11 Best first-time Europe itineraries for 1, 2, or 3 weeks

Europe is going to be very busy in the summer of 2024 as the world is back to normal and travel demand is higher than ever. One other key factor is that most European currencies are still hovering at lower levels historically compared to the US dollar, which means that Europe will feel somewhat cheap again this year. In fact, according to our World Backpacker Index, European cities like Lisbon, Madrid, and Munich are about 30% cheaper to visit than Boston, Chicago, and New York City. In other words, flying to Europe might seem expensive, but most things will be cheaper once you get there compared to the costs of visiting a large US city.

Below you’ll find 11 of the most popular and best itineraries for a first visit to Europe. Your first visit is not really the time to be different or creative, and the famous destinations tend to be popular for a reason. In other words, it’s kind of silly to visit, say, Bulgaria, if you’ve not yet been to France or Italy. I lay out the best options along with how long to stay in each place as a general guide. I also discuss Mediterranean cruises, which can actually be an amazing way to see a lot of Europe on your first visit, especially if you don’t like going back and forth to train stations and airports every 2 or 3 days.

For a bit of fun you might be interested in the cheapest 5-star hotels in Europe, which start at US$80 per night for really nice hotels. It helps show that if you choose some of the cheaper cities, you can treat yourself to some luxury that you can’t afford in most other places.

This article was last updated in March, 2024.

There are 11 starter itineraries described in detail below

  1. Classic London and Paris
  2. England and Scotland
  3. Paris and Italy
  4. Mediterranean cruise
  5. France, Belgium, and Netherlands
  6. Paris and elsewhere in France
  7. Italy
  8. Spain
  9. Germany
  10. Switzerland
  11. Best of cheap eastern Europe

For each itinerary there are suggestions of other destinations that are easy to add on to the main cities.

Note: This article was most recently updated in March, 2024

Building the best itinerary for your first trip to Europe

Below there are 11 popular itineraries for one week in Europe. If you’ve only got a week then choose one of them and assume you’ll return again to conquer more of this amazing part of the world. If you’ve got more time then you can choose from some of the top add-on suggestions for each one.

Start in the most famous cities

Your first visit to Europe is no time to try to be different or edgy. I recommend that you focus on these 5 great cities before you start branching out into cheaper or more obscure places.

Keep your travel days to a minimum

The closest major European cities are at least two hours apart by high-speed train, and from the time you check out of one hotel until you are checked into your hotel in the next city, it’s going to be 5 or more hours in most cases. A travel day isn’t much of a sightseeing day, so if you change cities every day or two, you’ll have very little time to see the things you’ve actually gone all that way to see.

Spend 3 (or 4) nights in almost every major city

Cities like London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, and Barcelona are all large and packed with world-class things to see and do. Since the day you arrive and the day you leave will offer little sightseeing time, you need at least two full sightseeing days in order to even see your choice of the top sights.

So many first-time visitors are initially planning on spending only 1 or 2 nights in major cities that I wrote a detailed explanation of why 3 nights is ideal for almost all European cities, even if you want to see as much as possible.

3 (or 4) nights will be enough for any city on your first trip

Most first-time visitors are tempted to move too quickly, but it can also be a mistake to move too slowly. It’s really amazing how much you can see in two full sightseeing days. If you spend too long in one city you’ll end up seeing things that are way down your list, while you could be in another city seeing things at the top of your list there.

Choose cities that are easy to reach from each other

Since traveling from one city to another will take at least half a day, you don’t want to waste more time by visiting far-flung cities. Krakow and Lisbon are both fantastic cities to visit, but they are on opposite ends of Europe.

For your first trip it’s best to visit cities that are no more than a 5-hour train ride apart.

Choose cities that are connected by reasonable train rides rather than flights

To build on the point above, finding cheap flights within Europe is easy, but train travel is about a million times more enjoyable and less stressful. You’ll enjoy the train rides almost as much as the cities, so focus on places that are within 5 hours of each other by train.

Start with one of the classic itineraries below, and then add to it if you have more time

If you only have 7 days then you’ll find a list below of classic itineraries that are well-suited to a first visit to Europe. Hopefully you have more than 7 days though, and if you do you can add in one or more of the suggested add-on cities to build an itinerary that appeals most to you.

 

Best 1-week itineraries for the first time in Europe

Itinerary 1: Classic London and Paris

Fly into either city and take the 2-hour Eurostar train between them

Honestly, unless you have a specific reason why not, this is probably the best one-week itinerary for most first-time visitors to Europe. If you can read this article then London will be easy for language reasons. It’s packed with famous sights and it’s a major world capital.

