2 Responses to “WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PLAN A TRIP TO EUROPE?”

1. kim m
   

   13. Mar, 2010

   check out this website- it’s a really cool company that organizes travel for young people (18-35) and you just pay them the one lump sum then they handle all of your hotels and transportation so you don’t have to worry about getting yourself around to the different countries. and they travel in a group to the countries but once you get there you can go off and do whatever you want, you are not like stuck with them.
   http://contiki.com/tours/225-best-of-europe-start-paris

2. oneofcold
   

   13. Mar, 2010

   1. Your first step is to go to a library or bookstore and get a good all-Europe guidebook. I would recommend Lonely Planet’s “Europe on a Shoestring” or Rough Guides’ “Europe”. If you aren’t interested in Eastern Europe at all, get Lonely Planet’s “Western Europe” instead of Europe on a Shoestring. I don’t recommend “Let’s Go”.

   2. In 3-4 weeks, you don’t want to try and see too many places, or you will tire yourself out. It’s better to see fewer places and really experience them, than to be rushing around to try and “hit” everything, and wind up being too tired to enjoy the places you visit and spending much of your trip on trains and in train stations and going to and from hotels. In 3 weeks, even six cities would be kind of rushed when you consider the travel time to get between them, you would only have 2-3 full days in each city, which is not nearly enough in places like London, Paris, or Rome. If you have 3 weeks, that would allow 4-5 days in each of 4 cities, plus travel days. If you have 4 weeks, that would allow 4-6 days in each of 5 cities, plus travel days. I don’t only mean “cities”, and you could also include non-city destinations like the Swiss Alps or Greek Islands. However, in a small town like Bruges or Salzburg you might only want 2-3 days. That’s my personal preference to see fewer places and spend more time in each of them, and I recognize that some people prefer to see more places for less time, but do be cautioned about including too many travel days in your trip, or not having enough time in a major city that really interests you.

   3. Skim the guidebook you got in Step 1, and then you and your boyfriend should each make a list of the places that interest you most in order.

   4. Then figure out which of the places on your list make sense in light of the amount of time you have and the other places you’re visiting – if you decide you want to visit 5 places and your first four choices are London, Paris, Amsterdam, and the Swiss Alps, it probably wouldn’t make sense to also go to Athens.

   5. When you have a rough itinerary, you need to decide if you want to buy a Eurail pass or take a combination of buses, trains, and cheap flights. If you are under 26, you can buy a youth railpass that is a better deal. Generally the railpasses don’t pay off unless you are under 26 or you are on the train constantly. Europe has a lot of cheap airlines that are often a better deal than the train – look at Ryanair, Easyjet, and Air Berlin. BTW, trains are cheap in Italy and Eastern Europe, so if you are visiting those regions mostly you don’t need a railpass. The bus company Eurolines is often the cheapest way to travel if you are really on a low budget and don’t mind long bus rides.

   6. As a couple, cheap hotels are usually about the same price as hostels and you get a lot more privacy.

   “Also, does anyone have any suggestions of “must see” things for some Southern California natives?”

   My personal favorites are

   for large cities: Paris, London, Rome, and Berlin. also consider Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Prague.

   best smaller places: Salzburg, Bruges, Rothenburg, Siena, York

   for countryside regions: Tuscany, Provence, and Andalusia.

   also: Swiss Alps, Greek Islands