How long is your trip?

I am very excited you answered. I was hoping about 5 weeks??

You are correct open jaws would be best.


How much do you plan on saving? If you were going to take a 2 week trip, how much could you spend?

One of the things about planning years ahead is that airfare could double. Do you plan on staying in great hotels and eating in expensive places?

Tell us more about your travel dream. I don't spend as much as you'd think to go to Europe.

Soo excited really. Thinking 1200.00 for airfare and another $5k, plus inter country airfare. I really need a number to save-hahah. No great hotels or expensive food budget------- I want to do B& B or local homes. I signed up for Servas too??I am very good at budgeting, but the travelling from different countries is sooo hard to gauge??

GREAT to hear it can be done without spending 10K, right?

Would $150.00 a day work??

Rather than designate a randomly decided number of days in each place/country, you need to know what you want to see and do in each place, how much time that will require, and then find out how long it takes to get from place to place. Flying isn't always more time efficient than taking a train. Make sure the things you want to see are open on the days you'll be there. Factor in a half day or more every several days to give you a cushion of time for sightseeing you hadn't anticipated and then figure out when you're going to do laundry because a trip like the one you're contemplating will be several weeks long.

If you're "planning YEARS ahead," don't assume the LAX-Dublin fare will always be the cheapest. Since you say you don't want to end in Poland, you may want to consider heading there first (via Warsaw).

Do you know what time of year you would be going?

Yes I need to know geography/transportation better between countries. My broad thought was 18 months from now. LAX to Dublin , then to Krakow, Vienna,Venice, any part of Switzerland,Paris and Black Forest Germany. I know this is very hard to help but I wonder which website to go to on such a lengthy country hopping dream. I can change any part of trip, just starting my travel dream-thanks so much I was thinking September?

Okay, 18 months makes sense.
September/October is a great month to travel.

You're good at saving. Will this be your first major trip?
How do you know you want to be away from home for that long? (this is my own feelings coming through

I would drop Dublin if the only reason you are going there is because you think the flight will be cheaper. It will cost you to get from Dublin to the next city so there really wouldn't be any savings.

If you are traveling Sept/Oct I would start with the northern areas and head south.

Really good advice and questions so far.

If you'd like, you can look at a couple of websites like skyscanner.net and whichbudget.com to get an idea about discount airlines in Europe, and where they fly.

If you want to work out a complicated train schedule, no one is more helpful than Byron at budgeteuropetravel.com

If I call them I try to buy from them. Up charges are minimal, and the knowledge is fantastic, especially when I'm a bit confused or have a more complex route, timing, etc. If you have plenty of time, I believe tickets and itinerary will be sent to you.

I think I would be playing with air and rail websites to see just where you can go, and how easy it is to get there. My thoughts are that I can usually find a place to stay, but getting from place to place requires planning in order to fit a budget.

I have been to Mexico and Hawaii about 10x, never Europe-I believe I would love to experience a long trip to places I have dreamed of for 30 years-I could be wrong

I would love to go to Ireland,I'm Irish- if i could see a portion in 4-5 days-you think would be worth that short of stay? Yes, I can fly into whichever city is most convenient to travel-its hard to decide. I definitely want to go to Poland, so trying to figure out where to start and finish literally>

Wow-thanks so much everyone------------I will check out those websites. I don't have specific places to see, because I know very little about the transportation problems of getting from one country to another. I have planned 10+ trips, but never country to country. I will be happy just to be "there"-where that may be in each country

"If you are traveling Sept/Oct I would start with the northern areas and head south".

Is the reasoning on this because of weather?

There are many cheap airlines in Europe. The catch is they have more rules than a monastery and more fees than a bank against a bounced check.

They are strict about the weight of luggage with stiff penalties.

Ryanair flies from Dublin to a number of cities in Poland.

http://www.ryanair.com/en

Get yourself a map of Europe to understand where you want to visit. Do not compare traveling times in the US. Europe does not have the car culture the US has and relies more on trains.

