Need help with an Itinerary

The logical itinerary would be based on your own interests and preferences. And would almost certainly not try to touch all of those bases in such a short amount of time. - - - Many first-time travelers have difficulty planning because, having never been before, they don't really know what they would like to see and do. That's fair, and argues for trying a little bit of everything. But you should still do some reading and thinking about what it is that moves and motivates you, what sounds good. Rick's Europe Through the Back Door is a great guide for first-time travelers.

Hmm thanks....don't have much time, want to see culture, art, love beaches, love nature.... everything! Any places in particular you recommend that aren't too expensive and safe for a girl to travel alone to?

Adam's comments are quite sensible. I, too, would argue that 17 days is too little time for going so many places. Especially since your budget is tight. Transportation costs money, and the longer the trips the more expensive. It takes longer to get to Italy and Spain, let alone Portugal, because those peninsulas are farther from the central European core. Switzerland, by the way, which is not on the euro, is very very expensive no matter how cheaply you try to travel. That doesn't mean you can't go there, just plan to spend more than you would elsewhere. A couple of relevant questions: what language did you take in HS/college? That choice means you have already been exposed to the culture and language of a certain region, which is always an advantage on a first trip. When do you plan to go? If winter, you want to hit big cities where weather is less important. If summer, you may want to hit some beaches and rural areas. One general suggestion would be to fly "open jaw", that is, into one European city such as Paris and home out of another such as Rome. This will prevent backtracking. Once you determine both arrival and departure cities, draw a line on a map between them. Try to hit sights as close to that line as possible to avoid excessive traveling and wasted time. Thus if you fly into Paris and out of Barcelona, you will probably dump Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy from your plans. Definitely read some of RS' books, and try to catch his videos on public TV to get a clearer sense of what you would like to see. You will not have time to see all the "must sees" in the countries you name anyway, and my "must see" may be your "who cares" sight. Decide what you really like doing. If you hate art museums here you won't like them better in Europe. If you take vacation trips to places like Lowell Mass or the Freedom Trail and find them fascinating...well, look for historic sites in Europe to tour.

To answer your questions Roe I can speak minimal Spanish..I lived in the US and British Virgin Islands for a year..have traveled to Sicily and Costa Rica twice.... As far as museums go, other than art museums, they aren't really my thing..just being in new places, seeing new different cultures and pretty scenery is more of what I'm looking for. Love the water and love the mountains...grew up in Vermont. I'm supposed to have my ticket booked asap to leave Nov 1st-17th of this year..

Gretchen: Thanks, your answers help in giving advice. Given that you are going in November, the weather by the Atlantic coasts of France and Spain is likely to be grey, chilly, and stormy. For art museums, Paris, Madrid, Florence, and Rome have to be top of your list, but for reasons I suggested earlier, I think it will be very tough to do both Italy and Spain in addition to France. Having said that, one of many possible itineraries would be to fly Boston to Rome and spend 3 nights there. On Day 4, fly via Easyjet to Madrid. Days 4, 5, 6 in Madrid. Day 7 Train to Barcelona. Days 7,8, 9 in Barcelona. Day 10 Fly to Paris. Days 10, 12, 12, 13 Paris Day 14 fly home. That leaves 3 days to be added in as extras for Rome, Madrid, Barcelona or as an excursion Rome-Florence-Rome. Other posters will have better ideas, but this might be a starting point.

I have to agree with Roe's suggestions, given your priorities and the season. That's not to say you might not have a wonderful time in Switzerland or Portugal, but they are logical places to trim. ¶ My only suggestion might be to change the order a little. Start north, in Paris, and then fly south, ending wherever your cheapest flight home is. But this is not a terribly important consideration.

"and my "must see" may be your "who cares" sight." Best line I've read on this site for weeks. I'm a little short of time right now, but later I'll comment on the huge difference between planning a trip in the summer versus late fall or winter... ie, most travel guides that give recommended itineraries are written with summer travel in mind. These itineraries really don't work in the colder months... more to follow.

... More on November travel. As you approach the winter solctice, the key thing to keep in mind is that much of continental Europe sits at latitudes that correspond to the northern US and Canada. Although the Gulf Stream and the Mediterranean keep temperatures warmer than you might expect, the daily hours of sunlight can become quite short. Add to that the frequent thick fog banks that occur during the morning, and you may only have a few hours each day when you really have good visibility- and if rains, you're completely out of luck. That's why at this time of year, to get the most bang from your limited time and monetary budgets, it's best to concentrate on urban activities, where visibility is less of an issue. I agree with the others... I would drop Switzerland from this trip. It's too expensive on a tight budget, and November is the shoulder season for most of the mountain resorts. If you want to see the Alps, you'll see them as you pass between Italy and France.

Ok thanks Tom. If I would like to travel to areas where the weather is a little nicer, would it make sense for me to stick to maybe Portugal and Southern Spain and kind of do a trip up the coast instead? I've heard a lot of great things about Portugal...I could use my 17 days to see small towns, large cities in those 2 countries instead...especially if theres areas where the weather might be a little more enjoyable. Kind of wanted to do a trip that involved a beach day or two but just can't find the right area where I can do that and have spots to travel around. Everyone keeps recommending I just go to the Caribbean but I've already been there and I feel like I can't do much sight seeing and traveling there because you kind of just set up shop in a small beach town.....

Gretchen: Keep in mind that even in southern Spain or on the Cote d'Azure in France, while you may well have sunny days (short ones) in November, you won't be doing any swimming. The water really is too cold. If you just want to stroll along a beach wearing a windbreaker and feeling the sun on your face, interspersed on cloudy days with art museums, then the Cote d'Azure (French Riviera) might be pretty enjoyable for you. There are two excellent art museums in Nice, another in Antibes, and still another in St Paul de Vence. Granted, these are all modern art, and if your passion is Renaissance art you'll be disappointed. Still, for general cafe sitting, seaside strolling, wood-fired pizza eating, and wild herb smelling delight, you can't beat the Cote. You could fly into Madrid, spend a few days, take an overnight trip by fast train to Cordoba/Grenada/Seville, then train up to Barcelona and from there to Nice and finally Paris & home. The other posters have given very thoughtful advice and solid ideas. Remember that rural areas are tough to do without a car and car rental is expensive, and as the other posters have pointed out, there are few November beach opportunities anywhere in Europe.

Ok, thanks again Roe, this has been very helpful. Do you think it would be smarter for me to do France rather than stick to Portugal and Spain? Not sure how the transportation in Portugal is...definitely did not want to have to rent a car.

Gretchen: I think in 17 days you could do Paris & the Cote d'Azure and EITHER Spain OR Northern Italy, not Portugal or Italy south of Rome. You would need to fly "open jaw", into one city such as Paris and home out of another city such as Madrid. Paris and the Cote d'azure are easily linked by TGV in about 5 hrs. From Nice, the easiest base on the coast for train travelers, it would be easier to get to Italy by train than to Spain. However, with discount airlines such as Easyjet (see the links on this site under Plan your trip) you might be able to do Spain from Nice instead. In that case, you would fly into Nice, spend 4- 5 days there, TGV to Paris, do another 5 days, then easyjet to either Madrid or Barcelona and fly home from one of them. Madrid and Barcelona are now linked by superfast train as well, so you could divide your Spain time between them. If you do discount airline, remember that the earlier you buy a ticket the better as they get steadily more expensive. So to sum up, if training only Paris-Nice-Genoa-Florence & Siena & Lucca, home out of Pisa; if train plus flying, Nice-Paris-Madrid-Barcelona-home.