Best countries to visit for first time traveling abroad?
 

Hello,
id be interested in suggestions for the best country or group of countries for a first time trip abroad. It would be me, my husband and 3 kids (17, 16, and 14.) budget would be $10k. Coming from northeast (PA/NJ/DC) and it would be early August.
Thanks!

OK -- from where, when, and for how long??

$10,000 could be a lot or not nearly enough -- especially if the airfares alone are $1500+ each

Having said that -- for a lot of 1st timers -- England and/or Scotland is a good choice. Though there are many other countries that would be great.

Given the ages of the children I am guessing summer?

I would agree with the England and Scotland suggestion. Easy due to language and train connections. A little more info on time to be away and season would be useful. Looking forward to following this thread and helping.

I'm going to second England and Scotland, or perhaps Ireland (but I'm not going to recommend trying to do all three in one trip). We have been to Scotland three times, first when my kids were 3 and 8 and most recently when they were 19 and 24, and they loved it. Lots of history, easy to do things outdoors, mostly small towns/cities. With planning you can pick a couple of bases and explore from there, which our kids enjoy more than moving around a lot. For example, on our first trip we spent a week near Inverary and a week in the Borders; last time we started near St. Andrews and then went up to Orkney. What do your kids enjoy? One nice thing about not having a language barrier is that you can encourage them to do a little research about things they might like to do.

OOPS -- last sentence of OP say Early August and from the East Coast

Missed that entirely :(

But August puts a spanner in the works for Scotland -- more on that later . . . when I get home later.

Are the kids studying a foreign language? Experiencing life in that language will be so valuable for them. Imagine, three year olds speaking French! TV, street signs, menus—all in French! (Or whatever is your target language and destination.)

But first, I would seriously research plane fares. You seem to have a choice of home airports. Use googleflights, Travelocity, etc., to do your research but book on the airlines website. To save money once you arrive at your destination, don’t move around too much. Every time you change locations, you are spending both time and money.

Maybe enlist the kids to help you research. One could find the best deals from BWI, another from PHL, etc.

You might want to read this recent trip report that underscores the joys of being there together, not madly following an agenda of places to go and things to do—

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...gical-1720695/

(While I might agree that you consider England and Scotland, be aware that Edinburgh in August, with the tattoo and many festivals, will be a challenge. Any lodging you are able to find will be very pricey. The city will be very crowded. The opportunities for theater, music, film, and books and authors will seem limitless.j

Or south of Spain? Andalusia is a great mix of history, beaches, outdoor activities.

South of Spain will be very hot in August. Scotland has issues with the festivals as mentioned.

Ireland would be good and is likely to have the cheapest flights. But I also agree that a country where they speak a language your kids are taking in school would be great. The whole idea of going to Europe is to experience things that are different from what you have at home, so I wouldn't limit it to places that have English as their language. You'll find plenty of people who speak English anyway in places like France or Italy.

Have your kids expressed a preference? Get them involved!

The airfare alone during summer could be a deal breaker. But if you are not including airfare, I think Prague, Vienna, and Krakow would be a mind-expanding trip. Krakow is amazing and a bargain. Prague is a bargain compared to most of Western Europe.

There is a new discount airline, Play, that flies through Reykjavik. But it might be too late to nab the 'low' airfares. Airfares have skyrocketed.

I think England and/or Ireland would make a great first trip, depending on how much time you have to spend. The weather won't be as hot as many other European locations and the language challenges are less. Air Lingus flights are sometimes less expensive than other airlines.

I like Rick Steves's travel books for first time travelers - lots of helpful information and suggestions.

Not sure about August but we took each of our granddaughters
to London, then Chunnel to Paris, separately when they were 13 in June.

Both liked London but LOVED Paris. They each said Paris was more beautiful and different, London seemed more like NY.
Just one persons take on it.

So funny, our grandkids LOVED London, and liked Paris!

Going to an English speaking country is not for someone who really wants "foreign." It will be safely comfortable for a kid who is a timid about new experiences. For those with a bit of the explorer within, go to France, or Spain, or the Netherlands or - - -

On the other hand, if someone wants theater and history, go to London. In other words, what do the kids really like or want?

We went with our kids with similar ages to England then rode train to Scotland. It was early May and it was a great trip.

I would check flight first and see what is affordable from you home.

