Need Help with last minute 1st time Europe Trip

When you land in Frankfurt Main, if I were you, I would then go directly to the furtherest point you wish to travel, which sounds like Rome. Look at skyscanner.com and see if there are any cheap flights. Also, the bus and the train are options, but time is of the essence, so fly to Rome, then fly to Paris and then train, bus or fly back to Frankfurt Main, maybe spend a couple of days there before going home. So, see Rome, come back to Paris, and finish in Germany. (I assume you are flying into and out of the same airport).

Look at hostleworld.com, laterooms.com, tripadvisor.com for suggestions of places to stay. Also, look at Accor.com chain of hotels. Hotelformule1(bath/toilet down the hall), Etap and Ibis can be fairly cheap. Travelodge is having a sale now. Now sure if it is in your countries, but worth a look.

Links for Hostels and reviews:

http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels/Europe/index.htm

http://www.hostelz.com/hostels-in/Western-Europe

There are lots of inexpensive places to eat. Also buy things from grocery stores.

Pick up a cheap knife once you get there.

Plastic coffee lids are good as plates. Take a tea towel to serve as table cloth. Take different sizes of zip lock bags to keep bread and food fresh.

Above all use a money belt and keep combination travel locks on all openings of back packs and luggage and watch each others back.

When one is getting money from ATM the other stand guard. Duck in to bathroom to put money in money belt and only keep hand what you intend to spend that day.

Travel light.

These are excellent suggestions, which I second. Flying from Rome to Paris you can do several airlines...Easyjet and Vueling both have service, as does Ryanair, though Ryanair is legendary for nitpick charges and surly service. Figure out your itinerary as soon as you can and then buy tickets, as tickets only get more expensive as you draw closer to the day of the flight. Now if you do the Rome-Paris flight, you would then need train tickets for Frankfurt to Rome and Paris to Frankfurt. Trains from Frankfurt to Rome appear for the most part to go via basel and then Milan, and you could break the trip in either place. Paris to Frankfurt the obvious place to break is Strasbourg, which is now only a little over 2 hours from Paris. So a possible itinerary would be: Day 1 arrive Frankfurt, train to Milan, overnight Milan. Day 2 Train Milan to Rome, overnight days 2, 3,4, 5 in Rome. Day 6 fly to paris. overnight in Paris days 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Day 11 Train to Strasbourg, overnight in Strasbourg days 11, 12. Day 13 Train to Frankfurt. Day 14 fly home. You could play with this. You might want to see if you could get a cheap flight Frankfurt to Rome. Buy a copy of Rick Steves Best of Europe right away...you will find it very very useful. Enjoy!

thank you all so much for your suggestions- i am doing my homework (travel homework that is!) right now!!!

Nicole,

When are you planning to take the trip to Europe? If you have time, I would HIGHLY recommend pre-reading the Guidebook "Europe Through The Back Door", as it will help you a lot with the "differences" you'll encounter there. Read the "Rail Skills" section carefully!

With only two weeks and the fact that you have return tickets from Frankfurt, careful planning will be essential to minimize travel times between locations. Using budget airlines in Europe is a good method, but booking LONG in advance provides the best prices. One point to note is that European airlines allow ONE carry-on bag ONLY.

A few choices to consider. You could fly direct from Frankfurt to Rome, however it appears that Air Berlin is the only carrier on that route (unless you can book a connecting flight with whichever airline you're flying on). Air Berlin flights depart at 17:25, layover in Vienna and arrive in Rome at 21:05. That's NOT something I'd want to do after a long trans-Atlantic flight!

Another option would be to go to Munich by train to begin with (there's a station right in Frankfurt Airport) and spend a few days getting over jet lag. From there travel by TGV to Paris (there's a direct train departing at 06:20, arriving at 12:34 - reservations compulsory). The TGV travels at 300 kMH, so it's a fairly quick trip, despite the distance.

Given the distances between the areas you want to visit and the short time frame, it's going to be challenging to work out the transportation links. You might consider visiting areas that are somewhat closer on this trip.

Check your local Bookstores for the France or Italy Guidebooks, as they have great suggestions for budget Hotels in each of the places you want to visit, along with transportation and sight seeing details.

Good luck!

I recently returned from a three week European trip using Eurail and carrying a backpack. Two weeks is pretty short for your plans. I would recommend Berlin, Munich, Prague, Salzburg, and maybe Budapest. Any of those will make a great trip and each is available by rail from Frankfurt. Do buy a Eurail pass before you leave the USA. I would skip Vienna as it is a large shopping center with a few interesting sites. Be prepared for large tourists crowds.

You can check bags on the budget airlines, like Ryanair, but it's expensive, I want to say 30 euros/bag. And there's a 15 kg (33 lbs) wt limit on checked bags, and 10 kg (22 lbs) on carry-ons. Your 1 carry on means 1, no purse -tho sometimes if it's a really thin one you can put crosswise over your body, they're ok with that. Ryanair is getting stricter with wt, and if you're overweight with your carry-on, no go.