I am spending 12 weeks this summer in london doing an internship. I only work mon-thursday so am planning to take many mini-weekend trips all over leaving thursday night and returning sunday night. Am having trouble deciding upon where to go as I have never been to europe, I am also on a smaller budget as I am a college student. Where would you suggest? And do you suggest any hotel/hostel accomadations there

There are so many options. The really good news is that there are dirt cheap flights to so many places from London. Look at easyjet.com for example and play around with some dates and destinations.

Flying out late on Thursday and returning on Sunday gives you a 2 to 3 day window; that is suitable to get a feel for any place.

Paris is likely the easiest, with the train connection. I suppose Ryan Air and other low cost carriers may open up Amsterdam, Dublin, Barcelona, even Rome.

Don't forget to explore the UK. In addition to nearby Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and the Cotswolds, think about Devon and Cornwall, Wales, York and Edinburgh.

I'm sure you'll meet other interns with their own ideas. Sounds like a great summer.

Paris and Amsterdam, for sure. You can research hostels in each of these cities on some of the backpacker or hostel-specific websites or guidebooks like Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, or Let's Go series.

Weekend flghts to touristy places (like Venice or Prague) during the summer can get pricey for much the same reason Willie Sutton kept robbing banks. And Europe's cities will still be there is 60 years' time.

Personally, in your shoes, I'd be driving or hitching or whatevering around Britain, since this may well be an almost unrepeatable opportunity to get to know a foreign country in something resembling depth. There's a great deal more to any country than what you can cram into a few days in its capital city, and three months' Easyjetting will make you expert on London's airports more than anything else.

But if that sounds unappealing, I'd choose the European cities that were actually affordable. Use www.lastminute.com to get flight and hotel packages (the list of availabilities is quite a good place to start your choice) and www.whichbudget.com (now, sadly, unreliable for charter flights to resorts, and it leaves out low-cost deals from conventional carriers) to get an idea of which cities asre available.

Alternatively, get a copy of "The Dice Man" and just use the dice for each weekend.

I have been researching during the day and have come up with the following places I would like to see: Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Nice, Marsailles, Cannes, Sien, Florence, Geneva, Interlaken, Rome, Venice, Copenhagen, Prague, Berlin, Bath, Oxford, Cotswold, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin, Munich, Sulzburg, and also lake district in uk.....I know this is way to many to get through in the time I am there. I am spending 3 days-a week in paris at the end of my trip... thinking about going a week early to hit some of the other spots... which would you think are the best, which would you leave out?

I suggest a trip to the library for a couple general interest guidebooks on Europe.

Then sort out by countries, rather than individual cities, which are of most interest to you.

For me that might mean keeping France and Spain, but skipping Germany and Switzerland, for example. Your choices may be exactly the opposite.

Of those you mention Paris, Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, Rome,and Barcelona would be highest on my list. Venice might be right up there, but the hardest to do on a budget weekend is my guess.

And it would be shame to spend all that time in London without exploring some areas near by -- Oxford and the Cotswolds, for a weekend, and do at least a day trip to Bath.

Antwerp and Edinburgh are just the right size for rewally rewarding short trips from London.

You might also like a break in Lisbon.

And Pisa. If you find a flight to Bologna, take it. Likewise Marseilles or Nice.

If you end up taking cheap air fares that fly into out of the way airports (Milan, but it's really Bergamo) don't waste a lot of time getting to the big capital cities. See if you can find smaller towns to explore and stay in.

The big European capital cities are increasingly becoming more and more like each other, with the same "global" culture, and London is becoming more like Europe. That's why I think a town like Pisa, once you get out of the shadow of the Leaning Tower, gives you more of a feel for what Italy is today. The same goes for the other European countries.

Agreeing with the above & along those same lines I would recommend instead of Geneva... the towns or Morges, Lausanne, Vevey and/or Montreux (on Lac Leman within about 1 hour train ride from Geneva) for example.