Planning a trip to Europe...

I am heading to Amsterdam next week....

Spring is better than summer as all of Europe has school vacation in July/August and not only is everything very crowded, it's also much more expensive.

You could fly into London with British Airways, or with Lufthansa to Germany (if good beer is your first priority ). Flying within Europe
is cheaper booking with European carriers than having a route planed out through an American carrier. Depending on how much money you want to spend, you could visit the big cities London, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Madrid etc. etc. but you've got only 2 weeks, so I would break it down to 3 cities and surroundings as you want to get to see something from the countryside too, no?

Once you know what cities you want to visit for sure, come back and we'll talk some more.... I'd suggest London, Amsterdam, Paris and Munich
(I am partial to Munich since it's my hometown).

What a happy decision!
I've only been to Italy, several times totaling 2.5 months - but I read a lot about travel of many kinds. It's a way of travelling vicariously.

I've lots of opinions, which naturally are based on my reactions, and may not make sense to anyone else.

Two weeks is shorter than you think, especially flying from California (which is where I flew from, and so does CalamityJane). Jet lag to start with when you get there.

I wouldn't do four major cities in two weeks, even though I'm very keen on cities and like to walk them. I'd pick two (possibly a third) perhaps landing at one and flying back from another, if you can work that out, and in between, either train or car to a third area, to sample a smaller city/towns and country surroundings.

I like to go in Spring or Fall, missing a whole lot of tourists and saving scads of money.

On planning -

On our first trip, we took a month and only reserved a hotel for Rome, Venice, and Florence. Stayed in Rome at the beginning and end of the trip something like 9 days total (the hotel kept one of our too big suitcases for us), took the train to Venice and again to Florence, then rented a car for a week or more driving around Tuscany stopping where and when we felt like it.

Second trip took two weeks, Rome again, taking trains to places that attracted us from reading up, and back to Rome. This one was slightly more planned out.

Third trip, I went to do photography of piazzas, took a month, went to thirteen cities, mostly not too large, Rome again to start and finish, almost always trains for the twelve other cities, except for one bus. This trip was intensely planned. Because of the number of places and importance of time, I knew every place I was going to stay except for two cities, Faenza and Ivrea. This was just prior to my knowing how to google, so chose by travel books and made reservations by (will you believe it?) fax or telephone.

Many cities and towns have tourist information places - and I've used them a few times to good avail (e.g., Faenza).

On my last trip, I ended up not liking Ivrea and therefore got to Florence two days before my reserved time there, with no room available early at the place I reserved at. In the train station, there's a tourist office. I looked at the available hotel room list, and saw, amazingly, the name of one I wanted to stay at in my planning stage but was way over my price range. There was a room there for something like 35% of what I saw before on published lists. Yes! It was small but otherwise perfect room in a perfect place.

Packing varies - we took way too much for that first month trip, but we didn't know any better. Packed much lighter for the second. The third, for a month, I took a duffle bag and a big purse. (There are ways to pack that light.) A few times, I went to a post office and sent some stuff home - art books I couldn't resist, etc.) Duffle bag? I like to be able to control what I am carrying, so like it better than a big backpack. I take a lot of trains, and don't like to go down a huge number of steps carrying a bag with wheelies - those are heavy.

So, if you are going to nice hotels by taxi, load up. If you are going to be walking with your bags, think efficient packing.

I agree. It was July when I was in London and the city was crawling with Italians. It was unbearable.

If you're focused on seeing cities, I'd recommend against renting a car. Train travel is easy and relatively inexpensive (gas prices are outrageous in Europe), and you can catch up on your sleep in the train. Once you're in the city, you can take public transit. A car, however, makes more sense if you're going somewhere out-of-the-way.

So, Italy might be a good choice in July.

I'm off to Amsterdam on 22nd August, you'll probably be gone by then.

What CJ and joe said.

I wouldn't pack too much in two weeks (Do they still offer "8 famous European countries in one week including a Rhine cruise"?).

Two countries would be fine ... if you want to see a bit. (train, public transport!)
Four, if you just want to get an idea about Europe.

It's amazing how many tourists complain about the number of tourists.

