<<Is there a person who can specifically help me plan a trip?>>

Sure, but you're not paying a travel agent here, you're relying on the volunteer help of people who've got years (for the most part) of travel experience in Europe under their belts. Are they going to plan an itinerary for you? No. That's up to you.

Can you imagine when many of us travelers started wandering Europe in the 1970s, for example, and had no internet, what we had to do to plan a European trip? Well, think about it. All we had were guidebooks and maps. And we did fine.

You can, too, plus you have the entire internet at your disposal, with every city, town, and village in Europe having its own website, every train company having one, every restaurant and hostel and inn and hotel having one. Can you not imagine how much easier it is for you to do this than it was for most of us?

Go to the library if you can't afford to buy guidebooks. Get out guidebooks and videos and watch them. Go online and explore, explore, explore. Get a full-size paper map of Europe and pin it to your wall and put pushpins in it according to what you want to visit. Use your imagination. Do the math.

Do NOT expect someone to throw this in a bag for you, if you want it to be your trip, not someone else's. If this is too taxing for you, sign up for a Contiki or other canned tour.

How long do you plan to spend on this trip?

A little guidance and as StCirq says above you will get all kind of help - even suggested itineraries - so be specific in your questions after many above gave you lots of info.

and don't over plan either!

Dear PackItUp2016:

We generally planned our European travel, most of which was with our children from the age of 8 to the ages of 18, on "What movie scenery culture were we intrigued by?" or "What art do I REALLY want to see before I die?" or "What food do I REALLY want to taste?" Ergo, we spent a lot of time in France :) when we started out, and then we explored Italy.

But I do go back to the movie idea. So much of our impressions of a country are created by media, and it is SO fun to find out if those impressions were correct or totally wrong.

Now to your questions:

<b>What is your budget?</b>
Alas, I missed out on the backpacking in my youth. My parents, though, took my sister and me to England in 1970 on the book, "England on $5 and $10 a Day"--and spending the $10 was a splurge--so I guess I was brought up on frugal travel. My husband did much the same throughout his travel in his 20s, and when we married, our style was to look for extreme bargains always.

Unfortunately, as my husband and I have aged, we probably are willing to spend more and I am NO help on the current budget for you.

Some cities are far more expensive than others, and I never find those indexes of "Most Expensive Cities" to be accurate. I can tell you that I can do street food in NYC and Paris really cheaply. I can't do the same in Switzerland or even England.

<b>How long to go for?</b>
My first trip as a teen was 21 days. My husband's trips were for around two months.

I always say that for even one country in Europe, I would do 7-10 days as my minimum because that gives you time to explore one big city (Paris/London) plus do one or two side cities. 21 days gives one a lot of wiggle room for transport (transport is what eats up time and money) to other regions and countries.

Sidenote: We HAVE spent less time there when we had Frequent Flyer Miles that we could use frugally in off-season. So yeah, we HAVE done Paris for a long weekend as long as we were not paying for the flight.

<b>What is your mode of transportation when in Europe? Train, bus, car?</b>

In my husband's youth, he and his buddies bought EuRail passes and hopped on and off throughout Europe. Flash forward, that same travel method is no longer the bargain. Some of the rail routes do not accept the passes--or rather, they interpret them differently. So do consult www.seat61.com for pass advice.

And as others have said, check out the cheapie European air flights. My youngest daughter found that she could do most of her travel her year abroad in Paris cheaper by plane than by train. She just made sure she always compared fares.

We old folk still travel to Europe frequently and we go out of our way NOT to use a car. Trying to avoid a car mean that we learned that Ireland is EASILY explored by bus, that Paris bus and Metro system is efficient and pretty darn cheap, and that the Riviera is a snap to explore by bus and train.

Heck, one time we were stumped as to how to get from Point A to B. We went to the tourist office and they found us a driver for less than a day's car rental.

<b>Where do you enjoy most to go?</b>
Hard to say. Anywhere in Ireland (four trips--and I'm trying for the 5th), Paris (17 trips?), the rest of France, Italy, and now I'm really into Spain. I'd go back to Slovenia in a heartbeat. I'd also go back to Switzerland in a heartbeat when I win the PowerBall.

<b>Where do you least enjoy to go?</b>
Anywhere around cruise ships. They have really ruined the experiences in Istanbul, Barcelona, Venice, cities that I otherwise really enjoy. I don't like to be anywhere where all the tourists ask, "Do you have senior citizen discounts?"

And yeah, I AM a senior citizen.

<b>Where do you stay? Hotel, hostel, Airbnb?</b>
My daughters always did hostels in their years abroad. I am thinking that just a few years later they'd be doing Airnb.

As an older person now, I admit to becoming too bathroom-centric to be flexible. Depending on the country, we usually stay in 3* hotels. I know I could stay in a no-star in Switzerland and be just fine. I tend to look for a 4* in Italy.

<b>Would you explore on your own or with a tour? </b>
We DO use tour services when we take cycling vacations. Part of that is that I am the trip planner for the family; I can't be the trip mechanic and EMT too. Otherwise, we do all of our own planning and routing.

However, I often look at tours to see how they are routed. Then I make sure I add a lot more time to the route!!!!

And often, I will engage a day tour in a city. We do a lot of walking tours from guidebooks, but it's nice to do really good ones in some of the major cities.

There are some free services out there, too. Check with the tourist office where you go. Trieste, for example, offered a free walking tour with a transport pass. Some museums even offer free tours.

Good luck planning!
AZ

Sorry - we are not travel agents and can't make an entire trip for you - all we can do is advise. (If you want a travel agent you will have to pay for one and it won't be cheap - they have to earn a living too.)

But more important - if you haven't put the trip together yourself (yes, with a lot of help from people here) - what will you do when things do wrong? And, yes, they will go wrong. I have yet to go on any trips (more than 100 trips to europe) when something didn't go wrong. Usually something small and easily fixable but a couple of times a little tricky.

Only if you put it together yourself will you know enough to be able to easily fix the problem - or who to go to for help.

Yes travel can at times be travail and to me that is a great learning experience - better be a traveler than a tourist carted around and everything done for you - I like the learning experience of traveling abroad and facing unexpected turns of events - like train strikes, metro strikes, etc.

Don't over think all this - Europe is set up for easy traveling and with smart phones or tablets everything is at your fingertips.

What is you average budget and time elapsed?
Less than 1000 € per day, 5 weeks
What is your mode of transportation when in Europe? Train, bus, car?
Car (my own)
Where do you enjoy most to go?
Southern France
Where do you least enjoy to go?
Hometown
Where do you stay? Hotel, hostel, Airbnb?
House
Would you explore on your own or with a tour?
My own.

So did it help you ?

If you are under 26 and taking several long-distance trains the Eurail Youthpasses may well be better than a series of discounted tickets (which are often train-specific and non-changeable nor refundable and since they are issued in limited numbers must be booked weeks/months in advance to guarantee availability.

Eurailpasses still let you hop on any train just about in Europe save in a handful of countries where you must get a mandated seat reservation before boarding (Italy, Spain and TGV trains in France mainly) - so do investigate that and it could keep your travel expenses to a fixed amount - passes must be bought outside of Europe however as Europeans can't use them (they have their own Inter-Rail Passes).

Op has not come back. Guess they dont want help but were looking for a travel agent.

>>Op has not come back. Guess they dont want help but were looking for a travel agent.<<

Its only been since yesterday morning -- he may be back . . .

good point.. always seems longer.

Well he packed it up a bit early, having got all his answers and moving on to Europe- please give us a trip report or survey summary.