When do you start repeating cities?

I've made just 4 trips to Europe, and in August of 2014 I visited Budapest and was so completely taken with it that I'm returning there for a week in May of 2016. It's a heritage country for me so this trip I'll be visiting the town my family came from as well as other cities. I decided it was ok to visit again this soon as long as I combined with somewhere new, which will be Paris.

Other return trips I've considered are to Tallinn, combined with Lithuania and Latvia, and a return to London, with other cities in England and Scotland. More towns in Poland is also on my list--Krakow, Warsaw and Gdansk made for a lovely trip this year.

I'd rather return to places that truly resonated with me than just tick off countries/cities that are on a laundry list of what's popular. I have friends who visit Italy every year and never tire of it, no real interest in exploring other countries.

Oh gosh, I'm not sure there's any single answer for that! In many cases we've enjoyed those second or third times around more than the first because we're more relaxed. All the first-time logistics have been conquered so we can start having fun right off the train or plane.

But we also mix those old friends with new ones so that the trip isn't an exact duplicate of one before, and find things to do and see in favorite places that we hadn't covered on prior visits. There's always something new and exciting around the as-yet unexplored corner!

For me, timing ("how soon after...") does not affect a revisit to a particular city. What does make a difference is whether I'm so struck and captivated by a place in my initial visit that I want to get to know that place better and to experience it more deeply - even at the expense of traveling to somewhere different. There are so many (particularly large) cities that cannot possibly be wholly discovered in one short visit (or even two or three or five), and the "repeat" visit isn't necessarily a repeat at all - it's a new experience of all the things previously unseen during the first go around (which sometimes feels like an abbreviated introduction). I guess it just depends how you value travel - less places seen over a lifetime but more thoroughly can be a more enriching experience. It's a struggle because the human brain constantly craves and rewards novelty (books like "One Thousand Places to See Before You Die" don't help either :-)

Let's see, of 5 trips to Europe (since 2008)...London all five times (because we are generally flying in and/or out and will stay a few nights coming or going), Venice 4 times, Paris 3 times, Rome, Cinque Terre, Nice 2 times (and Portsmouth 5 times because my sister lives there, so that doesn't count).

And when we go back in 2017, we will return to London for a few days! (Before hopefully seeing someplace new). And I still want to return to Paris, Venice, Rome...

There's a big world out there, and for some of us there's only so much time and money available to see what we can. There are very few places we've been that we wouldn't necessarily care to make an effort to return. Other places we definitely want to go back (Ireland, for starters, and Belgium, and Bulgaria, and . . . ), but haven't made it yet for another visit.

Long before we were married, we each first visited Europe back in the 1970's, and in the ensuing years, we stayed in Beynac, France twice within a 3-year period; same for Venice, Italy. I'd say those count just as much as Paris, to which we've been lucky enough to visit on several occasions :)

This past summer, we were in France, and had just part of a day and evening to visit Lyon before heading on to Nice for a week. I actually went back to Nice 2 weeks ago for another 1-week visit with a colleague from work. So even twice in 3 months isn't too much!

And we've already booked an apartment for 3 weeks in Lyon next summer. We had such a good time on our one day, and that fabulous city needs more time. Go wherever you can, whenever you can, and don't worry about repeating . . . there's always some place you're never going to get to go, no matter where else you've been.

...and what Agnes said - generally we see something different every time. One of our Rome/Venice trips my Mom was along so I wanted to show her everything that I fell in love with on my previous visit(s).

For me, some of it is familiarity as well. We aren't 'first time user' nervous using the Tube or the vaporettos. We are more at ease using the Metro and have a notion of where things are on repeat visits. I had no qualms on trip #4 to Venice (when my mom accompanied us) getting up and going out at 6:30 am to get photos (while hubby snored in bed) because I was comfortable with my knowledge of the city and transport from previous trips.

We can see all those things that we skipped the first few times because we've seen all the 'big' stuff. We can relax since we don't feel the need to cram stuff in. Maybe get a little more off the beaten path. Revisit the same stores we always go into (especially in London - hubby always goes to the big comic book shop Forbidden Planet and I go across the street to Hotel Chocolat!). Last trip to London we only had a few days, but for something different we took the river bus services and spent the afternoon at Greenwich. Especially in the big cities, unless you spend a month there, there is still so much more to see.

Hi Sue,

We repeat all the time. In fact, we've stayed in both Hall in Tirol (Innsbruck area) and Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden (Berchtesgaden area) 5 times so far (out of 10 trips total) and still plan on visiting again.

Our usual since our first trip is: we like a place so much, we repeat that place on the next trip along with new places. Then on the next trip. we find another we like, and repeat it (along with new places) on the next trip.

To be specific, we started repeating after our very first trip.

We know couples and families that rent the same shore house for a week or 2 every summer.

Paul

Traveling for us is not a check-list - more the philosophy of what interests us and an overall itinerary where we will enjoy each location.

We've been to Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Wengen/Lauterbrunnen, Siena, Venice & Rome more than once. We stayed more days at each (large city - 4, others - 3) our second time. We went to St. Wolfgang this year, and both of us say we're going back again. : )Sometimes we do similar things as our first trip and usually enjoy it more the 2nd time. I also plan something new, i.e. a cooking class in Rome which we LOVED. Typically, the itinerary I pull together ends up having 1-2 locations where we've been previously.

