First trip to Europe? Focus on these 5 great cities rather than cheap ones
Planning your first trip to Europe can be challenging because we hear so many great things about so many different places, it’s tough to know which to see first. There are interesting cities like Copenhagen and cheap cities like Krakow and even some cities that are interesting and cheap at the same time such as Cesky Krumlov. Still, I’m here to recommend starting with the classic and famous cities first and then exploring other places starting on your second trip (and there WILL be a second trip).
The list of 5 cities below can make for a perfect first-time to Europe itinerary all by itself if you have two weeks or so to spend, and I even tell you exactly how to do that at the end. Traveling can seem competitive in certain circles and it’s hard to brag about having visited Belgrade or Riga if you haven’t been to London, Paris, and Rome before. We keep an updated list of European cities from cheapest to most expensive and most of the cities I mention in this article are on the expensive end of the list, and they are still worth it.
This article was last updated in August, 2022.
Start with Europe's greatest cities, and work out a budget from there
If you are planning your first trip to Europe, hopefully it will be the first of many. Once you get a taste of the place and the crazy variety you’ll experience there, you’ll be ready to start planning your second trip before you even get home from your first.
While it might be tempting to start by visiting some of Europe’s cheapest cities, it’s actually much better to start with the classics to see what all the fuss is about before you branch off into more obscure destinations. And good news for Americans in 2022 who are planning a trip because the Euro and British Pound are both very weak right now so even the top cities such as London and Paris will be relatively cheap, even compared to visiting, say, Chicago, this year.
Suggestions for your first trip to Europe
Due to the unexpected popularity of this article and the many questions in comments about first-time itineraries, I’ve created a new and detailed article with all of my best suggestions.
>>>11 Best itinerary ideas for your first trip to Europe
Once you at least scan that article you’ll have some itinerary ideas for your own trip and I’ll be happy to answer questions at the bottom of that one. If you want to choose just one country to visit on your first trip to Europe, your best choices are England, France, or Italy.
Europe's 5 Great Cities for visitors
1 – London
The only town that can compete with New York City for the title of ‘Capital of the World,’ London is where everything comes together. And obviously as an English-speaking city (mostly), it’s among the easiest to begin adapting to the culture and style of Europe. The first time you see Parliament and Big Ben just around the corner from the London Eye, you’ll know you are somewhere important and unforgettable.
London also used to be famously expensive and it still can be if you are holding money in Euros or British pounds or some other currency that is low at the moment. But if you are from the US or Canada, London has come down in price quite a bit in the last few years due to a currency drop. It’s true that there is inflation as well and some prices have gone up for visitors, but generally London is relatively cheap for most people in 2022.
This is also a perfect place to start your first Europe trip because there won’t be a language barrier (although some accents are harder to understand than others) and you can get the feel for Europe and the time zone without also having to worry about being understood by the people you meet.
- 2022 Backpacker Index: US$92.67 per day
2 – Paris
Definitely more intimidating than London, and also far more beautiful, Paris is a city that so many people gush over that you might assume there’s no way it could live up to the praise. Then you go to Paris for yourself and you start gushing yourself. Walk for thirty minutes from anywhere near the city center and you’ll keep seeing buildings and bridges and public art that will make you want to start checking apartment prices.
Every city has problems, even Paris, but it’s hard to imagine anyone being sorry they visited. While Paris is an expensive city, it’s actually a bit easier to keep costs down, mainly because the extensive Metro system means that you can still have a great and convenient time if you stay in a cheaper hotel outside of the main tourist center.
Another thing to mention is the food. Somehow, the French people care a lot more about food than any other nationality and they are amazing at it. Seriously, it’s almost impossible to find a meal that isn’t unusually great. You can even order the Plat Du Jour (plate of the day) at the closest neighborhood restaurant to your hotel and it is almost guaranteed to be amazing and also reasonably priced.
- 2022 Backpacker Index: US$85.11 per day
3 – Rome
Unlike London and Paris, the city of Rome does actually seem to have a group who’ll tell you to avoid it. Rome is frustrating in many ways, with crazy traffic and a sense of disorganization that is hard to adapt to, but there’s also no denying that it’s one of the world’s greatest and most important cities.
