twobluecats

Hello to all. As a diehard travel planner and airline employee, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that the idea of planning the first trip to Europe for me and hubby has me frozen in my tracks. I have no certain idea which country we'd even like to make our first trip as there are so many we want to see. Important to me:

I don't want to whiz from one country to another--would rather enjoy the charm and character of one country at a time

Vacation time will most likely be approx. 16 days, including travel time from Dallas, Texas

Love culture, architecture, people, food, and animals

Haven't a clue when it comes to other languages, but always willing to learn

Can you give me your best suggested country/cities if it were your first trip to a European country?

Many thanks!

J62

I understand how figuring out where to go and how to pull it off can be overwhelming, especially for first timers.

London and other parts of Great Britain or Ireland are always an easy to do destination for first timers since is takes foreign language out of the picture and they are easy to get to with NS flights from DFW.

rex

Go to the largest public library or bookstore near you, and spend one-to-several hours, just browsing... ideally, at the kinds of big coffee table size picture books.

Then, an hour, or a day, or a week later... close your eyes, and visualize "I can't wait until I can get to Europe, so that I can..." and tell us the three or four most compelling images that come to mind.

"We" (the veterans here - - but equally, many of the newcomers) will help you connect the dots from there.

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana

aeiger

Hi
Have you ever had a place that you wished you could visit.? We took our first trip to England because of the similarities in language. My wife always dreamed of Paris, we went there for our third trip to Europe. My wife works for an airline also, so I understand the difficulties of standby travel, if that's how you're going. We usually see a country to visit and see the closest airport. We have flown intra europe also to get closer to our destination. Whizing from one country to anothers lessens the travel experience. I would recommend England or France to begin, unless there are other countries more to your interests.
Enjoy your trip.

cmenoni

Would help to know if you plan on driving or taking local transport. I'm assuming you're with AA, given your Dallas base, and that will determine your destinations in Europe somewhat. Also, whether you've traveled abroad to other continents.

Your plan to enjoy a local area or culture rather than zip around is very sound.

What are your interest? family background? favorite foods? museums? etc.

Lot of help here if you would be more specific.

Just a shout out of the blue from some one whose family and language is German - I LOVE ITALY and FRANCE!!

Enjoy wherever you find yourselves with each other!!

frrodriguez78

Rome and Paris, a week at each. Best two european cities. You might be able to take day trips to surrounding towns: Ile de France, where you will find Versailles and Fountainbleau, and maybe Tuscany, north of Rome.

namaka

You must have some idea of places that interest you!

Then maybe you could read some people trip reports to get a better idea.

Once you've narrowed down your city or cities, you can start on choosing sights that interest you.

I think that a lot of people start with England because of the lack of a language barrier and Paris, well, because it's Paris!

I just left Paris last month; then went on to Lisbon and am now in England. It has been a wonderful journey.

Good luck to you! If you utilize this site, you will find out everything you could possibly need to know.

Jackie_in_Italy

this must be exciting, getting ready for your first trip to Europe. I think 16 days is great. It's plenty of time to devote entirely to one country, or to explore maybe 2 places, if your goal is taking it slowly.

in terms of your interests: culture, architecture, people, food, and animals--many countries fit this, some better in some aspects than others.

I recently was given a guide to Western Europe, and I sat down and read the intros to each country, to each capital city, to see where I wanted to visit next. It gave me lots of ideas, told me places I'd really like to go, that fit my travel needs. It was great--I hadn't been bitten by the travel bug in some time, and all of the sudden I felt a desire to get back on that train or airplane, and make my way around Europe again.

Anyway, this might be a good way to start or, as others say, browsing the travel section of your local bookstore or library. even looking online at photos (flickr is great, because you can browse photos of almost everywhere) helps.

Something of importance: What time of year will you be traveling?

Anyway, I love Italy, and I think it's a pretty lovable place, but you need to come to your own conclusions, and find the place that most moves you.

(btw: I think the idea of exploring England and Ireland makes a lot of sense, with the language issues. Not too fond of their food, but still...it's a nice European starting out point. It was my European starting out point, actually!)

namaka: how was Lisbon and Portugal in general? I'm thinking of planning a trip there...

moxie

I think starting in London with a train trip to Paris would be a nice start.

Maybe 5 days in London, 6 days in Paris then finish up in London.

nessundorma

If you love culture, architecture, people, food, and animals, I recommend Italy because the Italians love all those things too.

