Hi all! My family and I are planning our first trip to Europe near the end of August. We have a total of 8 days, unfortunately we couldn't get more vacation days because of work obligations

We have a split vote between going to London/Paris/Belgium (we really want to see Bruges! And it's a really short train ride from Paris), or to spend the whole 8 days in Italy.
Any advice for first time travelers?
What would be the easiest travel? And which would be easier on the wallet? Any other advice is welcome!!

Thank you in advance!!!

>>> What would be the easiest travel?
A part of this aspect depends on where you are coming from, which is not stated.
"Easiest" has many interpretations. Something familiar to you? Ones with least number of steps? Ones you can prearrange at home? Ones with only a limited number of choices? Least travel time? etc.

>>> And which would be easier on the wallet?
This has a lot to do with what you are doing, which is not stated.
Also not stated are what kind of accommodations and means of transports you want to use.

August at the end can be reasonable but the exact day can be crowded or more calm.

First timers. I'd not worry about language problems as you are probably going to places where tourist staff speak English pretty well. For myself I'd start in London (just to access Europe lite) and fly out of Paris, but 8 days is really one day flying in and one day flying out so in reality only 6 days on the ground and with half a day getting from capital to capital.

So Italy probably makes more sense given how few days you are here for. Rome and Venice or Rome and Florence would be easy stops or just Rome with a few days out by train. seat61.com will advise on trains in Europe.

Cheapest on wallet; well London has loads of free museums and you could stay at https://www.yha.org.uk/ for your London part. 2018 is this year and booking is getting late. Similar issues remain with the eurostar as prices rise as dates get nearer. Paris best prices will be with French hotels rather than international hotels. Rome; many people think that staying around the station is a good cheap solution, for me take an appartment out by the Vatican and use public and shanks pony to get around brings the costs down.

All about equal those options - 8 days ain't much - London and Paris could eat that time up with travel in between them too - Bruges is about 3 hours each way from Paris - stay i Paris. Bopok Eurostar train tickets London-Paris far in advance for discounted tickets - same for any train to Bruges or in Italy. For lots on trains and booking your own tickets check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Book Eurostar trains direct at www.eurostar.com - easy to do.

Is that 8 full days on the ground, meaning 10 including traveling to and from, or 8 days total, meaning 6 on the ground? Either way, your time is very short.

London, Paris, and Bruges in 8 days would be a stretch. In 6 days it would be no fun at all.

Italy in 8 days would allow you to see a couple of different places. Italy in 6 days would be best staying in one place and making a day trip, possibly two.

Easiest travel is impossible to say. How comfortable are you learning about European transportation systems? Do you speak any languages other than English? Are you OK with using currencies other than the US dollar?

Easier on the wallet is also impossible to determine, as you haven't offered any information on what sort of accommodations you'd like, how you intend to move around, and how you might be wanting to spend money while there (food, shopping, sights....).

Taking a guess, I'd say of the two choices you proffer, just Italy would be easier on you for various reasons.

But if Bruges is such a draw, why don't you just go to Belgium (with maybe a day or two in the Netherlands)?

Hi! Thank you for your response!
We'll be coming from NYC.
Easiest meaning easy to travel to and from tourist locations and possibly something we can arrange at home.

As for what we're doing, we're hoping to just hit up the "famous places," for example in London: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Shard etc. We understand we don't have time to really to dig deep into each city.

We're looking to either book a local hotel or an Air B&B, and if we go with the London-Paris-Belgium option, we were going to take the Eurostar/Thalys to travel. We were thinking of going with the London Pass for London at least.

Hope this helps! Again thank you for your response!

London pass is a waste of money, look at the 2 for one deals.
Big Ben is covered in scaffolding
Buckingham Palace is a walk by
https://tfl.gov.uk/ tells you just about everything you need to know
These european cities have good quality public transport systems, all easy to understand
https://www.ratp.fr/en/visite-paris/...rounding-areas
https://www.rome.info/metro/

Bruges is so small you can wander across it in 15 minutes

Bruges is so small you can wander across it in 15 minutes>

If it weren't for the maddening crowds you'd have to elbow your way thru - but really Bruges has quaint parts few of the bus groups and day trippers get too and after the daytime mobs have gone it can be very surreal - on a day trip you get the worst of it - just a small time in very crowded central belfry square area. Either stay the night or forget day tripping from Paris.