Certain places demand more time, so do not think of 4 or 5 days but what you want to see.

And remember you are going to lose time traveling even if you have 5 weeks. It always takes time to pack, unpack, check out, check in, get to the airport or rail station, the actual train trip or flight and getting to the new hotel.

The advice for you to look at what exactly you want to see in each location is really good advice. Instead of saying "I'll budget XYZ days for abc city", you need to know what are the attractions that you want to see first, then you'll automatically know how much time you want to spend in that particular city.

Going generally north-south is another excellent idea. You may, however, want to fly out of Frankfurt, as the rates from Frankfurt to LA may be cheaper.

As for lodging, B'Bs or "pensions" are very prevalent in Europe and can save you a great deal of money as well as offer you an opportunity to meet up with other travelers, particularly Europeans.

Servas is a possibility, not so much for lodging but for meeting up with local people. I'd be careful, tho, in your selection of whom you wish to meet within Servas.

For local transportation, I'm assuming that you will be spending about a month on continental Europe after your visit in Ireland, so look into getting a Eurailpass for a month, particularly a global pass, since you want to visit so many countries. As a general rule, a Eurailpass allows you to hop on any train within certain countries, so that will allow you the flexibiilty of changing your plans, should you decide to stay one day more/less in any particular location. If you purchase single tickets, you are stuck with the particular train on a particular day.

Fodorites are generally very helpful and if you keep dialoging with us, we can help you refine your travel plans.

Sounds like a great trip in the making!

27 day tour from US$4399.00*







London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice, Madrid and Paris.

Highlights

Dover
, Amsterdam
, Rhine Valley
, Heidelberg
, Strasbourg
, Lucerne
, Liechtenstein
, Innsbruck
, Salzburg
, Vienna
, Venice
, Rome
, Florence
, Pisa
, Monaco
, Nice
, South of France
, Barcelona
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, Lourdes
, Biarritz
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This is a tour for 4500-but it has 9 countries in 27 days?? Is that crazy? Its a professional company, who has staff, I don't know. I really don't want to break my trip up into 2 separate vacations.




















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Copyright © 2012 Trafalgar. All rights reserved. CST#2077132-20 Trafalgar is part of The Travel Corporation family of brands. You're visiting from USA

I guess I am odd-I do not know what I want to see I just want to go to country. This way I am not disappointed. I want to go to Krakow,Vienna,Venice,Interlaken Switzerland,Paris, and black forest Germany

"Going generally north-south is another excellent idea.I'd be careful, tho, in your selection of whom you wish to meet within Servas." Why??

Maybe I shouldn't worry about air flights to each country-just do rail-can I actually decide when I get there, or is that moronic?? How much would you bring for 5 weeks?? Thanks for all the help

I have tried to plan this trip for decades and everyone bailed out on me, so I want to do it before its too late. I didn't know if trying rail all over 7 countries would be feasible in 5 weeks. I was trying not be be complicated and I didn't realize how helpful everyone is on forums, its my first time. I am an event planner, and know exactly how plans can change, thus I hoped if i could figure out how to get from country to country, I would explore whats closest, convenient and I would be happy

Thanks everyone, my 3 hours leisure time is up. If anyone has any more suggestions, I will check tomorrow. I really am grateful for all the help.

There is absolutely no reason to go a tour.

If you are an event planner think of yourself as a client who is all over the place and think of this board as yourself trying to get them to focus amd make good decisions. Take a deep breath.

You won't find much support on this forum for packaged travel, so know that as you read responses. What you want to do is perfectly realistic in the length of time you're planning, and realistic to do on your own. I'll throw this out there to get started, but those with more experience will hopefully correct/refine:

Fly LAX to Dublin
Fly Dublin to Paris
Train to Switzerland
Train to Venice
Train to Vienna (overnight train?)
Train to Krakow (overnight train? Is it ok to have Poland as second to last stop?)
Train to Germany

Some of these are long train trips, which I personally love. I'd rather enjoy some down time on the train than deal with rushing to and through airports. Also, some of these might be good overnight train trips. There are several different options and price ranges for accommodations ranging from sitting in a regular seat all night to a private cabin. Keep in mind that the price of the overnight train will substitute for a night of hotel costs.

