Hello, this report is a couple of years late but I thought I'd get to it before our families next trip. Also, I want to thank everyone that on here who made our trip enjoyable with their great information. Thanks again.
So our first trip to Europe was in 2014 from Sept. 24 to Oct. 14. We traveled to London, Paris, Florence, Venice, and Rome. We also did day trips to Stonehenge-Bath-Windsor, Versailles, Pisa, and Pompeii-Naples. Like many first time visitors to Europe, you never know when and if you will go back so, oh course, we wanted to see as much as possible. Yes, it can be done but as many have said on here, it makes for long days and there where a few.
OK, our first stop was in London where we arrived at 8 in the morning. I myself had no issues with jet lag but I didn't take into account how it would affect my wife, our 2 daughters, and my mom. They handled it well up until about 4, then they called it a day. After being allowed to check into our flat and dropping off our luggage, we headed to the Tower of London. I had purchased tickets in advance so getting in was no problem and the first thing we did was to see the Crown Jewels. Lucky for us, the crowds where not that bad and we where able to see everything with no real issues of lines. Afterward, we headed to St. Paul's where I had also purchased tickets in advance. At this time, it was about 1330 and we stayed until 1500 when sleepyness hit my family. We ended up going back to the flat where they took a nap and I went to the grocery store to pick up some supplies. The rest of the day was spent in the flat relaxing and as for my family, sleeping. The next day we saw the Changing of the Guard which was neat to watch. Then we went to Westminster Abbey and afterward, had lunch. We then headed to the British Library, and walked around for a while before ending our day at the British Museum. That was a long day. Saturday we took an Evans & Evans tour to Windsor-Stonehenge-Bath. We enjoyed the tour but you do feel rushed, and really its a type of tour for those with limited time that want to see a late. It was a good tour but once was good enough for our family, next time we'll visit on our own. Our last day was spend at the Harry Potter Studios. This is a definite for any Potter fan but this did cut into our time in London unfortunately. As you can see, we really didn't get a good taste of London so on our next trip, we are definitely taking our time and spending a lot more time in London.
Our next stop was Paris. On our first day after checking in, we saw Notre Dame, the Orsay Museum, and we walked around the French Quarter. It was a full day but we did get to enjoy everything at a nice pace. On our second day, we went to Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the morning, had a picnic lunch, visited the Louvre, and just got lost in Paris. We didn't see all of the Louvre, just the top sites and some of our other areas we where interested in. Of course, you really need a whole day to see everything there, maybe even more than a day. Our last day in Paris was spend getting lost and visiting the Eiffel Tower. I really feel in love with Paris but it will have to wait until after our next trip since it's not in the itinerary this time. On our last day in France, we visited Versailles on our own. We arrived early as many on here suggested and Rick Steves and had no problem seeing everything inside and enjoying the gardens. We ended the day at Marie Antoinette's cottage and headed back to Paris for our night train to Florence. For me, the night train was fun but as for my family, it's something they said they will never do again, lol, I guess some people just can't sleep on trains.