Hello,

I am at the beginning stages (very beginning as in 18 months from now) of planning an extensive (for us) European vacation for my husband and I. We are going to have 3 weeks, however I'd love a full month. Here's the plan thus far.

Fly into Amsterdam
3 days in Amsterdam
Train to Paris
3 day in Paris
Train to Vienna
3 days in Vienna
Train to Rome
7 days in Rome
Fly home

Very basic stuff so far. But now I'm looking into things and I really want to go to Scotland as well. Goodness me. Would we need to fly from Scotland to Amsterdam or is there some sort of boat? This is all new and hard for me... lol!

Any advice or BTDT info would be great!

Thanks!
Jess

Training from Paris to Vienna is a long way. You may want to look into cheap airlines like www.easyjet.com or www.ryanair.com and fly. Just be sure you are comfortable with their extra charges and luggage size/weight restrictions.

You need to understand that 3 nights in a city is really only 2 days there. Not so bad for Amsterdam, so-so for Vienna - but way too short of Paris. You're already jumping around a lot - I wouldn't add Scotland, which is really an outlier.

And are you just doing large cities and none of the countryside. Esp from Paris and Rome a day or more in the country is a good idea.

I guess I meant 3 nights in each city, not days.

I'm not sure what else I want to see in Paris besides the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and maybe the Arc de Triomphe. Any other places you would suggest?

I'm thinking of maybe not doing a whole week in Rome. Maybe doing a side trip or something. I just haven't done all that much research yet.

Hi bookhound! It would help if you gave us some insight into the kinds of things you are interested in - what you like to do where you live and/or what kinds of things you're excited to see in Europe. For example, some people like to travel not even to "see sights" but rather to soak up the local culture and atmosphere. Others want to taste the food, or see art, or history, or amazing views or...

One place to start is what is it that interests you in Scotland? You say you "really want to go" there, but seem less interested in the big cities of Paris and Rome. Let us in on a little of your desires and interests, and we can help chip away at all the overwhelming options!

Let me preface by saying that this is our once-in-a-lifetime trip, as we have two small children and they can be expensive... lol.

For me, Italy is a dream. I cannot wait to see the works of great Renaissance masters, to stroll along streets full of history, to see the Vatican. That's why we are planning to stay the longest there.
Since this is our once trip, we are adding other cities we want to see.
I love history and art, so I naturally gravitated toward Amsterdam (Van Gogh) and Paris (the Louvre etc). Vienna is my husbands suggestion, although I am a huge music lover as well.
I think overall, we are looking to soak in the culture; the history, the grandness and definitely the art. Food is a secondary, as I am fairly picky in my everyday life. I do wish to try as much of the food that I can (and not the touristy food, I want real food).
Most of all, my husband and I have never been anywhere like this, so I am just looking at doing something amazing with him.
Scotland... I'm not sure what interests me really. The Highlands look beautiful. I think I might just be trying to put as much as I can into this trip since I know its the once trip.

Hope that helps some more!

Great, that helps a lot! I understand the urge to put "everything" into a "once in a lifetime" trip. But I'm a firm believer in doing less to see more (as you say, to soak in the culture). And even more strongly, I'm convinced that this will not be your one-and-only trip to Europe! You never know what doors will open just by going once, and especially since your kids are young, who knows what opportunities await? (Maybe it's more a "once until the kids are older" trip. )

That said, and given your expressed interests, I would drop the more geographically far-flung locations from your trip. You're smart to look at flying into one city and out of another, so you don't have to spend time backtracking just to return home.

IMO, three days is a good amount of time to see the sights in Amsterdam. I might add a day to get your "sea legs" - wander about, get over the fog of jet lag, sit in a cafe and soak it in.

And then I'd do roughly a week in Paris and a week in Rome. That would give you plenty of time to do some day trips from each city. If you search on and read through some of the posts here about these cities, you'll see lots of people feel they could spend so much time in each!

Probably the best next step is to look at guidebooks for each of these cities. (I go to the bookstore and leaf through them a number of times before purchasing anything!) The DK Eyewitness ones have lots of photos that may help; I also happen to like the Fodor's ones, but their level of detail might be overwhelming at this stage! Insight also makes good photo-intensive guides. Don't try to read them cover-to-cover; instead, use the index to find areas related to your interests.

