1st Trip to Europe PLEASE HELP

Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:21 PM
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1st Trip to Europe PLEASE HELP

Hello I need a lot of help with mi itinerary. this is what I have so far

What do you think about this? . I know that I'll have to run from town to town but for me it's ok just to get to know the touristics spots of every city .
BTW I'll be there with my husband

Thank you for your help


My trip is from November the 6th to December 7th

We leave Mexico City at 11:00pm of the 6th and we are going to arrive to London on the 7th around 3:00 pm

London: 7 to the 12th
Off to Edinburgh on 12th with a quick stop in York
Edinburgh: from Nov 12 to the 15th
Off to Amsterdam by plane the 15th
Ámsterdam from Nov 15th to the 17th
Off to Berlin on the 17th by plane
Berlin from Nov 17th to 20.
Off to Prague by train the 20th
Prague from the 20th to the 22nd
Off to Rome by Plane on the 22th
Rome from the 22 to the 26th
Off to Firenze by train on the 26th
Firenze from the 26th to the 28th
Off to Venice by train on the 28th
Venice from the 28th to the 30th
Off to Barcelona by plane
Barcelona November 30th to December the 2nd
Off to Paris on December the 2nd
Paris from December the 2nd to the 7th.

We leave at 10:00 pm on December the 7th to Mexico

What do you think about this? . the truth is that don’t want to spend a lot of times in museums this is why I’m not planning to spend a lot of time in every city (with a few exceptions)

Thank you for your help
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:28 PM
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10 places in a month. You will see a lot of European train stations and airports. Every change involves @ a half day of transporting. And your days will be shorter, light-wise, in the late fall. It is, of course, your trip, your decision, but I would eliminate a few cities.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:32 PM
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This is an awful lot of places. You haven't really figured travel time into your plan. Every time you fly, you'll lose most of a day. So, for example, when you say you'll be in Amstersam Nov 15th to 17th, that's not really accurate. You will spend the 15th and 17th traveling to/from the airport and in the plane. You only have one day (the 16th) to enjoy the city. The same is true for your other locations. I would cut your total number of destinations in half. It will save you a lot of money in fares, but more importantly allow you to really experience and enjoy each city you do visit.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:40 PM
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List the places you want to see the most, then cut half the bottom half.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:45 PM
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You need to remember that two nights somewhere only gives you one full day there to sightsee and three nights gives you two days. It will also be dark very early so you might not get to see as much as you think. I would probably drop Berlin and Prague. Add that time to your Italy destinations and/or Spain. The weather should be a bit warmer there.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:53 PM
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Your Italy plans are okay. If you are not planning to spend a lot of time in the museums of Florence, you can see the architecture of Florence by making a stop en route from Rome to Venice. (Stow your luggage in the train station, walk around town for a few hours.)

Have you already bought inter-Europe plane tickets?
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 02:58 PM
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Plane and train delays will also take a chunk out of your vacation. You have way too much commuting involving some long distances.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 03:00 PM
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The only way to know how much time to spend in a city/town is to figure out what you want to see and how much time it will take (including time to get to the sight and to the next sight).

So far you've stated that you don't want to spend a lot of time in museums but what do you want to do? Why did you choose these cities? These cities are about much more than museums.

>

You won't have time to get to know the touristic spots. You will be able to see a few of them but you'll miss the things that make a city come alive.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 04:25 PM
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It's tempting to want to see as many places as you can on your first trip. I did too, but soon found I had to adjust my timings & prioritize what I really wanted to see & do.

As others have said, your present itinerary will barely give you a glimpse of anything other than airports & train stations.

I find asking myself, "What attracts me to ...?"a good starting point for planning my trips.

In Rome for example, given that you're not interested in art, what are the things you imagine yourself seeing/ doing? Seeing the some of the historical sites, coliseum , Caracalla Baths, crypts, etc,. The Vatican, Villa Borghese? Having dinner in a little trattoria, wandering the streets early in the morning when the flower sellers are setting up, having an early morning coffee in a little bar frequented by people on their way to work?

You get the idea - work out how long the things you really want to do will take you. Double that to allow for delays, queues, getting lost & lingering longer. Add another 1/3 because you need to breathe.

Hop on/Hop off bus tours, walking tours can be a good way to see the highlights that would appeal to most first timers, in an organised manner, still retaining your independent travel.

Most importantly, be flexible - the idea is to enjoy your month.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 04:27 PM
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You are not calculating your days correctly - but counting many days 3 times.

For instance:

Edinburgh 12 to 15
15 travel to Amsterdam
Amsterdam 15 to 17

If you are traveling from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on the 15th - it cannot be a day in either Edinburgh or Amsterdam - you will be in transit for almost the whole day.

So you really have one day - the 16th - in Amsterdam - since on the 17th you are traveling to Berlin. One day is not going to give you much time to see/do anything. And you are switching hotels every 2 nights.

Agree that you have a comprehensive tour of the train stations of europe - and will get to see 2 or 3 sights in each city - with no time to see any other sights, to relax and enjoy the city, to see any of the countryside (except out of a train window). You are visiting 10 countries where they speak 9 different cultures, 9 different languages and 9 different ways for things to operate.

