Sara:

I think the reason you haven't received any responses is that you don't appear to have done even any basic research on your own. You're not likely to get answers on this forum unless you have done the foundational research and at least narrowed down the countries you'd like to visit, the budget you've got, and the things that interest you. You must have SOME idea of where you want to go and what types of things you want to see and do. Let us know that and we can be very helpful, I'm sure.

Plagiarizing a previous response (of my own) to a similar question.

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You have to start with "why". Why do you THINK you want to go to Europe? What does it mean to you? Castles? Cathedrals? Fast cars? Paris fashions? Food? what kinds? Wine? or Beer and Pretzels? Have you learned just enough about [a language], history, culture, art, literature or some geographic wonder that you want to go see? go explore? go learn more?

I always recommend a good long hour (or three) at the library or bookstore - - or both - - with BIG picture filled books, coffee-table-sized books - - and find what makes you drool, what makes your heart go pit-a-pat.

Bring us back a list of ten places you think you'd like to see, and "we" - - the "regulars" (but newcomers have important contributions to make, even after one trip, otr sometimes just reading up, preparing for that first trip) - - we will help you pare it down to 2 or 3 and then add back a string of related places and easy side excursions to make it all work out for cost and logistics.

Best wishes,

Rex

StCirq and Rex

Thank you for your suggestions. I guess what I was getting at are there areas of Europe (obviously England) where we can get by easier without knowing the language. We've seen alot of posts regarding Venice which intrigue us, but are not sure if Venice is affordable. But possibly because of our inexperience we should travel with a tour group - any recommendations in that area regarding London and Venice.

Thanks Sara.

Venice is less affordable than 90% of leading destinations in Europe. The same might be said of London.

I'm going to cling to the "why" question. Elaborate on what motivates you to go to Europe at all - - one thing this forum is good at is helping you find ways to overcome the obstacles, whether language barrier, cost or logistics. But what good does it do to tell you ways to make Germany more affordable, less a language problem, when what you want is Spain? or the Greek islands? Get my point?

Hi Sara
Most people want to be helpful, but as Rex and St Cirq said, we don't know what interests you. There must be some things you have always dreamed of seeing: The Eiffel Tower? Michelangelo's David? The Colosseum?
etc.
Also do you want to drive, or take trains? Do you want the big cities, or lots of scenery? Do you like art museums? Historic sites? What ages are the two of you? Etc Etc. Don't let not speaking a second language stop you. Most American travelers don't, unfortunately, and that doesn't stop them from visiting anywhere and having a wonderful time.
It would be nice to learn to say "hello, goodbye, please, thank you" in other languages--that, and a smile. will do you fine. It's a good before-trip project in itself, to learn just a few phrases.
An organized tour is one option, but they make most of the decisions and you very few. That's fine and works well for some people. Others may feel that they may want the option of spending more time at the Louvre, or at the Tower of London, for examples, than the tour allows. If you go on a tour that includes several cities/countries, you will find that an awful lot of time is spent on a bus or on trains getting from one place to the other, rather than
in seeing the city or attractions you came to see.
Two weeks is a good amount of time for a first visit.
I would suggest picking either 3 capitals (Rome, Paris, London, for example) with an open-jaw ticket so that you can fly into one place and home from somewhere else.
Or,spend half the trip in London with 2-3 day trips to places like
Bath, Windsor Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford. Then take the Eurostar chunnel train to Paris, and spend a week in Paris with one or two daytrips.
Or spend the two weeks in Italy.
Or...
When you decide I have files on some cities in Italy, on London, and on Paris, which are useful for first-time visitors. Feel free to email me if you'd like to see the files.

I'll get you started here. Check out Prague. It's very inexpensive, has a wonderful European feel. Most people there speak English as a second language. You can take day trips by tour to places outside the city. Do a search on Prague and see what others have said about it here. I think you'd like it. At least you'll start your searching from a definite place. If after research it doesn't appeal to you, you will have some idea of what you'd like to see instead. But for European ambiance on a budget, I can't think of a better place. Check it out.

I can tell you what my mom and I did on our first trip to Europe which was also two weeks: 3 nights in London, 4 nights in Paris, 3 nights in Nice, 4 nights in Florence -- all by train. It was a wonderful trip. However, if I were doing it over again with Mom, I would spend 3 nights in London, 4 nights in Paris, 4 nights in Rome, and 3 nights in Venice.

London was important to us because we love going to plays together, and is a great place to start out a trip to Europe especially if you don't speak any other languages as it is the "least foreign" and makes a nice transition.

It definitely depends on why you're going and what you enjoy though. I am actually not terribly fond of London aside from the theatre, and it's very expensive, especially for accommodations -- I'd consider leaving it out since you're on a budget. In that case I'd spend 5 nights in Paris, 5 nights in Rome, and 4 nights in Venice. These are my three favorite cities in Europe.

Dear Sara,
I would like to suggest you to see Turkey and Greece together, for exploring history and seeing the best beaches on Europe, come to Turkey, see istanbul, cappadocia, ephesus and cross to Greece to see their beitufull islands. Your can visit the site; www.turkeyhotelsandtours.com to have more information about tours and hotels.
regards
Erdal

up

Sara;
I don't know how old you and your daughter are but I will give you a few things my Mom and I have done:
First trip was Paris!! (Air France Vacations)
Ireland, Scotland and London on a CIE tour
Paris and Amsterdam (Again AF Vacations)
Ireland on our own
Amsterdam and Belgium
London in the fall


Amsterda

Sara, are you still around?

I've traveled a few times to Europe with my mom and loved it. I'd be happy to give you any suggestions based on our trips (or others with friends or solo). But, if you're looking to go on a budget, don't go with a tour ... it's so much cheaper to travel independently in Europe (at least IMVHO). Also, if it's for this Summer, you're cutting the "just starting to plan" thing pretty close.

Feel free to drop me an email if you aren't reposting here.

I wouldn't ordinarily suggest this, but I really think a tour is a good idea specifically for someone like Sara for a few reasons:

1. Efficient way to get an overview of a fairly wide area in a short period of time, for a first timer.

2. Generally quite economical, depending on the package you book.

3. She does not appear to be someone willing to do much research or necessarily knows enough about Europe to even begin to narrow what she'd like to see. A tour pretty much serves the information up on a platter and eliminates the need to learn about the logistical aspects such as booking hotels, figuring out train travel, etc.

That said, with only two weeks, it would be important to look for a tour that allows at least two nights in the major cities (London, Paris, Rome) with hotels as central as possible.

Sara, It would be so helpful if you would return long enough to tell us some of your interests, the age group of you and your daughter, and a bit of reaction to the posts above. We have lots of ideas but they may not match yours. I suggest, especially if you have time to do the planning, that you not travel with a tour group and that you consider one of three trips. 1) London with a couple of days in the English countryside and Paris with a couple of days in the French countryside, 2) London, Paris and Amsterdam or 3)Italy -Venice, Florence and Rome. These seem to be the destinations that most people try first. All can be done as expensively or inexpensively as you like and when you start to make decisions, people on this forum will help you with transportation and hotel ideas. Planning is part of the fun!