Hi I'm from Mexico and I'm going to be in Europe for a month. The countries that I want to vist are; Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium and London. Please let me know if I'm ok with the countries that I want o visit or should I avoid some of them. THANK U

Gladys, there is any reason to avoid a country in Europe!

Your list is too long. In a month, in my opinion, you can not visit more than 3 countries.

If you want suggestions, you have to give more details:

- when will be this visit?
- where you arrive in Europe, and from where is your flight back?
- what do you like to see: nature, art museums, architecture, shopping, history ??

I agree that 7 countries in a month is not really viable - that's 3 days per country (or less than that if you subtract travelling time between stops). Although London is a city it's pretty big by itself!

Answering valtor's questions above will help you focus a bit on what you really want or have enough time to see.

Planning is part of the fun!

I would choose 2 countries and avoid the other 5.

Let's look at this realistically. You'll have 4 days per country (although London is a city, not a country). Have you looked at a map? Do you realize that both Spain and France are 3 times the size of Mexico? Your goal is the same as someone saying that they want to visit all of Mexico in a day and a half.

I also think your list is too long. You also need to tell us more about yourself and your interests.

For future reference on the forum, don't mark a post requesting info/assistance as a trip report.

Hi...

As a first-timer, I suggest four countries (a week in each)...maybe adding an additional single city from a fifth country...perhaps:

London and a few of day-trips (a week)..then Eurostar to...
Paris and a few of day-trips (a week)..then Thalys to...
Belgium-Netherlands (a week)...the Eurostar to...
Rome & Florence (a week)

...plus...

Madrid (a few days...maybe make this your gateway city with 2 days on arrival and a day before flying home)...ONLY IF... you can get an easy, fast flight between Madrid and London and Rome

...just my opinion and my taste.

SS

Great Photo

1) When, it gets cold and miserable in the winter
2) Too many countries, you might prefer to look at France, Spain, Italy
3) Why are you coming and what are your interests, some countries are better than others
4) Cities, countryside??
5) I guess you speak Spanish and English so Holland and UK would be easy too

I would suggest you fly into Spain - see if it makes a difference in your flight costs, but for a 1st trip, spend 3 nights in Madrid and 3 in Barcelona, then take a train to Perpignan, which would be a nice transition from Spain to France, spend a night there and hopefully get an inexpensive flight to Paris, where you will spend a week.

From there you could take the train to see Belgium and maybe even Amsterdam, then perhaps an inexpensive flight (or train back to Paris to catch the eurostar) to London to finish out your trip in England, and fly home from there.

Or of course, reverse this basic itinerary, and do London, Paris, Belgium/Netherlands, then head south via flights to Spain and fly home from there.

You will be covering a lot of ground, but it is doable. You'll have to limit yourself, but you could do it.

Hi GM,

>Please let me know if I'm ok with the countries that I want o visit or should I avoid some of them. <

You have a very rushed itinerary.

You would have a great time if you flew into Spain, visited Italy and flew out of Paris.

adrienne said;

"Let's look at this realistically. You'll have 4 days per country (although London is a city, not a country). Have you looked at a map? Do you realize that both Spain and France are 3 times the size of Mexico? Your goal is the same as someone saying that they want to visit all of Mexico in a day and a half."


What?????

Mexico is 3 times the size of France and 3.5 times the size of Spain. Or, put another way, Mexico, the 14th largest country in the world, is 70% larger than France and Spain COMBINED. Or larger than Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Belgium COMBINED

If one plans to lecture another on being "realistic", a passing acquaintance with the facts should be required.

Gladys; You can visit however many countries you wish in a month but there are always "trade-offs". Of course, you could certainly spend the entire month only in Spain or any of the other countries selected. The advice of others is only going to be of assistance if it addresses your own expectations and desires from the trip, and we don't know what those are.

You can always find someone in these forums to tell you are doing too much, or doing the wrong thing. No one knows what your personal situation is; whether this a trip of a lifetime with no chance to return, for example, or whether you just want a whirlwind fast paced tour of Western Europe. That is for you to decide.

I will presume you that you realize that your hoped for itinerary will involve an average of just 4 or 5 days per country, including travel time. If that is what you want, then go ahead and plan for it. If you want to spend more time in a few places, tell us which ones and which ones you want to just visit briefly. Perhaps you only want to visit Salzburg, or Vienna for a couple of days as your Austria portion. Do you want to visit only major cities, or include some small towns? Are there any places you simply cannot miss? Will you be flying, taking the train, driving any portion?

Fill in some more details and hopefully, you can get some specific advice.

While you are making your plans, there are two things to keep in mind:

1. It takes AT LEAST half a day, and maybe even a whole day, to move from one place to another. How many days do you want just to be in transit?

2. Think in terms of how many nights you will be in a place, not how many days. Two days means you arrive on day one, and don't get settled until half the day is gone. Then you spend the night, check out, and spend half the next day moving on to your next destination. Is that what you intend? If you really want two days somewhere, you need to stay at least two nights.

If you have not already done so, buy a good general travel guide, like Rick Steves's Europe. That will give you a better idea of what you want to see and what the costs are.

Hi sorry but my english it's not perfect. The principal countries that I want to visit are, Spain, France. Italy and maybe England. My arrival and departure city it's Barcelona, And i'm gonna be on November 6th until December 6th. Thank U for you're suggestions. I really apreciate

I agree with all the comments that say "too many countries".

Barcelona is great, budget 3-4 days there.
Head to Arles, France from there. Spend 2 days.
Then to Cannes/then to Cinques Terres - 2 days at least in Manarola.

Down to Roma for 5 days. Up to Florence for 3 days. Spend a week in Venice. Overnight train to Paris and spend the remainder of your time there. Save London and the UK for another trip.

Since you are going in Nov./Dec, and want to see London, I would fly directly there from Barcelona as soon as you arrive and work your way South. Paris, the South of France, Italy, then Spain. In November, I would skip Cinque Terre which will likely be chilly and windy that time of year. With a month, you can spend 5 days each in London and Paris, 10 days in Italy and 10 days in Spain. Consider Andalucia in Spain for a week before ending in Barcelona.

I think Mamcalice gave you a good idea.

Here is something to consider, presuming you are taking the train;

Barcelona - 3 days
Arles/Provence - 3 days
Genoa - 2 days
Florence - 4 days
Venice - 3 days
Munich - 5 days (Salzburg day-trip, Alps day-trip)
Strasbourg - 2 days
Paris - 4 days
Sarlat (Dordogne/Perigord Region) - 3 days
Barcelona - 1 (before departure)

There are a couple of long legs in there, that you might want to adjust. For example, you could go overnight on the train between Munich and Paris and add the 2 days to the time between Paris and Barcelona. Venice to Munich can be done overnight as well.

If you are able to fly any legs things could change a lot. The problem with getting more time in Spain, is that, unless you stay around Barcelona, you have to go quite a bit west and that takes you away from the rest of what you want to see. San Sebastian is an option coming back down to Barcelona from Paris to give you more time in Spain.