London highlights

  • Big Ben and Parliament
  • Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral
  • Tower of London and Tower Bridge
  • West End shows (Broadway equivalent) and classic pubs
  • Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle

Paris is actually far more beautiful than London and the food is famously much better as well. Since Paris gets so many tourists from non-French speaking countries, it’s easy to get by on just English, and the Metro system makes it fast and easy to get around. The architecture of both cities is amazing from the Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. These cities each pack a huge punch and they are very different from each other as well. Actually, England is arguably the best choice for your first trip to Europe.

Paris highlights

  • Eiffel Tower
  • Louvre Museum and Museum de Orsay
  • Arc de Triomphe and other monuments
  • Montmartre neighborhood and Sacré Coeur Cathedral
  • Probably the world’s best affordable restaurants and wine

Best add-ons to London and Paris

The only efficient way to get between London and Paris is on the Eurostar train, which runs between St. Pancras station in London and Gare du Nord station in Paris. The earlier you buy tickets, the cheaper they will be. Unlike other trains in Europe, the Eurostar (which of course runs through the Channel Tunnel) has airport-style security and you have to be there at least 30 minutes before departure. Eurostar tickets to and from London go on sale 6 to 8 months in advance and will be cheapest for the first few months they are on sale, with fares steadily rising after that.

>>>Best one-week London and Paris itinerary in detail
>>>Check London hotel deals
>>>Check Paris hotel deals

Itinerary 2: England and Scotland

If you prefer to focus your first Europe trip on England and Scotland, you can have a great time and save the Continent for next time. London is the obvious place to start and spend 3 or 4 nights before taking the train north.

York is a small Roman city with intact city walls and one of the most famous cathedrals in Europe. Edinburgh is not only the capital of Scotland, but it’s easily the second most interesting city in all of Britain. If your time is short, skip York and spend more time in Edinburgh.

If you prefer to focus on the south of England on your first trip then the best option is to go to Bath or nearby Bristol after London. Bath is another of England’s top destinations and it’s a gorgeous city that has been a spa resort for many centuries. It’s also reasonably close to Stonehenge. You can also easily get to Cornwall in England’s southwest corner from Bath, and that’s a whole different and fascinating experience (with nicer weather than up north).

If you’ve got more than a week and want to spend more time in Scotland, especially in the summer months, the place to head to is Inverness. It’s a small town that is considered the gateway to the Scottish Highlands, but it’s an interesting and charming place on its own. You can take day-trips by bus to the highlights of the Highlands including the Isle of Skye and Loch Ness. Between you and me, it’s better to minimize time in Loch Ness or skip it altogether because it’s not one of the more photogenic parts of Scotland and the monster has always been a hoax.

Travel times between the recommended places

  • London to York by train: 2 hours
  • York to Edinburgh by train: 2.5 hours
  • London to Edinburgh by train: 4 hours
  • Edinburgh to Inverness by train: 3.5 hours
  • London to Bath by train: 85 minutes

Best add-ons to England and Scotland

If you think you want to spend your whole trip in Britain you should have a look at our article on the best itineraries in England, Scotland, and Wales.

>>>Check London hotel deals
>>>Check Edinburgh hotel deals

Itinerary 3: Paris and Italy

  • Paris (3 or 4 nights)
  • Venice (1 night)
  • Florence (2 or 3 nights)
  • Rome (3 nights)

The fastest version of this extremely popular itinerary that I recommend is 9 nights, but if you skip Florence you could actually do this in 7 nights if you had to. Paris is obviously the best first place to start exploring France and 3 or 4 nights there will feel like a very complete first visit.

From Paris you can easily fly to Venice (or nearby Treviso) where you should try to spend about 24 hours. Venice is small enough to see in a full day, and so crowded that most people are satisfied to leave after that day. The key is to stay in the main part of the main island so you can enjoy Venice before the cruise passengers and day-trippers arrive, and also after they leave for the day. Two nights in Venice would not be wasted time, and it’s possibly the most gorgeous city in the entire world, but you can see the best of it in a bit over 24 hours.

Florence is a highly recommended stop after Venice, as it’s the capital of the Tuscany region and also arguably Europe’s most important city for a couple hundred years. Florence probably has the best food of the three most popular Italian tourist cities, which is another reason to stop over there for at least a couple days.

Rome also lives up to the hype and spending a day in the Vatican City will be a highlight even for non-Catholics, but it’s also a crowded and busy city so three days is usually enough for most people. Similar to Paris, Rome is an unusually beautiful city from almost any angle when you are in the historical center. You’ll walk through a stunning piazza (town square) and then turn a corner and you’ll see gorgeous buildings or public statues that are as nice as anything in the museums. Seriously, it’s worth a visit.

Paris to Venice flight: 1 hour 35 minutes
Venice to Florence by train: 1 hour 53 minutes
Florence to Rome by train: 1 hour 16 minutes

You can of course instead fly from Paris to Rome and then go north to Florence and then to Venice and fly home (or back to Paris) from there, and it would be just as enjoyable.

