My husband and I are having such a hard time decided what to do and where to go. We are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year and have determined that we want to take a trip to Europe. But where? I spent time in England in college, but otherwise, we have no experience. We have childcare covered for about 10 days in August. We are interested in going pretty much everywhere - top choices seem to be Amsterdam, Vienna, Germany, and that area, but we keep reading about other places and neat things to see.

Does anyone have any advice for first-timers who have little focus? We have pretty much ruled out a bus tour type of trip, since we like to explore on our own. Our interests are mainly history and culture. We are not big into food or entertainment stuff.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Jessica

Since you have 10 days, why not consider 5 days in London and 5 days in Paris. It would be a nice introduction to Europe, and you would be seeing two amazing cities.

Although I've not visited in August, keep in mind the whole of Europe will be on Holiday which could effect some things. Depending on where you are flying from - A Munich/Salzburg/Vienna trip would be reasonable w/teh amount of time you have. Munich is also a great place to day trip from as their trainstation has trains that go most anywhere. For that convenience, we typically stay here - http://www.minotel.com/Germany-Hotel...ls/Amba-Hotel/

Consider a good hub city for planes and trains. Some place like Paris or Brussels or Munich where you can get easy non-stop flights into, and then take a train to other major cities for day trips is easy.

Look for good combo deals (I always like CheapOair's deals for international flights- http://www.cheapoair.com/travel/prom...vel-combos.asp) to save you money. Booking a combo deal hotel and flight can take a lot of pressure off of finding the best flight, then the best hotel, etc.

It's Europe! You'll love it no matter where you go!

I would second the Munich, Salzburg, Vienna suggestion. Easy to get between cities and you can find alot of people that at least speak a little English. Of course I would take a German phrasebook or study up on a few phrases before you leave.
You could fly into Munich and out of Vienna and take the train to places inbetween or rent a car in Munich. I would leave Amsterdam out of the mix this time.

I do not understand this statement "Although I've not visited in August, keep in mind the whole of Europe will be on Holiday which could effect some things"
We are not on vacation and I have never seen anything that it will affect. Maybe you mean teh accommodation or flights will be higher then low season maybe?


Anyway, How about Amsterdam and then onto Paris by train.

10 days is too short for Munich/Salzburg/Vienna.

I love Vienna and am going back there for the 2nd time later this month. You said you like history and culture, though that's a very broad statement. If you like art - esp Art Nouveau - then you won't be bored with 1 week in Vienna, and you can add a side trip to Salzburg for 2 days. Just an example, even though I have previously spent 4 days in Vienna on my last trip, my upcoming trip I will have 5.5 days there and it's still not enough time for me to see/do everything I want in Vienna.

Alternatively, you can go to Berlin for the entire time, perhaps with a side trip to Dresden. There's so much history in Berlin and so many excellent museums that you won't have enough time to see everything.

One last point - while you said you can get 10 days of childcare, that means you really only have about 8 days <u>on the ground</u> because you need to subtract 2 days for air travel and jetlag.

The fact that a huge number of Europeans are on holiday in August has many demonstrable effects: certain commercial enterprises (restaurants, e.g.) being closed in major cities; beaches being jammed with people; roads being clogged; accommodations hard to find at the last minute....and so forth.

Hi S,
>Does anyone have any advice for first-timers who have little focus?<
FOCUS.

I generally suggest London and Paris for 1st timers. Fly into one and out the other.

>top choices seem to be Amsterdam, Vienna, Germany, and that area,<

Fly into Munich - 3 nights
train to Salzburg - 3 nights
train to Vienna - 3 nights
Fly home

Are you interested in a motor trip?

I would also suggest London/Paris. As has been pointed out you only have 8 days on the ground and you can fill those 8 days to overflow in these two cities and still feel you didn't see as much as you wanted.

Research each city well before you leave so you know what you want to see and you can do them in the easiest way possible.

When someone says there are interested in Amsterdam, Vienna and Germany, I don't understand why so many people are saying they should go to London & Paris???????????? How's that helpful?

With 10 days I think you could easily do Amsterdam and Vienna, with one other destination, so 3 places total.

In August not all of Europe is a chaos of tourists - only in a few places relatively - like the warmer sunnier south - Italy and southern France are inundated by northern Europeans seeking to soak up some sun after a typically cool and dreary summer.

Consider doing Holland and Germany and a bit of Belgium perhaps - Munich, the Rhine boats, maybe Bruges or Berlin - trains are an excellent way to visit cities in these countries - if meandering thru the countryside rent a car - but for cities cars are more and more a liability - scarce and expensive parking - huge zones off limits for cars - not many hotels offering parking and if they do charging an arm and a leg for it, etc. City transport is so fantastic as well. For train info check out these sites: www.bahn.de for train schedules of all of europe - the easiest schedule site i've seen; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - the latter lets you download their free European Planning & Rail Guide, a veritable guidebook to train travel with a chapter on each country. A pass may or may not benefit you though the bargain Germany-Benelux Errailpass (good in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg; including the popular K-D boats thru Germany's Rhine Gorge (www.k-d.com) takes only a few trips at times to pay off - esp if you want the flexibility to hop any train any time - the German rail site bahn.de also has some incredible discounts on regular tickets if you are OK with booking far in advance and being locked into a specific train.

suze your absolutely right. It it were 'me' I'd do London/Paris but it's not me and they are looking forward to the Netherlands and Germany. So many places to chose in those too areas.....I'd just begin to study a couple of the cities/areas that catch my interest and see what's there that I really would love to see.

Google away and then decide and go for it. If you've never been there then you have mega choices......you can't go wrong it will all be new and wonderful.

Our first trip to Europe was to southern Germany - Munich, Nuremberg, and the Fuessen area. We had a terrific time and loved everywhere we went.

Munich is great - the city has a very friendly, low key vibe, it is easy to get around in my public transportation, and has tons to see.

I wasn't sure about Nuremberg until I got there and fell in love with the place. We also went to Rothenberg as a day trip - it is a rail hub, so it makes for a good base for exploring the area.

When we left Nuremberg, we rented a car and drove to the alps, stopping along the way in a couple towns. In the Fuessen area we visited Ludwig's castles and did some hiking and sightseeing.