Okay, I am going overseas for the first time in December. (If you haven't figured it out, I'm an American) I'm meeting an English friend in London and then we're going to New Year in Edinburgh. Afterwards, we were hoping to scrounge enough money to travel over to either Rome or Madrid for about a week. I want to visit both places but am on a tight budget, so I have to pick one. Obviously if looking just at the magnitude of both cities it may be obvious to pick Rome. But I am fluent in Spanish and I think I may feel uncomfortable with trying to make my way around Rome without a clear knowledge of Italian. <BR> <BR>So, some of my questions to fellow fodorites: what is the cheapest mode of travel from London to either Spain or Italy? (I am under 25, is there some sort of student rate for travel?) If it's by airplane, what are some of the good and less expensive carriers over there? If you had, let's say three days in either city, what would you see? What other areas around Madrid or Rome would be worth seeing? What is the cheapest mode of transport while in Italy or Spain? <BR> <BR>And these are just some of my questions. I'm so excited to be traveling overseas that I may just explode from excitement. Thanks to everyone who responds!

I vote Rome. You won't feel uncomfortable -- many tourists and in the areas you'd be going, many people speak English. Madrid is ok, but I didn't care for it. But Madrid might be a little less expensive. <BR> <BR>Your friend (if overseas) should be able to check out prices for you -- Jet Tours is a big travel firm in France, I'm sure there are others like it in G.B. that can help you. Carlson Wagonlit is world wide, by the way. Both do packages of air and hotel.

www.easyjet.com for Madrid and www.go-fly.com for Rome. <BR> <BR>Have been to Madrid in January and thought it was lovely..maybe not conventionaly beautiful like Rome but still well worth it.

Okay, I went to the Easy Jet website and found a price I may not be able to resist...from London to Madrid for 55 pounds! Roundtrip! So, now that begs the question: how reliable/safe is this carrier? Can anyone liken it to something in the U.S.?

your spanish will come in quite handy in rome. you'd be surprised at how much italian you'll understand. My first time in rome i depended on my 3 yrs or high school spanish (which was already about 10 yrs stale). between that and english i had no problem communicating.