European Travel Combinations
 

Hello everyone,

As our family really enjoys combining different areas of one country or different areas in a few countries when we travel in Europe, we thought it would be interesting to read what other combinations other traveler's have experienced in their travels.

There are many people who enjoy seeing one area in detail and that is great as well. However, we like to "mix it up" so we feel we have been on more than one vacation in a 3-4 week period.

For example, one vacation we took was to land in Madrid, rent a car and visit Lake Como, Munich (and the surrounding area), Trieste, Slovenia and Venice.

On another vacation, we spent the entire time in Italy, flying into Rome, immediately renting a car and visiting the Amalfi Coast, Lecce, Otranto and Rome.

Would love to hear your European combinations.

Andrea

I have dear friends in Switzerland so that is always one stop for me on any Europe trip. I've done:
Vevey/Milan/Venice/Vevey
Amsterdam/Montreux/Geneva
Vevey/Venice/Paris
and a few times just stayed in Switzerland.

Venice/Verona/Stresa/Zurich/Paris/London the most recent time. We often end up in London for the opera and shows.

London/Vienna/Salzburg/Munich

Amsterdam/Berlin/Prague/Budapest/Munich

Basel/Cologne/Amsterdam/London

Zurich/Chur/Milan/Amsterdam/London

Geneva/Brig/Zermatt/Berner Oberland/Zurich/Appenzell/Munich

Munich/Oberammergau/Florence/Rome

Stockholm/Copenhagen/Berlin/Zurich/Barcelona (by rail in one week)

Helsinki, St.Petersburg, Tallin (Estonia),Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Gdansk, Ketryzn, Torun, and Warsaw (Poland).

I usually prefer to remain in one country, visiting various cities or areas.

My next trip will be to Warsaw, Berlin, Dresden, Wernigerode, Erfurt, and Weimar.

A few of my most recent trips:

London/Venice
London/Belgium/Amsterdam
London/Paris
London/Barcelona
London/Munich/Switzerland
London/Scotland . . . (seeing a trend here ;) )

Northern Italy agrotourismo, South of France canal boat, Paris,Amsterdam.

Venice, Florence, Amalfi, Rome

Amsterdam, Venice, Florence, Amalfi,Rome

Holland on canal boat, Paris,Amsterdam

Now I kinda regret going to same places over and over. Next trip will be Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Time went so fast. I got old before I knew it..

Forgot Sweden and Norway in 1988

Forgot Sweden and Norway in 1988..and another Amsterdam, Venice, Florence,and Rome

France and Belgium.
Spain and Belgium. Germany and Belgium. Poland and Belgium. Italy and Belgium. I also like UK and Belgium.
Sometimes only Belgium.

We like to do a combination of mountains & sea.
Like Hautes Alpes + Côte d'Azur,
or Dolomiti + Lago di Garda,
or Pyrenées + Roussillon.

Or, else, city & sea.
Like Granada/Córdoba/Sevilla + Costa de la Luz,
or Napoli + Costiera Amalfitana,
or Porto/Lisbõa & Algarve.

City of Istanbul, rural unique landscape of Cappadocia and ruins of Ephesus. Great combo. Hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia.

Brittany, Bordeaux, Rioja, Basque country.

Trip 1, high school guided tour: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein

Trip 2, five years later: a solo month in Germany. Highlights were Hannover, Fulda, Celle and Luneburger Heide.

Trip 3, 23 years after Trip 2: family trip thrown together at the last minute, 10 days in London, Yorkshire and Paris. Incredible.

Trip 4, 2 years after Trip 3: 9 days in England (Leeds and London) with a day's layover in Frankfurt. This was a college-hunting trip with me and one daughter.

Trip 5, coming later this year: family trip to London and Manchester (college hunting trip Part 2) with a few days in Frankfurt.

If we have the time we like to do a road trip - usually in 2 contiguous countries but with very different cultures. We pick 2 anchor cities (large ones) and in between visit a number of smaller towns and see some countryside.

Some examples we have done are Italy and Switz, France and Germany, Czech republic and Austria.

But, this type of trip means you will see a limited area in each country - you can't both see a couple of different countries and see more than a couple of places in each country.

We did Zurich to the Lakes, to the Veneto, to Umbria to Puglia to Amalfi to Rome in 5 weeks. We like to change it up between scenic country and cities, and like to throw in something new each trip.

Last year we started in London, flew to Galicia, drove across Asturias and Cantabria with a detour through the Picos, and on to San Sebastián. Flew from Bilbao to Sevilla and then drove to Ronda and Granada, flew from Malaga to London> home 5 weeks, all in one country, and saw a number of astoundingly different things.

Paris to Loire Valley to Bordeaux to Dordogne, drove south and East to Provence, trained to Cinque Terre, Florence, Amalfi Coast, Rome and home 4.5 weeks.

Just a couple of our high mileage, intensely varied vacations.

Poland/Hungary/Austria/Czech Republic

Living in Belgium, I could do Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Luxemburg and France in one day (and still sleep in my own bed at night). :-D

We did Frankfurt-Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Munich over 4 weeks. Some 2 day/short stays, some quite long (9 days driving tour) - all wonderful.

For me, a maximum of 3 destinations per trip is best.

1st trip - London/Paris/Lucerne/Venice/Florence/Rome (3 weeks)

2nd trip -- Paris/Provence/Nice (2 weeks, perfect vacation)

3rd trip -- Paris/Normandy/Loire Valley/Chantilly (2 weeks)

upcoming: Lucerne/Lake Como/Zurich (12 nights)

For about a decade now I've done 'eclectic' trips. I love southern Europe and don't really feel like I've had my summer vacation if it doesn't include significant time in the hot sun, yet I also love northern Europe and want to see as much of it as I can. Since my trips are usually 4-5 weeks, and intra Europe flights are so cheap, I've been able to do this.

Greece and Germany
Sicily and Switzerland
Portugal and Scandinavia (Sweden and Denmark)
Central Spain and Scotland
Southern Italy (Rome,Amalfi Coast & Puglia) and Norway
& Poland
Southern Italy (Rome, Amalfi Coast) and Croatia
Provence, Italian Riviera and Switzerland
Iceland to Slovenia flight then train back through Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and Netherlands
Italy (Tuscany & Veneto) and Prague
Italy (Veneto) and Vienna and Budapest

Plus I've done lots of England and one other place combos. A lot of the ones I just listed also include a few days beginning and or end in London just because flights are easier to combine and I consider just a day or two in London as an added perk, not really one of my destinations.

For shorter trips (two weeks or less) I tend to visit places that are within a 3 hour or less train ride.