My husband and I will be travelling to Europe in Sptember of 2002 and were planning on staying in Spain for a week, then Italy for a week, and then Germany for a week. We were planning on renting a car and driving but we have never been to Europe and don't even know where to start as far as planning. We are not sure what we shouldn't miss and if there's any way to book cheap hotels or hostels prior to going over. Does anyone have any helpful information on how I can get started researching this? Or maybe a website that might help? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! <BR> <BR>Heidi <BR> <BR>

Heidi, <BR>Do a text search on this forum for "How Do You Plan Your European Trip?" The sixty two responses will give you some insights in how to go about planning intelligently. <BR> <BR>Firstly, congratulations on having the foresight to begin your planning now instead of waiting til the last minute. <BR>I'd suggest you visit a neighborhood bookstore and check out the travel section. Invest in a foldout map of Europe. You'll quickly come to realize that to travel from Spain through Italy (and France) to Germany will consume a great deal of time, mileage, fuel and toll costs. The map will help you plan a realistic route for the sights you want to see. Look for a guidebook for Europe (Fodor's publishes an excellent one). In it, or any other guide, you should find the addresses, fax and phone numbers of the Spanish, Italian and German national tourist offices. Contact each and ask for brochures (they're free and an excellent resource for planning). Each of the national tourist offices and many regional, city and village tourist offices have websites. All of the major European auto rental companies (including Avis, Hertz, Budget, National and Alamo) have websites as well. You might want to consider a lease buyback arrangement which should be more economical than renting over a three week span. <BR> <BR>Feel free to Email me with any questions; I'd be more than happy to help you with your initial planning (it's my hobby!) If you're interested, I can recommend a number of good guidebooks that may fit your needs as well as some interesting websites. <BR> <BR>

For Germany, don't miss Berlin--really incredible city. Try nethotels.com for hotels/pensions.

Heidi, I start with airfare and transportation. If you decide you are flying into Barcelona and leaving from Munich for instance, you can plan around that. You may decide that it takes too long to drive from Spain to Italy and want to do a short flight instead of a long drive. <BR> <BR>Once you have the logisitics figured out start reading. Read this forum and get books on each of the places you are going to. My favorites are Fodors or Frommers books for picking out the highlights of each city. At this point you will start to form a plan. With only a week in each country you will have to plan what cities to see and what you can do on your next trip, especially in Italy. Next step after you have the cities figured out is hotels and there are websites that give you very accurate pictures and info so you can make good choices. To me this is the most fun part. <BR> <BR>So, just jump in and get out the maps and books. Have fun.

I have been to Germany a few times and I would recommend that you use the train to get around. German trains are not like the crappy U.S. trains. You can save a lot of money by buying a German railpass before you leave the U.S. A railpass will let you do as much train travel on any day that you specify. Quite handy if you want to make several stops. (Some German trains have private compartments which are wonderful for quiet conversations). <BR> <BR>I suggest that you pick a city and use it as a home base and go on daytrips. For example, you can make Munich your home base and then use the train to take daytrips to places like Rothenburg, Oberammergau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Salzburg Austria. I can recommend the book "Daytrips Germany" by Earl Steinbicker. He outlines several good "home base" cities and the attractions around them.

Hi Heidi, <BR> <BR>We're doing just about the same as you this year but starting in Germany and ending in Portugal & Spain. We decided to lease a car. Both Eurodrive (Renault)and Driveaway (Peugot) had Earlybird deals (big discounts for bookings made by end of March) making it really feasable, despite the extra $$ in drop off and pick up fees. When prices are organised for next year they may have the same deal going. Both are on the internet. <BR> <BR>I've found the Michelin Touring and Motoring Atlas of Europe to be a great help in planning <BR>1. Distances <BR>2. Finding Fodorites suggested destinations. <BR> <BR>www.mappy.com is excellent in estimating possible travel times between destinations. <BR> <BR>Keep tuning in here. I've got SO MUCH advice from reading others' questions and recommendations. <BR>

