Stellar424

My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe for September of 2012. Neither of us has ever been and we want to see just about everything (which we obviously won't be able to do). We are thinking somewhere around 8-10 days and we would like to keep the budget at around $5000 if possible. We will be 26 and 27 years old at the time of our trip.

Our interests include art, architecture, food, and the outdoors.

Our top destinations are Switzerland, England (particularly London), France (particularly Paris), and the scenic, smaller towns of Italy (looking at Lake Como and Garda, hill-towns, etc).

I know this is a broad question that probably can't truly be answered, but I am interested in hearing your opinions. It's so difficult to narrow it down!

BKP

While this doesn't answer your question at all -- have you looked into couchsurfing, petsitting, or homesitting? We have friends (all couples) that are managing to spend an extensive amount of time on tiny budgets by being a bit creative.

Just a thought!

bobthenavigator

First, decide if it is 8 days or 10 days to actually sleep in Europe. Just London and Paris will take that much time.
Or, The Italy lakes will take that much time. Or, the Alps and Lago Como will take that much time. Or, Florence and the Tuscan hill towns will take that much time. My best advice is to plan 3 trips in advance since you will return.

CYESQ

You could easily spend 8-10 days in France or Italy alone. For example, 4/5 days in Paris and 4/5 days in the south of France; three days in Venice, four days in Rome and four days in Florence.

It's too much to think that you can cover these four countries in this time. As young as you two are, surely you will be back to Europe many times. Select two of the countries (at most), then do your travel research (what you would most like to see) and come back to the site with specific questions.

For our assistance, can you please tell us if the $5,000 budget includes your airfare.
Thanks

Michel_Paris

For that amount of time, I might suggest two "stops".

Flying in to London would be a good starting point. You land in a country where you share the same language, you don't need to worry about directions,etc. And, you get over let lag.

From there, several options. You could even decide to rent a car out of London and do the countryside.

Could train to Amsterdam or Paris. If London was enough big city, out of Paris, for example, could rent a car and do the castle area of the Loire. Or a cheap flight to Rome.

But I'd still limit my time to two places, maybe 1 city + countryside.

But, whatever you do, look at an Open jaw flight. Fly into one city, return from another. this greatly reduces time spent retracing your route.

Michel_Paris

Budget wise. I have found Switzerland to be expensive.

London and Paris, for example, you can use Priceline to get reasonably priced hotels. Outside of cities, budget gets more reasonable.

When planning, put realistic times on a calendar. For example, if you were looking at London, on Day 1 by the time you get oput of customs, into the city, maybe pick up an Oyster card, get to hotel, check-in and eat lunch...your day is starting at 1PM. And you might feel a bit crappy because of jet lag (no bus tours this day...zzzzz).

Similarly, when you transit from one city to another, there is all that 'non touring' time you need to get out of the way before you can walk out on a street and say "we are now in ...".

On your last day you need to get to airport, so you may not even get 1/2 day there. I find when I can "see" my days, I can plan better.

annhig

does your budget include flights? in which case it is VERY tight. you will need to look at staying in hostels or couchsurfing, or staying in very cheap apartments in the countryside.

nothing wrong with any of that, but probably not what you were thinking of.

also, you can't see all of europe in 10 days. the cheapest way to travel is to only try to see a small bit of it - moving around costs money. you could go to Rome, London or Paris for all of that time and have a fantastic time. if you try to do all three, it'll be more expensive and you will see less.

PalenQ

Your young so can travel faster than us oldsters - or travel like us oldsters once did - but yes for 8-10 days two max countries IMO or at most three - France - Paris over to Switzerland and say end in Venice could be done or end in Rome - but try to add a few more days if you can- two weeks would be sweet.

and I would recommend trains for the first time when folks naturally want to visit the mega tourist cities they've been dreaming about all their lives - cars being useless and liabilities more and more in places like Paris and Rome. For lots of great planning info on European trains check out these fab IMo sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - check out the latter's online European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of rail itineraries in each country.

Michel_Paris

The other alternative is something like s Contiki tour. Lots of sites, lots of people of your age group, and a bit of partying.

Elyse_Dorm

Hi 5,000 is a very big budget to work with for only 10 days. You could easily extend your trip if your schedule permits it. Check hotels.com for the cost of accomodation, you can get $50usd rooms in most places with wifi and in a fairly central location.

But to answer your question: 10 days will only allow you to see 2 places so you could do London/Paris or The Lakes/Switzerland area in that time frame. You could also combine Paris/Switzerland to get a better balance of city sightseeing with countryside if you wanted to. 4/5 days per place would allow you to get a pretty good feel for each area, but will leave plenty undone for another time. If you can, try to extend your trip to 6 days in each place it will make a big difference in terms of allowing time for travel between places and being able to experience more. Also, consider open jaw tickets fly in one city and out of another. Whatever you decide as long as its not too hectic it will be great! Have an awesome trip!

tuscanlifeedit

I don't see why you can't do this for 5K. We do it all the time and don't do anything as challenging as couch surfing or hostels. I am absolutely sure you can have a fun and comfortable trip with in this budget.

To begin with, I would search for the least expensive airfares, and let that help direct your choices. I often find that CDG Paris has the lowest fares from my home city. But again, you will have to search. There is good information on this forum concerning finding airfare to Europe.

So let's assume you have found air, with fees, for about 2200. That leaves you 2800 or so for hotels and travel between destinations.

