals or aparthotels. This will save you money with food as you could do some preparation "at home."

One last reminder.....don't go over the 90 day Schengen limit. That's not 90 days per country but 90 days total. It's not just a slap on the wrist if you overstay.....it could mean a hefty fine and being bannded from visiting Schengen for a number of years.

@jtmeldrum, you're going to do largely what my wife and I have done this summer and the last, though last summer we visited more places in 89 days (Schengen) using Eurail passes, and this year we obtained French visas allowing us to remain on the continent more than 90 days, and leased a Peugeot for a very reasonable price (about $30/day). We also cook dinner for ourselves almost every night. But the travel choices we made obviated the need to pick a small number of headquarters locations. Last summer we stayed in too many cities (over 20). We've moderated this summer, and next summer we'll go to even fewer places.

If you're planning to stay in a limited number of locations but take frequent day trips, I'm not sure you'll save that much on transport costs relative to staying in more cities. Train travel in Europe can be inexpensive, but 40 euro fares add up if you have a round trip every day. You might want to run detailed numbers to see for yourself. Even this sort of tedious work can be fun when it's associated with travel to new places.

Enjoy your retirement!

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...we are stumped on how long to stay....Budget matters but we are moderate not hostel folks anymore nor 5 star. Decent rental just out of tourist zone, plan to cook a lot on our own that type of thing.

28 days in one spot may be uncomfortably long. Rick does not address this type of travel. Besides cooking... What do you envision yourselves doing from day to day in these spots? Slovakia and Poland will probably help the budget. But where do you WANT to be most? I hope you have answers to these questions before committing to all that time.

Interesting discussion on the relative affordabiliity of countries:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/which-countries-are-cheaper-to-visit-which-are-expensive-to-visit

IMO it's not all about "which country" but also about urban vs. countryside, when budget matters, as geovagriffith has pointed out. He also makes a good point here:

If you elect to do it on your own, for France, I recommend Strasbourg,
near the German Black Forest and Switzerland. There are some great
place to visit from there.

I will pile on here. The French Alsace (Strasbourg, Colmar), Basel (CH), and Freiburg (DE), are all tucked neatly into this one compact multinational corner. Untours does for its clients in the Alsace what you are attempting, to some degree, but for lots of €s. Maybe their site will give you some ideas.

But IMO you should look not at urban Strasbourg but right across the German border. the Black Forest might be one of the most affordable destinations in Western Europe. The BF is fun for many reasons but won't ravage your wallet...

• free outings on public transportation (KONUS guest card)
• family-run vacation rentals
• light competition for lodging in the fall

Places in the BF where I've stayed at various times over the years...

Loeffingen
Elzach
Steinach
St Georgen
Neustadt
Titisee
Gernsbach
Bad Liebenzell

All these towns and about 140 other BF towns participate in the KONUS program - you get the free travel card at check-in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkgzMXQ7blQ
https://prospektbestellung.toubiz.de/media/prospekt/file/5736289_KONUS_GB_2022.pdf

A few years back we had this simple but relaxing and enjoyable 2-BR apartment in Steinach. Groceries and the train stop were 8-9 minutes on foot from our base. Base price per night is currently < €40.

https://www.traum-ferienwohnungen.ch/urlaubsideen/ferien-auf-dem-bauernhof/ferienwohnung/europa/deutschland/kinzigtal/steinach/ergebnisse/

I've been spending every summer since 2015 (except 2020 and 2021) in Europe, usually 4 to 4-1/2 months at a time. The Schengen limit is a pain, but we're stuck with it.

For me, one month would be too long almost everywhere. Exceptions would be places like London, Paris, Rome (I've done 20 days there on a single trip) and Istanbul (also 20 days there). Other recommendable places depend more on the traveler's special interests--Vienna and Barcelona for art and architecture, Brussels for architecture, etc. This year I spent two weeks in Amsterdam, enjoying a wide variety of museums and some interesting architecture; I could have spent a bit longer there. Unfortunately, with the exception of Istanbul, lodging costs are likely to be rather high in the cities I've mentioned.

The transportation cost for lots of day trips add up (exceptions: Hungary and Belgium if you're old enough), but the time spent traveling between lodgings and train/bus stations, actually sitting on trains/buses and returning at the end of the day means you have a lot of sightseeing days that are shorter than they'd be if you woke up and went to bed in the city where you were sightseeing. That could increase the number of nights you need to spend in Europe to accomplish what you want to do. Those nights are not free.

I quite dislike the process of changing hotels, so--believe me--I try very hard to find places that justify longer stays due to a combination of local sights and convenient day trips. If it were practical, I'd love to plunk myself down in a central location and fan out from there. Without a car, though, that can be very limiting. If there are multiple towns I'd like to visit that are east of an anticipated base city, I'd prefer to spend some of my nights in one of the eastern towns, to reduce my travel time.