Frankly I think you will find this to be a long, expensive and confusing blur. IMHO you should cut back to 5 or 6 locations and actually see something of each.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 04:42 PM
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Lots to see without spending your time in museums. I would not want to be on the trip you have planned. I think you will just come home feeling you were rushed and like you didn't get to enjoy any of the places you are going. I would cut the number of destinations in half and them maybe consider a day trip or two out of the cities you go to (like Paris and Rome).

Good luck with your trip and I hope you enjoy it, whatever you decide to do.
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Old Jul 26th, 2013, 04:57 PM
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Those who have responded so far are suggesting you think about you trip in terms of days at a location and travel days between places. Your proposed itinerary would look like this:

Nov 6: depart Mexico
Nov 7: arrive London 3:00 pm (reach London from airport a few hours later)
Nov 8: London
Nov 9: London
Nov 10: London
Nov 11: London
Nov 12: train to York; train to Edinburgh
Nov 13: Edinburgh
Nov 14: Edinburgh
Nov 15: fly to Amsterdam
Nov 16: Amsterdam
Nov 17: fly to Berlin
Nov 18: Berlin
Nov 19: Berlin
Nov 20: train to Prague
Nov 21: Prague
Nov 22: fly to Rome
Nov 23: Rome
Nov 24: Rome
Nov 25: Rome
Nov 26: train to Firenze
Nov 27: Firenze
Nov 28: train to Venice
Nov 29: Venice
Nov 30: fly to Barcelona
Dec 1: Barcelona
Dec 2: fly to Paris
Dec 3: Paris
Dec 4: Paris
Dec 5: Paris
Dec 6: Paris
Dec 7: fly to Mexico at 10:00 pm

You can see that in parts of your itinerary you are traveling every other day. As mentioned, relocating from one city/country to another can take at least half a day, often much more when you add in checking in and out of hotels, traveling to and from stations/airports, waiting, dealing with security checks, and the actual trip by train or plane. Consider whether you will enjoy this type of travel day every other day and adjust your itinerary accordingly. You have nicely scheduled a few longer stays that may ease some of the travel stress, but I would also consider whether the travel time and expense is worth so brief a visit someplace.

ALSO, check carefully that you will be able to actually visit the sites you hope to see on the one particular day you will be in that city. Some sites may not be open on particular days, or have limited opening hours, especially for that time of year. In general, at the end of November, it will be dark by about 5 PM, so this will limit some of your activities as well.
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 06:14 PM
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Hi Thank God I asked this. I haven't bought anything I just wanted to make sure that my itinerary was ok and then buy flight and train tickets. Right now I'm making a list about what I want to see in every city and I'll recalculate the time.
I'm removing Barcelona and Prague from the list. What about the other cities? Are those good options for a couple who is traveling to Europe for the first time?

Thank you so much
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 06:27 PM
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Unless you have relatives in Edinburgh, I would skip it. It is nowhere in the league of the other cities. We were there last year, the greatest of people, but...
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 06:49 PM
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Your list now includes:

London
York
Edinburgh
Amsterdam
Berlin
Rome
Firenze
Venice
Paris

It's still a lot of places (9) in month since you have travel time between locations. I would change the order and fly home from Rome (the farthest point):

London
York
Edinburgh
Paris
Amsterdam
Berlin
Venice
Florence
Rome (fly home)

It's a good sampling of European cities.

Someone above mentioned that you're not interested in art but I don't see where you said that. You stated that you don't want to visit a lot of museums. There are tons of museums that are not about art. Museums are about everything - fashion, period houses, science, history, crystal, music, to name a few.

If you want to limit your museum visits you need to have a plan for when the weather is nasty. You're going to Europe in winter when it's apt to be rainy and damp and cold and you'll want to warm up at times. Stone churches will not be warm; they'll be damp and cold. Open sights such as the Colosseum, Forum, or Eiffel Tower will be cold.

I seldom travel in the off season but I did learn that if the days are gray I would want to wear some colorful clothing. I usually bring a lot of black when I travel since it keeps a cleaner look longer but I hated wearing too much black when the days were dreary. Bring (or buy) some colorful scarves to brighten up outfits.
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 07:38 PM
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>>Unless you have relatives in Edinburgh, I would skip it. It is nowhere in the league of the other cities. We were there last year, the greatest of people, but...you want to go - based on what you want to see/do.

If it was my trip and I only had that much time - I'd fly to London, train to York, train to Edinburgh, fly to Paris, fly to Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome, fly home.

OR

Fly to Edinburgh, train to York, train to London, train to Paris, fly to Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome, fly home.

But that would be my trip . . .
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 07:47 PM
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I love Barcelona, but it just too much for this trip. Sorry, I liked Edinburgh, but it is just in the league of London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence or Prague.

Just one person's experience.
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 07:49 PM
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>>Just one person's experience.
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Old Jul 27th, 2013, 11:28 PM
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rocio alvarez

I highly recommend visiting Spain I don't care for Barcelona, so I would suggest Sevilla and Granada. Personally, I would eliminate York and Edinburgh to make room for it.

I also suggest that you follow a north-to-south itinerary, but ending in Spain and flying home from Spain.
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Old Jul 30th, 2013, 07:50 AM
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Unfortunately I cannot change the flight, we have to fly home from Paris. I'm still working in my itinerary, Thank you so much for all your responses
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