LNWC

My husband and our first trip together to Europe in November and had an amazing time. This had a lot to do with how wonderful this board is, everytime I had a question I was able to search and find a thread with all kinds of information - thank you!

We've barely gone through all the pictures and I haven't even had the time to write a trip report - but we've already tossed around the crazy idea of going somewhere in February.

See, I was pretty stingy with my vacation days last year and as it turns out I have some days I have to use by March or I lose them forever. We also have President's day coming up in February, which adds another day to work into our plan. Airfare isn't the lowest I've seen it, but its decently cheap, we have a 10% off to use with Continental (we got diverted to Canada for a fuel stop and they were kind enough to send us a coupon), and we also have some credit card miles to put toward travel expenses.

Another plus is that it's the off season for a lot of places and we LOVED Europe in November for that reason. We barely had to stand in line anywhere! Plus we're not beach people, so going somewhere warm and sandy doesn't really appeal to us.

We'd kind of just like to go somewhere and take in some culture, see a few castles (Windsor was one of the highlights for us on our last trip!), pop into a museum or two.

Would it be completely crazy to plan a 7 day (8/9 day if you include travel) vacation somewhere in Europe in a little over a month? Ok, yes, it is crazy - but so crazy it could work or so crazy I'd drive myself (more) insane?

We've been to London and Paris, but we loved them so much we considered going again just to see some things we missed. We also considered various combinations of London/Brussels, Paris/Brussels, London/Edinburgh, since we found train travel to be very easy and enjoyable. I even considered Prague.

If you read through all of that you deserve a medal, I commend you. Thoughts?

janisj

I don't think its crazy at all. For such a short trip and w/ your short lead time -- I'd start w/ the cheapest airfare/best flight schedule and just go w/ it.

Might be London, might be Paris, might be Amsterdam. Probably isn't Prague or Brussels.

I'd probably do London or London/Paris (but then I'd do open jaw into London and out of Paris so you don't have to backtrack)

London/Edinburgh would be fantastic but open jaw might be harder to work out at a decent price.

Lynn_Gibson

Go for it! If I were going in February, I'd go to Rome. Have you been there? You'd have enough time for a good first visit.

LNWC

Thank you for your input Janis! I checked London and Edinburgh open jaw and it's actually very reasonable. I think my husband would enjoy that the most as he would like to visit a city we haven't seen if possible.

A bit off topic - I actually used your recommendations for priceline bid areas when we went to London and was very happy with how it worked out, so you have my belated thanks!

markland

I don't think it's crazy, either. I started planning last August and went to London/Amsterdam in September/October, so I had about six weeks to pull it all together.

Personally, I absolutely fell in love with Amsterdam. I was concerned we would have too much time there at five nights, but it wasn't long enough. We didn't have enough time for day trips outside the city, which is what we'd originally planned.

We had an early flight from London City Centre, and at our hotel in Amsterdam just after noon, so it was only 1/2 a day of travelling, if you're interested in a couple of days in London.

LNWC

We haven't been to Rome! I'd love to go but I feel like I wouldn't have enough time to prepare since I'd really like to do Florence/Rome at the same time. Would that even be possible in 7 days? Thank you for your help, that gives me something else to think about!

LNWC

Oh wow, so many ideas, and I'm so glad to hear from someone who has planned a trip so quickly Thanks Markland!

Byrd

Your trip sounds like a wonderful idea to me! Actually, we planned (?) a trip to Italy in 10 days, and it was a great success.

If you're interested, here's my trip report from 2006:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro....cfm#dest-head

I say "just do it." I'll bet you won't be sorry.

Byrd

LNWC

Byrd - LOVE the trip report. Really puts things in perspective, makes it seem like I have (relatively) plenty of time!

jent103

Rome/Florence is definitely possible in 7 days, especially if all seven are "on the ground" and not air travel days. To me that would be more appealing than the London/Edinburgh idea simply because Scotland gets pretty dang cold - but then, I'm from the South and I think anything under freezing is cause to wrap up on my couch and not move till spring.