If I was you Cyclo I would look for ways of bolstering your fiscal conservatism.

I know - funny, innit? I guess some tourists are less tourist-like than other tourists or something.
Funny thing is, most people from other countries think Americans are the absolute WORST tourists, so it's funny to listen to American tourists complain about other tourists.

I actually love people watching so I love when I'm around lots of other people from different countries experiencing the same thing I am.

I was in Chawton (where Jane Austen lived for a while) having lunch with a friend and there was a whole bus full of Japanese students walking in front of us and it was so fun to listen to them buzzing with excitement - 'Oh, Jane Austen house, Jane Austen house - you know - Pwide and Pwejudice?!'
I'll never forget it - it still makes me smile.

Well, Cyclo- I don't know what you want to see, but as far as England goes, London would be okay if all you wanted to see were the things you've probably already seen on tv and some world-class museums, but if you're at all interested in scenic beauty and getting a real feel for the people (aside from other tourists), I'd head either north to Yorkshire or Northumberland or west to Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Wales...maybe even up to Scotland.

My favorite European country, aside from England, is Spain.
The cities are very beautiful there, but again, I enjoyed getting out into the countryside and in the villages and meeting the people, which we did when we flew into Portugal (Faro) and drove down the west coast of Spain.

We once drove from Somerset, England to a little village in the French alps called Vaujany. We passed through Paris on the way and turned off up into the mountains at Grenoble.

Another time we drove from England to Amsterdam - went through the north corner of France and across Belgium.

Another time we drove across Wales and took the ferry over to Ireland and drove over to the west coast. That was very beautiful.

Yeah, so I like either walking or driving. Trains are alright, but I'll tell you if you take trains in Italy - get ready to sit for HOURS waiting for them to move.
We finally just rented a car because we were wasting so much time waiting for the trains to run.

Well, I've been to Germany (yay Munich, Frankfurt, Muenster, Bayreuth) several times, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, plus all of the UK and my sister just returned from a 10 country tour in 7 weeks. She and her b/f took the train from country to country and in Italy they rented a motorbike and travelled around on it for several days.

Personally, I prefer to rent a car and stay in smaller towns. Last time we were in England, at the end of our trip we stayed in Horley and trained into London. I t was about a 45 minute ride and quite pleasant. You can do the same in most countries. If you rent a car, do it from this side of the ocean as it is much cheaper. Petrol is more expensive (about 4 times what it is in Canada) but you can go where and when you want, unlike public transit. This is a great method if you want to see the countryside and small towns and such. If, as Joe suggested, you want to stay in a major city, then Eurorail is the way to go.

My preference is B&Bs. You can get one with a private bath, they're a lot cheaper than hotels, and the service is often of a higher quality than hotels. Tripadvisor has great uptodate reviews. I have never been disappointed when I've booked on their advice. Plus, your host knows what's going on in their city and are happy to assist you in many ways.

Also, smaller towns are cheaper in other ways, such as parking, restaurants, and entertainment. And they usually have more character.

As for where to go, all countries have something unique to offer but the Scandinavian countries are more expensive.

And ditto on avoiding the summer. I usually go in May or September - still great weather and way less tourists, so less lineups to get into things, and it's off- or shoulder season for flights.

Oh yes, I'll be back in the States by then....

Never mind, I'm sure yo'll have a great time. I will. I'll be taking my little boy to NEMO.




That's not him in the picture btw.

Artemis Zoo


And of course the ship MS Amsterdam.

It really depends on how you like to travel. My dad likes to get on a bus and do 10 countries in 12 days type of tours. My wife and I like to camp in one city and tour it extensively on foot. I've done Paris, Madrid and Barcelona following the walking tours in various guide books and really enjoyed all of them. The guide books are also really good for finding that out of the way cafe or museum.

As the resident travel tart - I have some comments:

1. RESEARCH
What interests you? What would you like to see? Speak any European languages (not necessary)? Absorbed by English history ? (boring!). Life long Italophile (like Osso)? Fascinated by France (moi)!? Grabbed by Germany (or a fan of Walter)? Cities or country? Fast tour travel or more leisurely trip. Organised or arrange it yourself?