It’s easy to tell people to avoid a city once you’ve been there yourself, but no one gives points to those who would brag about never visiting a city because they heard it was too crazy. With Ancient Rome, the Coliseum, and the Vatican just for starters, Italy’s capital is worth the hassle to see it at least once, and many people love it so much that they keep returning. Hotels in Rome are weirdly expensive, but other costs are reasonable, and it’s totally worth it at least once in your life.
In 2022 all of Italy is relatively inexpensive because of the low Euro, so it’s a good time to visit some of the normally expensive cities like Rome. There are probably 10 famous attractions in this city that are each more amazing and interesting than any attraction in most other European cities such as Berlin or Brussels.
- 2022 Backpacker Index: US$71.49 per day
4 – Venice
Some cities are really beautiful from certain vantage points or certain angles, but Venice is beautiful from all of them. As a touristy city for several hundred years now, the biggest problem with Venice is the crowds it attracts. Even in winter, the main pedestrian routes can be so packed that it frustrates nearly everyone. And in summer, they are worse, of course.
Even though hotels in Venice tend to be quite expensive, the best way to visit is to spend at least one or two nights on the main island. You’ll find that early mornings and evenings are far less crowded, as most groups head to the mainland to sleep. Venice is also small enough that 36 hours is plenty of time to see the best bits, so it’s worth a one-night splurge for a good location.
Try to visit Venice when there are no cruise ships parked nearby, although that can be tricky in summer. You’ll enjoy how empty the island feels in the early morning hours and also late into the evening. The restaurants tend to close early and there isn’t much raucous nightlife, so after 10 PM or so the walkways are mostly empty and it’s another great time to enjoy Venice.
- 2022 Backpacker Index: US$90.97 per day
5 – Amsterdam
Some people might not put Amsterdam on this short list of great European cities, but plenty of people agree with me that it’s another of the world’s most beautiful and interesting places. Most of the city center is perfectly preserved from its beginnings in the 17th Century, and it’s been quite wealthy ever since.
Many cities around the world boast that they have more canals than Amsterdam, but except for Venice, none are nearly as stunning. Add in the way bicycles dominate the landscape, the weirdness of the Red Light District, and its pleasant overall nature, and Amsterdam is worth a visit in spite of its relative high prices for most things.
Hotel prices in Amsterdam have gotten somewhat out of hand so it’s a good thing the Euro is lower if you are coming from outside the region. Still, as good as the public transportation system in Amsterdam is, you’ll have a better time if you pay a bit more to stay in a hotel or hostel in the compact city center, roughly from the Princengracht canal ring to Centraal Station and anywhere in between.
- 2022 Backpacker Index: US$93.69 per day
The most efficient way to visit all of them on one trip
If you are planning your first trip to Europe and you’ve got about two weeks to spend there, it’s quite easy to visit all 5 of the above cities on one efficient trip. You can even sneak in another amazing city for a day or two if you’ve got it to spare.
You can do the following itinerary in either order, but I do think starting in London is better than starting in Rome on your first trip.
- Fly into London and spend 3 or 4 days there
- Take the Eurostar train (90 minutes) to Paris and spend 3 or 4 days there
- Take the high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam (3 hours 20 minutes) and spend 3 nights there
- Fly from Amsterdam to Venice (or nearby Treviso) and spend 1 or 2 days there
- Take the train from Venice through Florence (2 hours) to Rome (another 90 minutes) and spend 3 or 4 days there
- If you have one or two days to spare, stop in Florence in between Venice and Rome
- Fly home from Rome or back to London to board your flight home
Include the above cities as part of bigger trips
The 5 cities mentioned above are the ones that I think are the best and most dramatic introduction to Europe, and the most likely to inspire more trips, but I wouldn’t recommend just trying to see these 5 and then heading home. Depending on budget, season, and trip duration, you could add or subtract many other worthwhile cities to make the perfect itinerary.
If you’ve traveled all over Europe yourself, do you agree or disagree with the cities selected above? I can’t think of another that deserves to be in this top tier, but I’d imagine that other people might have other ideas.
