Itinerary Review

Carolyn, As you've noted, you have more time scheduled than you have available, so you'll need to skip more than one of the destinations you've listed. One very important factor you'll need to include in your planning is travel time between destinations. In some cases this will be short and in other cases you'll need to allow the better part of a day. As a general rule, it's a good idea to allow about half a day for travel in each case. In order to prioritize destinations, I'd suggest making a list in the order of most preferred to least preferred, with London as the first entry and Lille as the second. Using open-jaw flights would of course be the best idea, but you won't be able to determine which cities to use until your Itinerary is more-or-less finalized. I would really try to avoid one-night stops. They're tiring and don't really allow much time to see anything in a place. Is there any possibility that you could add some time to this trip? Although you're "really only be willing to consider: Strasbourg & Colmar, Rothenburg, or Munich", this will be dictated by the time frame so you may have to cut other locations. With a bit more information, it should be possible to work out a realistic Itinerary. Good luck with your planning!

First, looking at the geography, time, and distance, skip 2 that you've already considered: Rothenburg and Munich. Also, Berlin, since it's so far from the other places. Plan on seeing Germany on a later trip. The Netherlands needs more time to do it justice, so I'd also save that for later. Then choose a return airport and connect the dots inbetween there and London..... I'd pick Zurich due to the high volume of flights from there to N. America. Here's my suggestion for your 16 nights: London-4, Lille-3 (includes a day trip to Brugge), Paris-4, Strasbourg/Colmar-2, Bern area-2, last night within range of the Zurich airport-1. Probably a thousand other ways to do it..... good luck & have a great trip.

You have a mere 12 nights on the continent after London. Spend the time in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, perhaps a day or two in Germany near Strasbourg (the Black Forest between Gengenbach (near Strasbourg) and Triberg or Villingen, maybe). Spend AT LEAST 3 nights in Paris, 1 in Lille, 2 in Bruges, 3 in A'dam (w/ daytrips to Volendam, etc.) and 2 in Strasbourg (w/daytrips.) You might try to see Lille on the way to Bruges, and add a night to Strasbourg. But it's absurd and expensive to try to hit all those other destinations

I forgot to mention my punchline in the previous message. Before my wife and I moved to Coventry I took a sighting holiday there and in London. We had visited the UK several times together on holidays over several years, and I lived both sides of the Atlantic as a child. The sighting trip was hugely valuable to us as I found neighborhoods that we hadn't considered, one of which we ended up living in for 13 years. Perhaps the trip would help both of you with decisions... We've been on many European trips since we settled.

You are trying to do way too much. The travel times make your itinerary completely impractical. I'm not even going to comment on it. I suggest you sit down and make a complete review of what you plan to do in each location, how long it will take to do it and how long it will take you to get to your next location. Continue with this until you get to the end of the time and/or money you have available. Figure out what are the most important places to go to. The devil is in the details and you can't abdicate this detailed planning to a forum on the web. Come back with a detailed, feasible itinerary and you'll get more meaningful comments.

I'm not asking you to plan my trip. "So the question is, where would you cut? The current itinerary doesn't have any one-night stands ... would you put some in? Skip a place?" As mentioned, I've done this before. The other suggestions have been great ... ideas about where to skip and where to spend 1-nighters ...

Carolyn I take it that you will not choose the actual "itinerary" until you finalize the destinations. As I am sure you have considered, to get the most out of your trip, you will need to eliminate backtracking, use open jaw flights (in one major city and out the last stop), and keep your destinations in as small a geographical area as possible (remove outlier destinations). Several thoughts. Skip Germany and do it on another trip.
After London, concentrate on Amsterdam and surroundings, then Brugges, Lille, Paris, Strasbourg & Colmar, Switzerland. Return from Switzerland. If you are at least 50/50 moving to London, leave Amsterdam and Brugges til after your move. Be realistic about how much you are going to do in day trips from some of the cities you have mentioned. Again backtracking. Bobbie