A similar thought to your question is that we don't feel compelled to see every European country. We're planning to go back to France again next year.

It's YOUR vacation; do whatever excites you. : )

I first visited Barcelona in 1989, and have been back 10 times since, always finding new things to do, but mostly just enjoying being there.

Once you have been to all the places you want to go, and have always dreamt of, then why not return to the places that fill you with joy and give you pleasure. The fact that you get to know these places, means being there becomes easy too, like being at home. Add in that you might make friends, learn the language, or marry the baker, then it's a wonderful road to travel.

I do, however, try to include new places on every trip now, and the RS Forum is a great source of inspiration in this regard.

Happy (and safe) travels !!

In the last dozen years almost all of our trips have included Budapest; but rarely just Budapest. It almost has to be someplace new along with Budapest. My trips are for three reasons, part to explore new things and learn from the experience, part to conduct a little business and part to close out the world and relax. The other tendency I have is to try and center the trips around a season or a special event. To see Paris in the Spring is wonderful, but it’s a different city in the fall for instance. There is Kiev for Independence Day, Jerusalem for Hanukah, Moscow for Orthodox Christmas, a number or towns for New Year and a number of towns for Christmas. Then there is the Rose Festival in Bulgaria and this year the Opera Gala in Budapest and the Busójárás in Mohács. But it always ends with a quiet little wine bar on Kiraly utca in Budapest.

We have repeated European gateway cities both out of convenience and because some cities are a comfortable place to spend a few days adjusting to jet lag and catching up on not getting much sleep on overnight nonstop flights from the West Coast of North America

London multiple day stop overs five times with final destinations of Scandinavia or northern UK. Oslo four times before and after ski tours north of Oslo.

London was essentially a "free" airline destination using multiple city pricing. Doing Copenhagen in January as a free airline stop on our way to Finland.

On my second trip I repeated (west) Berlin, skipped London, saw Paris for the first time, skipped Vienna, saw Prague for the first time. That was in 1973. My third trip four years later, skipped (west) Berlin, visited Paris again, visited Vienna again, visited Frankfurt for the first time. All subsequent trips I've gone to Berlin, be 3-4 days to 2 weeks, and made repeated visits to Paris. Certain towns/cities in Austria, Germany and France I repeat whenever they can be fitted into the itinerary, even as a quick day trip or a couple of hours because of transferring trains, recently, eg. Munich, Budapest, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Lüneburg, Frankfurt an der Oder, Leipzig, Linz, Wiener Neustadt, Bad Ischl,

I like returning to places. For me, orientation to most new places is a little stressful. I love the familiarity of revisits, knowing how to get around, having a sense of direction, recognizing places. Now I try to mix it up, including a familiar place with new ones, or a new place with familiar ones. I've rarely been disappointed with a return visit and I've rarely been somewhere that I would not like to see again.

I like a mix of familiar and new places. I went to Italy for a week in 1999 with my high school art history class and we visited Venice, Florence, and Rome plus 3 smaller towns. Crazy. I went back 2 years later and spent 2 weeks in Florence, 1 week in Rome, with a few day trips. I still haven't made it back to Venice, and it's been 14 years since I was last in Italy, and I really miss it.

Some places I return to because I have friends there, like Hamburg; and other places I just can't stay away from for too long, like Amsterdam. On my most recent trip, the only new places I went were York, which I'd wanted to visit since 2006, and Luebeck, which my German friend suggested as a day trip from Hamburg. Honestly, I was a little restless because it was too much familiarity and not enough new.

Sometimes a repeat trip is like visiting a whole new world. My first trip to Paris was a nightmare - men leered at us everywhere we went, the locals were rude even when we spoke French - and I swore I'd never go back. But in 2012 my sister convinced me because she really wanted to go, and it was like a different city. No leering men, pleasant locals.

And because I have friends in Europe, it's always hard to travel all that way and not see them.

Thanks to all for your input. It's always interesting to hear how other travelers plan their trips. I totally agree that returning to our favorites would be relaxing, since we know our way around. We'll probably add a couple of favorites to our next trip.

Thanks again.

I have to say that in more years of travel than I care to think of, the method we have used (except for some business trips that took me to just one city) is to include at least one stop that we have been before. It does add a nice break to the trip, a bit more relaxing, chance to see old favorites or explore a smaller venue missed the first time.

Even in vastly different trips, Europe is small enough that someplace can overlap, or as someone mentioned, your gateway cities repeat.

