hi....im new at this internet stuff. my husband and i plan to travel to germany, netherlands, belgium, paris, then up to great britain then over to ireland. doing it sept/october of 2012. how much time do we need in each place? we just returned from a month in italy...did rome, florence, venice, pompeii, sardinia,,,,just loved it, so we want to try one more trip...he said he will go once more so i am trying to squeeze in my favorite wish areas. really appreciate all help....i am getting all rick steves books for above areas. thanks in advance. julie in washington state
Posted by
Phila, Pa USA
144 posts
Julie - you sound like you are a fairly ambitious and enthusiastic traveler, and that's great ! But, at the same time, you have asked an EXTREMELY general question ... you are talking about seeing WHAT in WHICH country? Castles? Historic sites? Famous restaurants? National Parks? Zoos? Get the point? You have already begun to answer your own question in a sense ....... you are going to go and get the guidebooks. That is a great place to start. There is gobs of help available on this helpline, but do some homework first, and you will get much better answers . So hit the library, go online, read the guidebooks, and write down places and things to do that really interest you. Get some ideas together of what you want to do and see, and then people here can make some concrete, specific suggestions to help you plan your timing and itinerary. For the record, when you write that you want to see six countries in 8 wks, you are talking about a big chunk of Europe. That is a lot to see in that time frame, even assuming you are ambitious travelers who only want to see the "highlights, " and move from place to place constantly. And remember, there is something interesting around every third corner in Europe ....
Posted by
OP
San Juan Isloand, Washington, USA
4 posts
Thanks laura...you're right, big question. We like historical stuff and highlights....going to the library today. appreciate your response.....
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
How long exactly is your proposed trip? The places you list have significant distances between them, and travel time will eat up some of your time. On your previous trip, you list five locations in one country in 30 days. That's a lot different than at least six countries (with how many cities in each that you want to see?) even if the time is doubled. As Laura says, start with guidebooks (go to the library and look at lots of them, even if they are older - natural and historic sites don't change that much from year to year). Once you get at least a list of what you might like to see, you can plot the locations on a map and then determine how much time will be taken up in travel. We can't really help you with how long you need in each place because we don't know what you want to do. I could spend a whole month in Ireland, but that's just me.