I'd suggest you get a Europe guide book (Fodor's, Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, etc.), and spend some time learning about the basics of travel and highlights of each country, which will help you figure out where in each of these countries you want to visit. Reading one of these books will really help all the basics gel in your mind. Enjoy the process!

For 2 weeks or for 5 weeks I would bring exactly the same. one 21-22 inch bag and a tote. You'll be able to do your laundry.

There's some excellent advice on packing on this board so I'll just write basics here.

A couple of bottoms pants/skirts in a neutral color
Add a sweater and a few tops. Don't over pack. During the Autumn you can just bring long sleeve tees.
Think in layers but wear a coat on the plane.
3 shoes
New comfy socks

Forget the tour package. And for now, forget trying to figure out which website to go to to help you plan. What you need is half a day in a bookstore or library looking at guidebooks. And get a good old-fashioned paper map of Europe and figure out where everything is in relation to everything else. Pin it up on a wall and chart a route. Use pins.

And yes, you do need to figure out what it is you want to see in each country. Saying you just want to see the countries is, well,lazy. WHAT do you want to see there? Cities? Countryside? Local festivals? Shops? Outdoor activities? Historical sights? Museums? Surely you must have some preconceived, even if inaccurate, idea of what awaits and attracts you in each place. Otherwise, why go?

Once you have the skeleton of a route mapped out you can then start working on transportation between places. Might be by plane (but as mentioned you have to adhere to strict rules), or train. A rail pass might be a good idea, or not - you have to price it out to know. Then you focus on lodging. Then you make a list of what you're going to to, in some rough order, in each place, and go to the web and figure out what it's going to cost you. It's not rocket science, it's just methodical.

And at the end of the day, once you're there, you deviate from your plan as circumstances arise and you encounter opportunities you hadn't anticipated. It's far easier to have a plan and change it than not to have one at all.

If taking the train check out these IMO superb sites that are fonts of great info on planning a European rail trip - and also with such a wide-ranging itinerary investigate various railpasses such as the Eurail Select Pass - www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - check out the latter's free online and superb IMO European Planning & Rail Guide that provides suggested rail itineraries in each country (http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/rg011210.pdf). European trains are fantastic and if going mainly to larger cities the way to go - driving can be hectic in cities and many cities restrict city centres from car traffic.

When I am planning a major trip I do a budget spreadsheet so I know how much I need to save.

You can look up the costs of things now, and they should be pretty close to what they will be in 18 months. Add a bit to the bottom line for wiggle room.

Planning this trip is going to be so much fun for you. I enjoy the planning process as much as the trip itself.

GReat advice from St.Cirq.

Think about your vision of Europe. Do you think sidewalk cafes? castles? Fiddle playing Irish pubs? etc.

When you get that and libraries and bookstores are a great place to start, tell us that.

BTW, not because I'm nosey but the collective travel experience on this board is amazing and we could really help you cobble together a wonderful trip.

It's a pleasure to help you because you have already done a fair amount of research.

Also for specific things use the "search" button up at the top.

I think using tour brochures is a good way to get an idea of what can be done. The problem with tours is they only hit the highlights, which is okay but you seem to crave something more.

You have plenty of time, so invest a little of it in researching your proposed destinations. Even if you take a tour, if you know what there is to see and why you should see it, you'll get a lot more out of your trip. And, if you go on your own, you'll get a personalized trip, one where you see the things you want to see for as long as you want to spend there.

I like the DK travel books for their many photographs, but they're too heavy to bring along. The green Michelin guides rate the different sights. And Rick Steves also prioritizes sights. Travel videos are another good source of information. You can borrow travel books and videos from your local public library. Or watch the travel shows on TV.

