Order of Travel
 

Hello, I am new to the forum, so please be easy on me!

I am flying to Paris in the beginning of December and leaving from Paris around the 10th of January. So this trip will be around 5 weeks.

I would like like go to England, Germany, Italy, Prague, Vienna (and obviously France!)
Since I would be driving, do you recommend any countries/cities in between those?

My main problem is 'Which order should I travel in?' Should I do Western France first, then England, then drive to Germany and do the rest of the countries clockwise? Or should I do it the other way?

Thank you in advance!

Ps. any other recommendations like how many days in each country, any particular monuments/places that I must see etc. would be great as well! This is my first time in Europe, so any extra info would be appreciated.

Given the excellent European train system and the potentially bad winter weather is there a reason you want to drive?

I would start in the UK and fly home from Rome--if that is possible. Why go back to Paris?

The car strategy is key---may not be easy.

Impossible to answer as long we don't know which towns or areas of each country you plan to visit.

Ps. any other recommendations like how many days in each country, any particular monuments/places that I must see etc. would be great as well! This is my first time in Europe, so any extra info would be appreciated.>

Two of my favorite sites will give you many suggestions - www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download their free and excellent online European Planning & Rail Guide and www.ricksteves.com - great tips on places both on and off the beaten path.

Where do you want to go in England? Are you planning to rent a different car for England than the continent? But I agree with jamikins - depending on where you're going the train is likely to be a better bet than a car. And if I were going to Europe in December and January I'd be headed south, at least after the Christmas festivities were over.

I question the driving in that season. A combination of train/plane is better, sticking to large cities.

Why fly into and out of France instead of doing things in a logical geographic order and booking an open-jaw flight...like fly into London and fly home from Prague.

I also think driving at that time of year is a terrible idea, given the alternatives.

It's impossible to suggest places to see without loads more information from you. There are literally thousands of places to see and monuments and sites. You'd best stick to cities and big towns, though. At that time of year village life will be on hold.

Thank you everyone for the idea of taking the train, instead of driving. I didn't think about how icy it would be...

Seeing I am only going to be able to go to the main cities so London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Rome, the train sounds like a better idea.

But France in, France out is a definite as I have family there. Can you please suggest an order of capital cities that would somehow accommodate that?

Thanks again!

Having family somewhere doesn't mean you have to start and end there, just that you should spend more time there.

You probably have the cities in the rightt order, although as I said, I would be heading further south - besides Rome (and probably Venice) Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Athens. Maybe Morocco.

But France in, France out is a definite as I have family there. Can you please suggest an order of capital cities that would somehow accommodate that?>

where in France - north, Paris, midi, south? Makes a big difference in your request.

I don't see the connection between having family in France and having to fly in and out of France.

London would be the outlier that would benefit from either flying into or out of - by Eurostar train only a few hours from Paris or northern France.