We have repeated cities pretty routinely over the course of 14 Europe trips, but sometimes with shorter stays (that inevitably leave us wanting to return). Our first Europe trip together was our 1999 honeymoon cruise from Lisbon to Venice with five days in Florence (3) and Rome (2) on the back end. On our 2000 England trip we could not resist tacking on three nights in Paris at the end. In 2001 I did a Spain tour and met my wife in Paris, then on to Florence and Rome. So, a lot of repetition early on. 2002 was Ireland (three day side trip tp Edinburgh), and 2003 a France trip that included a couple of nights in Paris. 2005 back to Spain, covering similar territory that I had covered on my 2001 trip. 2006 Germany Austria; 2007 back to Italy with stops in Venice, Florence, Rome. 2008 Portugal, which we had long wanted to return to. 2010 back to France with five nights in Paris. We did not even make it to Prague or Budapest until 2011, but found ourselves back in Budapest in 2014 to start a river cruise – where we made it back to Nuremburg, Munich, and Vienna that we had visited in 2006. Found myself with some unexpected time off in the latter half of 2011, so did a cruise round trip out of Athens that included Venice for two nights. 2013 back to England for the first time in 13 years. It's so hard to consider going to France without spending four or five nights in Paris. So hard to go to Italy without a similar amount of time in Rome. But, it's good to see new places too and not just do the same trip over and over.

The only solution is to travel more often, I guess.

We try to alternate. In odd numbered years we revisit countries we've seen and loved (although we try to find some new places within that country). Even numbered years are focused on totally new experiences.

Invariably places we've seen in the even-numbered years move into the "want to repeat" column. And that makes us glad we made a conscious effort to abandon the familiar and take a chance on a new adventure.

I have repeated cities a few times over the past 10 years I have been taking Rick Steves tours. But so far I have not stayed in the same hotels (except for Vienna where I even got the same room!), eaten at the same restaurants, or seen the same sites. City are big, and there is a lot to do. In the few cases where there was overlap between the tours, I simply chose to pursue a different option on those days because I was familiar enough with the city to find something to do that a first time visitor might be reluctant to do.

I don't think we have ever taken a trips that did not have had a repeat city or two. (Obviously not the first trip.) We like repeating cities since they are always a little more comfortable, less stressful, since we have some familiarity with the city. Often use the same hotel and hit some of the same restaurants. As a consequence, we have spent maybe a month in London, three weeks in Rome, a couple weeks in Barcelona, plus a handful of others. Since we tend to spent about three to four weeks each trips, the repeat cities are kind of the vacation within a vacation. We have seen the major sites so the repeat visits allow for us to explore at lot of the back door sites. And sometimes just catch up on sleep and laundry.

Our travel style is not the drive by, check it off the list style, that others may prefer. There are still some major cities we have not been to - Berlin, Vienna, Budapest. Only twice to Paris, Florence, and once to Venice. I know, I know - sinful. And there may be some cities we never see.

I repeat cities and actually repeat sites within cities. I try to go to London in Aug/Sept when Buckingham Palace is open because I love the State Rooms tour and the Queens Gallery. This year I just did the Queens Gallery and sort of missed not having done the State Rooms. I also love to re-visit museums. My Dad used to call it visiting old friends!

I like to start the trip in a place I've been before, especially if I'm traveling with my kids. Jet lag is rough on them, and it's good to have a low pressure stop the first few nights. It seems easier to repeat - you can rest more without feeling you're missing out, you don't have to worry about logistics as much, and it's more relaxing. Then after 2-4 nights in the "repeat" I like to move on to newer places.

It is never too soon to repeat a place! Maybe you loved it for 3 days and want to dig deeper having realized you should have stayed a week. Maybe it is so rich that you must go back multiple times just to feel you've gotten to know it. Roma, Venezia, Paris, the Italian Dolomites and the Berner Oberland are all that way for us. We've been to Venezia 7 times and each time we go we discover new places and scenes among those "old friends." I could hike every day of my life in Ortisei or Switzerland and not get bored. Roma excites me every day.

That said, we do visit new places a lot. Some of them go on the "must repeat" list and some on teh glad-we-went-not-returning list.

This is why my trips get longer. New places to see, but I can't neglect my old friends.

Most of the arrival airports are same old, thus the related cities are same old, but in a good way. Many of the medium and smaller cities visited in the past still are attractive and fun to revisit as orientation, etc. is minimized. However, there's always the quest to see more. So many good ideas are offered on the Travel Forum and the list of cities/villages yet to be visited is lengthy.

We've been to many cities multiple times! The first time we went to Europe we visited London and have been there at least 5 times, including the second time we went. I like mixing trips between places I've already been and new places. There's a comfort level in spending time in a place where I already know the transportation system, the money, etc., and everything isn't a learning curve. I enjoy getting to know a place better and seeing the lesser-visited places that one might not visit on a first trip.
This past summer we mixed Norway, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest (places we had never been) with Salzburg and Munich (which we have been to several times).

I've been traveling to Europe since going to college summer school in Austria in 1970. And since retiring young, my wife and I are perpetual travelers.

When traveling to foreign countries, it's just too easy to go back to familiar cities time and time again. But with 10 good travel years left in us, we're now trying to finish going to new places--where we've never been.
The advent of budget European airlines has opened up many, many cities never visited before. It makes it easy to fly through one of the big gateway cities and then catch a $100 flight anywhere on the continent. You can visit strange lands and then go back through a familiar city before flying home. Or, you can travel to familiar cities and pick a country or city that's completely out of the way.
Now we've just got to figure out when to go the 4 countries we've not visited.