First Time in Europe
 

Hi everyone, thanks to whoever reads and replies to my questions.
So, this is the first time my family and I are visiting Europe. It's me, my parents and my young teenage sister. Our plan is to:

Day 1: US to Paris.
Days 2-5: Paris.
Days 6-9: London.
Days 10-11: Scotland.
Days 12-13: Ireland.
Day 14: Ireland to US.

What do you guys think about this? Do you think that is enough time for each country? I know we need much time for each country, but we only have 2 weeks, and must use our time wisely.
Please feel free to suggest a new schedule for our 14 days in Europe.
Please also let me know what we should do and not do during our time.
Be as specific as possible, any advice is better than non!

Thanks!!

Welcome to Fodors traveler88:

You will get lots and LOTS of help on here. Now for the bad news :) . . .

"<i>Do you think that is enough time for each country? I know we need much time for each country, but we only have 2 weeks, and must use our time wisely.</i>

In a word - no, you aren't using your time very wisely.

just a few things to consider:

You do not have 14 days "on the ground". Day 1 is spent flying over night. Day 2 is recovery day -- jet lag will be an issue for some or all of you. Day 14 is spent packing and getting to the airport. Then from your 11 'free' days you will lose about 1.5 days traveling/packing/unpacking/checking in/checking out.

W/ just 1.5 days for "Scotland" you won't more than time for a brief overview of Edinburgh, not anything else in that amazing country. And the same for Ireland - barely time for an overview of Dublin and no time at all for the scenic bits.

All that moving around means you won't really have time to see much in any of your destinations.

When is the trip? Have you bought your airline tickets yet? Which cities/countries are most important to you? Then we can help you sort out a more doable plan.

I'll offer a contrary opinion, and say that you have chosen <I>fairly</I> wisely.

You seem to understand quite well that you have 13 nights to sleep in Europe. You have three COUNTRIES (not 4), with two regions in one of those countries (the UK) - - and lots of people "sample" three countries in a 13 night first-time trip to Europe.

I assume that you have your reasons for choosing these destinations. There are no superior or inferior choices of destinations for a first time to Europe, and spending 9 out of 13 nights in an English-speaking destination will almost never be a bad choice for a first-time trip.

You'll get lots of different opinions here. The skeleton of your trip is fine. Fleshing it out can take it from good to great.

Best wishes,

Rex

UM - make that 4 countries Rex. England, Scotland, Ireland and France. Just tell ANY Scot he is anything to do w/ England and you'll get an argument for sure.

But never mind -- whether you consider it one country or two -- Scotland is very large and 1.5 days is not seeing Scotland . . .

Not enough time in Paris, or Scotland, or Ireland. With the number of days you've got on the ground, I'd pick two places. You're going to be racing around, spending money like crazy to get from one place to the next, and not having much of any time to actually get acclimated to where you are in any place.

Hi traveler88,

As someone who loves Paris, Ireland, and Scotland, I would strongly recommend that you choose EITHER Ireland or Scotland. Even if you do that you will get no more than a taste, but trying to do both along with London/Paris will mean you spend most of your time in transit rather than seeing any local sights (or getting outside the cities). My suggestion would be:

Day 1: US to Paris
Days 2-5: Paris (four full days, giving you a day for a trip outside of Paris, such as Versailles or Chartres)
Day 6: Paris to London
Days 7-9: London
Day 10: London to Edinburgh
Days 11-13: stay in Edinburgh to cut down on packing/checking in/checking out, but make at least one day trip outside of Edinburgh
Day 14: Scotland to US

Tell us what you really enjoy (art? history? castles? scenery?) and then you can get some more specfic suggestions for fleshing out your itinerary. But do seriously consider cutting back. I've done the two days here, two days there type of trip and it was FABULOUS. But I was young, by myself, and living out of a backpack. Traveling as a family is completely different.

Think in terms of nights -- makes it easier to plan.

Using Barbara_in_FL's plan here is what you'd have:

Night 1: Overnight flight to Paris
Nts 2, 3, 4, 5: in Paris
Nts 6, 7, 8, 9: in London
Nts 10, 11, 12, 13: in Edinburgh
Night 14: Back home in the States.

I would actually take one night from Edinburgh (even though it is one of my very favorite cities on Earth) and add it to Paris. Why Paris -- simply because you will arrive there and need to plan at least one down day for jetlag recovery, getting your bearings, etc.

You'd still have time for one day trip out of Edinburgh.

"You have three COUNTRIES (not 4), with two regions in one of those countries (the UK)"

The UK is a union of 4 countries.

Scotland has it's own legal system, education system and Parliament.....it's not just a 'region' of the UK.

