Are we planning too much?

Just about everyone who plans their first trip to Europe tries to do too much. Welcome to the club.

Keep in mind that you are probably going to return.

You are going to get a lot of opinions on what to do and the posters will base much on their own preference. You need to figure out what you enjoy.....

Well, here comes my opinion. Cut out Amsterdam and think about cutting out Ireland. There is so much to see in England and Scotland that you could easily fill up two weeks.

Why not save Ireland until you can see the entire country. The same goes for Amsterdam when you have time to visit that area of Europe.

And this way, you could then do your overnight to Paris or even just a day trip if you really want to see it.

Frank gives good advice. This would give you time to move beyond Edinburgh in Scotland. You could see a bit of the highlands, and work your way back south through the borders to see the Lake District or go down the east coast to York. There is a lot to see in England and Scotland. For Scotland check out these two websites. www.visitscotland.com and http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ Pam

One thing that helped me when I was planning my first trip (which I took a little over 2 years ago) was swearing to myself "you WILL be back" and always telling myself that when I felt I was planning too much or too crazy of an itinerary. Lo and behold I leave in 3 days to go back to Italy. I think if you make that promise to yourself (and I almost guarantee that your first trip will give you the Europe "bug" :)), it is easier to cut things out because you have the comfort that you'll have another opportunity - hopefully fairly soon - to see them, and more!

With just 15 days, you don't want to spend too much of your touring time moving from one area to another. I would definitely axe Amsterdam since it is the farthest.

I like Frank's idea of focusing on England and Scotland. You would have time to do Ireland too, but you will miss the opportunity to get a better feel of what England and Scotland have to offer. Those are two wonderful countries with many great things to see.

You could also spend the entire two weeks in Ireland, or perhaps focus on Ireland and Scotland. It depends on what your priorities are. You can hardly go wrong anywhere in the British Isles.

Thank you to all of you who have relplied to my post so far. All of your feedback is very helpful, thought provoking, and reassuring.

15 days would be an excellent amount of time to do an initial exploration of England and Scotland with perhaps a small taste of Wales. Consider something like the following (using trains and other public transport): London 5 days with day trips to some of the following- Windsor, Bath, Cardiff Wales, Stratford-upon-Avon, Canturbury, Dover. Train to York- 1 night. Train to Edinburgh- 2 nights. Train to Inverness- 5 or 6 days then fly to London and home or train to London and fly home- could do day trips to Isle of Skye, Orkney, etc. If you want more time in the Highlands, cut out York and do an overnight train to Edingburh.

I think it depends what you want. For example, people say you can't try to see London in one day. Sure you can't see it all. But if you can see what's important to you, then that might be right for your holiday.
We recently got back from our first trip to Europe: landed in Heathrow on 1 Sept and flew out of Istanbul on 1 Oct. In that time we stayed in Wales (3 nights), London (2), Normandy (2), Carcassonne (2), Montreux (1), Gimmelwald (3), Cinque Terre (2), Rome (3), Athens (2), Samos (4), Canakkale (2) and Istanbul (1). It was awesome - no we didn't fully explore most of the places we stayed - but we saw what we really wanted to see, and we experienced an awful lot across a lot of cultures in what limited time we had.
Plot your places on a map, research how long it will take to get between them, allow at least 1 to 2 full days in each place (more if you know there's more "must sees" there for you than 2 days worth) - and it'll be fine.
Have fun planning and have a great trip!

In most cases when people ask if they are trying to do too much,they are. Definitely eliminate Amsterdam and you could maybe do 2-3 days in Northern Ireland. It is easy and inexpensive to get there from Scotland. I assume you will be flying into London?

Kathryn,

I have to definitely agree with Frank II and the others. For such a short trip, it would be a really good idea to drop Ireland and especially Amsterdam. In visiting that many locations you have to allow for travel time between them. In some cases the travel time will be 4-6 hours (basically a full day) which will cut into your sightseeing time. You also have to allow time to get to your Hotel, check in/out, etc.

Also keep in mind that your trip will be closer to 13 days. You'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes and the last day will be mostly spent travelling home. When you arrive, you'll also be tired and jet lagged for a day or two, so won't be up to full "touring speed".

If you limit your stay to the England and perhaps one stop in Scotland, it may be possible with careful planning to also make a short stop in Paris. The best option would be to use open jaw flights, inbound to London and outbound from Paris.

The first thing to do is pick up a copy of Europe Through The Back Door. That will provide you with a LOT of information to help with your planning. The England, Great Britain, and Paris Guidebooks will provide lots of information on sights to visit. Some of the towns to consider are London, Bath and York. I'm not sure you'd have time for any more than that with such a short visit.

One other suggestion would be to consider Rick's Best of England tour, as you'd be able to cover LOTS more territory very efficiently within a short time frame, and you wouldn't have to worry about any of the "logistics" (transportation, Hotels, etc.) as that would all be arranged. That might be a good "introduction" to touring in Europe.

Good luck with your planning!

Hi Kathryn! I can vouch for Scotland, the highlands are beautiful! I have spent some time there, exploring the countryside and the towns. Make sure to get out into the small, un-touristy towns to really get a taste of the culture. It is a gorgeous country, with much to offer. Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

We just got back from a 16 day trip - 6 countries. We spent at least 2 nights in each city and I think we had a great itinerary for a first visit. We got to see everything we wanted. Yes, it was a whirlwind trip and yes, it got a little stressful, but I wouldn't change it if doing over. Now we know some areas we'd like to go back and explore and some areas we are glad we saw but don't feel a need to go back. Scotland is an area I'd like to go back and explore.