Ah, I didn't see the most recent reply before I posted. If your heart went to Italy then you have to follow it!

Have a great trip.

We have travelled to all of your destinations. Are you looking for history, art, culture, food or just plain fun and where is your US starting airport.

I am starting in Arizona and I have a direct overnight flight to London. I am honestly interested in the food, and the culure of the cities. I am very "outdoorsy," if you will, and I'm not that into museums. I really want to dive into the heartbeat of the city and let it teach me and guide me. I am in love with architecture and photography. I want to capture the cities and hang them all over my walls and have tons of stories to tell!

Does that help?

YOur trip sounds marvelous for a first time traveler. You will be back-I guarantee. Planning is half of the fun and this site is the best for help. Save Paris for when you have more time to travel.On our 2nd trip to Italy we spent a month there. As you travel more you just want to travel slow and enjoy.

Ok, leaving from Az, you have a direct flight with at least one stop. So you are traveling 12 hours plus 8 hour time difference so do what we do. Get lunch and a nap when you get to your hotel because you will be thrashed. Set the alarm for 7 pm and go out have a bite and hit a pub or two, check out the London eye etc. Then go to Paris if only for the food and do the Vedettes de Pont Neuf after dark. Do not miss doing that. It's the best 8 euros you will ever spend (ticket online) on any travel expense. We do it every arrival and departure night in Paris. Get outdoorsy in the Tuileries Daytime do the Open Bus with English narration of all the sites and you can get on and off at sites that interest you. For your first trip do the entire circuit and mark your map of get offs then the next day do all your stops. We have been there more than a dozen times and have yet to see it all. Go to Versailles you will have your architectural freak on the entire time in France. Fly to Rome where it all began. Hang at the Spanish steps and have a gelato next to Trevi Fountain. Check out St. Peter's and walk in the 2000 year old Roman Forum close by the coliseum. Get outdoorsy at the borgesi estate. If it were me i would hit florence (treasure chest of europe) but your ticket brings you home from madrid, so fly there from Rome, check in and go to the tapas bar street and have una Cana with one tapas and go next door and do it again and again. go see picasso's guerinica and get your outdoorsy in the park. You will enjoy Madrid. London, Paris and Rome will give you many great opportunities to soak up the architecture, great people, and wonderful food and wine. Likewise with Madrid however they sometimes seem to be obsessed with roast suckling pig with bowls of boiling garlicky oil that seemed to give me interesting nightmares. My wife reports that the food opened a new dimension of sleep behavior in Spain. To that I say "salud!" When you come home and are questioned about your first trip to Europe by hard corps travelers and you report on London Paris Rome and Madrid in 14 days, they will be aghast. You will be filled with memories of a lifetime and lots of new friends from around the world. Bon Voyage and Bon Chance.

Surfzen,

Do you think I should exchange Venice and Barcelona for Paris? It seems like if I give up those cities it gives me more time. Or should I just save Paris for a separate trip?

It seems like Venice seems to work because I can cover it in 2 days and then I'm only a train away from Rome.

I am learning so much! Thank you all so much for all of your information and expertise! I truly appreciate your time and help! It has already saved me so much heartache!

I'm so very lucky and grateful! Thank you again!

By the way kja, do you have any guide book recommendations?

I have purchased a few already but it seems like they are very generalized and not really detail oriented.

I am truly trying to get all the help I can! So much easier to learn now, and experience it with peace of mind!

Thank you!!

I'm truly amazed by everyone on here, thank you for all of your responses!!

I would take Paris for sure but that is just me. If you are traveling with a lover, most definitely. I have been going to Europe since I was 34 and I will be 73 in may. I read my post to my wife and she got tears. Wherever you go among the mentioned places I can give you tips and direct you toward the safer areas that we have found. I made lots of mistakes early on and we still have wonderful memories. One major tip. Get an hd flip or Sony bloggie that takes hi def stills as well as videos. They are tiny and the bloggie holds 6 hours flip 2 hours I have a channel on you tube. Surfzen98. I love videoing locals and getting the sounds of waterfalls or an open market etc. a big cam is such a hassle.

Before the Internet I would comb thru guidebooks for hours. Now just type in 2 days in London and go to one of the top 5 sites and there you are with itineraries to use. Weed out the uninteresting and keep what you want. You have lots of time to do that once you decide the cities, then transportation, then B & B's and hotels or are you thinking hostels?