Carolyn I wouldn't dream of planning your trip for you, but as somebody who moved to the UK several years ago I would like to share my experience. Can I suggest that a few days sightseeing won't give the same level of knowledge that a more protracted stay, using suburban trains and Underground or bus, and going to other places such as Borough Market on a Friday or Saturday, going to church, meeting colleagues or friends, going to local sport, walking along the River and through the parks, etc., will do. If it were me, granted its not, I would give the UK, England, and especially London, and most especially the neighborhood(s) you are considering - virtually all the trip. I'd respectfully suggest that the European places you list can be the subject of holidays just popping across the Channel when you are settled. None of them are particularly distant from London. I regularly use a long weekend for a trip to Bruges or Amsterdam or Lille. BTW - as you lived in Lille, what would you recomend? I go through Lille often on the way to other places but haven't seen a lot to light my fire in Lille? TIA. Once you are settled, Eurostar, RyanAir and Easyjet will become your friends, and with long advance reservations can be cheaper to go to Europe than holiday in England. I hope you see where I am going here.... happy planning...

Carolyn It is surprising how quickly 2 days go when you factor in the travel time. As a previous poster mentioned, 1/2 day is the reality wtih even shorter distances. See the practical steps below to help you see the actual amount of travel time between destinations and determine your final itinerary. * get a map of Europe to see the distances between the places you want to see * get a paper or online calendar (wincalendar.com to make it easy to change & send * put in proposed international flights. Count the 1st day as a recovery day & the last day as a flight day (pack, check out, time to airport, 2 + hrs. waiting). Note: Do not make the return flight before mid day or you will be up before dawn! * Either plot a route with your destinations or just find the time between places. Add the places to calendar. * Now figure out the travel times. Add to the calendar. For the train, go to http://www.bahn.com, English version. This will give you the actual time on the train. Read RS for purchase ideas. * below are factors most people leave out when figuring out their actual travel times. ** pack, check out of the hotel ** hotel to train station time ** wait at the station time (buy your tickets from US or purchase at least the day before) ** train time ** train station to hotel ** check in, unpack ** get oriented, get lost ** Add all to the calendar. Note: If you are traveling in the winter, your sightseeing time will be much more limited with the shortened day.
P.S. This list has been improved with suggestions from knowledgeable long time posters. Now, how much time do you have in each destination? Is this what you expected? Is there enough time to do & see what you wanted? Good luck as you narrow your destinations! Bobbie

Carolyn The steps below will help you see the amount of travel time for your proposed itinerary (or to narrow your choices). 1 - get a map of Europe and put your destinations on. How far apart are they? 2 - get a paper or online calendar (wincalendar.com to make it easy to change) put in proposed international flights. Count the 1st day as a recovery day & the last day as a flight day (pack, check out, time to airport, 2 + hrs. waiting). Note: Do not make the return flight before mid day or you will be up before dawn! * plot the best route with your destinations or just figure out the travel time between each set of places. Add to calendar. * now figure out the travel times. Add to the calendar. For the train, go to bahn.de, English version. This will give you the actual time on the train. Read RS for purchase ideas. * below are factors most people leave out when figuring out their actual travel times. ** pack, check out of the hotel ** hotel to train station time ** wait at the station time (buy your tickets from US or purchase at least the day before) ** train time ** train station to hotel ** check in, unpack ** get oriented, get lost ** Add all to the calendar. Note: If you are traveling during the winter, know that your day light hours are limited due to the short day. P.S. This Travel Time List has been improved with suggestions from experienced travelers and long time posters.
Now, how much time do you have in each destination? Is this what you expected? Is there enough time to do & see what you wanted? Good luck in narrowing your choices! And determining a doable itinerary which allows you time to sit a cafe and watch the world go by! Bobbie

Carolyn,, i would not put in any one nighters,, they are actually only1/2 day visits when you figure in the time getting to train stations and travelling to next stop. They are basically a waste of time to me,, you see little, and you spend more since the more places you travel to the more your transport costs are ( you didn't mention if you were going to rent a car or use trains, I assume trains?) Secondly,, you are young, and if hubby does have an opportunity to move to London you will have alot more time to sightsee on the continent,, so why is it a big deal to leave a few places for next time?? Its not like you are senior citizens planning a once in a lifetime trip so don't get so frantic about skipping a few places THIS TIME,, there will e a next time. I must have missed when you are going,, so if going in winter months consider how some places may not so nice. BTW,, you are from Canada,, what would you think if someone said they were coming here and were allowing two whole days to do Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa,, well ,thats kind of what your plan looks like,, I mean, the Netherlands,, you have listed four places in two days.. are you on speed, loll