Hi Everyone, My husband and I are planning our first European vacation for next summer. We are taking our two teenage daughters and we can't decide where to go. We think either London, Paris or somewhere in Italy. We have decided to go for 10 days and really explore the place we choose. Where should we go for our first and hopefully not our last trip to Europe. Thanks...any advice will be appreciated.

Why don't you ask your daughters?

You haven't given us any information that can possibly help us help you.

The way your question is posed you are going to get three camps of people arguing over which is the best city.

Let me be the first to ask, what are your interests? Most of us will simply tell us our own preferences, but that does not mean they will work for you. I'd just sit down as a family and brainstorm what it is you're all looking for and, dipping into guidebooks and online sites to answer any specific questions you have, reach an agreement.

France is my all time favorite country. Paris paired with the French countryside cannot be beat in my opinion. By the way, I was recently in England (Yorkshire and the Lakes) and I loved it. But it is significantly more expensive than Italy and France, due to the exchange rate.

Hello ptm, a trip to Europe with teens is usually so much fun.

But I do not know how anyone can give suggestions until they know what type of culture (Europe has so many countries and even in the various countries there is such a difference from one region to another) you are all interested in.

And what appeals to you and your family? It sounds like large cities since you mention London and Paris.

May I gently suggestion that you post again on this thread and relate what your family is interested in seeing and doing. If you do not know I am sure your local library will have lots of travel books that would help you make a decision..do get the entire family involved. And in that teens are usually so computer savy they could do some research also so that you could involve them with the decisions. Best regards.

Hi P,

Welcome to the forum!! As a few have already mentioned, do some homework before asking such a general question. Also, what's your budget?

The ansewer is Paris and the French country side. You will have a fabulous trip.

How about languages? Whic are they studying? and which did you study in school?

Not that this shold be the controlling factor - since english is so widely spoken - but sometimes having studied the language gives you some feeling for wanting to see a place.

What I would do is gather a bunch of tour brochures and the four of you sit down and glance through. Which places do you think you MUST see?

We usually do at least 2 countries to get some sort of contrast (is France and Germany or Italy and Switzerland) but with only 10 days you're better off in one country unless you do juse 2 cities close together (ie London and Paris).

As a first European trip, my vote would be London/Paris combo. You can easily spend 5 days in each city.

If you decide on that, try to buy open-jaw airline tickets, which will have you fly into London and out of Paris, rather than traditional roundtrip tickets which require you to back track to London.

I would suggest going to London first, due to the ease that you already know the language.