Don't just stay in Edinburgh...it gives you a very narrow view of the country.

I agree with cutting your trip down to three countries--England, France, then either Scotland or Ireland. I personally would opt for leaving Ireland for another trip.

Don't shortchange London because you can do some great day trips while based in London. Same of course is true for Paris and Edinburgh. Of the Janis/Barbara suggestions, I would take a day/night from Edinburgh and add it to London. Just my preference so certainly depends on your and your family's interests and to some extent time of year for travel.

If I had to drop something, it would be the parents.

THANKS SOOO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!!

Thank you for taking the time and responding to my first time in Europe dilemma.
I would LOVE to just drop my family and do this vacation on my own, BUT they are paying for it. haaha.
I agree with many of your helpful comments. If it were up to me, I'd like to just see Spain, France, and then Italy. I think UK, Scotland, Ireland, and etc. would be way too much.
We have family in France, and I am fluent in French; so France is a must!

But what would you guys suggest? If you had 2 weeks in Europe, what countries would you go to? Where would you go?
I love anything dealing with Art, history, culture, food, and music! So I think that narrows it down to ummm everything still? haha
My parents are very chill and they'll go see whatever I tell them. SOOO pretty much this vacation is all in my control.

Do you guys think Spain, France, and Italy would be good for 2-2.5 weeks?

<< We have family in France, and I am fluent in French; so France is a must!

But what would you guys suggest? If you had 2 weeks in Europe, what countries would you go to? Where would you go? >>

France.

Just France.

I strongly second Rex - Just France: Paris and day trips make for one of the most unforgettable holidays.
You have a very short holiday period and would spend most of it travelling. That's not a holiday. Getting to grips with a particular city, it's food, people, history and culture, and just kicking back and letting it all wash over you: That's a holiday!

To be picky, you are choosing cities, not countries. With so little time in many countries, you will barely have any time to see "the country".

So...while tempting to say just France, since there seems to be some interest in the UK, why not a London/paris combo. Do an Open jaw with London and Paris, take Eurostar to go from Londo to Paris. Split time evenly between the two. To put this into perspective, you will NOT be able to see all of London or Paris this trip, or next or...so don't worry that you will run out of thing to do.

So..even though you are based (sleeping) in the city, you can
easily build in day trips if required. Perhaps Oxford or Hampton Court, Versailles or Chartres.

You lan din England, get over jet lag, the language is the same so you find your "european legs", and then you're off.

"I love anything dealing with Art, history, culture, food, and music!"

France and a couple of days in London if you really, really want to visit another country. However, you could do all of the above in France in two weeks (it go by in a flash)and still need to return.

Personally, I tend to like Paris and not much of the rest of France, so I wouldn't want to spend all my time in France.

What kind of music do you like?

To me, best food cities are Paris, Antwerp and Madrid, and lots of places in Italy. What kind of food do you like?

hi traveller,

you don't say how old you are, but I've travelled with my quite grown-up kids a reasonable amount and our best holidays have been when we have stayed reasonably still. in fact the older they've got, the more that's been the case. Paris seems to be a "given" but what about the rest of France? Where does your family live? what does your brother like to do?

I strongly agree that you should stick with two bases max to get the most out of your holiday.

have a great time,

regards, ann

We've been fortunate to have taken five trips since 2000 (we wanted to go before wheelchairs or even more permanent immobility set in, and we thought the trade-off in expenditure of some savings has been well worth it).

In 2000 we attempted, mostly with success, to visit Venice, Florence, Verona, Vienna and parts of Germany. We changed places and lodgings too many times and, while we enjoyed ourselves greatly, we felt very rushed. We spent far too much time looking for, and using laundromats.

Our second trip, in 2001, limited us to just two weeks and we decided to spend a week in Paris and a week in London (with the happy aid of the Channel Tunnel train). Both are glorious cities and the relative leisure of a week in each really increased our overall pleasure with the trip. We also decided to invest in spending just two laundromat days in Paris and renting a flat in London where we appreciated the luxury of a washer/dryer which we could use at the end of the day when we were walked out.

Since then we've tried to stretch our total trip times to three weeks and our travels to just two or three cities.

We recommend that you try not to do too much in too many different places and try to be optimistic that you'll return in the future to further explore the possibilities.

I think you need a map, a train schedule, a list of places you want to see and some idea of how long it will take to see them. Italy, Spain and France in 2 week is simply ridiculous.

You need to think in terms of cities - not countries. IMHO you need 5 nights to see much of anything in a major city - to see a couple of cities and some of the countryside you need 2 weeks PER county.