Hi Roger,
My husband and I are planning to go in September for 28 days. We are flying from Australia and thinking to fly into London and leave from Rome. London, Paris, Rome are our must do’s. Would like to ask your opinion on our itinerary:
London 6 nights – train to Paris
Paris 5 nights – fly into Rome
Rome 5 nights
Would like to add in Positano and spend a few days just to relax there
I’ve deliberately put in extra nights in this places so we can do day trips outside of the main cities.
I want to include Spain while husband wants to include Switzerland but I’m not sure about the best route option.
What would you recommend? Will Spain be too much out of the way?
Or would London-Paris-(Switzerland)-Pasitano-Rome makes more sense?
Thanks,
Lidia
Lidia,
This sounds like a great trip and I’m glad you are starting with a relaxed schedule and thinking about adding to it, instead of starting with a crazy schedule and then having to take things out.
As you suspect, Switzerland is much easier to shoehorn into your primary itinerary compared to Spain. If you did choose to include Spain, it would probably be best to fly from Paris to Barcelona or Madrid, and then take the high-speed train to the other one, and then fly from there to Rome after spending 3 nights in each. Both cities are quite different from each other, and both very worthwhile for 3 nights each.
Since you are planning on spending most of the rest of your 28 days in larger cities, I’d think that Switzerland might be a more interesting contrast as well. The Swiss cities don’t compare to the cities on your list, but the Alpine and lake sights are arguably the best and most dramatic in all of Europe. After 5 or so days in Interlaken and Lucerne, the big cities will be easier to take again. If you are going to Switzerland you might find my article about where to go in Switzerland to be useful.
Speaking of Italy, you might also consider adding Venice and/or Florence to your visit there. Those cities along with Rome are Italy’s “Big 3” for a reason. You could take a wonderful and scenic train ride from Interlaken or Lucerne to Venice and spend 2 nights there. Then take a short train ride to Florence for 2 or 3 nights there before heading to Rome for your stay there. I’ve also got an article on where to go in France and Italy, which may be useful.
As for Positano, it’s lovely but it’s also a bit out of the way. The closest big airport is Naples and from there it’s a 1.5-hour train ride to Sorrento and then a bus or private car for another hour or so to Positano. So you could fly into Naples and then go to the Amalfi Coast in the way I described, or you could visit Rome and then take a train to Naples and then the other train and bus or car. By the way, I’m a huge fan of Sorrento as a place to base yourself in that region, as it’s really nice and also close to Naples, Pompeii, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast.
You’ve got enough extra days to do this trip in a variety of ways that would work well. So it’s really just up to you to decide which places are your highest priorities after you consider the travel options in getting to each one. I’m happy to help if you have more questions. -Roger
Hello Roger,
You are incredibly kind to be taking so much of your time to help everyone in these comments. Thank you.
I was wanting to ask your opinion: my husband and I are doing our first European trip next month. So far I only have the roundtrip tickets to and from Paris. We have 7 nights. I will be 5 months pregnant and do not want to overdo anything, so I was thinking of taking the train to Amsterdam when we land in Paris, spend two nights in Amsterdam, then our last 5 in Paris. I wasn’t wanting to short change Paris, but it looks like you might instead recommend 3 nights in Amsterdam and 4 in Paris. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for any information,
Valerie
Valerie,
Your plan sounds good. Paris is definitely much larger than Amsterdam so 4 or 5 days will be ideal. I could go either way on this, but I think the thing I’d use to decide would be what time your train to Amsterdam would get in. Your flight to Paris will probably land in the morning, so the question is how long it’ll take you to reach Amsterdam. It’s about a 3.25-hour train ride from central Paris, but you’ve got to go through Immigration and Customs and then get transport into Gare du Nord train station to catch the train to Amsterdam. If you think you can get to Amsterdam by 4pm or so, then you’ll have the whole evening to look around and the whole following day to see the highlights. But if your train from Paris gets in later than that, I think you should stay in Amsterdam for 3 nights so you have time to enjoy it.
Paris in 4 nights is plenty for nearly anyone to see all the main things on their list, and also just wander around the neighborhoods. Bon voyage and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger, I have reading all your articles, thanks for an amazing site, it is a wonderful resource. We are planing our first trip to Europe, thinking of doing a mid Aug for 15 days, with my husband and my son (16 years) and my best family friends 2 adults- 1 boy 18 years
Flying from Toronto
Arrive London (we have family living there we want to vist) and stay 3 nights
Amsterdam (a few hours) and then by train or fly to Dusseldorf 3 nights – free accomm with a friend.
