2 Weeks in Europe - Staring from London
 

Hello,

I'm a new to the forum and i'm looking for some ideas for my trip to Europe. I'm taking 2 weeks in June 2017, flying out from NYC and Landing in London and I would like to visit 2 more countries such as Germany, Spain and/or Netherlands..., so I would like to heard some suggestions from anyone about what could be a good itinerary for a 2 weeks trip?

*I won't like to visit France or Italy because I already explored these countries =)

Thanks,
Vic.

Well -- any one of those countries could totally fill your two weeks.

So -- what sorts of things do you want to see and do?

There are a zillion possibilities - from London you can take cheap flights to anywhere in Europe - fly open jaw - into one airport and out of another. Or take the Eurostar train to Belgium and go from there.

London plus the Netherlands and <i>either</i> one place in Germany or one place in Spain would probably work. Germany and Spain are very big countries, and you couldn't see much of either one in a few days. The Netherlands is smaller, and has excellent transportation, so you could pick a base and do some day trips to see a bit of the country, but still just a glimpse.

There is so much to see in London, I would spend no less than four full days there (five nights). Maybe another four or five nights in the Netherlands, and the rest of the time in one city in either Germany or Spain. Plan to fly out from there.

Janis is right, you need to tell us more about your interests and expectations.

With just two weeks, I'd suggest not more than three locations. And your trip will be more efficient if you choose places that are close together - so the Netherlands and Belgium rather than Spain, for instance. Although there're are budget airlines that can get you cheaply from one place to another, remember that when you are flying, you have to figure in the time to get to the airport, wait, the time to get from the next airport to your lodging. Trains run from city center to city center, whereas many budget airlines use distant airports (an hour or more from the city you think you are flying to!).

Thanks for the response!

I would love to visit Amsterdam, Barcelona and Madrid as well as Berlin, so I roughly created this "itinerary", Would it be possible, What would be the best way to travel between these countries?

June 9 NY-London
June 10 London
June 11 London
June 12 London-Amsterdam
June 13 Amsterdam
June 14 Amsterdam-Berlin
June 15 Berlin
June 16 Berlin
June 17 Berlin-Barcelona
June 18 Barcelona
June 19 Barcelona-Madrid
June 20 Madrid
June 21 Madrid
June 22 Madrid-NY

The possibilities are endless.

Three suggested itineraries:

Itinerary1:
train from London to Amsterdam
Amsterdam 3 days
Train to Berlin
Berlin 4 days
Bamberg 2 days
Munich 4 days


Itinerary 2
fly to Madrid
Madrid 4 days
Train to Seville
Seville 3 days
Granada 2 days
Fly to Barcelona
Barcelona 4 days

Itinerary 3:
Amsterdam 3 days
Berlin 4 days
Prague 3 days
Vienna 4 days

>>June 9 NY-London
June 10 London
June 11 London
June 12 London-Amsterdam
June 13 Amsterdam
June 14 Amsterdam-Berlin
June 15 Berlin
June 16 Berlin
June 17 Berlin-Barcelona
June 18 Barcelona
June 19 Barcelona-Madrid
June 20 Madrid
June 21 Madrid
June 22 Madrid-NY<<

Gives you 1.5 days in London (June 10-11), 1.5 days in Amsterdam, 2.5 days in Berlin, 1 day in Barcelona, and 2.5 days in Madrid.

A really REALLY rushed itinerary w/ 9+ days on the ground seeing/doing and 5 days in transit

Huge waste of time/money IMO.

If you feel you won't be back before long, then why not. If you are intent on coming back, save Berlin for later : 2,5 days are not enough. Barcelon deserves more than the time you allocate.

Don't forget, as Janis pointed out that traveling from one place to another one costs at least half a day.

Way too many destinations. Do you just want to check them off on a list or do you want to see/do/experience? If the later, cut the number of destinations by half. Otherwise, you'll be spending way too much of your trip in transit.

I know it's tempting to pick multiple centres that are kind of located in the same corner of Europe, but I think two weeks is too short a time period to cram in 5 cities. If it were me, I would do one of the following:-

a) Pick 3 places relatively close together and have 4 full days in each, say (just by way of example) London, Amsterdam, Berlin.

or

b) Pick 2 slightly further flung places to give a deliberate contrast in architectural style, landscape and cuisine, say UK and Italy, or a Scandinavian county and Spain, and spend a full week in each.

With option a) you can get the train between each city, option b) use budget airlines.

Fly open jaw and do not backtrack.

Trains are great in that area and there are cheap flights from Brussels or other airports to all over Europe. For lots on trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets for long distance trains; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.