europe tour suggestions
 

Planned destination:

• Rome
• Switzerland or Germany
• amsterdam
• brussels
• paris

Tour start from rome and finish at Paris. 10-14 days tour.
Need suggestion on:

• travel tips (train/plane/taxi/public transport)
• accomodation
• things to do
• places to visit

You will be travelling every second day, and that burns a lot of time.
You have asked what to see in those places. Bit hard to answer without knowing what floats your boat.

Maybe collections of musical instruments.
Maybe the history of medicine.
Maybe tattoo parlours.

I'm with Peter.....less = more. Covering too much ground without allowing enough time often results in getting completely the wrong impression of a place.

>>Planned destination:

• Rome
• Switzerland or Germany
• amsterdam
• brussels
• paris

Tour start from rome and finish at Paris. 10-14 days tour.
Need suggestion on:

• travel tips (train/plane/taxi/public transport)
• accomodation
• things to do
• places to visit<<

. . . Get some guide books -- you don't yet have a plan - just a list. And you haven't nailed down the length of your trip. Four cities and one of two countries. That would be a 4 or 5 week trip - not 10 days. 10 days will net you 7.5 days and 14 days = 11.5 days free on the ground. That means maybe two major cities, or one country, or one country and one other city. So . . . do some research and come back with some more detailed plans/questions. And when you re-post include things like your budget, what types of things interest you, are you traveling solo, or with someone else, or a group?

• Rome
• Amsterdam
• Paris

Are the places I dont want to miss. I don't care much about brussels. My wife wants Italy, Paris and Greece but I think this might be to much in terms of distance and travel time. We dont want to rush but also want to get most out of 10-12 days.

This is my first trip to EU. Any suggestion would be helpful.

Start reading guidebooks, poring over maps and the official websites of the cities you want to visit.

Your original list reads like a classic tour-bus trip. Is that what you want? If you want to plan it yourself, which is the way most people on this board do it, it takes some homework on your part, not just randomly asking strangers what they've done, which might be completely at odds with what your incentives are.

"Getting the most" out of 10 days on the ground means 2-3 stops at most.

We really can't help you until you open up and reveal what you want to get out of this trip.

Well yes for 10-14 days 3 places max and preferably two - fly into Rome and out of Amsterdam - fly Rome to Paris and take Thalys train to Amsterdam - only train you will need as you other places are too far apart for trains. I may suggest dropping Amsterdam and doing Rome and Paris. 14 days you could do all three but 10 days not practical as yes takes a day between each. Anyway for lots on trains check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Possible
Land in Rome - 4 nights
Fly to Paris - 4 nights
Take Thalys train to Amsterdam - final nights - if more than 10 days spread time out with day more in Rome and Paris and 2 more in Amsterdam.

Note that Pal's plan is 10 nights on the ground so would be a 12 day trip.

Let's try to be nice about this: the Fodor's board is not where you go to have others plan for you, it's where you go to ask others about your plan. This is because all posters who respond to you are doing this to help fellow travelers, we don't make money (except the Man in Seat 61) off you and we don't get remuneration from Fodors.

Inherent in that concept is that you have a plan. Right now, you don't. You have a punch list.

You asked for information on these topics:

• travel tips (train/plane/taxi/public transport)
• accomodation [sic]
• things to do
• places to visit

None of those is a question that anyone can answer in the abstract. Where do you need travel tips - within the cities or between? All transport is public unless you rent a car or use private car service, neither of which is sane if you're just going to be in cities and traveling between them. Accommodation is good, you should have some but no one can discuss that reasonably without knowledge of your per night lodging budget - and don't say you want something "reasonable" or "three-star"; speak in dollars and cents or (if you want to cater to the Europe-based posters, Euros). Things to do and places to visit are described on many travel sites such as . . . fodors.com, which has a page (or various pages) for each city on both your base and expanded lists. Same goes for Fodor's competitors, whom we don't name on the Fodor's travel board.

So what everyone is on about is you need to help us help you.

If you do want a traditional tour like that you first mentioned, I think you need to join an organized bus tour group. They can move people around faster than you can do it on your own.

If you want to do this independently: even Amsterdam, Paris, Rome is quite a lot if it's only a 10 day trip. Fly into Amsterdam, stay 2-1/2 days (1/2 day train to Paris), stay in Paris 3-1/2 days (1/2 day flight to Rome), stay 3 days. Fly home from Rome.

No you don't have time to add Greece unless you drop all but one other city.

Once you know where you are going and when, post again w/ a $ budget amount & people can help with hotel suggestions. As far as things to do each place, get a guidebook and read it on the plane ride over. Or read up here on Fodor's for each city and choose your daily activities by interest.

• Rome
• Amsterdam
• Paris

Are the places I dont want to miss.>

Then that should be the three - again fly into Rome - fly to Paris and train to Amsterdam. No time for more unless some day trips from those bases to nearby places.

What happened to please and thank you?

With the amount of research you've done to date, a group bus trip is your best choice.