gotekix

I'm an 18 year old student planning to travel to Europe in February with a friend. First off, I have a break in February which is when I plan to take the trip. I plan to fly into London from New York since airfare is cheap and I want to visit a friend of mine. My friend and I also want to see Paris and Amsterdam. I have 14 days from the time I leave NY until I return. My first question is will the weather be tolerable in February? Secondly, will this be too much to cover in 14 days? Lastly, what places would you recommend visiting in those cities? Thanks for your input.

WillTravel

London, Paris, and Amsterdam in 14 days is pretty reasonable. It will actually be more like 12 when you consider flights and travel time, but that still gives you 4 days per city (or maybe I would suggest 5/4/3 or 4/5/3 or even just 2 days for Amsterdam). If it's possible to get an open-jaw flight into London and out of Amsterdam, that will help even more.

I haven't been to Europe in February, but I doubt the weather would be worse than NYC.

tashak

Weather is definitely no worse than NY, and chances are it will be a good bit better!

ekellyga

More likely wet, than frigid. Also, the daylight hours will be noticeably shorter. London, getting dark by 3:45 or so. BUT, we have found that lots of cities we have visited are beautiful at night, when the major attractions are lit up.
I would think 2 weeks will be great for those 4 cities.

ira

Hi got,

>My first question is will the weather be tolerable in February? Secondly, will this be too much to cover in 14 days? Lastly, what places would you recommend visiting in those cities?<

1: Yes, chilly with chance of rain each day. Gray skies, mostly.

2: A little rushed, but OK

3: I suggest you start with the miniguides to these cities at www.fodors.com.

Have you any plans for how to get between the cities and back home?

mamc

You can definitely get a good idea of the three cities in 14 days. As someone mentioned, it is more like 12 full days. I recommnend spend in 5 days in London, 5 in Paris and the remainder in Amsterdam. Each of these cities has lots to do when the weather isn't lovely as is likely the case in February.

gotekix

Since I'm on a tight budget, I figured that getting a eurail pass and using the trains would be the cheapest. The thing is, airfare round trip to london is only about 300 dollars in february, but to fly out from amsterdam would be much more. So I was planning on travelling all the way back to London if it was feasible. What're your thoughts on that?

ira

Hi gote,

>Since I'm on a tight budget, I figured that getting a eurail pass ...<

Unlikely that it will save you money.
Go to www.railsaver.com and enter your itinerary. Be sure to click "only if it saves me money".



>..airfare round trip to london is only about 300 dollars in february, but to fly out from Amsterdam would be much more. So I was planning on travelling all the way back to London if it was feasible. What're your thoughts on that?<

Go to www.whichbudget.com for cheap air fares.

ira

PS,

The cheapest way to get to Paris from London is to buy the one-day roundtrip on the Eurostar and not come back that day.

WillTravel

It's possible you can get good train deals from London to Paris and Paris to Amsterdam. Then for Amsterdam to London (if you can't do an open jaw), fly BMI or EasyJet, both of which will offer a ticket in the range of 20 to 35 pounds.

If you don't find a good train deal from London to Paris, take BMI or EasyJet.

Take the train from Paris to Amsterdam - I think the site is http://www.thalys.com but perhaps someone else can say.

111op

First, I think that it's clear that you'll have to visit in the following order -- London, Paris, then Amsterdam. To return to London from Amsterdam by train, you'll probably need at least a 5-6 hour train ride. My guess would be at least 6. After that you'll need to make it to Heathrow to catch your return flight. It's a huge waste of time.

My suggestion would be that you take an airline like BMI. It will save you a lot of time, and the ticket won't be too expensive if you book early. The time difference will also help you, as Amsterdam is an hour ahead of London. Compare that with the open-jaw and see what the difference is.

gotekix

Thanks for all your replies. I checked the BMI site and flights are about 35 euros which is a much better deal than the train, and faster. For my next question- I will most likely spend my nights at hostels. I want to make sure I am around some action where I stay. What parts of London, Paris and Amsterdam do you recommend staying in? (Remember I'm 18)

Keren

Gotekix,
In Paris, try the MIJE hostels. They have 3 hostels in the Marais (lower part, towards the Seine - a lovely area). I walked by one them - the Fauconnier hostel, it looked beautiful from the outside. the MIJE hostels are highly recommended in my Rough Guides to Paris 2004.
Their Website:
http://www.mije.com/versanglais/indexenglishindiv.htm

The MIJE Fourcy gets great reviews on tripadvisor.com:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...de_France.html

From that neighbourhood you can walk to the upper part of the Marais, with its restaurants, cafes and bars and also to the Bastille area, which is very lively at night, with cafes, bars and clubs.