Best add-ons to Paris and Italy

France

  • Nice/Cannes/Monaco (2 or 3 nights)
  • Avignon (2 nights)
  • Bourges (2 nights)
  • Bordeaux (2 nights)
  • Aix-en-Provence (2 nights)
  • Reims (2 nights)
  • Dijon/Burgundy (2 nights)

Italy

  • Milan (1 or 2 nights)
  • Lake Como (2 nights)
  • Siena (2 nights)
  • Cinque Terre (1 night)
  • Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast/Pompeii/Capri (3 to 5 nights)
  • Sicily (3 to 4 nights)

>>>Much more information in this article about the best France and Italy itineraries
>>>Check Paris hotel deals
>>>Check Venice hotel deals
>>>Check Florence hotel deals
>>>Check Rome hotel deals

Itinerary 4: Mediterranean cruise

If you’ve decided to finally explore Europe for the first time, it’s quite possible that you haven’t considered doing it on a cruise. The best place to start would be one of the cruises that leaves from a popular port in the Mediterranean (and the adjacent seas). Barcelona and Venice are among the most popular departure ports and you can find cruises that go west or east from those places as well as cruises that drop you in another part of Europe or cruises that return to the departure port.

In spite of the reputation of cruises to be floating buffets, they can actually be an excellent way to visit a great number of amazing European cities in a short time. The ship typically is in port from the early morning until mid evening, often giving you the opportunity to have dinner in the city (unlike Caribbean cruises). Better still, the cruise ports are often near the center of town, so you can just walk off the ship and do sightseeing on foot or by public transportation.

Mediterranean cruises usually start at 7 nights but can go up to 3 weeks, which can provide an amazing tour of the entire region without having to pack and repack your bags more than once. They also can provide excellent value, especially compared to the price of taking trains or flights and finding new hotels in every destination.

Most popular Mediterranean departure ports

Barcelona, Spain – It’s an easy port to reach. Ships generally go from Barcelona with stops in France and then Italy.

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy – The port isn’t very close to Rome, but it’s easy to get back and forth. Ships go west to France and Spain as well as south around the tip of Italy and then on to Croatia, Venice, and to Greece.

Venice, Italy – The cruise ships no longer dock close to the best tourist areas, but it’s easy enough to visit Venice for a day or two before boarding a ship. Ships starting in Venice go south and then head west and to Rome and then to France, or they go south to Croatia and then head east to Greece.

Athens, Greece – The cruise port of Piraeus is just south of Athens and easy to reach. Ships from Athens usually head west towards Croatia, Italy, France, and Spain, but there are also ships that visit Greek islands and Turkey.

>>>Check for deals on Mediterranean cruises

Alternative to consider: a river cruise

As alluring as cruising the Med may be, a river cruise on the Rhine or Danube might suit you even better. River cruises all over Europe have been booming in popularity lately and for good reason. They are typically more expensive than Med cruises on huge ships, but they also allow passengers to see more because they only hold a few hundred people and they often dock literally in the middle of the historic cities they visit.

AmsterdamBudapest, and Prague are some of the most popular river cruise ports, but there are dozens of others including many smaller towns in France where few other tourists will be when you stroll off the ship. There is little or no entertainment on the river cruise ships, but passengers don’t miss it because the entire day and into the evening is spent just steps from local cultural offerings and restaurants.

>>>Check for Europe and river cruise deals

Itinerary 5: France, Belgium, and Netherlands

Paris to Brussels: 1 hour 22 minutes
Brussels to Bruge: 58 minutes
Bruges to Amsterdam: 2 hours 45 minutes
Amsterdam to Paris: 3 hours 17 minutes

If you want to save the UK for a future trip, starting in Paris on a first Europe visit is ideal. You’ll probably land in the morning so you’ll have almost 3 full days for Paris sightseeing. After that you can hop on a high-speed train for 1 hour 22 minutes to reach Brussels, or go straight to Amsterdam in a bit over 3 hours total.

Spending 4 nights in Paris and 3 nights in Amsterdam would be a great trip, but if you want to see something else you’ve got a couple options in between. My advice is to spend an afternoon looking around the Grand Place (main square) in Brussels and then hop a 58-minute train ride to Bruges for a night or two. Brussels isn’t a great tourist city, but Bruges really is so it’s a better option for most people. Whatever you choose out of this group, you can be back in Paris on another high-speed train for your flight home.

Best add-ons to France, Belgium, and Netherlands

>>>Check Paris hotel deals
>>>Check Bruges hotel deals
>>>Check Amsterdam hotel deals

Itinerary 6: Paris and elsewhere in France

And a choice of:

  • Nice/Cannes/Monaco (2 or 3 nights)
  • Avignon (2 nights)
  • Bourges (2 nights)
  • Bordeaux (2 nights)
  • Aix-en-Provence (2 nights)
  • Reims (2 nights)
  • Dijon/Burgundy (2 nights)
  • Normandy (2 nights)

France is such a rich country for tourism experiences that you could spend a month there and still feel like you are missing significant sights. Obviously you’ll want to start in Paris, and then after that it’s just a matter of what interests you most and how much time you have. The architecture all over France is a highlight, and of course Paris has some of the most famous structures on earth including the Eiffel Tower and Louvre museum.

