Travel to Europe in Summer 2015

You've not said if you've ever been to Europe. And I assume you're American.
I would suggest the first time traveler to start in London for a 4 day minimum. Then, take the Eurostar fast train (2 1/2 hrs.) down to Paris for at least 4 days.

You could take a fast train from Paris to Barcelona in 6 1/2 hours.
Or, you could catch Brussels when going from London to Paris.
Amsterdam is another side trip that's easy for English speaking people to visit.
From Paris, you could catch EasyJet.com flights out of Gatwick to just about anywhere in Western Europe for $100. You could visit Rome before flying home.

I think you will find that easy jet flights leave from Gatwick (London) or Orly (Paris). For 10 days in Europe you will find that three cities will be enough. If you have 14 days, four cities maximum. Moving from city to city, whether by train or plane, tends to eat up at least half a day. Open-end or multi city flights save having to return to the original airport for your return flight. Since it may be hot you may choose to visit the more northern parts of Europe: England, Ireland, Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, for example.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the information. First and foremost, though, I'm looking for a female travel buddy.

Europe is a big and diverse area so your question is so open ended that it is really impossible to answer. My first suggestion would be visit your public library and check out travel books, travel DVDs, etc. Also, you local PBS carry a lot of travel programs - Rick Steves, Burt Wolf, etc., so spend some time there. Then get a map and put some pins in so that you understands locations and distances. With ten to fourteen days with travel on both ends you really have only 8 to 12. Recognize that anytime you change locations you lose a min of half day, sometimes nearly full day by the time your check out, find trains, ride train, find new hotel, check in, etc. So with your time frame I would focus on no more than three locations. And try to keep your travel distances as short as possible.

The post was not about "where" to go all, it was about looking for "someone to go with". It was posted in the travel partners section of the forum.

I would be interested. I sent you a PM.

Hi Bramarat,

I sent you a private message so I hope you received it. Thanks.

Steve, I think everybody got confused because the OP actually posted her thread under the correct heading!!!

Congrats on that, laceygirl30033! Many have trouble posting under the correct heading, sadly.

You might edit your original question and add whether you've ever traveled to Europe (or anywhere) before, any particular interests (architecture, wine, music), etc.

I wish I could go, but I can't. But I'm going to do what others did and talk about what you didn't ask. If I had 10 to 14 days I would do France, and a little of northern Italy. Start in Paris for at least 4 or 5 days. Paris is fabulous. So many things to see and do. I love Musee D'Orsay, but I'm a big art lover. That's where the Impressionist art is. Boat on the Seine. Eiffel Tower. The Louvre. Montmartre. Then catch the highspeed train to south of France. I'm not sure where it goes...perhaps Nice? If it goes to Marseille just switch to another train and keep going into Cote du Azure. Then so many pretty places. St. Tropez is beautiful. Cannes is lovely but pricey. Nice is fabulous. The inland there has St. Paul de Vence and Biot. There is a train that runs right along the Nediterranean coast and no place is more than a couple of miles from the train. The train also goes to Monaco, and then into northern Italy. Cinque Terra is gorgeous. You can fly out of Nice, or take train back to Paris. This is a fabulous trip.