> Before the Internet I would comb thru guidebooks for hours. Now just type in 2 days in London and go to one of the top 5 sites and there you are with itineraries to use.

True! But all those things that novice travelers DON'T yet know, and would benefit from knowing, aren't likely to be top hits on any internet search! Novice travelers don't necessarily know what to ask, and even if we (the Fodorites) think of some of this stuff, my guess is that most Fodorites don't think of themselves as a substitute for a good guide book.

So get at least one, if not several, good guide books! :-)

Well said, you are absolutely right on that kja. I am glancing through the Eyewitness Travel Guide on Provence & The Cote D'Azur that I have tucked in my bag several times. Never would have found Moustiers St. Marie without it.

"Do you think I should exchange Venice and Barcelona for Paris? It seems like if I give up those cities it gives me more time. Or should I just save Paris for a separate trip? "

I think Venice + Barcelona > Paris

and Paris can be done some other time

It doesn't have to be venice AND Barcelona. Just go to Spain the next time. Go to Paris this time.

I agree with bilbo. In fact, I would say Venice alone > Paris. Both are wonderful cities (although London is still my favorite), but Venice is in a class of its own.

"<i>Just go to Spain the next time. Go to Paris this time.</i>"

The main problem being the OP is flying home from Madrid. She either would have to change her flights (probably w/ high fees) or go to Spain anyway . . .

<i>> I'm not that into museums. I really want to dive into the heartbeat of the city and let it teach me and guide me. I am in love with architecture and photography. I want to capture the cities and hang them all over my walls and have tons of stories to tell! </i>

I'm outdoorsy and into photography as well, so will offer up a suggestion or two.

You say you aren't into museums, but the neighborhoods around museums often have exactly what you are looking for. For example in London head over to the British Museum. The neighborhood around there is full of pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, cool antiquarian bookstores (I had a signed Thesiger in my hand at a great price that I still regret not buying!). While there pop into the museum for 30 minutes and go see the Parthenon sculptures. You'll be blown out by what you see on the way and I guarantee you'll take lots of photos of the building.

Stroll along the rivers. In London walk from the Houses of Parliament across Westminster Bridge and down to the Globe Theater. make sure you've got extra batteries and plenty of camera memory! Day or night, doesn't matter. Bring an umbrella.

Re: overnight trains, remember that you will have to check out of your hotel and deal with your luggage all day, until your train departs. Then you arrive at your destination way too early to check in to your hotel, unless you want to pay the extra day.

And check your credit cards to see what rate they charge you for international fees, which usually vary from 1% to 3%.

Sigh. You do not have "deal with your luggage all day". Your luggage is held by your hotel. Ditto on arrival.

I do agree about credit cards. I have Capital One credit cards, with no annual fees and no foreign conversion fee, that I keep solely for travel.

I forgot to mention that the British Museum is free, so popping in for 30 minutes is a viable option.

Everyone is giving you a lot of advice and you sound reasonable and like you are taking some of this advice. So you know you can't do everything you originally planned - which was 8 cities in five countries in two weeks. But in terms of which things to drop/which to keep - only you can know that. We can give logistical advice like how long it will take to get from point A to point B and therefore some places make more sense than others.

So look at the facts: you arrive in London and depart Madrid and have 14 days. For a transfer from Venice to Rome or from Barcelona to Madrid you will loose a half a day. All the other transfers will cost you a whole day really. How many days are you willing to give up 'being' there in order to get to more places. You already discovered that things that at first glance look good - like night trains, or early flights - can end up being doable, but probably more trouble than they are worth.

So I think you are right to plan on London and Spain and possibly one other place (either Paris or Italy). But you know, you actually could have a really nice trip doing just UK and Spain. You could do day trips from London, you could do both Barcelona and Madrid and even some day trips from them.

How do you decide? Go to Barnes and noble and spend a few hours browsing guide books (or a library if you have one with a decent selection, B&N usually is better). Look at ones with lots of photos. That's how I decide where I want to go - looking at photos. Then I read up on places that look good. Then I see what's close to each other. There are also lots of photos on line. I have galleries of all the places you are considering, have a look and see which places 'grab' you the most. http://www.pbase.com/annforcier