Road or Fly or Rail ..... Advice for Trip to Europe ...... First time
 

We are thinking of going to Europe in the summer ..... Nothing is booked ..... Can go anywhere ..... 2 weeks maybe 3 ....... some sightseeing...... some relaxation ...... Should we drive / eurorail / fly or combo? Budgetish stay but clean and safe. BEST for experience, quality and $$ ..... Is that too much to hope for? All suggestions are welcome. Thank You.

We normally mix driving and trains. Last trip we drove a bit in Germany (Cologne to Heidelberg) for views and small town flavors. The 1st class train from Mannheim (near H'berg) to Paris was great and arriving center-city Paris was super!! The train staff even had booked a taxi to pick us up at the station and take us to our hotel.
just give yourself enough time in each location to enjoy it, relax and take its full flavor.

You can't decide your mode/s of transportation until you decide where you're going. Some areas are hard (if not impossible) to see without a car. The distances between some destinations are too far for driving.

Keep in mind, each time you change hotels/destinations, you lose anywhere from a half-day to the useful part of an entire day, no matter what form of transportation you take. Also, the more transportation you need, the more money you spend.

Once you've decided where you want to go, look into open-jaw (aka multi-city) flights between home and Europe which would take you into one city and out of another. Prevents backtracking.

Come back when you know something. How can you plan anything until you if it is 2 or 3 weeks. There is a big gap between the dream and reality---you need to bridge that gap, especially if you mean this summer.

IMO, the best advice is don't try to do too much. Limit hotel changes, long travel legs, and museums. Pick one or two countries, maybe two locations per week, and recognize that it is better to try to to get "feel" for a couple of places than do a "drive-by" on multiple places.

Just because something is "possible" doesn't mean it is smart.

Europe is an entire continent. How can anyone possibly help you out with a plan unless you have done some basic homework and at the very, very least picked out some countries, never mind cities and towns and villages, to visit.

Get some guidebooks and a map of Europe and start planning. THEN hit the message boards.

..... so all members of my family agree on Germany ..... and we need to add another ..... ummmm maybe France or Italy ..... any advice on itenery in each of the 3 countries for ~ 10 days each ..... the beauty of this plan is that we are flexible in that though it must be summer Jun-Jul-Aug we can go next year well planned ..... but this year will be awesome too ..... I appreciate a 'feel' from you 'been there done that' folks .....

Or you could come back when you are more polite, bob.

DayDreamBeliever - it's really hard to plan a 3 country, 10-day-each, itinerary without knowing your likes, interests,how many in your family, ages of your group, MUST SEE's, etc. If you're planning such an extended stay, I'd get on it quick as most summer vacations - especially those traveling from the US - are already planned.

As suggested, I'd get out the maps, the guidebooks, a pencil, and a few blank pages for notes. When we do "discovery" we will often fill up page after page... so expecting an itinerary from folks on this board is really not possible - especially when your're not sure where (3 countries) or when (June-July-August) you want to go.

There are many travelers on this board who HAVE "been there, down that" but they really can't help you unless you ask more specific questions about specific locations. Good Luck in your quest... or hire someone to plan your trip!

Thanks ..... Our trips are usually on my 'gut' feeling that I get after researching plus reading forums such as this ..... planning well ahead for us almost never works because ALL our best planned trips NEVER happened - got a work contract, etc. With the nature of my DH's work I usually get the dialogue "we have 2 or 3 etc weeks in jun/jul etc .... plan anything .... take us anywhere" ..... then my part starts (which I love as much as the trip itself) ..... planning a perfect trip albeit on short notice is kinda becoming my forte ..... I try to accomodate everyones likes but after a certain point we must 'go with the flow' or nobody has fun ..... But I guess you guys are right "focus in on an area" ........ but the problem with this is that in the research I've done so far EVERYTHING LOOKS WONDERFUL ..... hence the deliemma ..... We are a family of 4 - us + daughter(19)+ son(12) ..... we like a mix of everything ..... some sightseeing ..... some scenery ..... some relaxing ..... some shopping ..... no probs in driving/training/flying ..... go at a lesuirely pace ..... flexible
As an example we went this summer to BALI and Kuala Lumpar for 15 days with a months notice ..... and had such a BLAST!
DAY 1 - Fly in
Day 2 - arrive Bali afternoon - 2hr hotel car to UBUD - checkin
Day 3 - Sleep in - AM pool/massage ... PM temple 'fire dance' performance and dinner
Day 4 - Rode motorbikes alongside local guide to see countryside/temples/rice paddy feild/'eat pray love' house/local cottage industry & craftmen - kites/scluptures/woodworking
Day 5 - Monkey Forest/'worked in rice feild'/bargaining (bought a Buddha)/ pool & spa
Day 6 - Green School, Ubud + Car ride to BALI beach resort
Day 7/8/9/10 - Family Wedding + beach activities - para sailing, seadoo, flyfish, pool, a couple 'must see' local sites - seems a lot but we weren't RUSHED - jus did what felt right
Day 11 - sleep innnnnn ..... goodbyes + fly to Kuala Lumpar
Day 12 - Petronis Towers + some KL mall shopping + traditional dance show cum dinner
Day 13 - Batur Caves via local trains - dinner @ revolving resturant Atmosphere 360
Day 14 - Local sightseeing - the Palace etc ..... pack
Day 15 - sleep in ..... evening flight for home
Except for the wedding everyday we ate at a different palce - small, big, cheap, posh ... asked the locals ... tried it all - The food was just spectacular !! Hope I didn't bore you ;)
Thats us ...... relaxed small portions of everthing but not " EVERYTHING" ..... cheers