For example, both cities have tons of museums. In Paris, in addition to the Louvre, there are the Impressionists in the Musee d'Orsay in a gorgeous old train station; the Musee de l'Orangerie, recently restored and reopened where Monet's water lilies are in the location where he installed them; the Picasso museum; Napoleon's tomb; Musee Carnavalet about the history of Paris... and many more. You could try to get tickets to the Opera, or at least take a tour of the Opera Garnier. And they hold concerts in the absolutely amazing Sainte Chappelle.

Day trips from Paris could be to Versailles; the cathedral at Chartres; the kings' tombs in the cathedral at Reims; Monet's gardens at his home in Giverny; Chateau Chantilly or Chateau Vincennes.

Likewise, in Italy you could take a day or two to explore another city - maybe stop in Florence before reaching Rome, or head south to Naples and Pompeii in the middle of your stay there. (Naples has a not entirely undeserved reputation for grittiness; however, some amazing artwork is contained in their baroque churches! And it's very easy to get from Naples to Pompeii.)

In Rome, do consider a tour at the Galleria Borghese. You have to purchase tickets in advance, but this relatively small villa rivals Versailles in opulence - and may well surpass it in artwork!

I forgot to ask before: what time of year will your trip be?

ggreen: She said 18 months, so I took that to mean July/August of 2012.

FWIW, bookhound, we loved Scotland. But I'm in agreement with those advising you to try and save it for another trip. There are a ton of splendid and scenic areas more conveniently located wrt the cities you've mentioned. Like Tuscany, for example. Or Burgundy. Or the Austrian Lake country. Or etc...

mr_go, that's what I figured as well, but I wanted confirmation.

Given the time of year, I wonder if there's any benefit in doing the trip in reverse? Would there be any bearing on climate by heading north instead of south? (I haven't been in Europe in August in many many years...)

...I think that for myself, I'd like to land in Rome and exit from Amsterdam: it's a personal preference, but as much as I enjoyed Amsterdam (and love the north), I'd prefer my first sight of Europe to be Roma! Especially since the OP says "Italy is a dream". Go there first!!

Thank you all for your insight. I appreciate it much!

Our trip will definitely be in the summer months (not sure which yet) because our 2 kids will be staying with their grandparents (2 sets, half in FL and then half the time in GA). I'm not sure on the months just yet, as we are saving cash for the trip and just depends on how fast we save it! LOL

The more I think about this trip, the less I'd like to go to Vienna. I would LOVE to go there someday, but I feel as though spending more time in the countries that are must do's is more important.

I do want to say that I have planned full days for travel in between each country.

Basically, like this:

4 nights in Amsterdam
Travel Day to Paris (I looked and by train its only 4 hours)
4 nights Paris
Travel Day to Vienna
4 nights Vienna
Travel Day to Rome
7 nights Rome
Leave

But again, as this is still all very preliminary, these might change.

BTW, does anyone have experience with Eurorail and the Eurorail pass? Is this a good option if we are wanting to take the train between cities?

Thanks so much again!!!!

For you expressed strong interest in the Renaissance masters, you really should add in some time in Florence, the heart of the Renaissance. While not for everyone, it would be a shame for you to miss the Uffizi Gallery and David at the Accademia.

IMO, Eurail passes are best when you want to travel to lots of places and be flexible about where/when you travel. Since you have a limited number of trips to take, it likely will be much less expensive to book them individually. It's easy to do right in the train stations, especially since you're looking at major routes where there are frequent trains (and not small, out-of-the-way destinations). Or book ahead for discount tix - someone else would have to explain that, since I've never done it!

The website www.seat61.com gives lots of good advice. The German rail site is also a good one to look at, not just for Germany but for all of Europe: www.bahn.com.

* * *
As I mentioned above, the more I think about it, the more I believe you should think about doing your itinerary in reverse. How about Rome, Florence, Paris, Amsterdam? You'd be freshest for the place that sounds like it's most important to you: Italy!