Advice in a word? Focus.

Eight days is relatively short, and adding travel time between destinations in Europe makes your visit even shorter. First question: do you have flights booked? It's getting a bit far along to have that underlying issue still undecided.

I'd pick London or Paris as a base because there are so many flight options from the US, and so much to see and do in either location. August in Paris is vacation month, and many locals leave the city, some restaurants and shops close, etc. This may be a plus or a minus to your visit. London is sometimes crowded with American visitors in August (again, a plus or a minus).

It is relatively easy to use Eurostar train to add London to Paris, or Paris to London. Takes under 3 hours, city-to-city.

London is certainly "easy" for American visitors....the language barrier is minimal, public transport is plentiful, etc. It is an easy city to navigate, but hotel and other costs can be high, as they are most major cities in Europe.

Hope this is helpful

David White
www.KidsToLondon.com

<<Easiest meaning easy to travel to and from tourist locations and possibly something we can arrange at home. >>

Everywhere you are contemplating (except for Italy, where you haven't even begun to tell us WHERE in Italy) is a major tourist draw, so obviously it's going to be easy to travel to and from tourist locations, assuming you can read a map and figure out local transportation. Lots of things can be arranged in advance, but you need to pin them down and get on with it.

You are really, really late in planning this, so figure it out asap and stop dithering and make your plans and nail down flights, accommodations, etc. People plan trips like this, with much more specific knowledge, a year in advance. That doesn't mean you needed to, but really, it's late, nail down your plans!

Or just hop on a plane and hope for the best. People do that, too.

The more travel you do, the more it will cost. So trying to squeeze in three locations costs more than two locations, or better yet with your limited time, one location.

Be aware (since you mentioned Air BnB) that most short term apartment rentals in Paris are illegal. Look at the listing on the website - does it have a registration number? if not. It's an illegal rental. As a first-time traveler, you are better off in hotel, which can offer assistance in all kinds of ways, directions, making dinner reservations, etc. Also, when your flight gets in early (as most from the US do), a hotel will hold and store your luggage until your room is ready so you can go out and wander a bit.

Either of those ideas would work. For "Italy" I'd suggest no more than 2 cities in your short time frame.

As you are figure out itineraries, don't forget to add in the time it takes to move from one city/country to the next. You don't want to do that too often or you will make your short time seem even shorter (by "wasting" half-days moving place to place).

Easiest - probably London.

Cheapest -- Surprisingly, also possibly London. What with all the free sites, the 2for1 discounts etc., and very likely the cheapest airfare.

If your entire trip is 8 days, you will have 5.5 days free on the ground so pick ONE. London, or Paris, or perhaps Amsterdam + Bruges . . . Every time you change cities you lose half a day and spend $$/££/€€ on transport. You are on a budget and only have 5.5 days so even one move will be a big bite of time.

Rome and Italy in general in August will likely be much hotter, and a longer flight. Accommodations could be a little cheaper than London but entrance fees would be higher.

cheapest and cheaper - one place could be chaper but none will be that much cheaper - anyway I would not use that criteria to make a choice of where to go as overall the difference is negligible v total trip expenses.

Thank you all for the responses! We’ve taken all your input into consideration and we’re going to go with the open jaw London-Paris option!

Book those Eurostar trains between Paris and London NOW - prices will usually go up as date of train gets nearer.

And once in Paris there are some nice perks with your Eurostar tickets: https://www.eurostar.com/us-en/train...rostar-tickets

https://www.eurostar.com/us-en/deals/2for1

BTW- If you fell in love with the city through "In Bruges", you really need to stay overnight a couple or few nights. It is tiny, but strolling the canals and squares under the moonlight after the darn tour groups are gone is what makes it "a fairy tale town".

Well, save Bruges for a later trip - 8 days not enough just do London and Paris - and that is even a lot but doable to just see the main sights.

Glad you narrowed it to London & Paris, great cities to pair. You mentioned this is a family trip, are children traveling? What ages?

When checking Eurostar tickets sometimes first class may not be much more than 2nd class and first class is much more relaxed on those trains and you even get comp beverages including booze I believe and a meal or snack.