Sounds like loads of planning to me. If I were you, I'd hire RoninRome. He has a coaching service . I think it was $150 for 7 days of emails answering ANY questions. He's been all over Europe so he could help with all your choices. It was the best money we spent for our trip and it went amazing well.

There are enough know-it-alls here who work for free. Gina must do some research and make some decisions and then people can help here hone her trip.

WOW, all while I was at work----------------great info and I appreciate it. I have researched for 30 years , I didn't think anyone would be so helpful. I can get REALLY specific if needed. I have looked at brochures, travel books etc forever. I wanted advice (like I have received of actual people who have done trips).

Sidney-your basic itinerary is what I'd hoped for. I don't know which mode of travel would work best. I put exactly the countries and cities I wanted to see??

I love all of thesesidewalk cafes? castles? Fiddle playing Irish pubs? etc.

Julie_Swan, also helpful because this person would know if rail or air from Vienna to Paris better in terms of $$ and time spent

PalenQ---Awesome about this site and travel guides for rails

Really--crazy how I feel like I am upsetting people----------"Saying you just want to see the countries is, well,lazy. WHAT do you want to see there? Cities? Countryside? Local festivals? Shops? Outdoor activities? Historical sights? Museums? "

FYI, I would do all these things but realistically I can not.

StCirq - all you mentioned is common sense as I have planned numerous events in my life. I have gotten great leads here and appreciate all the time put into trying to help me.

Goodbye

"FYI, I would do all these things but realistically I can not."

Then tell us which of those activities are your priorities. We can suggest loads ideas but we'd rather suggest things that you'd actually like to do and avoid wasting time suggesting ideas of no interest to you.

You must have chosen Kracow, Vienna, Venice, Switzerland, Paris, and Germany for some particular reason. For example, you mentioned that Ireland is a good choice because you are Irish--this is very helpful to us because now we know that you'd like to explore our heritage. Another example: Why Kracow? It is an unusual choice for many first-time trips to Europe. There must be some specific reason why this choice came to mind.

You seem surprised by the numerous responses, but people here will grow less willing to help if they feel you are not offering the simple answer to the question "What do you want to do in these cities?" We want to know YOUR must-sees for YOUR dream vacation, which are probably not the same as each one of us might chose. It is difficult to tell you the best number of days if we don't know what we need to fit into those days. We'd like to help you, and can help you better if we understood your plans better.

On the other hand, if you want to go to all these places without a plan of activities, then for us the number of days does not matter. People have already made suggestions to your query about different modes of transportation that connect these cities. Another helpful website for planning transportation is www.whichbudget.com which shows the cheap airlines that fly between specific European cities.

I think Gina was indulging her fantasy and was both shocked and terrified that so many people, not only took her seriously, but took the time to offer sound advice.

Adu I think you're right. The first thing I do when planning a trip is to get out the map, and at least know "in what order" the countries are that I plan to visit.

I have to admit, though, my first post was answered by an Italian zeppelin (or something similar) and I did think to myself, Whoa, what did I do wrong? It took me back a bit by the tone of the request for more information.

<I have to admit, though, my first post was answered by an Italian zeppelin (or something similar) and I did think to myself, Whoa, what did I do wrong? It took me back a bit by the tone of the request for more information.>

Ah yes Fodorgarchs can be brutal to novice users asking typical questions - such rudeness is unfortunately endemic IME here!

A good trip begins with a good fantasy. She came with a lot more ideas about what she wanted than most. It can be daunting for a 1st time poster.

I think $150 a day is an OK budget. Of the places you mention I know Switzerland best because I have a friend who lives there, Lac Leman area (Vevey/Montreux outside Geneva) which I love.

One time a friend and I combined Vevey then Venice then Paris. We flew into Geneva and out or Paris and used the train Vevey/Venice, then Venice (thru Milan) to Paris. 5 days each place. It was a wonderful trip.

