BeckyT

I'm beginning to plan a trip to Europe for June of 2011. I will be attending a wedding in Heidelberg, Germany but would like to take at least 2 weeks to explore Europe while I'm there. I've been to Germany before and have explored most of the country, so I'd like to spend most of my time exploring a couple of countries that I've never been too. Any ideas on must sees, that are relatively close together that would combine into a great 2-3 week trip would be greatly appreciated! (For example: I'd love to go to Paris, and Greece and Italy andpossibly London, among other places but have no idea if that would be feasible to do in one trip not knowing how far away each place is from another, how I would get there (by plane, train or automobile) and all the while keeping within a modest budget) Even suggestions on books that could help me out would be great. Everything I've found is too broken down, and ideally what I would like is a book with maybe some sample itineraries for different combinations of destinations.

sam86

Becky, it depends on your interests. For the time you have, you could do one week in Paris, one week in London and a day trip from each (Versailles from Paris, Bath/Oxford/Cambridge from London)

Or you could go to Switzerland and Italy, a week each.

Nikki

You don't actually have to keep to places that are that close together, as there are budget airlines flying between many destinations in Europe. See www.whichbudget.com to see which airlines to check between various combinations of cities.

If you took the whole three weeks, you might be able to go to Paris, Greece, Italy (possibly just one city) and London, but you would be rushed. Depends how quickly you want to move. It also costs more to go from place to place, so the more destinations you choose, the higher the cost.

You should prioritize, then decide how much time you want to spend in each place and then add time to move from place to place.

You could start by flying to London, spend a few days there, take the Eurostar train to Paris, spend a few days there. Fly to Athens or to a city in Italy for a few days, then fly to Germany. Fly home from Germany.

Make sure you get an open jaw ticket, meaning you fly to one city and then home from the last city you visit. That way you don't have to backtrack to catch your flight home.

bobthenavigator

I would forget Greece this trip. Make a loop to start in Frankfurt and end in Paris and include Munich, Bavaria castles, Salzburg region, Venice, Lake Como, and fly to Paris from Milan. That is a start. Average at least 3 nites per destination and more for Paris. Have fun planning.

denisea

I wouldn't do Greece. I love London & Paris so much. From London, I love Canterbury and from Paris, I love the Loire Valley and Versailles. I would spend a little more time in two or three locations. I hate to run myself ragged and don't like feeling like I missed being able to experience a location because I tried to squeeze too much in. Enjoy your trip.

docdan

It is feasible to rail to Venice - then take a ferry to Greece - and fly back to the main part of the continent - just returned froma short visit to Greece in May and I would never tell anyone "Don't do Greece" - but there are issues of cost- and time-efficiency that are hard to plan around, while you could be spneding less and seeing more in, say, France. But I would certainly srongly sugggest Venice and Florence/Siena, and if that suits you, may I suggest trying to see them as early as posible, like prior to the Wedding, as the heat and tourist crowds intensify as you get later in June.

screen_name_taken

Paris would absolutely be on my list. (it's the only city in France I'm really familiar with, having been there 3 times, and still wanting more of it).

And Italy. Oh, how can you not go to Rome? so much to see, so little time (for me, anywy) I would choose to go back over and over again. (i've been there only twice).

I would do a week in each one, knowing I will barely scratch the surface.

As for books - actually I prefer to browse through this site. The advice you get from people who have been there, done that, is invaluable and you will not find this kind of insight in any travel book.

In these boards you will find recommendations for places no book ever mentions, restaurants that are fantastic but only the ones who are "local" or veterans know of. Trust what posters tell you - they realy know their stuff.

search for trip reports, you will be overwhelmed with incredible information.

adrienne

I would do Belgium and Paris/northern France for the two weeks and take trains from place to place. It would be too hot for me in Italy and Greece in June. If you're on a budget, the more you move around the more money it will cost you and air conditioned hotels tend to cost more than non-AC hotels.

You can use mappy.com or viamichelin.com to find how far things are apart and how much time it will take to get from place to place. You can use the German train site to see train frequency and duration of trip.
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

bilboburgler

I'd look at the map and imagine Southern Germany, Benelux, Nothern France and London as logical zone with great transport links. Then try,
Strasborg/alsace, Champagne, Paris, (la Loire if time) Brugge, London

Hans

Becky, with Heidelberg you have a good location to go on trips in Europe.

It’s close to one of the major German railway hubs, Mannheim. There’s a direct connection to Paris, it takes about 3 hours (faster than flying since you skip airport transfers, check-in etc.)
Alternatively it’s easy to go from Heidelberg to Strasbourg and visit the Alsace. Both train or rental car are easy. From Strasbourg a good train connection to Paris exists.

To plan for train travel, I can recommend www.bahn.de the German railway website (it shows the connections but not the prices for travel completely outside Germany). There are deals to book in advance and get reduced prices. Otherwise railway travel can be quite pricey (but if you check on fodors, there are many posts about reduced fares). And if you’re travelling with young children, there are many deals for them, so don’t multiply the fare expecting to pay for them a full ticket price.

Heidelberg is also about an hour from Frankfurt airport (car, shuttle or train), the biggest German airport. Direct flights to pretty much any European airport exist.

Personally I most often fly Lufthansa. If you book well in advance (several months), the flights to a place like London are about 100 Euro, most of that tax. It beats in my opinion any of the cheap airlines since it has the most connections from Frankfurt, you have no extra payments like luggage and so on and Lufthansa uses the main airports. (Ryanair uses for example Frankfurt/Hahn in Germany which is nowhere near to Frankfurt and requires a way more costly transfer.)

In the end, the itinerary probably comes down to what you want to see and what deals you can get for the tickets. Ticket prices aren’t always very logical. Flight times within central Europe are often irrelevant in comparison to the time you spent on transfer, check-in etc. You're within two hours flight time of more than a dozen countries. Just keep in mind that sometimes fast train connections offer a good alternative.

Michel_Paris

One suggestion would be fly to London. Get over jetlag, no language issues,etc..Then take Eurostar train to Paris. Then fly to Rome. Fly home from Rome (Open Jaw)

Time wise, ~4 nights in each location. I'd not do more than 3 locations. And with only 2 weeks available, not much time for day trips out of these locations.

You could easily do London/Paris for 2 weeks, with a day trip or two...or either London or Paris, with more than 1 day trip.

Hans

Michel_Paris, I think Heidelberg is fixed since there's a wedding Betty wants to attend.

Michel_Paris

Hans,
I have low reading comprehension today

BeckyT

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful suggestions! I think I will forget Greece this trip (unfortunately) but, there's always another time Thanks again for all of the detailed suggestions! It's very much appreciated!

PalenQ

marking for later comment

PalenQ

To plan for train travel, I can recommend www.bahn.de the German railway website (it shows the connections but not the prices for travel completely outside Germany). There are deals to book in advance and get reduced prices. Otherwise railway travel can be quite pricey (but if you check on fodors, there are many posts about reduced fares).>

great advice IMO and if you cannot book those SPAR type fares, sold in limited quantities and to guarantee must book far in advance often then if paying full walk-up fares in Germany then actually the German Railpass can pay off with just a few longish train trips - wise person either books well ahead with train-specific non-changeable non-refundable fares or if desiring flexibility checks what full fare is and compares to the price of a Germany (only) Railpass.