i'm up to my ears in fodors, frommers, and rick steves' books trying to figure out what other destination to pair with paris in january.

it's our first trip to europe. because of work, we're basically stuck with january. we have about two weeks. previously, we were going to do london, but the exchange rate is so poor.

i'm thinking a week in france, including ~4 nights in paris, and perhaps adding on vienna, amsterdam, brussels, and bruges.

this is too much, right? we're young and accustomed to traveling on the go, so taking an overnight train doesn't put us off, but realistically, what can we fit in in 14 nights? <b>and more importantly, what will be fun and worthwhile in january??</b>

thank you kindly!

you can pair anything w/ Paris (I know - that really doesn't help )

But just a comment - you say &quot;<i>we were going to do london, but the exchange rate is so poor</i>&quot;. The exchange rate to the &euro; is just as bad as the &pound;. Some people see $1.36 = &euro;1 and $2.03 = &pound;1 and think the &euro; is a much better &quot;bargain&quot;. Doesn't work that way. The euro is at an all time high against the US$ so Paris will be expensive too. Anyplace in the euro zone, the prices will be high when converting to $.

If London is whare you wanted to go - I'd still do it. there are ways to economize in London. Rent a flat or use Priceline for a hotel, go to all the free museums and galleries. This is one big money saver in London -- most paris museums have entery fees while most London ones are free.

What about Nice? IT's great at that time of year

Hi L,

I suggest that you plan for a week in Paris.

London/Paris is a great pairing for a first-time visit.

You could also pair Paris with Nice, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Vienna or Prague.

Amsterdam

Agree with Ira. 4 days is far too short for a first visit to Paris.

Since it will be January, you might consider Rome. We did both Rome and Paris last January. In Paris the fountains were frozen solid...quite a sight! Rome was chilly, but sunny!

There are good (inexpensive) flight options to Italy from Paris. Check out:
www.whichbudget.com
for cheap intra-Europe flights.

Rome or Spain might be a good combo with a week in Paris.
Amsterdam is lovely but not in January

Thank you very much! Joel will be happy for the Rome suggestions

When I say &quot;our first trip to Europe&quot; I should specify: I mean ME - he's been to London, and kind of all over the UK, really (Ireland, Scotland, England), and the south of France.

I'm really leaning toward Vienna, myself, as a HUGE fan of Klimt and Mahler, but is it true that the prices in the winter will be higher in Austria b/c of the ski season?

Thank you!

t

The best way to tell is to look at hotel room prices now. I doubt skiing will affect Vienna hotel prices very much. Conventions and trade fairs will.

I mean look at hotel prices now for January.

I also think NICE is a good idea. You will hopefully get some blue skies and sunshine.Hire a car and drive to Monaco and other places for a day trip. Less tourists at that time of year too!

Nice, Arles,A vignon, BArcelona if you want warmth. Austria for snow. Prague for cold, Amsterdam for warm pubs

You might decide to ski in the Alps or the Pyrenees for a few days.

My first trip to Europe was in September, 1999, with my husband (who had been there before for a university program). We were also young (27 and 30). Our itinerary was as follows:

Paris - 3 nights
Luxembourg - 1 night
Cochem, Germany - 1 night
Rothenburg, Germany - 1 night
Schwangau, Germany (Neuschweinstein castle) - 2 nights
Prague - 1 night
Overnight train - 1 night
Salzburg - 1 night
Berchtesgaden, Germany - 1 night
Munich - 2 nights

Now, I give you this interary NOT because I think you should do it, but because you should know that you CAN move around and see lots of things if you want to. We were young and excited to see as much as we could, so we got little tastes of things that later we would go back to. We LOVED this trip, and it inspired us to go back to Europe every year to see more. We brought our children with us when they were babies, and now we live in London.

In January, the daylight hours will be short. Also it is not &quot;season&quot; for the smaller towns so you may find restaurants and shops closed down in smaller towns. But I see that you have listed mostly larger cities so you shouldn't have a problem. But even Bruges does not have as much going on in January as in the spring/summer/fall months. (And also, I live in London and I think Bruges is expensive.) That being said, I think you should stick to big cities in January, unless you are going to a ski town to see the mountains. Have you thought about Italy, as the weather will probably be nicer. Fly or overnight from Paris to Venice/Florence/Rome to fill up your 2 weeks?

If I were you, I would fly into London

Skip the 'if I were you I would fly into London' I accidentally posted before I deleted that.

I am with the other posters who have told you to go ahead and pay the price to see London. I think it about like saying &quot;I wanted to go to New York but central Iowa was cheaper (no offense Iowa). The weather in Paris and London will be wet and probably cold. The further south you go (Rome) the better your chances of warmer weather.

Vienna for starters--it's lovely during the winter months, much better than in humid summer.

It sounds like you would probably like Paris, southern France (like Toulouse), and Barcelona. Vienna is amazing as well. I would try to either stay within vicinity of easy train rides (without transfers), or use low cost airlines like ryanair.com and easyjet.com if you want to make farther trips (i.e. London to Rome or Venice).

Places that will definitely be cold and possibly rainy: London, Amsterdam, Prague, Paris.

Places with better weather: Rome, Florence, Southerm France, Barcelona, Southern Spain.

thank you all so much!

we live year-round in sunny Los Angeles, so sunshine and warmth are not requirements, we just don't want to be miserable, and frankly, we don't even OWN heavy winter clothing any more (after living in chicago/ wisconsin most of our lives prior!). skiing would be FABULOUS but is probably not in the cards on this trip...