Traveling Europe with girlfriend, I am 19 years old

I wish I'd had a chance to get to Europe when I was 19! You are going to have a blast.

The one thing that's probably most likely to disappoint you, though, is how short 2 weeks are. It will be very difficult to enjoy London and Amsterdam and the south of France and a couple of other ideas and finding some more action packed adventures. When you are traveling independently, you will find that you spend a lot of time dealing with logistics: finding where you're staying, getting to and from train stations and airports and hotels or hostels, waiting for trains or at airports, getting from place to place. It all eats up a lot of time and energy.

My suggestion to you is not to try to cram too many destinations into the time you have. If you do, you won't have adequate time for sightseeing or for action packed adventures, because you'll constantly be moving on to someplace new.

A good rule of thumb is minimum 3 nights per location, but cities like London and Amsterdam are hard to enjoy fully in just 2 days. (3 nights equals 2 days, because the third day is the day you have to leave for your next destination. I suggest a minimum of 4 nights for each of those cities, but even then, you won't feel like you've run out of things to see and do.

Also, there is more to do in every city than sightseeing. The longer you're there, the more you can find some adventures. Day trips outside the city can sometimes provide those opportunities. Rent a kayak or a canoe or bikes and see the countryside. Go hiking. Hang out in a park and join some locals throwing around a frisbee or kicking a futbol. You don't need to go anywhere in particular to find fun activities that aren't just sightseeing.

So yes, you could spend the entire two weeks in London and Amsterdam and have a great time. I think 2 weeks is enough to add one or even two other destinations, but I'd recommend keeping it more in the general region you are already visiting, so more like northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, or northwestern Germany.

Look at a map and work out some possibilities that appeal to both of you. Then post some of your ideas here, and you'll get lots of good advice.

London, Amsterdam and the south of France are three expensive parts of Europe. Budget is going to be a key factor for most 19 year olds. When are you travelling? Most people in Europe will have booked their summer holidays by now, so if it is for this summer, you need to get booking!

The south of France generally appeals to older people - people your age from Europe tend to go to Croatia for the festivals and the partying or Greece for the beaches and history (not the expensive and overcrowded Santorini or Mykonos but go to Crete or Corfu etc) or they head to Spain, its islands or Portugal or they backpack by rail for a couple of months.

You may be better asking on the Lonely Planet forum, which is aimed at younger people than this forum!

Look at Lonely Planet guidebooks or their Thorn Tree forum for some ideas. The books have suggested itineraries for various lengths of time.

I would say four cities would be a good number. You can daytrip if you run out of things to do.

If you go to the South of France, consider taking the tour to ride the river under the Pont du Gard.

Have a look at the big theme parks to see if they are in your budget.

Just go to Ibiza for a week.

Start with Rick Steves', Through the Back Door. Read it cover to cover.

Knowing what you consider "action packed adventures" would be helpful. Are you looking for nightlife? Clubs? Or more outdoorsy past times like biking & hiking?

One thing to remember given your age is the drinking age is 18, not 21. If you want a drink it will be legal at 19.

However, the rules on public inebriation are often stricter.

GS: You can't really go very wrong, but one classic mistake is to try to visit too many places and consequently fritter away most of your time moving in and out of hostels and hotels, waiting for trains and planes, etc. And two weeks is not a ton of time. (Any chance you could add a few days?)

If you are going in the summer, you might very well not want to spend all your time in cities. I also don't know what "action" means to you, but there is certainly a destination that satisfies that taste, and a few hours spent with a few guidebooks now will repay themselves in gold later.

For London and Amsterdam, I should want no less than 3 full days on the ground, not including the first day (which will be mostly about getting settled and oriented and jet lag) or the last (when you return home). That is 4 nights, and you might really want 5. Remember that cities are not only about museums and monuments, but also about food and people and, to some extent the scene and the spectacle, and adventures come to the adventurous.

I think that leaves you time for 1 other destination, 2 if they are close. You should think about flying to wherever that is, and then flying home from there rather than retracing any of your steps. If SW France still beckons, I suggest SW France, the French Catalonia, rather than the SE Cote d'Azure, though to be honest you might chose the latter because of better air connections to Nice.

If you only go to one city then you have more options and might consider Croatia or the Swiss Alps.

What Frank said - read Europe Through The Back Door cover to cover.

PS When I saw the subject line of your post I wanted to immediately respond: "I hate you" :)

If you want ADVENTURE you will usually have to book ahead of time and arrive early!

We didn't know that we had to book ahead of time to paraglide in Chamonix so we missed out on that. Next time.