UK, France, Switzerland in 10 days

Judy, You say UK, France, Switzerland in 10 days. The UK is composed of 4 nations - Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England. Are you and your sisters contemplating London only or do you want to see any of the other parts? France is a very diverse country, from the windswept shores of Brittany and Normandy, and the Atlantic coast all the way to the gentle Mediterranean along the south coast and into Provence and the beaches of the Cote d'Azur. Paris is only a very small part of France; France is about the same size as Texas. Do you and your sisters want to see only Paris, or more of France? When you think of Switzerland, what do you and your sisters think of - what do you imagine? Heidi? Special mountain climbing trains? Going to the top of the Alps? Quiet meadows and beautiful lakes? The magnificent Rhine? William Tell and the early battles? Cities with lots of museums and nightlife? Switzerland has all those and much much more but before we can send you to the parts of Switzerland you want to see, we need to know what you want to see. What caused you three to mention Luzern and Geneve? They are very different from each other. When is your trip?

UK - We are looking to do London (we will have a friend doing some graduate school in the city for the fall semester). With maybe a day trip to sight outside of London. FR - We would definitely like to do Paris and maybe some of the wine country (need to do more research myself on where in wine country). SWZ - I think I may consider leaving this part of the journey out and treating it separately for the next time we decide to travel. I have been hearing back from friends as well as these discussion boards and would rather make the most of 2 countries rather than rushing to squeeze in a third/fourth.

Judy, have you and your sisters been to Europe before, either together or separately? Are you likely to come again, either together or separately? If it was me then the only reason I would try to fit 3 countries into 10 days would be if the answer to both questions was no. Even then, you will use up a large percentage of your time moving from one place to another, so I'm interested in what you all hope to get out of the trip. Many people who ask questions here want to cover a lot of ground in a short time, which is fine. However, any of those countries could fill 10 days (10 weeks, 10 years...) of your time and give all of you some memorable shared experiences. Does the 10 days include your arrival and departure days from and to the US?

1. We have not traveled to Europe before.
2. We will probably not travel again together for some time. We are hoping to have a fun experience (looking for something other than the tropical destination trip). Hoping to see the sights while also having time to enjoy the fare (restaurants, shopping, nightlife, etc.). I would be willing to drop a location, but only if it would allow for a better experience of the above.

Well, in that case I would drop Switzerland. The Eurostar train from central London to central Paris only takes a bit over 2 hours, so you could split your time between the two cities, fly in to one and back from the other, thus minimising the time you spend in transit. From London you are within easy train ride / day tour distance of Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath, among many other places. Paris is connected by fast TGV trains to the whole country, but really if you spent 5 days in each of those capital cities you could really experience them properly. I'm sure many other people will be along shortly to offer more detailed advice.

Judy, If you want to do a brief "sampler" of the locations you listed, that's certainly possible. As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to the trip, as that provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. Use the country-specific Guidebooks for the details like hotels, sightseeing, transportation, etc. Using open-jaw flights will of course be the best method. Is there any possibility of getting more time? Keep in mind that you'll need two days for travel times. When is this trip taking place? Assuming you have 10 days total, something like this might work.... > D1 - Flight to Europe (perhaps BA flight from JFK to LHR, dep. 08:00, arv. 19:40, time 6H:40M) > D2 - London > D3 - London > D4 - London > D5 - EuroStar to Paris, touring > D6 - Paris > D7 - Paris > D8 - Train to Lucerne (~4H:45M, one change at Basel), start touring after check-in at hotel > D9 - Lucerne > D10 - Train to Zürich and flight home (be sure to choose an afternoon flight) It might be an idea to leave a bit more time in London, as you may be dealing with a bit of jet lag so won't be up to full "touring speed". There are LOTS of possibilities and this is only one suggestion. Good luck with your planning!

Hi Judy, With the help of one of Rick Steves' consultants, my husband and I put together a 10-day itinerary for next month that includes England, France, Germany, and Switzerland. Yes, there is a lot of moving around, but it fits our travel style - we like to get someplace and see it quickly, then move on...always curious about what's around the next corner. For us, the travel from one place to the next is part of the fun as well. Things we'll be doing including spending a day touring London; a day in the Cotswolds; flying to Geneva and renting a car, then driving to Chamonix; driving up through several other sites in Switzerland and Germany; taking a high-speed train to Paris and spending a day and a half there; then taking the Chunnel back to London for the trip home. We do plan to visit Europe again one day, and it will likely be another whirlwind trip to several countries. There's so much to see and we have limited time with our schedules. I think if your travel style is similar to ours, you can see as much as you want in ten days. Susan