I would think 5 adult airfares, at peak season, will make a large dent in your $10K budget

My first instinct is to ask, “What have you always dreamed of seeing? and go there. For me, it was the Louvre in Paris, Ancient Rome and the Netherlands.
OTOH, you have several other things to consider: how much time do you have for the trip (critical for planning), the weather, the costs, the interests of the children. This last is important, but once they express their interests, you can have conflicts, so if you go the route of everybody giving input, they have to give two or three places or things of interest and be willing to compromise. What are some of their interests? Art, sports, music, theater, history, literature, food? Besides the usual sights, it is always fun to do things that are connected to their personal interests. Tell us what they are and people here can help with places and activities to fit,

I do not usually think of England first, but London is a wonderful, exciting city, very unlike NYC, IMHO, and has so much of interest and fun, but you do not have to visit only London. There are incredible places like Bath, Oxford, and activities like punting on rivers.

If it is within your budget, you could even spend some time in England. Then take the EuroStar to Paris for a few days.

The heat is something to consider, but the fact is many of us have traveled in the heat of Summer to very hot places like Rome and Seville, and had a wonderful time. We dealt with it, even without AC years ago. We adjusted plans as we went. So, while certainly considering it, I would not base the trip totally on heat.

Do get the kids involved, even a little bit, so they have some ownership of the trip. Whatever you choose will be wonderful!

Several aspects to consider:
August will be busy/crowded expensive in Scotland due to annual festivals
August in much of Europe is when locals go on vacation so some things in your destination may be closed.
August is likely to be hot - maybe even beastly hot - in much of Western Europe.
Paris will be crowded and exceptionally expensive in August due to Olympics and Paraolympics
London is always expensive
Ireland is just lovely, especially areas outside Dublin (which is fine for a couple days.) But be sure you are up for driving a manual vehicle on the "wrong" side of narrow roads if you go the rental car route.

On the more positive side:
In most cities in Europe English speakers do just fine. You may not be able to have deep philosophical discussions with natives, but you'll be able to find breakfast and the bathroom just fine.
A group of your size might do well to look at an apartment rather than a hotel, and you can save a few bucks having breakfast, maybe even some other meals, in your place. Check out AirBnB, VRBO, Booking.com as well as just Google for "Vacation rentals in xxxx"
$10K may not go far for five when you add in airfares. Scout around to see where are the best destinations price wise and from which originating cities. You have a few major airports to use - EWR, JFK, IAD, PHL - shop around for the best fares. And if you want to visit multiple cities, think about open jaw or multicity routing where you fly into one city and depart from another.
Ask the kids what they'd like, then task them with doing some research. Portugal? Italy? Germany? Iceland? Turkey?

Happy planning!

You missed the most obvious positive about Europe in the summer: Long daylight hours. Second most obvious: the greenery in the landscapes is stunning.

Crowded? It depends on where you go and what you do.

The heat? It's not humid, so once the heat dissipates and before it builds, it's perfect weather. Peak of the afternoon is the perfect time to do something indoors.

I am not sure you will get valuable advice.
"best" is totally subjective. Just think of a European asking for the best US state for a 1st visit. Some will genuinely say NYC, others Florida or Nevada or California. Not only they are completely different, but also sometimes too vague. Florida is Miami Beach or Keys or Orlando? Nevada is Vegas? California LA or Yosemite, Napa Valley...

You should rephrase your request, giving more essential details like:
- how long do you plan to stay?
- will you tour (changing places most days) or prefer a base to explore an area?
- will you drive or use public transportation?
- what are the main areas of interest of the family? Cities, history, culture, nature, montain or countryside or beach...
- do answers so far give you some clues to be more precise to include/ exclude destinations? "exotism" vs comfort zone, language, hot weather, crowds, driving on left side...

At this stage, only advice I can give is keep out of Paris. Even Parisians are asked to leave or stay at home during the Olympic games.

I think a lot of time, the British Isles are recommended as you don't have the difficulty of language. And my first thought was also Ireland (which happened to be my first Europe destination too).
But - truth be told, I don't think that Ireland really prepared us for subsequent trips to the mainland. Every country is new in its own way. And, Ireland/England presented unique challenges for Americans if they plan to self-drive at all.

I like the suggestion to sit down and think about why you've decided to go to Europe and use that as your guide. Language, driving, etc are all going to be things you have to handle anyway but going somewhere else first won't change that. You can learn some of the local language just like you can learn to drive on the left. And you'll find plenty of people speak some English throughout Europe. (our 2nd country in Europe included self-driving around remote Romania.... even that was fine.)

Five people and luggage for five people means a large car. I'd avoid a driving holiday. Trains are great in Europe and maybe a different way to travel for your family. Either way, pack light, research trains and you can all sit back and enjoy the ride. Public transport means avoiding very narrow roads or small villages you should never have entered and are now stuck. Loads of great train info on Seat61 website and Rome2rio.com will help with getting from A to B.