While Nice is a wonderful tourist city for a look at the French Riviera, the other larger cities of Lyon and Marseilles are probably better saved for a future trip because they are light on key sights compared to many smaller towns. Wine lovers can rent a car or take trains into Bordeaux or Burgundy. Since you can get between most of these towns by train in 2 hours or less, spending only 2 nights in each one is a reasonable option if you want to see a lot in a short time.

Normandy is an interesting choice and easy to reach in only about two hours by train from Paris. Some visitors like to see the famous WWII beaches and memorials, while others (especially in summer) like to check out one or more of the beach-resort towns. Deauville is one of the more famous of those, and it’s also famous for its horse race track and as one of the epicenters of the industry in Europe.

Best add-ons to Paris and elsewhere

>>>Check Paris hotel deals
>>>Check Nice hotel deals

Itinerary 7: Italy

Rome to Florence: 1 hour 16 minutes
Florence to Venice: 1 hour 53 minutes

Especially for first-time visitors to Europe, Italy might be the most popular destination of all, and for good reason. The country has a famous “Big 3” destinations in Rome, Florence, and Venice, which are all teaming with worthwhile sights and they are conveniently located fairly short train rides from each other. Rome is by far the largest of those and it’s packed with great sights, but it’s also a bit chaotic, so 3 nights is a good stay for a first visit. Rome’s architecture is an obvious highlight and fortunately you can see a lot in a fairly short time. You can visit the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Vatican Museums, and Trevi Fountain in two days if you are organized.

Venice is small enough that you can see the main sights in about 24 hours, and it’s so insanely crowded that many people tire of it after about a day as well. It’s better to pay more for a hotel to be on the main island and visit quickly than to save money with a hotel on the mainland where you’ll be in crowds going back and forth as well. Florence is the most relaxing of the 3, and also a great base for side trips to Pisa, Siena, and Cinque Terre, just to name a few.

Going to Italy? Here are the best first-time Italy itineraries for 3 days to 2 weeks (in much greater detail)

Best add-ons to Italy

  • Milan (1 or 2 nights)
  • Lake Como (2 nights)
  • Siena (2 nights)
  • Cinque Terre (1 night)
  • Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast/Pompeii/Capri (3 to 5 nights)
  • Sicily (3 to 4 nights)

>>>Check Rome hotel deals
>>>Check Florence hotel deals
>>>Check Venice hotel deals

Itinerary 8: Spain

Madrid to Barcelona: 2 hours 30 minutes

Spain is another huge country with many things to see, but on your first visit to Europe it’s best to focus on its two huge cities. Madrid, which is the capital, and Barcelona, which is on a northern Mediterranean beach, are very different from each other and not substitutable for each other at all. A day trip on a 33-minute train ride from Madrid to Toledo is very worthwhile, although there are many other options.

A huge part of Spain’s tourism industry is built around its southern beaches and islands such as Ibiza, Mallorca, and Tenerife (in the Canary Islands). For most people it’s best to ignore those places on your first trip because none of the beaches are special enough to spend days on them compared to the culture of the cities.

Best add-ons to Spain

By popular demand, I’ve added a full article on where to go in Spain with itineraries from 7 to 10 days up to two weeks.

>>>Check Madrid hotel deals
>>>Check Barcelona hotel deals
>>>Check Lisbon hotel deals

Itinerary 9: Germany

  • Berlin (3 nights)
  • Munich (2 or 3 nights)
  • Rothenburg ob der Tauber (1 night)
  • Füssen (1 night)

Berlin to Munich: 6 hours 2 minutes
Munich to Rothenburg ob der Tauber: 2 hours 56 minutes
Munich to Füssen: 2 hours 4 minutes

Germany is a popular first-time Europe destination for those with family and/or roots in the country, even if other people save it for a 2nd or 3rd trip. Berlin is the capital and the most interesting city in the country by quite a bit, and it’s also pleasantly affordable compared to the other large cities in Germany. Munich is wealthier and more relaxed, and different from Berlin in many other ways as well.

Those two cities are the keys to a Germany visit, and after that you’ve got a wide variety of choices. I cover most of the popular choices in my article on where to go in Germany, which covers several smaller towns that are major highlights.

Best add-ons to Germany

>>>Check Berlin hotel deals
>>>Check Munich hotel deals

Itinerary 10: Switzerland

Zurich Airport to Interlaken: 2 hours 10 minutes
Interlaken to Bern: 53 minutes
Bern to Lucerne: 1 hour 50 minutes
Lucerne to Zurich Airport: 1 hour 3 minutes

If you aren’t much of a city person at all and you have a much stronger desire to see beautiful scenery and landscapes, then Switzerland could be a good choice for your first visit to Europe. The large cities here such as Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, and Basel are all fairly dull and very expensive, so it’s better to minimize your time in any of them and head straight to the smaller scenic towns.

