I was just wondering, would any one recommend a bus tour for a first visit to Europe? Which one? How long? How many countries do you think I could do in 14 days? I am not sure whether to do a first trip, or try to find my own way around. I am also not sure of how many countries I could successfully see in 2 weeks

Dear Melissa,<BR>I´m from Spain and work in the travel business, and my advice is: always<BR>take the train. It might be slower<BR>-although there are several high speed<BR>trains in Europe-, but it is cheaper<BR>and by far more comfortable, you can move around and have a drink at the cafeteria coach. Also, buses are less reliable, depending on traffic and weather a lot more, not to talk about much less safe. Believe me, some european bus drivers are pretty reckless and overworked. Also you can make a lot more friends at a train, it´s more social and relaxed.<BR>I think if you really tried you can see<BR>every country in Europe in 14 days, but do you really want to know Europe, or just do a race? It´s much more fun to visit just 2 or 3 places and linger, it takes a couple of days at a place to<BR>find out the coolest hangouts, enjoy the food and the scenery and not die of exhaustion in the process. <BR><BR>Have fun!

Are trains hard to navigate? I think one or two places would be better. I really want to learn while I am away

Dear Melissa. Have you thought about taking a bus tour and depending on your age and amount of partying you want to do there is lots of them. We just returned the end of Sept from an in Insight bus tour that was 23 days and I would highly recommend it for somebody that wanted to see as much as they can in a short time. we were in London, Amsterdam and thru Germany Bavaria Austria Italy[ it was on of my favorite places and I never thouhgt I would really like it that much] I would have to say that Venice and Rome were the icing on the cake though every place we went was really great. We then spent 2 days on the French riveira and then Lucerne Switzerland and Paris so we really got a good look at everything we wanted to see and it also gives you an idea of what you would really want to go back to. Hope this helps.

We took a tour in 1996 with Trafalgar Tours, which visited London, Brussels, Cologne cathedral (only), a Rhine cruise, Heidelberg castle, Lucerne, Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice/Monaco and Paris. It lasted 17 days, and was a very good, reduced-stress way to visit Europe and see some highlights. You can get a sense of what culture(s) you lean toward for a future visit, and more knowledge about what it will take to plan a similar trip on your own the next time (or just return to 1-2 cities and go more in-depth there). Trafalgar was very reliable and efficient, and has been a partner of AAA (in the US) for years. Another company I booked a trip to Italy with (but had to cancel unexpectedly) was Go Ahead Vacations. Although we did not actually travel with them, I was extremely impressed with their web site and communication up to our near-departure. I would try them again for an area I might prefer not to arrange myself.

I would also like to say that you can use the tour company to get you from place to place, and make your hotel arrangements, and also carry you to some noteworthy locations/sites. Around that, you can use your free time (be sure your tour provides leisure time) to return to a museum or sight, or to go to something you want to see but may not be included on the tour. This will require some research on your part, and perhaps you will try using local transportation. These are good ways to learn more about the places you visit.