Not wanting to contradict myself, I just want to share my own experience but not give any advice so far.
one of my favorite places around Europe is south Germany, more precisely around Lake of Constance.
There is a lot to see and do, that will give a good insight of one of the many European cultures.
For the mountains, it is fun to ride gondolas and chairlifts. Also fun to cross several borders in one day combining bus, train and ferry or take a cruise on the lake. Parts of area are rural, many farms making cheese and wine yards in the German part. You can rent e-bikes on mountainous tracks.
Last but not least, several interesting towns or places are not too far, Munich, Zurich, Innsbruck, the famous castles (Linderhof, Neuschwanstein), baroque churches.
We stayed in the area several times. Unfortunately, our last stay was a disaster with rain almost every day...

5 people in early August is an issue especially when Edinburgh disappears and Paris goes due to parties.

If it were me, I'd look at one of
Scotland (excluding Edinburgh)
Brittany, fine a Gite and just get to know a small town, beach etc
Mosel, hire an appartment and get to know the river
All these places are interesting, lots of exercise, not cost prohibitive and not seriously hot, packed out with tourists etc.

How "abroad"do you want your experience to be?
The Uk is easy of course, apart from the "wrong side of the road" bit, and some of the accents, ditto Ireland. The Netherlands most people speak English to some degree, but it is still foreign enough to feel abroad. You do not have to stay in an expensive city like Amsterdam. It is a small country with good infrastructure. Great for cycling of course, and you can easily rent bikes. But also trains and roads are good.
France if you or kids speak any of the language, but avoid Paris. More French speak English than used to be the case.
Spain Portugal and Italy will almost certainly be scorchingly hot, and are suffering from droughts which will only get worse.
Germany is a big country and you could choose a single area to explore, the Moselle, the Rhine, maybe the north coast, or the German Alps.
The further east in Europe the more "abroad" it will feel, but costs will generally be lower.

As well as looking at gites/cottages/airbnb consider holiday parks and campsites with accommodation which may be cheaper, though nowhere will be cheap in August I am afraid, peak school holiday time for Europe.
Maybe you could look for a house swap or house sitting.

What about Iceland? Long days that time of year and if the kids are studying geography they would learn so much by osmosis

I would suggest that you consider the Netherlands, for the reasons mentioned by Hetismej. Most people speak English, it's a lovely country, and it is unlikely to be excessively hot. I would recommend staying in one of the smaller cities. Leiden, Delft, Utrecht, and the Hague are some of my favourites. The rail system is excellent, and you could easily visit Amsterdam from any of these cities. If you would prefer a larger city, I can heartily recommend Rotterdam, a lively and vibrant city that hasn't been discovered yet by mass tourism. It should ould be especially attractive for teens and young adults.

$10,000 sounds like a lot, but it's only $2000 per person. I would check airfares and then decide on a destination where your budget will be sufficient. England and Scotland are expensive, and Ireland isn't far behind.

Some people have said that southern Europe is not unbearably hot, and that at least it's not humid. I wonder how recently they've been in southern Europe. I live in Italy, and not even in the hottest region, but lately it's become unpleasant to spend many hours outdoors in the middle of the day. In recent years the humidity has also been much higher than we are used to. Southern Spain is almost always hotter than central Italy, where we live.

I can't understand why the language should be a criteria. I am barely able to align few words of spanish or german but I never found difficult to visit german or spanish speaking countries. It is part of the thrill to travel abroad, the sense of achievement when you manage or the big laugh when you picked something that looked delicious and tasted awfully bad.
it is lnot like visiting a remote part of Korea or Japan when you need to use an ATM and you have no clue how to do it (and I am referring to an era when smartphones were not there to help you to decipher).

There are many other things that are different when you are abroad, shopping or restaurant hours, do and don't, weather, food, social interactions... some of them more important than a common language.
and even small things may ruin the experience (a Chinese will get mad if he can't make a cup of tea at any time. Being a bit like that, I always travel with an electric kettle and some tea bags, just in case).

Restaurant hours and unusual foods are things you can (and should) read up on before your trip. However, a language is something that you can't master in preparation for a trip. You should learn a few polite phrases, but if you ask a question, you're unlikely to understand the answer.

Some people do well when they encounter people with whom they don't share a language, and others find it stressful. If they aren't accustomed to travel in Europe, visiting a country where a reasonable number of people speak their language reduces greatly the number of difficulties they're likely to have.

I've travelled quite a lot in countries where I don't speak the language, including to China, where I couldn't even make a reasonable guess at what the signs were saying. (This was over 20 years ago.) I've almost always managed to communicate, but there have been failures.

