My husband and I are planning on traveling to Europe (from the U.S.) in the Fall. We found cheap airfare into London, so that is where we would start and end our European trip. What do you think is possible to see in 14 days? Is a railpass the best way to get around?

We want to squeeze in as much as possible but don't want to be rushed and would like the time to take in the sites.

Thanks!!!
Brenda

That's a big question! First off are you interested in spending time in London or just passing thru Heathrow? Any preferences as to which country (countries?) you want to visit? Do you want to see great cities, or the countryside, or some of each?

You really can't decide if a rail pass is good value or know which pass to pick without having at least a general outline of where you want to go.

Hi Barb,
The best thing to do would be to write down a list of things you've dreamed of seeing. I'd give the big cities 4-5 days (I'd say 4 for London, 5 for Paris and/or Rome, for example). But if you want to see a lot, you CAN do the bigs in a few days, although few here would recommend it.

You might consider getting Europe Through The Back Door, a book by Rick Steves. It has a nice section with itinerary suggestions for different times, and is overall an excellent book for the first-time traveler to Europe.
He also has suggestions about how to figure out whether a rail pass is worth it or not.

If I were you (and let's just put our tongue in cheek and assume I am for a minute, LOL) I'd probably do 4 days in London, take the train to Paris, spend 5 days there, then head up to Amsterdam for a few days. You could then take the train and/or fly back to London from there.

Italy is a 2-week trip on its own, that's for sure. Whatever you decide, you will need to make reservations for hotels in Paris and London soon if that's where you choose to go. The good ones close in in Paris book up quickly.

Check out www.Venere.com for hotel ideas/reservations, raileurope.com for train ideas/rates/schedules, and www.ricksteves.com for general travel info as well. There will be lots of other good suggestions from others as well...this is getting long.

Happy travels,

Jules

I know it seems vague, but we really don't have preferences. We are just happy to be finally going.

Yes, we would like to spend some time in London. I think we would probably like to see major cities with maybe some stops to the countryside in between. From the little that i know (we just found out that we are getting to go so haven't researched that much yet), I would like to hit Paris for the museums. My husband speaks German so he would like to see part of Germany. I'd like to see part of Italy... maybe Venice?

Obviously I am a European virgin so any and all help is appreciated. I guess my question is asking for ideas for a first-time European traveler who has 14 days there.

Jules-
Thanks. Thats the kind-of information I was looking for. I see these tours and they all just seem so fast so I appreciate being honest about how many days to spend in each place. We didn't like the idea of a tour because I don't like my time to be *that* scheduled when I'm on vacation. Off to look at the web-pages you suggested.

-Brenda

Well, I might get blasted by the Fodorites who believe a minimum of 1 week should be spent in all major cities, but you could do the following:

1) London, 3 or 4 nights
2) Train (Eurostar) to Paris, 4 nights
3) Overnight train/fly to Venice, 2 nights
4) Fly/Train to Munich, (cause at least it's in Southern Germany), 2 nights.
5) Fly back to London to catch your flight home.

That'll leave you a couple of days for travel, which you'll need since you lose at least 1/2 day every time you pull up stakes and move.

Also, the night train we took to Venice from Paris leaves around 8:30 p.m. and puts you in Venice around 9 a.m. You can reserve a private cabin or go 2nd class and rub elbows with some locals. It costs around $100-$150/pp and saves you the cost of a hotel.

We stayed one night (had two days) in Venice and enjoyed it, but weren't completely enamored...it's definitely something to see, and some people can go there for 2 weeks. Everybody's different so do what's right for you.

That would give you a sampling of what you'd like to see, and it is do-able.

I'm sure there will be some other good suggestions to help you start planning your trip. DO get some guidebooks asap though, that's where you'll get some other solid info about where you're going, and what to see..

Happy travels,

Jules

Thanks again, Jules. I'm stopping at the bookstore on my way home from work.

I think we are both just excited to be going.

I just re-read my post and called you Barb. My apologies.

Enjoy the planning, BRENDA. It's half the fun. And wherever you go, remember to travel with the attitude that "you'll be back" so you see as much you want without running yourself too ragged.

We are going back to Paris and London this September and I am so excited to re-visit some sites while seeing new ones that I missed last time.

Have a great time!

Jules

Nothing wrong with being excited to go but having no specific plans! Some of my best trips have been when I saw a photo in a magazine and then went to that place for no better reason than I liked the look of it!!

I think the London-Paris-Amsterdam-London would be one great itinerary.

But for me I'd probably prefer something like London-Paris-Venice (and somewhere fit in one German stop for your husband). This could all be done by train then fly back to London from your furtherest away point for your flight home.

Rick Steves is an excellent suggestion for giving you a 'feel' for traveling in Europe. Actually any guidebooks from the library so you can just leaf thru and see what grabs your imagination is fun and free research.

I'm not much for the countryside myself, but that's purely individual preference. Plus traveling by train getting into the heart of each city is the easiest.

With 14 days, I would schedule 4-5 days in each of 3 cities. My pace is a little slow but I prefer that.

p.s. welcome to Fodors and welcome to European travel.