Unless you are going at the peak heat of summer, I suggest visiting Venice and the Chianti region of Italy. Chianti is the area of Tuscany between Firenze and Siena. I suggest spending 5 nights Venice, 3 nights Firenze and 7 nights in the countryside of Chianti with a rental car. If you think you would prefer Roma to Venice, then begin your trip in Rome and skip Venice for another time.

If you have no alternative but to travel at the height of summer, then I would suggest a trip to Amsterdam, Belgium and Paris, all of which is so compact it can easily be done by train: 5 nights Amsterdam, 4 days Belgium (I'd pick Antwerp or Ghent), 7 nights Paris.

suze

Because it's a first trip I would keep it relatively simple. Please do not be phased by your lack of language skills. Certainly a 2nd language is a terrific skill but it is not necessary to travel. Here are two trips I have done:

Plan A: Fly into Geneva, spend 5 days in Lausanne/Vevey/Montreux. Take an overnight train to Venice, stay 5 days. Fly or another overnight train to Paris, stay 5 days. Fly home from Paris.

Plan B: Fly into Amsterdam, spend 5 days. Train or fly to Paris, spend 5 days. Overnight train to Venice for 5 days. Fly home from Venice.

For a first trip I would not rent a car but rely on public transportation. Definetly book your plane ticket "open jaw" so you leave from your last stop without having to return to the first.

suze

Hmmm, re-reading your original request possibly my suggestions would fall under 'whizing from one country to another'.

If you *really* want to keep things simple just pick one place and go there for two weeks. Nothing wrong with that. Paris or Rome would be my picks for a longer visit.

crazychick

What about central or eastern europe. Many Americians do Prague, Vienna and Bupapest. I would suggestion including one of these cities in your break and I would have to say for first timers choose Prague. Just for Info Paris and Rome are 2 of the most expensive cities to stay in. Yes I would try and fit in a few days in both but not stay a week in each. I am sure that some other regular posters on this site will offer you some more advise and then you can sit back and think. You are travelling a long way so you want to see as much as you can, but I aslo know what you mean about hopping from one city to anther all the time. You do not always get to see that much hence suggesting you limit it to 3or 3 locations but include some day trips out and about them. You could stay in Tuscany, there is the city of Florence or Pisa and do Rome as a day trip. Like wise in France find some were outside Paris like Champagne-Ardenne or the Loire valley and maybe just spend 1 night in Paris.

twobluecats

Wow! Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. I'm headed to the bookstore today! In talking about our adventure, we seem to be drawn to Germany, Belgium, Holland--that region. But, Ireland and Scottland are desirable as well. Heck, Italy and France are on the list, too. However, my husband is a home brewer and lives to dream about the monasteries and monk-brewed beer in Belgium. I was even thinking of making things simple and taking a river cruise for the first visit. The time of year doesn't really matter as we can travel any time we wish.

noe847

I think that the brewing would be a good focus for you. You can do a great trip with Germany, Belgium and Holland. Look at lots of pictures and see what grabs you - what period of history, what style of architecture - and then you can add that to the brewery sites of interest. For example, many people love Ludwig's castles, but, since I am a medieval architecture person, I've never put them on my German itineraries.

crazychick

Many euoprean countries have microbrewries so you may want to read up on these and October is beer festival in Germany, caled the Oktoberfest.

bobthenavigator

First, decide WHEN, HOW LONG, AND HOW MUCH??? That will often determine where.

ira

Hi cat,

Fly to Paris, stay one week.

Fly ORY to VCE on www.myair.com

Stay 4 nights in Venice

Train to Florence for 4 nights.

Fly home from Pisa PSA.

Train schedules at www.trenitalia.com

Tickets to/from Europe at www.kayak.com.

Send a trip report.

nessundorma

A beer tour sounds great and will keep you from whizzing around from one country to another, as you said you didn't want to do. Amsterdam and Holland are great places to start. Lots of English spoken there and lovely, quiet streets to stroll and beautiful, beautiful architecture from many different epochs.

Danna

I recommend starting in Scotland. The best place to "learn European" I think. You don't need to learn the language but you must train your ear to understand the language. Almost all signs are in English, although I believe there are Gaelic town signs, at least there are in Northern Ireland. Even figuring out where to go there is mind boggling. I recommend not immediately chose the highlands. We prefer the SW coast of Scotland that is lovely and often overlooked.

Scotland is my best advice!