Interlaken is the best hub for the most dramatic Alps views and experiences. The one-hour cable car ride up to the Schilthorn observation deck is something you’ll never forget, and the only thing that might be more dramatic is the train ride up to the Jungfraujoch station, which is the highest in Europe. Lucerne is almost as beautiful with a scenic lake at its heart and also great mountaintop views nearby. If you do want to see a Swiss city then the capital of Bern is the most interesting and photogenic on a short visit. Read more about where to go in Switzerland for even more ideas.

Best add-ons to Switzerland

  • Munich (3 nights)
  • Paris (3 nights)
  • Italy (as long as you’ve got)

>>>Check Interlaken hotel deals
>>>Check Lucerne hotel deals

Itinerary 11: Eastern Europe’s best cheap cities

This isn’t really recommended for a first trip to Europe unless you are a backpacker who is sure they are going to be able to visit Europe again when they have more money. If you can get a cheap enough flight, the 3 best cheap European cities to visit are Prague, Budapest, and Krakow, which are all around half as expensive as most of the other cities on this list.

Each of these cities is beautiful and historic, but English is less widely spoken so they can also be quite a bit more challenging for a first-time visitor. Another difficulty is that the trains between them are still quite slow compared to the high-speed rail in the West, so it takes most of a day from one to another, and a bus is often a better choice. I cover this best cheap Europe itinerary more fully in the linked article.

Prague to Budapest: 6 hours 41 minutes
Budapest to Krakow: 9 hours 54 minutes (flying might be better)

Best add-ons to cheap Eastern Europe

>>>Check Prague hotel deals
>>>Check Budapest hotel deals
>>>Check Krakow hotel deals

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All Comments

  1. polash says:

    Hi Roger, was reading your article and reply to various questions and its actually too good and kind from you.
    if you pls,help me out a route plan for 15days. but my catch is, i have to start from Stockholm.i like to end in rome to head back home. in between what should be my plan?thanks

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Polash,

      I’m happy to help. Stockholm to Rome could be done in 15 days, but it would require skipping quite a few great places along the way. My recommendation would be to choose 5 or maybe 6 cities total and spend 3 days in each. If Stockholm is one of your cities you’d only have 12 days left but even if Stockholm didn’t count on the 15 days I think it’s probably best to fly from Stockholm to a city closer to Italy and then do the rest of it on shorter train rides. You could do Stockholm to Copenhagen by train, but those are pretty long train rides and honestly those two cities are pretty similar to each other.

      So maybe Stockholm and then a flight to Paris and then trains to Venice, Florence and Rome? That sort of thing. Stockholm is just so remote that it would require at least 3 or 4 longer train journeys but if you flew from Stockholm to Paris (or Berlin or Prague or Budapest or wherever) the remaining train rides would be relatively short. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger

  2. Rafael says:

    Hi Roger,

    Firstly, I would like to thank you for the article and itineraries; they are very helpful.

    My wife and I are planning a 3 to 4-month trip around the EU (Western Europe). Before I delve into the specifics of our itinerary, I am wondering if the same 3 to 5-day in each-city principle applies for cases where travellers will spend more time travelling around?

    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Thanks
    Raf

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Rafael,

      Wow. That sounds amazing! Even when traveling for longer periods like that I’d recommend a minimum of 3 nights in almost any place you go. The main reason is your travel days tend to be kind of long when you factor in everything from checking out of one hotel to getting to the train station and waiting and then the journey time and then getting to your next hotel and getting situated. All of that usually takes 4 to 6 hours even when the train journey is only an hour or two, so you just don’t get much sightseeing done on those days. So if you only stay 2 nights in each city it means every other day is a travel day and that just takes up too much time.

      That said, I think 3 or 4 days is enough time in most places as well. If you really want to get to know Paris, for example, you might stay a week there. But for most cities there are diminishing marginal returns starting on day 3 or 4. In other words, you’ll be able to see the 10 things that most interest you in 3 days or so, and at that point you might be ready to see the Top 10 things in the next city instead of the #11 through #20 things in the first city.

      Another thing that is important with longer trips like that is to plan some down time at least every few weeks. If you try to do sightseeing 7 days per week for weeks at a time it starts to feel like a job. What I like to do is every two or three weeks find a smaller town or cheaper place where I can rent a little apartment or some place larger and more comfortable than a typical small European hotel room. And I like to stop in places without many sights otherwise it’s too tempting to keep sightseeing every day.

      I’ve actually done quite a few long trips like this and I’m happy to help with any other advice if you like. -Roger

  3. jimnpaula says:

    Comment*We are planning on Athens to Amsterdam from June 4, 2024 to Amsterdam June 24th.

