first time in Europe
 

Over the holiday we were asked to attend and be a part of a wedding in Romania. We have never been out of the United States so we are starting from scratch, getting a passport etc. We would like to fly into Rome and sightsee there for a couple of days before the wedding, then take the train to Romania. How feasible is this plan for two people who have never traveled in Europe before?

depending on how old you are I would suggest you check out either contiki if you are between the ages of 18-35 or trafalger if you are over . each company offers great mini vacations and tours for first time travelers

Hi and you'll probably have the time of your life.

Consider when is the wedding? This affects the potential weather and costs.

If flying from the States, the flight will probably be an overnighter. We just returned from 10 days and will be posting our trip report soon. To reduce jetlag we did the Lunesta pills just as soon as the plane left the ground. While I can't say we got a good night's sleep, we did sleep some and rested plenty, ready to go when the plane landed at 8:30am.

How many days will you have and how many can you spend away from the wedding party?

You'll probably spend a day leaving for Rome and getting there. Consider another day to get to Romania. You can actually see a lot of stuff in Rome in 2 days, if you plan it right.

Provide us with more details on what are your interests and actual time availability.

dave

IMHO a guided tour really wouldn't meet your needs - and it would cost more than doing this on your own.

You don't say where in Romania the wedding is - but you can easily fly from Rome to, for example, Bucharest for less money tha taking the long train journey.

Check out whichbudget.com for links to low cost flights throughout Europe.

You can spend a few days in Rome (there are a LOT of Rome experts on here who can help you choose a hotel in whatever price range you want) and then fly to Romania for the wedding. What to do after that really depends on how much time you have for the entire trip.

The wedding will be in mid-July and will be held in a small village somewhere near CLUJ, I think. The bride is from a small town near Translyvania.

Flying into Rome then taking a train to Romania isn't very feasible. It's about 1500 miles from Rome to Bucharest, and it takes 36hrs by train with 2 or more train changes. (that's 1 1/2 days straight on the train!)

As others have said, you should consider flying from Rome to Bucharest (or elsewhere in Romania or Serbia depending on your destination).

Look into what's called an open jaw ticket. US to Rome, Rome to Romania, then Romania back to US so you don't have to backtrack through Rome on your return.

You may find that you are better off flying to someplace like London rather than Rome, as far as flight options is concerned.

If you reply with more details others can give you more specific recommendations.

Hi A,

Good advice from J62.

See www.whichbudget.com for cheap airfare within Europe.

Cluj-Napoca is about 5 hr by car and 7:30 hr by train from Bucharest or Budapest.

((I))

Thanks for all the feedback on our trip this summer. Couple of questions - Can we buy our plane tickets for Bucharest to Rome while we are there or should we get them ahead of time. Also, which would be better for travel from the airport to the village - rent a car or take the bus. Can you tell we are HUGE novices at this? Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Yes, buy your air travel, Rome to Bucharest ahead.

And I don't want to throw cold water on your plan, but with only a couple of days, and your first trip to Europe, I might recommend Venice as a better initial destination - - unless you are really prepared for the <i><b>intensity</b></i> of Rome (for example, if you already live in, and thrive in a serious big city environment, or perhaps if you have modest familiarity with Italian, or ideally, better). I'm not saying that you can't enjoy Rome without knowledge of Italian, but it would enhance your ability to deal with the sensory overload and &quot;shock&quot; to your system that Rome can provide to the novice Europe traveler.

You can actualy fly nonstop to Cluj-Napoca from Verona or Bologna on ClubAir.it - - details on whichbudget.com - - as well as other Italy-Romania connections.

Best wishes,

Rex

I hope these friends (or family) who invited you to their wedding will also assist you with details of how to get to the village! They should at least have the courtesy of providing some suggestions!

I mean, it's one thing to travel to a wedding in Paris or London, it's completely different thing to travel to a wedding in a <b>small village in Romania</b>! I don't know if I'll receommend someone who's never been to Europe before to drive in Romania!

BTW, be prepared to find expensive plane tickets to/from US, as mid-July is the highest of high season.

I question why you are choosing Rome for a couple reasons... It's awfully huge/intense to get the hang of and do sight-seeing when you only have a &quot;couple days&quot;. It's not close or easy to get to Romania from there. That would be one LONG train ride!

As other mention, hopefully whoever invited you to the wedding can tell you the closest airport to fly into, and the best way to get to their village from there, for that part of the trip.

I think the plan is totally feasible, to go SOME where along with the wedding. Everyone has to take their 1st trip sometime
:-)

I definitely do not recommend a Contikik tour as the first person talked about. I don't see how that works with your plans at all.

Good point about flying to Cluj, Rex.

It never occurred to me.

Since Cluj is a direct flight from Bologna or Verona, it would seem that a few days in Italy should be either there or in Venice.

((I))

Ira gave you an excelent advise about flight to Cluj. I suppose that the persons who invited you will wait for you at airport if you will give them info about your flight. I do not recommend to use a bus or to rent a car. If they can not take you from airport, try to use a car with a driver.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions and we are taking your advice and re-thought flying into Rome. Our son is a professional airline pilot for Continental and he also thinks we should try to fly into a different location in Europe. His thought was maybe Switzerland or Austria. Do you have any thoughts on that? Are the language barriers as severe as in Italy? The wedding is finalized now and will be on July 21st. Thanks again for any suggestions you may have.

I agree you might want to start in a smaller city as opposed to Rome. As long as the place has a tourist industry you will find plenty of English-speaking locals who can help you get around.

Venice to Bologna to Cluj would be a nice option; train from V to B, then fly to C. Fly home from Romania.

Also, it looks like there are pretty good trains from Vienna to Cluj, via Budapest. This would also be in your comfort zone.

As for language in general, try to learn a few things like please and thank you, how much, and where is the restroom; and take along a book to help you translate signs and menus.

Book your air and train travel in advance; you can book your hotels in advance too, but ok to leave some flexibility there and just pre-book hotels for the beginning and end of your trip.

Geneva is an easy city to fly into. The train service is excellent. You could leave from the airport and head out to the towns along Lac Leman like Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux. These are in the french-speaking part of Switzerland but travel is quite easy there.

Hi A,

www.whichbudget.com will give you discount airlines that fly into Cluj from various cities.

I'd fly into Venice for a few days and then train to Bologna or Verona for an overnight before flying to Cluj.

((I))

This webpage of &quot;Advice for First-Time European Travelers&quot; should be very helpful to you.

http://www.slowtrav.com/europe/first_trip.htm

I agree that you should keep this first trip as simple as possible.

Kathy

Just wondering if anyone has any information on whether immunizations are needed for travel to Romania or if it would be wise to get prescriptions for antibiotics for short term use.

alpaca, you'll get better advice and more quickly if you start your own thread rather than adding a new question to someone else's thread.

Make sure you add part of your question to your title.

Welcome to Fodors!