My first trip to a non-English-speaking country was a camping trip in northern Quebec. I needed fuel for my camp stove, so I went to a sort of general store, equipped with a little French/English dictionary and the memory of my student French course. I greeted the saleswoman, and understood her response. I asked politely for white gas. She hesitated, and then smiled and went away. She returned with a bottle of silver polish.

Once in China, I was lunching with a colleague. We tried to communicate that we wanted duck for lunch. When the waitress couldn't understand, I quacked. She understood and we all laughed. Then my colleague reminded me that we had seen lovely broccoli in the market, so I decided to push my luck. I drew a picture of broccoli on my notepad. We got duck and mushrooms for lunch.

These days, you can almost carry on a conversation using Google translate. The last time we were in Paris, the proprietor of our apartment said something, activated Translate, and we heard it in Italian. Then we replied to his phone in Italian, and he heard it in French. However, this isn't really the way to carry on a fluent conversation.

The Netherlands is ideal in that you can experience a foreign language, all around you, but nearly everyone is nearly fluent in English. I lived and worked there in the late 1980s, and even then nearly everyone spoke English. I got fairly comfortable with Dutch, but if I asked a question, often the other person responded in English.

I know that everyone wants the input from everyone going abroad but in my family there has never been much input in as to where we go. We have done 40-50 trips abroad over the last 25 years. My youngest daughter now has taken over planning much of the day to day details but otherwise everyone depends on me to make the decisions as to where we are going. It is more difficult to plan things now as everyone has their own careers but otherwise most of the heavy lifting is up to me. Maybe it's because I pay? If the OP can get input from others it would help narrow down their options. It does require however those with input to do some research.
I do agree that language should not be a barrier. Another language is part of the cultural differences. It is however helpful to learn some simple phrases like thank you. Many Europeans do speak some English.
I have not done an August holiday since I was in University but I would bear in mind that Europe among other places has had some 40 degree heat waves in the summer that would make travel uncomfortable. This includes places like England. Would try to book places with AC if possible. It is likely to be hotter in the south of Europe and the humidity is not low and likely to be around 60% and if there is a heat wave it may involve much of Europe. Lastly $2000 a person is not a lot of money. Once you find the airfares to places you are interested in you can see what you have left for day to day expenses. London is not a bad place to start but it is very expensive. So is Paris and obviously you should avoid Paris while the Olympics are on but it might be different at the end of August where many Parisians have left the city. Otherwise you have many options but finances may be major factor.

London/Amsterdam makes a great trip. Paris with the Olympics will not work this year and Edinburgh is very busy with the Fringe and other festivals. London is always great to visit but you will want to find a place with air conditioning in both places as not universal and summers are getting hotter. If you decide on Amsterdam, book tickets for the Anne Frank Haus as soon as your plans are firmed up. So much to see and do in both places. I was in London and Edinburgh this year in early October while my daughter and her boyfriend did a London trip and as she was able to get tickets to the Vermeer retrospective at the Rijksmuseum they had a busy two days in Amsterdam and took the train there from London. She had been to both places previously but her partner had not. They couldn't get tickets to Anne Frank Haus but they saw and did a lot in a short time.

I would say Paris should be top of the list but it's out due to Olympics. I am not a big fan of England and Scotland as IMO they are different from rest of Europe except London.

First, you need to determine what you want this trip to be. For example:

1) Major cities. If so I would say something like Rome, Amsterdam, Vienna is a good mix of things. Probably priciest of all the options I am giving. Maybe throw in Venice as the most unique city in Europe instead of one of the other 3.

2) Budget major cities: Budapest, Prague and Vienna would be my recommendation. English is widely spoken everywhere, they are close to each other so cheap and convenient travel with train or car. They are all large and beautiful European capitals with a lot of history and things to do and see. Finally, they represent the best value IMO.

3) Beach: as everyone mentioned August is hottest month in europe. So maybe hit the beaches in Spain and Portugal. They are also relatively cheaper compared to northern Europe. Personally August travel is fine if you don't mind the heat. I also don't get why people go to Europe for beach (from North America) when Carribean is better and cheaper for that.

4) One country trip: some people just like to stick to 1 country as it makes it easier to move around. I would say France but Olympics is an issue. Other good options are Spain or Italy in the south and Belgium or Netherlands in the north.

One thing to keep in mind is southern European countries are cheaper than those in the north. Eastern European countries are cheapest hence Prague and Budapest.

Look up videos about luggage. You don't want to be lugging around suitcases if you plan several places. My wife and I travel z
europe with carry-ons as long as you are willing to do laundry but it's worth it.

The OP has not returned so we are all probably just whistling in the wind (hasn't returned to other threads she's started either - so either she isn't really interested - or- she can't figure out how to find her way back?? )