MaryAnn111

Re nytraveler: Exactly! BE Prepared! While it is a lot of work, think of the preparation time as an extension of your vacation--You'll have a lot of fun preparing and even more fun while you are abroad!

StuDudley

>> Exactly! BE Prepared! While it is a lot of work, think of the preparation time as an extension of your vacation--You'll have a lot of fun preparing and even more fun while you are abroad!<<<

For sure !!! However, most first timers have a HUGE amount of trouble narrowing down the number of "want to see" destinations into the time they have available to see them. I always advocate:

1. Min 4-5 days in large cities like Paris, London, & Rome.
2. Other smaller cities where there is something in the city that you have a special interest in - like art in Florence, architecture in Venice - allow 3-4 days. If you are bigtime art fans, add 2 days to Paris, London, & Rome.
3. If you have 10 days or less, do only 1 country - like only France, England, Germany, or Italy. Crossing borders can have some overhead, and could involve excessive travel. OK to visit some smaller countries with good transportation - like Holland/Belguim, and Switzerland/Austria.
4. If you can rent a car, try to mix some quiet countryside in with large cities. Like Rome, Tuscany countryside, Florence, & Venice. Paris, Provence countryside, Nice/Cote d’Azur. Paris, Brittany, or Paris, Burgundy countryside, Lyon. A friend did Rome, Venice, and Florence - and had a "breakdown" in Florence. She recovered in the Tuscan countryside.
5. Minimize wasted travel time. For example, the itineraries above involve very little travel - especially if you start by taking the 3 hr TGV from Paris to Avignon (Provence) & let someone else do the driving. For 10 days, Paris & Provence, or Paris & Cote d’Azur, or Rome & Tuscany make very "efficient" itineraries - with little wasted travel time.
6. Open jaw flights work great - like into Paris & out of Nice , or into Venice & out of Rome.
7. Trains usually travel to/from the center of a city. So to get from Paris to Avignon, the 3 hr TGV makes much more sense than flying. I usually prefer a 3 hour train ride over a 1 hr trip by airplane.
8. You can’t pack as many activities into a day in Europe as you can in the USA/Canada. Almost all shops close on Sundays (a few exceptions). In some countries, shops close Monday morning also. Many shops & even some museums/sites close for a 2-3 hour lunch. Often, you won’t be able to get a sit-down “brunch” at 10am, or an early dinner at 4pm. Lunch & dinner hours are more rigid than in the USA.

Just some thoughts.

Stu Dudley