2. TIMING.
Agree spring or autumn. July and/or August can be awfully crowded, hot, expensive and just not nice.

3. PACKING.
As little as possible, depending on where you're going. Heaving ginormous suitcases is tiring, difficult, and can be bloody irritating. Some people recommend carry-on only. I've not managed this yet - but I'm definitely getting better. Cameras and lenses make it difficult to stay within the 7kg limit. (I think that's about 15 pounds). Rick Steves has good packing recommendations ricksteves.com


WHERE TO START?
Read. Talk. Ask questions. Use your local library (says the librarian!) Borrow the guidebooks. See which ones you like - and then buy them.

Sources I use regularly:
1. Tripadvisor. tripadvisor.com. Good information; active forums; reviews for all sorts of accommodation in all sorts of places.
2. Slow traveller slowtrav.com (especially good for France and Italy)
3. Fodors - fodors.com (more friendly - but not so active)
4. Frommers - frommers.com
5. The man in seat 61 - seat61.com. This is an excellent start site for train travel.

These are the general forums (fora?). There are of course more specific ones - as your planning progresses. There may be some I don't know or haven't come across yet - and I'd be happy to hear about any you find.

GETTING AROUND.
I think, for a first trip, of 2 weeks only, forget the car. Train travel in Europe is fast, can be cheap, especially if you book in advance, and easy. Avoid Eurail, Rail Europe or whatever - they're expensive -they put a big premium on train fares and don't offer all trains. Book at the country rail sites - they mostly have an English language site (e..g. trenitalia.it) In the past few weeks I've booked train fares in Austria, Czech Republic and Italy - all on the national rail sites and all without difficulty.

AIRLINES.
What's your comfort level? I prefer to fly with mainstream airlines. I can probably do it cheaper, but....

I seem to recall you live in California. Qantas flies from LA to Sydney, Melbourne - come to Australia instead - it's a fascinating country!

The advice to fly in to one city and out the other is good - it can save backtracking and can save time and money. For example - say you fly in to Paris, spend some time in Paris and one other place in France and then head for Italy, say Florence and Rome and fly out of Rome.

REMEMBER - this is only your first trip to Europe - it won't be your last. You don't have to do and see everything this time. Think about where you want to go and get on the mailing list for the airlines that fly there. That's a good way to learn about specials in air fares, etc. There's also various American booking sites - but I have no experience of them!

Feel free to ask any questions - I love Europe! I've travelled there a lot, either by myself or with a partner - and always organised it myself. It's easy and fun - and you expand your knowledge at the same time.

Lots of good advice, one thing I would add, don’t rent a car. Most of the large cities have great public transit.

True story, the last time I went to London with a friend we rented a car at the airport, well I wasn’t use to driving on the opposite side of the street and having the steering wheel on the passengers side wasn’t much help either.

We got a mile from the airport and I sideswiped a parked truck. Right after that we took the car back, found out we didn’t really need one anyway.

I like some guide books a lot - I used to particularly like Richard Saul Wurman's Access books - but they are about cities, though their near cities stuff isn't bad.

I've been known to tear up guide books to avoid guidebook weight, just taking the parts I was keen on. I know, I know, but one duffle for a month, give me a break on weight.

Oh, and great post, Margo.

I have noticed that Hingehead and I are similar in that we don't want to know all about the place we're going with a bunch of fantastic photos on good paper - we like surprise.

You may vary - these are distinct points of view. Some do, some don't.

When you arrive, take a city guided bus tour ASAP. It will give you a lay of the land and help you decide and plan what you want to see.
Go to local pubs if you can, and talk to people - they'll tell you where to go.
I always take public transit because it's always fun to people watch and it's cheaper than the alternates.

Thanks, Osso.
I can still remember what it was like planning my first trip -no internet in those days. You read everything you could get your hands on, spoke to anyone who had been, listened to travel shows.

Come back cyclo and tell us what you're thinking.....

re your response, margo: what osso said!

I sometimes think that non-Europeans have a different approach to travel in Europe than we Europeans generally have ... or at least some of us.

And you'll certainly find nice and interesting places everywhere, in any (European) country.
It all depends on your wishes ...