How much is too much for 2-week trip to Europe
 

My husband and I are in the very early planning stages of a two-week trip to Europe. We would like to go to Paris (and possibly elsewhere in France), Cinque Terre, and Munich as our main destinations, and maybe tack on London/Leeds (have a friend there) on the front end and/or Austria or Prague on the back end. Our main interest is food, with a little bit of sightseeing in between meals. We are thinking we'll rent a car.

Feedback?

Don't rent a car in one country and drop it off in another - huge extra fees for that.

It would be too much for me, but it's do-able.

I would pick 4 destinations in 2 adjacent countries. You do not need to hop all over Europe---too much waste of time.

I would consider:
Paris---5 days
Nice[Cote d' Azur]---3 days
Ligurian coast---2 days
Rome--4 days

All by train

For me, four separate locations is the max for a two week trip. Any more and you end up spending more time in transit and not enough time enjoying.

Have you looked at the minimum driving times for your itinerary. It's a lot of ground to cover in 2 weeks.

Since your main interest is food you should choose locations based on the restaurants. I'm sure there are good restaurants in Prague but why would you go out of your way just to eat when there are wonderful restaurants closer to Paris. Visit Lyon for good food and some place in Italy - Bologna perhaps.

If your main interest is food I would head for Belgium, which IMHO has by far the best food in europe overall (yes, better than France) and plenty of sights to see as well.
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You could start in Paris, head to Belgium (I prefer Bruges) and end up in Munich (with another stop along the way). I agree that in 2 weeks 4 stops is the most you want. We have done numerous road trips like that - pick up car when leaving paris and drop when arrive in Munich. We liked Trier (for the roman ruins as well as the German quaintness), but there are a host of places you can stay in between.

Yes, there will be a drop off charge for the car - but IMHO the freedom to make your own schedule is more than worth it.

I agree about Belgium and food.

You could fly between some destinations which might save you time and yes, having a car gives flexibility BUT sometimes when you are simply going from one city to another you do not need that kind of flexibility