    We are thinking trains to major cities inbetween Athens and Amsterdam. We are open to anything and everything.

    Priorities: Parthenon in Athens, Art Museums in Amsterdam (3-5 days in Amsterdam)
    Can you help us?

    1. Roger Wade says:

      JimnPaula,

      That is a tricky one. Both Athens and Amsterdam are great and very worthwhile, but once you go north of Athens to Thessaloniki in northern Greece, the train service is spotty and very slow all the way until you reach Budapest. Strangely enough, buses tend to be faster and much more frequent in those “eastern” countries like Bulgaria and Romania. Also, being perfectly honest, most of those in-between cities such as Sofia and Belgrade are kind of dull by European standards, although they are quite cheap.

      If you really want to visit Athens I’d definitely start there and then after a few days fly to Budapest or some other city in that area that interests you and then carry on from there by train. In fact, Athens to Budapest and then trains to Prague then Berlin and then Amsterdam could be perfect. You could even add in a couple of days in Cesky Krumlov near Prague if you want to include a gorgeous smaller town among the big cities.

      Those are all first-class cities and several of them are quite affordable as well. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger

  4. David says:

    Hi, my wife and I would like to visit Rome, Florence, Italy, Venice, Prague, Berlin and maybe Switzerland. This will be the first time travelling to Europe and I would appreciate your help in planning where to start, where to stay, how to get there and where to go. We will be coming from Trinidad and Tobago for 2 weeks. If possible, i would like a day-to-day plan.

    1. Roger Wade says:

      David,

      Unfortunately I don’t have time to do a day-by-day plan for you, but I can help get you started. If you’ve got 14 nights I would keep the list to 5 total cities. If you tried to include Switzerland on this trip it would mean spending only 1 or 2 days in some cities and that means spending every other day on trains.

      I think the best thing to do would be to fly into Berlin or Prague and then spend 3 days there and then take a train to the other one and spend 3 days there and then fly to Venice. Spend 1 or 2 days in Venice and then take a short train ride to Florence for 2 days or so and then a train ride down to Rome for your final 3 days and then a flight home or back to your starting city if that is cheaper. I’m happy to help if you have any other questions. -Roger

  5. Jose says:

    Hi, Roger.
    My wife and I (56 and 63) want to do our first trip to Europe from Canada and would like to start by visiting Portugal (Lisbon and Porto) and Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada y Sevilla with day trips to close small cities in between). What it would be your suggestion for:
    1. Stay in each city for a 15/17 days trip?
    2. any additions/modifications?
    3. Train over flights internally?
    4. If we travel with one suitcase of 50 Lbs would it work to take public transit when required?
    5. Instead of this plan, would it be better to visit 1/2 famous city in different countries?
    Would appreciate your inputs. Than you Roger

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Jose,

      If you’ve only got about 16 days I’d recommend choosing 5 or maybe 6 cities in total. I strongly believe that 3 nights is the best amount of time to stay in each city so you have two full sightseeing days in each one, although some smaller cities can be done a bit quicker. I go over the reasons in detail on this other article about how long to stay in each European city, but the main point is that if you stay only two nights it means literally spending every other day on trains or in airports and such and you just don’t get much sightseeing done on those travel days with all of the packing and unpacking and checking in and out of hotels.

      I’d definitely include Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona. You could add a 2-day visit to Porto and 2 or 3 days each in Sevilla and Granada. I’d save Valencia for a future trip. It’s nice, but aside from the new buildings clustered in one area, it’s more generic than any of the others on your list.

      The only train between Portugal and Madrid goes over night and I’m not a fan of those so I’d fly on that leg. But from there I’d definitely take the high-speed trains, which are fast and comfortable. Buy your tickets at least a couple months in advance for the best fares.

      There will be room for a 50 lb suitcase on the flights (of course) and on the trains as well. On older trains they have you put them on racks above the seats, but on most of the more modern ones (like the high-speed trains) they also have room for larger bags at each end of the carriage. If you can lift them, there will definitely be room for them.

      I think your plan sounds really good and those are all great cities. That said, for most first-time visitors to Europe I’d recommend Paris and Italy as those are really more dramatic and interesting, although also more crowded and somewhat more expensive as well. I think once you do the Iberia trip you’ll be hooked and you’ll start planning a trip to France and Italy for the coming years. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger

      1. Jose says:

        Hi, Roger. Thank you for your comments and recommendations and also for your prompt response.
        I have modified my plan as I have now 22 days. My Itinerary is Porto(3), Lisbon(3), Seville(2), Malaga(2), Madrid(3),Barcelona(3), Zaragoza(2) and Bilbao(3). What do you think? is this a good plan? Any suggestions? I am still debating between Malaga and Granada though. I included Bilbao to visit friends.
        The question on the luggage was more related to the comfort to pull a large back in public transit than the allowance in the planes or trains.
        I will appreciate your inputs. Thank you again, Roger

        1. Roger Wade says:

          Jose,

          Those six more days will help a lot. I think your new plan looks really good. You can probably enjoy Porto in 2 days and add an extra day somewhere else, but you might also be dealing with jet-lag so 3 days might be better. Your itinerary looks efficient and logical.