Another time I was alone and just did Vevey for a week, then to Venice 5 days, back to Vevey, home from Geneva.

ginanoelle: Really--crazy how I feel like I am upsetting people

Please be assured that you are upsetting no one. Some posters just have a more direct way of writing. Other long time posters have seen the same questions repeated over and over again and can't bring themselves to post the same answers again. Others still have seen some questioners come in here and want us to plan out their entire trip for them...and so on.

I therefore beg your indulgence and ask that you try to overlook how some posters present their viewpoints.

Your itinerary is a rather unique one. We're having problems putting coherency to your travel plans until you give us some more details. The more details you feel free to share with strangers, the better we can help you hone your travel plans.

Treat the Fodorites like cheese, some are sharp, some are mild, some are moldy, some are smooth, some are full of holes, others are solid.

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Hope we can help you refine your plans more!

If gina comes back, I hope she considers this:

As an event planner, imagine the frustration one would feel if a client walked in the door and said they wanted a wedding. But they didn't know how long they wanted it to last, or exactly where they wanted it to be, or exactly how much they wanted to spend or exactly what they wanted it to be like (casual, formal, picnic, church hall, booze, dry, religious, party scene, etc.).

The more one offers up of one's desires, the more a planner can help.

Fodorites are volunteer planners.

Italian dirigibles not withstanding.

Ginanoelle, No one's upset.

Whether you plan it yourself, join a tour group. There's no right or wrong answers, just different people's ideas, input, and preferences being expressed.

My suggestion would be this... instead of planning for many more years, waiting around and saving for the perfect trip, and especially since it's your first time and you're along, just go to Europe for 2 weeks. Go to 2 places like Paris/Venice or London/Amsterdam.

That's how I "learned" to travel. Especially when you are solo. You need to build up your travel 'chops'. If you did a more reasonable (less ambitious) itinerary it'd be a lot easier to plan and pay for.

I like suze's advice. Maybe you're piling too many expectations on this one trip and are paralyzed at the thought you won't do it right.

In your case, go to Dublin and one other city, preferably in a non-English-speaking country, just to get your feet wet. Take an inexpensive flight to the second city and then fly home from there.

I'm excited for you. You can do this.

Hi G,

>I realize this is 7 countries, but advise on how long I should take in each .Is 4-5 days good and not be exhausted??<

Do you think that you could be on the go for 35 days and not be exhausted?

Hi again, I used Ron to make sure I understood how much time to spend here and there, best way to get there and what to expect. Also to help with schedules on trains and time management, apt rentals as well. One day I spent hours emailing him with questions and he answered right after I asked. I just know after I felt I was very prepared for our trip . Priceless!

sundried and Palenque, do you two know what Italian slang uses zeppelin to mean? it's pretty funny and makes me think it might be a good play on the former Fodors member's screen name.

Gina, we really would like to know what made you decide that of all the places in Europe you could go, those places you named were your choices. Could you list them with a sentence about what appeals to you in each place?

As for travel, I think you might find using the trains most appealing to you, as it would allow you to experience the sights of a lot of Europe while traveling through it. And getting used to the people who are also travelers. I also found that taking night trains a couple of times seemed truly exciting, as I would wake up from time to time when the train stopped in the night, and I would peer out the window and see a name on a sign, like "Ventimiglia" and think how strange and mysterious it was. (Of course, Ventimiglia isn't really strange and mysterious, but it certainly fed my imagination.)

I would suggest that you might want to limit time in Switzerland just from a money perspective. It is a very expensive country. And you apparently just want to see it, not visit some particular place. You can see a lot of beautiful scenery from the train, and maybe just stop for a day or two in some town on
your way through the country to somewhere else.

As for Ireland, before you go find out where in Ireland your ancestors come from, and visit that area.

Char, let's keep it clean, not mean.

sundried and Palenque, do you two know what Italian slang uses zeppelin to mean? it's pretty funny and makes me think it might be a good play on the former Fodors member's screen name>

No I do not but would be curious to know! Thanks.