BillT

Vienna - it was our first city to visit on our first Europe trip - a great city,it was our favorite until we visited Paris. We are glad that we visited other European cities before Paris because after Paris the others were a wee bit of a letdown!

Chads

Look their are many cities in Europe , Towns that you can visit . So I would narrow it down and that will help us more.

Sidny

Easy...Venice!!! Oh, and Paris.

laurela

You've had lots of replies that are terrific. Our first trip was last year (we're going again Sept 2011). Spent one week in Paris, it was mind-blowing. Be sure to have at least one haute cuisine experience (Lasserre is stupendous) ..all other meals were very very good. Spent 4 days in Rome - equally amazing but totally different. Incredible food all over the city - then 3 days north of Rome to decompress and experience the countryside. Can recommend Villa Clementina in Bracciano (beautiful lake, castle, etc.), El Pellicano (resort on an island off Tuscany) and we had our last meal at La Posta Vecchia a seaside villa built by Getty as a get-away. You will be planning your return visit on the plane trip home. Have a blast!

pppeaches

Hi, 14 days at least:

madrid-3 days. food is fabulous, tapas, pintxos; if u like museums: prado, reina sofia.impt side trip- san sebastian donostia

venice-3days..st marks,burano,torcello, harrys bar,great food.. side trip to tuscany

prague-3 days.magnificent sights and good food.ballet,opera,black theatre

Enjoy!

Paris- 3 days.great food and sights. louvre,versailles, mont st michel

flipflops101

Rome, Paris, Berlin

Three completely capitals that will give you a taste of some of the different cultures in Europe.

Palindroma

What time of year?

AisleSeat

London, Paris and Rome are the "big three" because they have the most to offer. Pick two of those for your first trip then start planning for next time. As for hanging with the locals, how are your language skills?

Bruno1

Fly into Paris, train to Amsterdam, train to Munich, train to Verona, Italy and fly home out of Milano. 10 days to do even what I wrote out here is extremely ambitious. You'll need at least 14 full days in country plus 2 travel days to and from the U.S. so that makes it 16 day vacation.

I wish you luck but truth be told, you're gonna need more time. Try to get more vacation time! 16 days. . . . minimum.

lavdi99

Last year we had 12 days (3 days in each city) trip to Europe.
We visited Amsterdam, than train to Paris, than flight to Barcelona, and finally flight to London. I still remember this trip. I am leaving in NY City, so, we were not impressed by food, since we are spoiled by all kinds of good food at home, but architecture and beauty of cities "kills" us. I am agree that in London you feel like home, but it is still a nice city with a lot of to see. In the past I visited Rome, Prague and Vienna, all of them are beautiful. Just one advice: if you are planning to visit multiple cities in one trip, please do yourselves a lot of homework and than you will be able to make it. Enjoy, you will not be disappointing with any of those destinations.

beena620

Whoever advised you to start with the greats gave awesome advice!

I completely disagree with sticking to one place. That's a luxury for someone that knows they will have the opportunity to travel again. Every time we travel to Europe for leisure, we hit at least 2-3 countries per two week trip just because it seem silly not to when they're RIGHT THERE. That way, you get to see the basic stuff and know where you'll return to if you ever get the chance to "dig in" to the culture. It seems unfortunate to use your once in a lifetime visit on one place.

#1 PARIS...I go back again and again for the vibes, not the tourist attractions. It's has beauty, history, great food, romance, and the most amazing cemetery you'll ever see.

#2 LONDON, VENICE, and AMSTERDAM's main sights can all be seen in a 1-2 days a piece if need be. I recommend adding at least two of these cities to a trip. It's not ideal to cram, but visiting multiple countries makes each trip feel like the trip of a lifetime.

#3 Italy: For the most part, it is best done as it's own trip. It takes more than a week to see the good stuff: Rome, Florence, Venice, Amalfi or Cinque Terre, Pisa, etc. However, a few days in Rome or a couple days in Venice would be a great addition to your trip.

#4 Spain/Portugal. Best as a separate trip trip from the rest of Western Europe. Same with Greece and Eastern Europe. I've been to Turkey and never thought of it as a must see. Maybe I should try again...

Sassafrass

Beena620, you topped a 7 year old post and the OP has not been on Fodors in 4 years.

beena620

Haha, didn't notice the date. Oh well, this thread was the second hit on a Google search about so maybe someone somewhere will find it useful.

LSky

I wonder where they ended up going?

Still since eating was #1 Italy and Paris.

Hobbert

They went to Italy, drank the water, and died.