          I really like Granada and Malaga, but I think if I were to choose between the two I would go with Granada. Malaga is (in my opinion) an underrated city that is close to some extremely popular beach towns and it’s got a lot going for it, but if you aren’t also going to be staying by the beach I think I’d save it for another trip. Granada has got the Alhambra and Generalife Gardens and those are unlike anything else in Spain or the world for that matter. Granada is small enough to enjoy in two days and I think seeing the Alhambra will be more memorable than anything in Malaga.

          Buy your train tickets as early as possible for the best times and fares, and the flight for Lisbon to Seville (or you could take a bus).

          And again, your 50 lb suitcase will fit on city to city trains (although not as well on buses or trams within a city), but still (as the saying goes) no one ever went on a trip around Europe like this and swore they would pack more stuff the next time. In other words, 40 lbs is much easier than 50 lbs and getting laundry done cheaply in a country like Spain is quite easy. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger

  6. anil says:

    Comment*Hi travelling first time to europe next year we are 55 years age group any suggestions for 10-12 days itenary with guided tour would be nice if any suggestion are there also april or may better time to visit there
    anil

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Anil,

      Actually, all of my best suggestions for first-time visits to Europe are in the article above. If you specifically want a guided tour you’ll obviously just be choosing from the ones that are available from the companies you look it, although many of those should resemble the itineraries in my article. Planning your own trip to Europe is actually quite easy, and especially if you are going to the classic and most popular cities. I’ve got lots of articles that could help you.

      I’m not sure how many guided tours you’ve done, but one thing to consider is that they always move at the speed of the slowest person in the group. If YOU are the slowest person in the group then it’s fine, but if you are 55 then you should be much faster than most other people on a guided tour. For example, if you have a coach/bus tour for a day with 5 or 6 stops, you always have to wait for the slowest people to get on an off the bus. I’ve done countless day tours this way and it can be frustrating waiting 10 extra minutes many times each day as slow people are trying their best.

      I think my top two best suggestions are London and maybe another stop or two in England and then Paris and other stop or two in France, OR, Paris then another stop in France and then Venice, Florence, and Rome. It obviously depends whether England or Italy sounds more interesting. Let me know if I can be of any other help. -Roger

  7. Bobbie G says:

    Planning a family trip with a adult and nearly adult children. Hoping to be able to do 18 to 20 days. Must sees are Paris, Venice, England, and Prague but would adore seeing more! What route would you suggest and should we rent a car, fly, train, river cruise? There are so many options and I’m completely overwhelmed! A suggested itinerary would be amazing!! Thank you!

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Bobbie G,

      That sounds like a great start to a plan. As far as “England” is concerned it’s probably best to just think of it as 3 or probably 4 nights in London. With 4 nights you’d have enough time for a good day trip to Bath/Stonehenge and Windsor or to Oxford or even York, but London is big enough to keep you busy and it’s probably best to just stay there and then take the Eurostar train to Paris for 3 or 4 nights.

      Prague is a bit out of the way, but you can fly there cheaply enough if you want and then after 3 nights fly to Venice. After 2 nights in Venice I’d take a train down to Florence for 2 nights and then another train to Rome for 3 nights. That would be just about a perfect 18 to 20 day trip including Prague. I definitely wouldn’t rent a car as they tend to be counter productive when visiting a string of large cities that have bad traffic and expensive parking. Your itinerary doesn’t really work with a river cruise at all, but hopefully you can plan one in the future.

      It would probably be cheapest to fly from Rome back to London for your flight home (being careful of which of London’s 5 airports you fly into because your flight home will almost certainly go out of Heathrow), but if you can get a flight home straight from Rome for a good price, that would be even better. Getting around by train in Europe is by far the best way wherever it’s close and fast enough, so I’d focus on trains in the places I mentioned. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger

      1. Bobbie G says:

        Yes, I meant London. Thank you for picking up on that. After reading though your site and many, many of these informative comments, I think I have figured out a basic itinerary and would love your feedback and suggestions!

        -Fly into London
        London(3 days)
        -Eurostar Train to Paris
        Paris (3 days)
        -Train to Switzerland – unsure which train company
        Switzerland (3 days)
        -Train to Venice??
        Venice (2 days)
        -Train to Florence – which train company? Is there a pass?
        Florence (2 days)
        -Train to Rome
        Rome (2 days)
        -Fly to Prague
        Prague (3 days)
        -Fly home out of Prague

        Very interested to hear your feedback. I know you suggest 3 nights but I am ok with missing out on some things in Rome/Florence if needed. Would love train suggestions and if passes are best. NO idea on how the trains operate in Europe.