If cost is an issue, it's important to pay attention to rail and bus fares. In some countries train fares are quite high per mile. When I run into that (looking at you, Netherlands), I don't take a lot of side-trips, preferring to relocate even though it means two short stays rather than one longer one. Because I enjoy just being in places with interesting architecture, there are a lot of secondary cities where I can easily fill a 5-night or longer stay without a trip out of town. But it's a long way from 5 nights to spending 4 weeks in a city.

I will acknowledge that one advantage to long stays with lots of planned side trips (if distances cooperate, of course) is that it provides flexibility as long as you don't need to use high-speed trains. (The latter very often have to be booked well in advance to get a decent fare.) Flexibility allows you to respond to weather conditions and make choices based on what you feel like doing each day.

If you plan to travel at least partly during the summer, it's worth poking around on the internet to see whether you can find good deals on lodgings used by college students during the academic year. Those places will probably have plain decor (and check carefully about the air-conditioning situation), but they can be very affordable. Booking early may be necessary. I paid about $100/night in Amsterdam this summer for a tiny single room.

WOW thanks - great advice and lots to think about. A bit more below based on what I read.
“The one that confuses me is Bratislava. Why?”
-simply cost affordable easy to get to Vienna and likely the last stop before flying home in December so decent Christmas markets and travel to Vienna but as many have cautioned I need to do the math on train cost, love the spreadsheets so I’ll get back to work on that and also see if rail passes make sense if out 150-200 km circle works and we may take lots of day trips. LOVE that suggestion!
And unfortunately, Canadians have to play the Schengen game as well :{

“It would help to know what your interests are and whether you have been to Europe before (and where). Do you intend to rent/lease a car for some of all of these locations? Why these three countries?”

Interests are pretty broad, we do love food and wine, history and my wife is very into music, sings jazz, in choirs etc. – we both love live music of all forms well maybe not the big festival stuff our kids go to! Past travel to Europe is to major cities for short stays Paris, Amsterdam and a lot of time in the UK, - my wife was born in Baden Baden on a Canadian Air Force Base in Germany but left when she was very young. Her recent Europe experience is similar to mine. We are open to lease/renting a car but not all that enthused about driving in big cities or small alleys through it is an option, we are likely using more public transport and trains but as I mentioned in previous paragraph I need to run the number s I think! France was for food and wine and the history – Poland was affordability and seemed to avoid a bit of the overtourism issue but not so sure about that anymore. Bratislava I mentioned above also cost and proximity to Vienna.
Really loving the Strasbourg or black forest suggestions. Leaning to the previous location(s) and maybe one area in central or eastern Europe. We hope to do this several time so maybe a bit of a chance to compare.

Okay, that helps.

Fly into Gdansk, then spend 4 weeks touring south to Krakow. Then discount airline or i think there is a night train to Vienna

Yes, Vienna, not Bratislava. You will enjoy 2 maybe 3 days in Bratislava, then you will be spending 1.5 hours on each round trip to Vienna each day for a for weeks. Yes, Vienna is expensive but you are going to balance that against Poland and Budapest. Oh, next stop is Budspest. Also economical. I said Poland and Vienna because you mentioned them. I added Budapest because you said maybe central or eastern Europe walkable, wine, live music, affordable, public transportation (free if you are 65, trains too), and with a few day and overnight trips you won't get bored in 4 weeks. Same with Vienna and Austris except for cost.

Favorite Tourism Video of Budapest https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared
Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX

Love that idea and when I read it a regular commute to Vienna or anywhere isn't really part of the retirement plan. Budapest is a wonderful addition and I loved that Bourdain episode. thanks again!

Budapest is a very, very interesting city, and Hungary has a lot of smaller cities that are very worth visiting. Many are beyond what I consider daytrip distance, however.

There's a well-priced rail fare for roundtrips from Vienna to Bratislava. I think it was 18 euros in 2024. I assume the same deal is available going in the opposite direction, but I haven't checked. I agree with Mr. E, though, that there's a lot more sightseeing in Vienna. I ended up spending 17 days there last year with just one day out of town (to the Wachau Valley).

I should have mentioned in my previous post that when considering side trips to small towns, you need to check the actual train schedules to see whether day-tripping is practical. There are no express trains to small towns, and heaven help you if you need to transfer from one slow, local train to another. A short trip can take a surprising amount of time.

acraven is correct. If yoi set up camp some place for 4 weeks you need an apartment and you need to accept that from time to time you will pack a small over night bag, leave the rest in the apartment and take off for a place like Eger for a night or two ... just like a local would.
Again, if you are 65, that 2.5 hour train to Eger is free. .

"The Schengen limit is a pain..." Ain't that the absolute truth.

If it were not for this time constraint imposed by Schengen, I could easily spend consecutive 100 days between mid-May and mid-Sept. just in Schengen.

A month in Vienna seems like a budget-buster, but for music, it seems like an important stop. Instead of a day trip to Wachau Valley, maybe a couple of days? That would be a time to have a car (just don't drive after drinking, obviously). This is on my list of places to visit. I don't know if it's any more affordable than Vienna.

With Poland and Hungary, Austria becomes a little easier to afford. And if the OP posts in the Austria forum we have a couple that can help with cost control. But tgr wine is better in Hungary.