jezzi111

Hi, hoping for a little advice. Heading to Europe April 2020 for about 4 weeks with mum (72) & son (8)
so far have booked accommodation & transport in London (4days) Paris (4days) & Rome (4days).
we plan to then fly to krakow, then to Berlin, then train to Prague and fly back to England
my questions are:
1) can I not book anymore accommodation & transport so from Rome we can decide to change plans or will we then not be able to get accommodation & flights at such short notice?
2) do you think we’re packing too much in? we might not be back so hope to see our ‘must see’ spots.
TIA!!!

Bougainvillea

Hi There
I am a little confused about your first question but if you are asking if you should book hotel rooms in advance, I would say yes! Many hotels sell out quickly and some are already booked. Flights are easier to book but you might pay more.
You are packing in a bit more than I would but I don't know your travel style. I would always spend more time in Italy but thats just me. I would probably pick 3 countries and stick to that. I thought I would never go back to Europe in 2001. Well, I made it back a few times since.

suze

You can wait and book the second half of your trip once you arrive. But you might find limited availability or have to pay a bit more than you hoped for. I would at least have a short-list compiled of places you are interested in. I'm pretty sure you won't want to have to waste a lot of time in Rome planning out the next two weeks, where to go, where to stay, etc.

As to the packing too much in question, that would be for me. I'd probably cut one or two places, and allow 5-6 days in each stop, rather than only 4 - remember you need to subtract the time it takes to fly or train between cities. That can 'kill' most of a day.

dreamon

You have a seemingly random group of cities but you must have picked them for a reason. I think you are covering an awful lot of ground but skipping past all the good bits in between, including smaller towns and villages.

Moderator1

Removed Trip Report tag and added country tags

janisj

It does sort of seem you've thrown some cities up against a wall to see what sticks.

You have listed seven destinations (since you have to be in London twice) and plan a generic '4 days per'. All cities are no created equal.

To get 4 full days in London (which is nothing for the largest city in Western Europe by a huge margin) at the beginning of your trip mean nights. Day one is at most half a day and you will probably be dealing with jet lag. So a 'lost' half day, and four full day = 5 nights. Same with your other '4 day stops'. 4 full days in Paris = 5 nights, etc etc. So just London/Paris/Rome will eat up fifteen night minimum. Plus another half day/night's stay back in London accounts for 16 nights (17 including the transatlantic flight)

Pick any cities you want but I'd plan on at least a couple more days in London, an additional day-ish more in both Paris and Rome. and any other couple of cities you want. I WOULD try to put all the London time together at the end since you'll want to be there anyway the night before your flight home. So Arrive in London and immediately fly on to whichever city you want first, then work your way back towards London for the last 5 or 6 days (6 or 7 nights)

You will definitely want to book hotels and any flights and even most train journeys well in advance. It is already a little late because of Easter and Spring breaks.

jezzi111

Thanks everyone,
i will start booking the rest of the flights & accommodation with consideration to dropping a country or two.
just to clarify, when I say 4 days that actually means 4 full days with a day either side for travel. So, so far I have 2 full days in London, 4 full days in Paris & Rome & will have 5 full days in London at the end.
thanks again, such great help! Jess

suze

Still "4 full days" is not all that much time when you're talking cities like Paris or London or Rome. They are all huge!!

Do you have plans for what you plan to see in each city? That might be a way to narrow things down. Personally I'd keep Berlin but skip Prague and Krakow. Then you'd have 4 major cities and one month to see them. That would be a good paced trip and allow for some "day trips".

But only you know why you've picked the places you've picked Good luck planning, you're doing fine!!

janisj

"have 2 full days in London, 4 full days in Paris & Rome & will have 5 full days in London at the end."

Then I repeat - - combine ALL your London days/nights together into one stay. Otherwise you are building an additional unneeded hotel/check in/check out. Travel immediately upon arrival on to Paris or which ever city you want to do first. Then all your London stay will be together at the end. It makes no sense to stay in the same city twice since that will waste more than a full day of 'logistics'

jezzi111

Thank you, unfortunately I can’t do London in one lot due to logistics with meeting up with some family & have already booked the London to Paris to Rome bit 😁