First Time in Europe
 

My husband and I are turning 30 in June and would like to celebrate with a (first-ever!) trip to Europe. We're primarily interested in Spain, France or Italy and will have about one week on the ground. We're thinking with such a limited amount of time, it would be best to stick to one country (2-3 cities maybe?) but would be open to suggestions that hit more than one of these destinations. We're at a complete loss for how to even begin choosing between these three countries and planning the itinerary beyond that. Any suggestions would be welcome and much appreciated! Thanks in advance for any help.

There are so many ways to spend a week.

Fly into a place like Paris or Rome or Madrid. Spend 3 days and then fly to one of the others for the other 3-4 days and then fly home from that city.

Pick a country and go to 2 places. ie Fly into Rome for 3 days then up to Florence for 3 days then fly home from there.

Go to the countryside and stay for the whole week and drive around and get a feel for the area. Southern France would work for this as would Tuscany or Piedmont.

Only you can what works best but think about these things:
Do you prefer cities or the country.
Do you want to see a lot of history or museums or hang out with the people
Do you like to wander or are you attracted to something structured.
What is your budget.
Also what are the best flights from where you live. If you can get something direct into a country and back out then you will have more time in the country/countries.

At such early stages of planning and for your first trip, I'd suggest going to the library and checking out a pile of guidebooks for the countries you're considering.

With only one week my first thought is to stick to just one country. But you could do two cities for example combine Venice or Rome and Paris and fly between them). Book your airfare into one city and out of the other ("open jaws").

With a week, I would pick 2 destinations in the same country.
June is a perfect time to go. Here are some of my favorite combos, after 26 trips to Europe. Get a good guide book and see what floats your boat:

Paris[4] and French Riviera[3] Fly home from Nice

Rome and Tuscany[Siena]

Barcelona and Costa Brava

Munich/Bavarian castles/Salzburg

Venice and Lake Como--fly home from Milan

Hope that gets you thinking.

As Bob alludes to above, it's not necessarily a question of picking 2 or 3 "cities". Some of the best experiences we've had in Europe have been trips that combine a city destination with smaller towns or areas of natural scenic splendor.

Edinburgh > Scottish Highlands

Paris > Loire Valley

Venice > Italian Lakes

Florence > Tuscany

Athens > Peloponnese (Greece)

Munich > Tyrolia/Dolomites

Zurich & Lucerne > the Bernese Oberland


It's definitely a thought worth considering.

One can barely see Paris in one month. It's a pretty romantic city for 30's folks.

I don't think flying from city to city is a good value for having only one week on the ground.

Pick a city, with good train connections to another city. Madrid to Barcelona comes to mind as a great 2 city tour.

You can book an open jaw trip that is no more expensive than a round trip.

I agree with those who say to pick one country, with two cities. Assume you'll be back again, so you don't have to see everything on one trip.

Enjoy your first trip. If you have any more questions, come back to the board and ask. We love to talk travel!

Rastaguy, I agree. If this were MY trip, I'd go to Paris and spend the entire week there. But these folks seemed to want to do (a LOT) more.

I always decide where to go by looking at pictures. I'll see someone's photos and feel like I want to go there. There are thousands of galleries on the web you could browse though. I'll offer up mine to get you started. Just browse around and see if one place 'grabs' you more than another. http://www.pbase.com/annforcier

Great way to celebrate...and many years ago DW and I took a tour throughout Europe, have since been on many other trips.
You can list all sorts of destinations but I will propose considering a general tour to hit the highlights, so with our Globus tour in 1982 we started in London (with extra days before and after) and went through the Continent incl. France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy. You saw all those places you've dream of visiting. Then you will return for a particular place another time.

Of course many Fodorites are seasoned individual travelers and enjoy planning their trips. But a conducted bus tour might be good for firstimers. Yes, some drawbacks such as being on the move most days but especially good if limited time. Also tours can be found for just one country. Packaged tours are likely less expensive. Plus you don't have to rent a car.

Bil in Boston

<<We're at a complete loss for how to even begin choosing between these three countries and planning the itinerary beyond that.>>

That's why guidebooks are published. Get a bunch and start reading. And looking at maps. And photos.

A week in Europe absolutely flies by. I'd pick one country and do a mix of big city and countryside. You do have time to rent a car (for 3-4 days, say), but the trains are also incredibly easy to use to get around.

Don't try to cram a whole lot into a week. Even if you stay in one place the whole time it will be over in the blink of an eye.