HELP! Traveling within Europe
 

Party of 4 in Europe for the first time in June for 14 days. We are all in our early 30s.

Places we would like to visit are:
London
Amsterdam
Paris
Venice
Rome

First question: Is this an insane number of places to travel to in 14 days?

Second question: What is the best way to travel to these locations in the order they have been listed?

Thanks to all!

To answer your first question "yes", but if you must:

Fly to Amsterdam. Train to Paris. Train to London. Fly to Venice. Train to Rome. Fly home from Rome.

1) yes

2) I'd do it in the order you named -- fly to London, fly to Amsterdam (there are a couple cheap airlines from major London airports to AMS), take high-speed train to Paris, fly to Venice (Ryanair does that cheaply from Beauvais, I think, although some other airport might be more convenient if you get decent airfare), take train to Rome

I agree w/ the others. It is an insane itinerary. Would be (just barely) doable by a single traveler. But when traveling in a group everything takes longer.

Plus, every time you travel between cities you eat 1/2 to a full day. between checking out, traveling to the train station or airport, advance check in, travel from next airport/station, checking in to new hotel. Even the short trips like London/Paris turn in to 5 or 6 hours of just travel time.

Do you have 14 days on the ground in Europe - or does that include the 2 travel days to/from Europe?

If it is 14 days on the ground - your 14 days actually turns into about 10 days actual sightseeing time. So you are talking about 2 days in places like London and Paris which is just not enough time to even scratch the surface.

I would pick 3 of these cities, no more. (any three would be fine but my choices would be London/Paris/Venice OR London/Paris/Rome.)

5 or 6 days London, 5 or 6 days Paris, 3 days Venice.

Won't tell you the best way to travel to all five cities because I don't want to be an enabler :)

Oh - meant to add -- If the 14 days is your TOTAL time including travel to from the States, then pick just two of those cities because you will only have 11.5 days on the ground in Europe.

The ohter posters are correct - unless you want the trip to be noting but a blur of airports, train stations, subways and hotel lobbies you really must reduce this trip to two or three cities.

Yes,it's insane.I always like to approach a trip with the expectation that if I love a place,I'll return at some later date.You can't do everything.

I would either do the London/Paris/Amsterdam combination or the Venice/Rome.

Yes, this is a regrettable plan, an Amazing Race, not a vacation.

Do either London/Amsterdam/Paris or Venice and Rome.

It's only one (or two) cities too much, in my opinion - - and at the same time, deficient, at least one "countryside".

But the proposal by Patrick is sound, and there could be many other ways:

Day 0 - - fly to London
Day 3 - - fly London-Venice
Day 6 - - train Venice-Rome
Day 9 - - fly Rome-Paris
Day 12 - - train Paris-Amsterdam
Day 14 - - fly home

(note: this is 13 nights sleeping in Europe, and one sleeping overnight on the transatlantic flight; if you mean sleeping 14 nights in Europe, it would be a little less rushed, of course).

The real question is: what is the goal of visiting five famous cities that are so culturally disconnected?

Best wishes,

Rex

If you want to go for the sake of going, yes it is possible to hit all five. But, as mentioned by everyone else, that wouldn't seem to provide the best vacation and the opportunity to get more than a basic view of each city. Would you really want to go to Paris for the first time and not get a chance to visit Versailles?

Given there are four of you, I might suggest you collectively narrow down the list to two, possibly three locations. Each place has it's plusses and minuses, for your group those will depend on what you'd like to experience.

If you're intent on this type of itinerary, I might suggest you think about a cruise. While it wouldn't be my preferred method of travel, there are several cruise lines that run "Capitals Europe" type trips that will likely allow you to hit most, if not all five. At least on a cruise ship, you'll avoid the constant shuffle through airports and train stations and the packing/unpacking.

Hi sy,

For two weeks, first timers, I suggest one week in London and one week in Paris.

Fly into London, take the Eurostar to Paris, fly out of Paris.

Have a great visit.

((I))

I agree with Ira. My first trip to Europe was 16 days so actually had 14 full days on the ground. It was with a tour..I know you aren't touring..but as an example..we did 3 nights London, 3 nights Paris, two nights Lucerne, one night Florence (the only one nighter thank goodness) 2 nights Venice and 3 nights Rome...and this tour was considered slow!!!! By the time we got to Rome, I have to admit I was a tired "puppy". The thing that made it palitable was, we weren't driving so could enjoy looking at the country side and occasionally napping a little bit. When we got to the cities we did not have to try to negotiate our way to the sites and with the group we also did not have to wait in line anywhere except about 20 minutes for the Vatican area. You have never been to Europe, you will have to travel from place to place, will have to find your way around to what you want to see, and I'm sure there is someone here that's like a homing pidgon when it comes to finding their way around, but plenty of posters have gotten lost, taken the wrong tube or metro etc. My point is, you are doing way too much...I wouldn't have expressed an opinion except you asked so for what it's worth, this is what I think.

I'd pick up Paris to visit a major big city , stay 6 days take a night train to Amsterdam where you can stay 3 days , fly to Venice or take another night train there (it saves time plus hotel!)and stay there 4 full days.
Paris and London are big spots to visit , with tons of activities.
The city center of Amsterdam is small , (compared to the 2 mentioned above ), and you'll see the major attractions , walk around and go to taverns and eat indonesian delicious food , then go the magic place:Venice really is out of time , as long as you sleep in it and not in any close city.
Night trains aren't the most comfortable but they aren't that bad either!

My suggestions
London, Paris, Rome
London, Paris, Venice
Paris, Venice, Rome
London, Amsterdam,Paris

London-Paris can be the Chunnel train
Amsterdam-Paris can also be a train
Paris-Venice can be an overnight train, or a flight
Venice-Rome is either a 4.5+ hour train ride, or a flight

Be sure to fly into one city and home from another so that you don't have to backtrack

My personal picks, not necessarily yours, would be London, Paris, and Venice.

First answer, yes. I think we are unanimous on that.

Second answer, strictly my opinion, just do Paris and Amsterdam in your 14 days. More than that is a crunch.