My husband and I are wanting to plan a first trip to Europe. We are interested in Italy or Eastern Europe. Any suggestions? Or is Europe not a good choice because of the weak exchange rate.

Thanks so much!

I think you can drive yourself crazy looking at the exchange rate. However, with all the research tools available, you can still plan an amazing trip without breaking the bank.

As far as Italy...you can't go wrong with Rome...each time I go I find a new little street with hidden gems. I love this city!

exchange rate be d*mned, I don't think most ppl on these boards let that stop them. E Europe is going to be cheaper (but remember there are always deals to be found, even in the most expensive areas)

Italy or Eastern Europe...that is a big difference. What are you looking for? Any specific interests that you two have? Why E Europe vs Italy? Maybe if you can give us more of what you seek, then we can offer better help.

I second mct's suggestion on Italy, especially if it's your first time to go to Europe.

However, if you want more bang for your bucks, then Eastern Europe should stretch them further.

You might find more info in www.lonelyplanet.com (ThornTree) on Eastern Europe than you will find here...

Or perhaps you mean the countries of central Europe that got a bit misnamed back when everything east of Berlin was called the "Eastern (Soviet) bloc".

The Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia... just to name a few... are right smack dab in the center of Europe, and you can find a fair amount of info about them here. Quite a bit less about Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltics.

For both central and eastern Europe, the website www.inyourpocket.com has a lot of useful info.

Best wishes,

Rex

Certainly there are places where your dollar will go farther than it will go in Europe right now - but that's for you to decide.

As for your question, it's way too general for anyone to be able to offer any helpful suggestions. Why are you thinking of going to Europe? What do you want to see and do there? Ever been before? How do you plan to get around? What's your budget? To get useful information, you need to provide some useful information.

daggers-

A few thoughts:
How long is the trip?
What time of year do you plan to go?

By going a shorter trip or going during low season in winter, you can stretch your $ farther.

Also bear in mind, if you are flying from the US, it is usually cheaper to fly to Italy than to "eastern" europe.

<<Also bear in mind, if you are flying from the US, it is usually cheaper to fly to Italy than to "eastern" europe.>>

Thanks to www.skyeurope.com you can now connect VERY cheaply from many centers of _western_ Europe (London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona, Milan -- to name some) to these major cities in _central_ Europe: Prague, Warsaw, Bratislava (Vienna), Kosice, Budapest and Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia.

Thanks for all the responses. I realize my question is very general. At this point the trip is just a desire and I haven't gotten further than that. We have never been to Europe so there are so many places that sound amazing it's easy to get overwhelmed.
Most of you think Italy is a good start.....time of year we would go is at the end of May....10-days...small budget.... How do I start?

Thanks!!

I think to start, you have to focus on 1 main area. I'm not familiar with E. Europe, but for starters, 10 days in Italy, you can do the basic big 3 (rome/florence/venice). For this trip, look into openjaw flights (arr Rome and dep Venice, or vica versa). You can price this on expedia or any other booking site. Once you decide on your cities and check the airfare (to help determine your hotel budget), you can then post more specific questions about hotels with a certain pricerange and do searches here. In 10 days, I wouldn't move around too much, and in any case, you don't want to rush through a city without being able to relax a little and enjoy the surroundings.

Start at the largest public library, bookstore or both available to you. You need _books_ at this early stage, more than the internet. Preferably big, coffee-table sized, picture-filled books - - to get your mouth watering, to visualize your "short list" of "oh, I just can't wait to get _there_ so that I can ..."

...and then tell "us" what that is that you can't wait for...

Your short list will almost surely be too long, but "we" can help you string it together with lesser-hassle logistical planinng - - and fill in your itinerary with logical extensions and nearby destinations that you might not have thought of (or even heard of).

But do you mean May of _this_ year? then ideally, you need to lock in air travel (assuming you live in North America or some continent other than Europe) VERY soon - - unless your chief constraint is NOT money (for some people it is not... TIME is a bigger constraint). You DO say "small budget"...

What is your origination?

Hi daggers,

For ten days in May - first trip to Europe, I suggest 5 days London and 5 days Paris.

OR 10 days in Paris

Or 4 days Rome, 3 days Florence and 3 days Venice.