My husband and I and another couple are planning to take a 14 day trip during the summer. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on how to make the most of our time. we probably could extend a couple extra days if needed. the top destinations we've decided are: Ireland, England, France-Paris, Italy- Rome and Germany. We were tentatively thinking of spending the last 5-7 days touring either Ireland/ Germany and having time to relax there. Then 1-2 days day in Paris, Rome and london... are we trying to cram too much into one trip? Also, we are planning to put the trip together ourselves- not using a travel agent. We have all been to Europe before, but none of us have been to Ireland. Should we look into a tour, or just research on-line. We are just in the beginning planning stages, so we would appreciate any help! Thanks

Hi,

With so many destinations, you'll be spending a great deal of your trip moving from place to place, checking in and out of hotels and unpacking. I'd recommend just staying in two places and using them as a base to explore the surrounding areas. Personally, I'd pick Paris and somewhere in Germany....flying into one and out of the other. Rome in the summer can be unbearably hot.

Have a good trip wherever you go!

margy

I agree, it is too much for a 2 week trip. 1-2 days in each of Rome, London, and Paris will only exhaust you- it takes a day to travel between those cities, remember!

I would try to focus on your "must have" desires for the trip- cities v. rural areas, can't miss sights, etc.

With 2 weeks, I would want to do about 3 destinations maximum. Some popular/possible combinations:

London & Paris- 1 week each (or London & Rome, or Paris & Rome)-with daytrips

London, Paris & Rome- 4-5 days each

London and Ireland

Ireland 2 weeks

A poster called Bobthenavigator has some driving itineraries that include Northern Italy, Austria, and Germany- do a search for his name and you should find them

That is a lot of moving around in 14 days. Will you have fourteen nights actually in Europe? I'm having trouble covering jsut a tiny portion of the south of Italy in 13 days!

Somethings I would think about: nowadays, a trip to a country seems more doable than a trip to "Europe." I'm not sure why; maybe because people are going to Europe more often, or that prices are high and tend to creep higher when moving from place to place.

You have 6 countries in 14 days; that is a LOT. I might do Ireland and England. Or France and Germany with a little Switzerland. Or northern France and Italy. Or Germany, Switzerland and Northern Italy. You know, something that makes more geographic sense.

An upscale company like Tauck can do something for you with a bit of a few countries. But since you are intrigued by planning on your own, why not narrow the trip down.

Ways to narrow it down:
Areas geophracially connected, like those I mentioned above.
Wine regions, if you are interested in that.
Hiking trips or bicycle trips.
Boating on some lovely lakes.
Art
Theater
Fine dining
Peasant dining
Archeaology

Pick a great sounding theme for your trip, one that will make everyone happy. Even cooking, painting, or photography. Then see which of the areas on your list would enhance the theme.

Or let each person choose one destination, keeping it to four. That could work.
Was this the least bit helpful?

While it is easy to say you are cramming too much, you may have a valid reason why you have mentioned these destinations. However, it is not apparent from what you have mentioned why you want to go to these places.

Desire to do few days each(?) to Rome, London, and Paris are common destination for first timers. If you have all been to Europe before, I would have expected you have been to some or all of these places listed. If none of you have gone to Ireland before, why is there a desire to visit other places this time?

I do not automatically discourage going to such far apart places. You might have a reason, for example, contemplating a medical procedure that has a possibility of losing mobility, sight, etc. Otherwise, what were stated is time consuming (traveling between distant cities) and does not make sense in light of your desire to make the most of your time.

&quot;<i> are we trying to cram too much into one trip? </i>&quot;

yes, YES, <b>YES</b>!!

Just to give you some things to think about:

1) You lose one day going over and another traveling back home.

2) You lose most of another day to jet lag when you arrive

3) every single time you move from one city/country to another you lose between 1/2 and 1 full day.

So w/ your plan and just 14 days you would have 3-5 days for Ireland (or Germany) and 1/2 to 1 day in London, Paris and Rome.

Then when you multiply by 4 people traveling together you lose even more time.

So your ideas are totally unrealistic. You are talking about 5 countries and 3 of the most fascinating cities on Earth.

If it were me, I'd pick ONE country. Ireland, or England, or Germany, or France, or Italy. Just ONE. Each of those 5 countries have more than enough to fill 2 months late alone 2 weeks.

If one country doesn't appeal - then something like London for 5 or 6 days, Paris for 5 or 6 days and a 2 or 3 days for a countryside visit somewhere in rural England or France.

Or Paris/Rome or any other &quot;two-fer&quot;. But really - 1 country is your best bet. Just pick one of them.

Thanks for all the replies! We are planning this trip as a celebratory trip for our husbands who are both going to be new law school graduates, and my girlfriend will be graduating as a Nurse Practitioner. We all threw out a place that we really wanted to go. 2 of us wanted ireland (i have always wanted to go here), 2 germany (my girlfriend lived there for a few years when she was growing up). Rome (my husband has wanted to go here for a while). I guess London and Paris are probably towards the bottom of the list, but they seem to make geographical sense. Perhaps we should throw those 2 out and then concentrate on Ireland 4-6 days, 1 travel day to Germany 4-6 days 1 travel day to Rome 2-3 days and then home. We can afford to be flexible to a degree with the amount of time we will have as both of our husbands will not have started work at that time, and I think I could probably take up to 3 weeks from work- some unpaid. If we wanted to add in London and Paris-- what would be the minimum amount of time needed? We are all young, and fairly energetic. We would like to see a good mix of the urban and rural areas (especially in Ireland). We are motivated to visit so many areas as we probably will not have this amount of time to travel anytime in the near future. Thanks for all the help again!!

Our rule of thumb is to spend 3-4 days in major cities (Paris, Florence, Rome), and always alternate cities with countryside - usually 3 days minimum in an area such as Tuscany. If you want to mix it up with different countries, how about Paris for 3 nights, Ireland for a week (mostly countryside) , then top it off with London for 3 nights.

You are smart to take a trip now. Having been in a similar situation with my husband in professional school, then life in general, we didn't get to take a big trip without kids until our 20th anniversary. I would recommend the countryside portion (Ireland) for a week, since your life will go into high gear upon your return home. Have a fabulous trip!

a bit more to chew on . . . .

What do you mean by &quot;Ireland&quot;? If just Dublin (not that great a destinationn IMHO) you can do it in 2 or 3 days. But most vistitors want to see the glorious W/SW coasts. Well - 4-6 days is simply not long enough. Ireland may seem small but it isn't and there are no high speed roads in the major scenic/tourist areas. You will be LUCKY to average 35 mph touring in Ireland. So a visit to Ireland w/o Dublin really needs a <u>minimum</u> of 7-10 days. W/ Dublin - 10-14 days.

You want to see Ireland, Germany (an even larger place), and Rome. Sort of like taking a 2 week trip to see California, Louisana and NYC. There are low cost airlines that connect all these countries - but still they are spread over half of Europe. Realistically - you could do Dublin, Munich, and Rome in 2 weeks - though it would be a fairly scattered itinerary.

You can't please everyone/see everything in such a short trip - pick one country, or a small bit of two countries and actually see something.

Lawyers, huh?

Well, you'll have plenty of time AND money to do the big stuff at a later date (Rome, Paris, London, Venice, etc.) so for a relaxing and celebratory trip, go for Germany and Switzerland (yes, I am biased). I just feel Paris and Rome will be more important to you and you'll appreciate it more when you are older. Relax and enjoy what Germany and Switzerland offer for now.

MvK