webrahul

Hi everyone, I have my ticket booked to Barcelona and back from Bilbao (booked these cities because it was the cheapest option available ). I will get to BCN on the 30th and will have 17 full days to travel . I was there last year and visited MAD-Sevilla-BCN-Venice-Florencee .I had a great time and weather was god for most part . Even though I want to visit Amsterdam I dont want to be freezing . I was thinking of staying in BCN for 1 night and then fly to AMS and need your help to plan rest of the trip . I am open to going to most countries(might stay away from Scandinavia cuz its colder). Can you guys recommend any cities that I can visit after AMS?

I have to end my trip in Bilbao but I can fly there from pretty much anywhere.

thanks in advance!

michelhuebeli

Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Bruges - (Reims if champagne interests you) - PARIS!!!!! then fly to Bilbao in time to catch your plane home.
You can never stay too long in Paris.

Dogeared

Well, if cheap matters, the less you move the less it costs.

As for where to visit, that all depends on your interests and you have said nothing about what your interests are at all.

webrahul

thank for replying @michelhuebeli and @Dogeared. TBH I like almost everything - history , architecture , beach , cool cities. Last time I went to way too many museums so this time I wont go to many museums . Any suggestions for warm places? would it be a good idea to fly to Las Palmas-Gran canaria from BCN , its a 3 hour flight - has any one been there before ?

webrahul

this what I can think of so far ..BCN- 1 day. fly to AMS for 3 nights , fromthere fly to LPA for 3 nights . next fly to Santiagode compostela and make my way east with 2 stops and end my trip in Bilbao . What do u guys think?

menachem

cut Amsterdam from your schedule.

StCirq

The 30th of what?

If you booked those flights because it was cheapest, but your aim is to zoom around to places distant, that makes no sense.

Europe is full of cities. You've given us no information about what interests you, so how could we possibly recommend anything? You've only said you don't want to be cold, so that obviously argues for staying south. Other than that, how can we possibly help? It's easy enough to avoid museums - you can figure that out on your own.

bvlenci

He did say what interests him.

I would suggest Sicily, but it will still be too cool for the beaches.

Amsterdam can be very damp at this time of year, but it's rarely very cold, at least to people who are accustomed to freezing weather. If you're flying to your next destination, I don't see any reason to cut Amsterdam. Air fares don't depend on distance, and the time difference between one European destination and another is negligible if you're flying.

KatiaM

Hey! indeed, would be helpful to hear what your interest like, what u like to do and what your aim is for this trip!

I would suggest Athens - Lisbon - Rome, so basically u can stay in Med countries! The weather will be MUCH better from Amsterdam and it's a great time to visit weather-wise vs the rest of Europe, not to mention safe!

KatiaM

Sorry just saw u did mention interests. Again, I stick to Athens, Lisbon and Rome for sure
Great for architecture, history, super cool cities (urban feel, street art and vivid nightlife) and WARM.
I m based in Athens and the past weekend the entire city was on the beach so if u r lucky u will get some beach time in Athens (although it depends where u come from and what your definition of 'cold' is)

Dogeared

I see no indication of when this trip is planned for.

You know webrahul, the more relevant background info you provide, the more relevant responses can be. How can anyone possibly tell you if the weather will be decent in Las Palmas for example if you don't say when you are planning on going? Your posting is what I call a 'pulling teeth' posting. We have to pull every little bit of info out of you, one bit at a time.

Your latest suggestion of Barcelona, Amsterdam, Las Palmas, Santiago de Compostela, Bilboa makes no sense to me at all.

Dogeared

Hmmm, I'm going to make a guess here. You wrote, 'short time to plan' and then wrote 'will get to BCN on the 30th.'

Does that mean the 30th of this month? March 30th?

That might explain why you are like a chicken without a head running around in circles.

webrahul

hi everyone thank you very much for responding , like I mentioned before my interests are history , architecture , beach/sun, also food . I loved cities like Sevilla and Venice last time.

Sorry for not mentioning the month . The 30th is for this month . So 30th march to 18th april.

Just trying to figure out what I should do , haven't booked Las Palmas - I wanted your input and I think I got quite a few clear answers

Will look at Athens , sounds interesting. Thanks again everyone.

suze

Well since you bought a plane ticket in and out of Spain, why not do Spain & Portugal?

I don't see how Amsterdam fits this trip at all??

PalenQ

Amsterdam will be cool but rarely cold or snow at this time of year- expecdt 40s and 50s and windy.

A possible rail trip could be

Adam-Cologne, Germany

Train to Munich

Train to Paris

fill in some gaps but Munich and Paris can easily consume several days each -Munich has many great easy day trips as does Paris.

Fly to Bilboa

Or from Amsterdam

Train to Paris

Train to London

Fly back to Spain

For lots of great info on European trains check www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com (check out the latter's online European Planning & Rail Guide that has lots of suggested rail itineraries.

Kathie

Only you can decide where you want to go.

For future reference, don't fly in and out of places that don't interest you. It's a false economy, as you then have to pay for transport to where you do want to go.

Since you don't want to be cold, stick to more southerly counties. Spain and Portugal would be a fine combination. You could add in the Canaries, but try to lit the number of stops to not more than 4. Spain and Portugal are whole countries = choose a couple of cities or geographic areas.

suze

Since they want warmer weather and are flying in and out of Spain, I'm just not seeing how the typical Amsterdam/Paris kind of suggestions make any sense at all?!?

suze

If they start flying all over the place any savings on the initial plane ticket will soon be eaten up and then some.

webrahul

Looking at seat 61 now , that guy has some great itineraries .

Thank you all very much for your input, appreciate it!

PalenQ

If they start flying all over the place any savings on the initial plane ticket will soon be eaten up and then some.>

Plus IMO seeing the Europe in between mega tourist cities from trains is something you don't get on airplanes where you just see tarmacs and airports and a handful of tourist cities.