Heidi, Wes has given you good advice. Start with the macro criteria and then work from there. Half of the fun is the planning phase. This may help ! <BR> <BR>I get inquiries virtually every day requesting my help in developing a well conceived TRIP PLAN for independent travel in Europe. I am always willing to offer the benefit of my experience, but some requests can be a real challenge. Here is a recent example: <BR>"Dear Bob, I have seen your frequent comments on the Fodors forum and would like your help in planning our family trip to Europe. We are four [ ages 9&13] and will be traveling in August to these places we have always dreamed about---the Cote d'Azur, Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Rome and the Amalfi coast. Can you please tell us where to stay and what to see? Oh yes, we only will have ten days and we will be on a tight budget. Can you help us?" <BR> <BR>The challenge is to inject a dose of realism without completely dousing the dream. Not an easy task. But after having planned more than fifty customized itineraries for others, I have learned that the most successful trips are invariably those that are conceived by considering the macro criteria first. You must start with the "BIGGIES" in your planning phase and then the rest will fall into place. Anything less will seriously compromise the eventual trip success. <BR> <BR>The above scenario is a textbook example of poor planning. It fails to consider these criteria: <BR> <BR>WHEN? Pick your destinations based upon optimal seasonal considerations. Avoid most of southern Europe in the hot summer months. Visit Iberia or Italy in May or October and save the Alpine venues, northern Europe, and Ireland or Scotland for July and August. <BR> <BR>HOW MUCH? Your budget will often dictate which destinations are feasible. Set a realistic budget and then plan accordingly. Forget the upscale resorts during high season. <BR> <BR>ENOUGH TIME? Trying to do too much is the most common planning error. A ten-day itinerary calls for a max of four destinations---a 14-day itinerary suggests six. And try to plan your route for less than four hours of travel time to the next destination--- by car or train. <BR> <BR>RAILS OR RENTAL CAR? Your mode of transport will determine trip timing and choice of destinations. Train travel can be efficient but is very limiting for off-the-mainline locations. <BR> <BR>EXPERIENCE LEVEL? Trip stress is directly related to your travel experience in Europe. So plan your initial trip to minimize the stress factors. DO NOT BITE OFF TOO MUCH! <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>You may not always be able to control these variables, but you do need to develop your trip strategy considering their eventual impact---it will make all the difference. The worst mistake is to start with the single criteria of "WHERE" and then try to force feed the rest. <BR> <BR>My best advise is to plan this trip with the assumption that you will be returning to Europe for subsequent trips. Start with a good map and perceive Europe as geographic regions. Then, plan perhaps as many as three desired itineraries in advance. You will very likely return! By the way, let me know if you need some help. I have done it before! <BR> <BR>BOB THE NAVIGATOR <BR>[email protected] <BR> <BR> <BR>

If this is your first trip I would make it a shorter trip and cover less territory. Too many people go to Europe for one giant trip and then do not remember what they saw because they were exhausted trying to get it all in. Stop and smell the roses instead of ticking off a list of towns on a set, rigid agenda. <BR> <BR>Bob the Navigator and Wes Fowler are both excellent resources for trip planning. Bob helped me on an Italy trip a few years ago and he was right on with his advice. <BR> <BR>Have fun with the planning, but again, don't pack the trip so full you don't enjoy each day. We prefer renting a car. I understand the advice on the train, but a car gives you too much flexibility to visit the small towns in out of the way places which are many times better than the tourist haunts. Using the train sort of forces you in to not being able to do this and you feel like your entire trip was spent on public transportation. Just my opinion after many trips to Europe.

My husband & I went to Venice for 3 nights last May. We loved it!!! We stayed @ the Luna Baglioni Hotel! We are going back this June and we rented an apt. for one week thru -www.barclayinternational.com Another good site is :www:venice-rentals.com <BR>We are taking a tour in Venice through www:venicescapes.com Good luck!

Two good websites for finding hotels in Italy are www.itwg.it and www.venere.it.