I’m starting to plan my first trip to Europe and trying to figure out what makes the most sense for about one week.
I noticed that a lot of itineraries people share include multiple cities or even multiple countries. For example, spending a couple of days in one place and then taking a train to another city. Because of that I’m a bit unsure what would be better for a first trip.
Right now I’m planning a 7-day trip and my total budget is roughly €1300. I’m still deciding on the destination, but a few cities I’m considering are London, Paris, Rome, and maybe Prague. Would it be better to stay in one city for the whole week and explore it slowly, or try to visit more cities this time?
Would love to hear what people here recommend for my first trip.

Does your week include your travel time? Depending on where you're coming from, you could lose a day or more from jet-lag and simply the length of time to reach Europe. Are you actually left with less than 7 nights?

You could visit two countries if you really wanted to but it only makes sense if they are close to each other. For example, the Netherlands and Belgium. Or from Nice, you can easily get the train into Italy.

is there a country or city that has always appealed to you?

Thanks for the reply.
I’ll be flying from China. Based on the flights I’ve been looking at, I’d probably arrive late on the first day or early the next morning, and then fly back on day 7 (likely sometime in the afternoon or evening). So realistically I might only have around five full days to actually explore.
As for cities, London and Paris are the ones that come to mind first, but I’m definitely open to other suggestions too.

Does the €1300 include the flights? If so that is probably not enough money for 7 days/5 days on the ground. And definitely not in expensive cities lke London and Paris. and more definitely not with added transport between multiple cities.

Maybe consider some cheaper places like the Baltic countries or some countries in the Slavic region. Or even Russia. OR -- consider a budget package tour where flights/hotels/some meals are included.

Yes, the €1300 does include the flights. From what I’ve checked so far, flights from China to Europe in October seem to be around €750–€800. Also, I’ll be traveling with a friend, so we’ll probably share hotels and some meals, which might help lower the cost a bit.
I’ll definitely take your suggestion about cheaper regions into consideration and discuss it with my friend when we plan the trip.
And one more question, if we stayed in one city like London or Paris for about 5 days, what kind of budget would usually be more realistic?
Thank you so much

With only five full days I would stay in one ciy and do one day trip to a smaller town or sight in the nearby countryside.

As for which city ... whatever appeals most to you. The choices are endless. I would consider Vienna, Prague as well.

Thank you, will take them into consideration

London accommodation is expensive and if you stay further out, to save money, you'll need to spend more time and money on transport into central London.

A cheaper chain is Premier Inn. To give you an idea, I stayed in 2024 at a very central Premier Inn for £230 per night, no breakfast.

October is still high season . In some places more than others. That would keep lodging prices up. You can lower your costs by going mid November.

With only five days on the ground it's hard to do multiple stops. If you think about say Rome

Day 1 wander the Vatican sites
Day 2 wander the Colosueem
That leaves you three days for everything else.

In theory you could take a train ride to Florence or to Naples for the day but with a tight time and money budget that jaunt ends up costing you maybe more than you'd want.

I wouldn't try to see more than one city (with perhaps a day trip). With your budget, London and Paris likely won't work; and Vienna probably isn't an option unless you are under 25. Even then, while you can lodge at a hostel, the museums charge "discount" student fees. Prague and Rome would be more budget-friendly, and high cultural impact, options.

Wherever you go pack all your gear in a single, carry-on bag. Avoid the temptation many single, young women seem to make in packing for a week where they feel the need to haul around a large suitcase the size of a small refrigerator or Volkswagen.

OK -- you need to be a bit more realistic. (I actually thought flights from China might be significantly cheaper -- not sure why I thought that). But ff you are having to pay €800-ish just for your flights €1300 isn't close to doable.

London: Many museums are free which is good, but you'd need to pay close to €100 even for a cheap hostel . . . they use £ in London but I'll keep with € just for comparisons. Then about €10 per day for transport. So you are € 50 over your budge right there without ANY food or other expenses. And that is bare bones. Major sites like the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey are very expensive - nearly €40 for the Tower for instance. You'd probably have to double your budget to make five nights in London work.

Paris: Will have slightly cheaper hotels but to get one you'd have to stay in the outer districts and spend more time and money traveling into the city center. Transport will be a minimum of €12 per day. Almost ALL museums and sites in Paris charge entrances fees.The Louvre is €32, others will be less. So as you can see - a doubling of your budget is probably necessary.

I might suggest you look at St Petersburg Russia. It is a major city with probably cheaper flights from China. Nice but not posh hotels cost a lot less than in places like Paris or Rome or London. LOTS of sites and things to do that cost less. The fabulous Hermitage costs less than €10. Many Chinese vist there so there are probably cheap tours available. T

WIth 5 nights, I would go to one city and I would avoid Paris and London. First time visitors to those two cities get trapped in big crowds seeing the basic sites they consider 'must' see along with all the other visitors with too little time. It can be actively unpleasant.

Prague, Vienna, and Krakow are stunning. Rome is astonishing, certainly, and gives you the most 'wow' for the effort. Just walking around is jaw dropping.

On a budget, my advice to you is to focus on self-guided walking tours .In many cities, they can be the best activity anyway.

I takes 6 minutes on the RER to get from Nation to Chatelet Les Halles, right in the heart of Paris. So I would not automatically discount the value of staying in the outer arrondisements. I've even stayed in the suburbs near Orly with friends and at it was great.

My opinion: One city, and make it the one that appeals to you most strongly.
Have fun!

Considering your total budget and what you report as airfare, plus splitting the lodging rate with your traveling companion, you will still be trying to eat, sleep, and tour for 100E per night. Fifty years ago, sleeping cheap, eating frugally and touring with no entrance fees, it could be done (I did it), but now, no way. I fear you will need significantly more money in your budget, probably double. There may be a bare bones package vacation available to you with your present budget, but not as an independent traveler. I wish you good luck.

Obviously there are some issues about holidaying in St Petersburg (part of a war zone), though otherwise janisj is dead right (see what I did there).

You might get more safety and lower prices in the Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria or Portugal. It really depends on ease of flights.

Respectfully -- transport in Paris would be the very least of his/her problems/issues. Debating the metro in Paris doesn't negate the main issue - that €1300 is not enough if they have to spend more than 60% of the budget just on airfare.

I would take a look at other posts by this individual before deciding whether or not it is worth spending time on replying.

True enough. But it is a common myth that there is some major inconvenience to stay in an outer arrondisement. People who don't know Paris well will continue to believe it.

I stayed near Nation when I needed to book two rooms and the savings were serious. A quick hop on the RER made this an easy decision.