I'm just going to guess at 9 nights on the ground. You could spend as much as 222 US per night, and still have 800 for food and expenses.

That may or may not be how you want to distribute your budget; I'm just showing you that it would be very very easy to do.

But I agree that two countries is a good way to make your budget stretch and get the most sightseeing out of your time.

How about French and Italian rivieras, with a little Paris thrown in?

Or fly to Milan or Venice, and throw in a little lakes and Switzerland?

Or the old Paris and London combo, or the lovely London and Loire trip suggested above?

You will have a terrific trip.

My husband and I move very slowly, but I swear to you that we go to Europe every year (at least) on less than your budget.

Fife

At your age and with the interests you've listed, you will have a wonderful time in Paris and the nearby countryside. Part of the pleasure of traveling is discovering a different way of life. Paris has that, and it is very obvious and accessible to the first time visitor. And the French countryside is wonderful.

Guenmai

For 10 days, I'd only do two places. For 8 days, maybe one and then take day trips to other areas. Or it's possible to do two. I'm double your age, but am very organized, have a high energy level, and can squeeze a lot in if I want to.

I do at least 8 days in Paris, annually. I rent an apartment and then do day trips if I want to get out to other areas. I even do day trips to Belgium as it only takes about an hour and a half, non-stop, on the Thayls train from the Paris Gare du Nord train station to Brussels.

In 8 days, I have also done 4 days in Venice and 4 in Paris, but didn't rent an apartment on that trip. I stayed with friends in both places.

When I do a combo trip like that, then I fly to the furthest place first. So, when I did the Paris/Venice combo trip, I flew, on Air France, LAX-Paris and then had a layover at CDG. My Parisian friend met me at the gate of our Venice flight and then we flew to Venice together. I booked the place ticket totally on Air France.

Then in Venice one of my best friends picked us up and took us to his place outside of Venice. After leaving Italy, my Parisian friend and I flew back to Paris and I stayed at his place for the rest of the stay and then flew home from Paris.

So, I had booked L.A. to Venice, by way of Paris, as the plane would have to stop in Paris anyway since it was on Air France. I do the same if I'm going up to Scandinavia and also want to throw in Paris. I just book on Air France the whole way and then I'll have to stop in Paris to change planes. I then leave Paris for last and fly home from there. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

I forgot to add: www.parisbestlodge.com if you're interested. Happy Travels!

bilboburgler

Switzerland is very expensive and generally very dull, drop it.

A_Guy_80

We usually go to Europe once every year for about 10 days or so and have never tried doing more than countries. If it's your first Europe trip, I will suggest 1 city + 1 scenic region and you could spend 4-5 days at each of them. I would say that Paris is much more 'European' than London so probably pick that for your city and am an absolute fan of Swiss Alps so they could be your choice of scenic region. There are fast train connections between Paris and Switzerland so it would be easy and comfortable to connect between the two. Otherwise Italy could easily take your 10 days if you want to keep yourself to 1 country.

Elyse_Dorm

bilboburgler- Youre right Switzerland is very expensive but the hiking and the scenery there are pretty awesome. And OP said she likes nature. I stayed in Kriens near luzern and the hikes right out of my hotel and clear air were one of my favorite parts of my trip. And the trip up to Junfraugoch and mailing a postcard home from the top of Europe, while touristy, were a nice cap to Switzerland, as well.

BigRuss

Do NOT couchsurf. Especially as a married couple. Likely cuts your options. And fitting into your host's schedule could really be problematic.

For this budget you can easily do a Contiki tour in a chosen area (France, UK, Ireland) with a couple of days left over in London or Paris (depending upon where you want to go) and it can be longer than 8-10 nights. Barring that, you can stay in London in an apartment for 10 days and do day trips all over the place as you want. That budget isn't too tight: even at 2k for flights, you can get lodging for 125-150/night for 9 nights in London (say 1200) and have 1800 to play with. You won't be staying in Mayfair and taking taxis everywhere, but you can definitely do it because London is accessible for all budget levels except the da*n-near-broke.

Finally, you have a year to plan so that means you can save money and follow this plan, in part: get a credit card with mileage bonuses so you can fly over the pond for one fare (e.g., Venture from Cap One was running 100,000 points for spending $1k in 90 days, that 100,000 points means $1000; Citicards was running 30K and 40K AAdvantage miles with American Airlines, which could be an economy class seat if you get mildly lucky on your flight timing - we blew 90K miles and $330 [taxes + fees] for getting the whole family to the UK from the US two years ago). Be smart and the $5K budget won't be chewed up by your flights.

tuscanlifeedit

You'll want the card to start building points for future trips, even if you can make it work for a ticket on this one. But as BR explains, you may have time to even get an award ticket for this trip.

Our trips to Europe are usually awards, but sometimes we go one award and one paid ticket, or even pay for two tickets in the off season to build points for a higher season trip the next year.

It's a fun game and travel is a tremendous hobby. We don't travel at all for business (or very rarely) but still work mileage awards.

bilboburgler

Elyse, I know where you are coming from, I spent a great day walking through meadows near Au a few months ago, but I did the same in the French Jura in the spring and when I stopped off I could afford Lunch in France and a coffee in Swiss. I was welcomed in by the hotelier in France and when next eating in Switzerland my host was insulted by the staff.

As they the swiss comedian said "we love you tourists but next year just send your money"