Just to give you an idea, here's what we did in 4.5 days in Rome last May:

Sunday: arrive (so jet lagged!), found apartment (near Piazza Navona), got groceries, walked to Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain
Monday: Vatican Day - Scavi tour in the morning followed by St. Peter's, then Vatican Museums
Tuesday: Colosseum tour (we did the underground tour - not sure if this is available now), Forum, walk to San Pietro in Vincoli, Santa Maria Maggiore
Wednesday: cooking class, walking around Trastevere
Thursday: Borghese (museum & gardens), Via del Corso, Santa Maria Vittoria, Spanish Steps

For us, that was a great pace - we hit our highlights but didn't keel over trying to do it.

For any of the options you've talked about so far, there's tons of information on the boards. Definitely go for it!

LNWC

Jent, thanks for the mini-itinerary, it gives me an idea of what is realistically possible.

joannyc

Since you've already been to London, I'd go somewhere else.

I absolutley loved Prague... it is still my favorite city that I've visited! Maybe Prague and Vienna with a night in Cesky Krumlov?

wanttogo

Have you considered Vienna? It is a wonderful city with lots
to do if you are interested in history, music and art. While
there are not "castles" there, the palaces are fabulous. Sometimes Austrian Air has good winter rates.

I also loved Prague and liked Budapest. I would choose Vienna, though, in Winter. Stay within or very near the Ringstrasse to minimize walking.

Pat

thursdaysd

I was also going to suggest Vienna. You could combine it with Budapest. In February you should still be getting winter rates for accommodation. But I'd also consider Lisbon - definitely warmer than Edinburgh!

unclegus

Most places are warmer than Edinburgh at anytime of year but don't discount it.Edinburgh can be an expensive place to visit but in february prices tend to be the cheapest,crowds are nuch smaller ,resturants doing better deals and eisier to book and all the tourist sites open.
I will also say Prague is a wonderful city to vist and like edinburgh february tends to be a cheaper time ,I live in Edinburgh and travel to Prague twice or more a year so i know both cities well,as long as you are prepared for a bit of cold and possibly wet weather than either place is an ideal place to visit.

LNWC

Wow, thank you for all of the suggestions! It gives me a lot to think about, it will be hard to decide. Obviously the sooner I get our flight booked, the better, so I'm going to continue to research this today in hopes of making a decision.

I really, really want to go to Prague, but the flight times are kind of all over the place right now, so I think we will likely save it for another trip (one that includes Budapest or Vienna, maybe?). I think I have about 12 "next trips", ha!

I'm going to keep combing through threads on this site looking for ideas, thanks everyone for your help! I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea

LNWC

I think we are probably booking London Edinburgh tonight. We've had some flak for going back to somewhere we've already seen, but Edinburgh is new at least! The only over place that I keep coming back to and is doable is Ireland, but my husband is worried about the driving so maybe we'll save it for when we are more experienced travelers? Thank you for the encouragement!

janisj

"<i>We've had some flak for going back to somewhere we've already seen,</i>"

Friends asking <i>why</i> you'd go back to London??? That is plain silly. Unless you lived in London for many years, you won't have seen everything (and not then even . . .)

Ignore them (and secretly pity them) and have a GREAT time

ssander

We've been to London four times since 2005 and never get tired of it or run out of new things to do...but in February I might opt for a warmer place with more daylight time (i.e., not as far north as England/Scotland)...Rome comes to mind.

Either way, I'm sure you'll have a great time, because the spur-of-the-moment trips are often the most enjoyable.

SS

jent103

I lived in London for a few months and have been back three times since. Your friends would really have a heyday with me.

If you want to go to Ireland, don't let the driving stop you! Once you get used to it (just a day for me) it's no big deal. Get the smallest car you can and have a good map, even if you have a GPS. However, I think you'd want to spend nearly all of the week in Ireland in order to be able to visit a few places. London/Edinburgh might be more doable in the winter with a week.