        Thank you so much for your time!

        1. Roger Wade says:

          Bobbie G,

          This itinerary looks amazing. My only real suggestion would be to spend only one day in Venice and three days in Rome, or at least a day and a half in Venice rather than two, but you’ll enjoy it no matter what. The thing is that Venice is about the size of a theme park like Disneyland and from 9 AM until 5 PM it feels even more crowded than Disneyland. It’s absolutely amazing, but also easy to get tired of the crowds and you’ll do your best sightseeing in the mornings before the day-trippers come and in the evenings after they’ve left. And Rome is huge with a long list of really cool sights so with only one full sightseeing day you’ll miss quite a few of them. But again, you’ll enjoy it no matter how you divide your time.

          In most of Europe including between France and Switzerland and Italy, there is just one rail company per country so just book whatever comes up. From Paris to Basel, Switzerland you’ll take the France national service and then change trains to a Swiss train for your ride to Interlaken or Lucern. Then from Switzerland you’ll take (probably) a Swiss train to Spiez or Brig and then change there for an Italian train to Venice. You’ll buy it just as one ticket and it’ll include all the legs required to get from one city to your final city, and usually come with seat reservations as well (except in Switzerland).

          My favorite site for checking schedules all over Europe is the Trainline. But you can also check the official rail sites of each country involved and I’d definitely check those prices before booking anything. My article on buying European train tickets in advance is still pretty much up to date and it has links to the various national train companies.

          It will be cheapest if you lock in your dates and buy all of your train tickets as early as possible, which will be around 3 months out in most cases. The tickets start off really cheap and go up in price as more seats are sold on each train, so earlier is always better. There are no rail passes that would be helpful on a trip like this, but that’s mostly because the tickets will be pretty cheap already, especially the ones within Italy.

          Trains in Europe are really fun and shockingly easy once you get started. All the important signs will be in English as well as a local language. For most of them you can literally walk aboard just before it leaves and you are fine as long as you have a reserved seat, but the Eurostar works more like a flight with security and such so you have to be checked in at least 30 minutes in advance. Let me know if you have any other questions.

          I won’t have time to update that other older article about trains vs planes vs buses, partly because these days there is a clear choice depending on which two cities you are going between. There are places in eastern Europe where there are advantages to each mode, but for the cities you’ll be doing the train is going to be the fastest, by far the most enjoyable, and probably the cheapest as well, at least once you factor in airport transportation costs. It’s going to be a great trip! -Roger

          1. Bobbie G says:

            Thank you SO much for all of your help. Your in-depth website is an amazing resource! I get so lost in it and spend hours scouring your resources and links – it has everything anyone could need! And, the fact that you are also personally answering comments and offering personalized advice is mind blowing! Thank you for all that you do to inform us!

  8. Dr DK Sharma says:

    If you could suggest on a 14-15 day iterinary covering Athens, rome Milan paris London and Finland from New Delhi / Mumbai.

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Dr DK,

      If you have 14 to 15 days I’d suggest choosing about 5 cities in total to visit. So your list should work out fairly well, although it depends on how much of Finland you’d hope to see. I’m guessing you must have a specific reason for wanting to go there? Finland normally isn’t very popular and honestly there isn’t much to see. Helsinki is, in my opinion, the least interesting of the Nordic capitals, although it’s pleasant enough and the country has some nice forests. If you are visiting relatives or something, that requires different planning of course.

      It might be easiest to fly from Mumbai to London and then use that as a base. You could spend a few nights there and then fly to Helsinki and back after that or Helsinki to Paris for a few days. After Paris you could fly to Milan or Rome and then take a train to the other and then fly to Athens to finish your trip.

      Milan actually isn’t a popular tourist city. It’s the home of most of Italy’s big banks and fashion brands, but neither of those are accessible to most tourists. Italy has amazing fashion shopping in Rome as well as Florence. Venice is also more popular. I hope this helps and I’m happy to help more if you have questions. -Roger

  9. Sally Reinhart says:

    Comment*
    Planning first trip to Europe
    Want to do tour of England, Scotland, Wales and then to Paris for sites and Monet Gardens. Might take train to Brussels and Bruge. Then to Switzerland and home. Any suggestions what tour group to contact. Want slower pace trip…at least 3 weeks. Thank you.

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Sally,

      I enjoy helping people plan independent trips, and I honestly don’t know much about booking all-inclusive tours like you are after. I’d imagine you’d have to do at least a few different tours to cover all the places you have in mind. The one outfit that I am familiar with is Rick Steves, who I am a huge fan of for his Europe travel guides and I know he has a big tour organization. I’d start with them and see if they have anything that fits what you are looking for. Best of luck. -Roger