Then Prague 2 days
Then Paris for 3 days
Then Barcelona 3 nights
Then fly Barcelona to Toronto
Aldo could you please advice the best way to do the visit by train or fly, and which sites are the best and cheaper.
What do you think? We really want to enjoy the trip and not be too rushed.
Many thanks and waiting for the best recommendations.
Martha
Martha,
Thank you. Your plan looks quite good and well thought out. I can provide a few comments.
From London you can take the Eurostar train to Brussels and then another fast train to Amsterdam, but flying is about the same amount of time and it might be quicker. Either one would work, although the trains are more pleasant and obviously more scenic.
If you haven’t been to Amsterdam before then it’s a shame if you are only staying a few hours. It’s an amazing and very photogenic place. The train from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf is only a bit over two hours. If you buy your train tickets far enough in advance you can get them as low as €19 each way, so you could potentially do a day trip. Dusseldorf is kind of a generic German business city, but nearby Cologne/Koln is interesting.
From Dusseldorf to Prague you’ll want to fly, and 3 days would be better than 2 in Prague, but 2 is still fantastic.
From Paris to Barcelona there is a new high-speed train that takes 7 hours. Flying is a bit faster, even including airport transport time, and it’s probably cheaper as well, but it’s worth checking fares.
To check airfares it’s best to go to the official rail website for the departure country for that leg. For example, here’s a page on the official Netherlands rail site about Amsterdam to Dusseldorf trains. I have all the links and more information on my article on buying European train tickets in advance.
For flights I usually use kayak.com, but Momondo is another good one for Europe.
One last comment is that you’ve chosen a group of very interesting cities (with the possible exception of Dusseldorf, but a friend visit is nice), yet they are quite spread out. For example, if you substituted Berlin for Prague on this trip, you could take a train and it would be faster. Or if you did Munich instead of Prague, you could take trains there and to Paris. Or you could do Interlaken, Switzerland instead of Prague and the train rides would be faster and shorter.
Still, your itinerary will work and those are great places you’ve chosen. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger, I have reading all your articles, thanks for an amazing site, it is a wonderful resource. I am thinking of doing a mid June – early July for 21 days first trip to Europe with my husband. This is the only time we can go within the next 2 years.
Flying from Australia
Arrive London (we have family living there we want to vist)
A few days in London
A few days exploring English countryside/grand old houses etc
Amsterdam 3 nights – free accomm with a friend
Then Paris for a few days
Then French countryside/nature/chateau
I would love love to see Italy but not sure if there is realistically enough time to do it, what do you think? Our trip would be centred around cities but I do also want to see other parts of the country, and not be too rushed. Also not sure about round trip vs flying in to London, and out of Paris or Rome. Like historical sites, food, culture and nature.
Many thanks for any advice you could offer!
Caitlin,
Thank you. So let’s say you are doing 3 days in London and 2 additional days in England. And then 3 nights in Amsterdam and 3 or 4 nights in Paris. That’s 11 or 12 nights full of highlights, and you have 9 or 10 nights to go. If you spend 2 nights elsewhere in France, that gives you 7 or 8 nights left, which is just about perfect for an Italy visit if you’d like to do it.
The best way to add an efficient Italy visit to your trip would be to fly from Paris or another French airport into Venice or nearby Treviso Airport. Spend 24 to 48 hours in Venice, as it’s a small city that is also crowded so it’s best to do it fairly quickly.
After Venice you will take a 90-minute train ride to Florence and stay there for 3 nights. Then take the 2-hour train ride to Rome for your final 3 nights. Venice, Florence, and Rome are Italy’s “Big 3” for very good reasons. They are all quite different and all loaded with sights and experiences. After Rome you could fly home if you can get an affordable open-jaw ticket, or fly back to London for your flight home. If you do it the latter way it’s important to make sure you pay attention to the different London airports. The long-haul flights almost all go in and out of Heathrow, while the cheaper flights from within Europe mostly fly into the other 4 London airports, so you need to leave enough time to get between them or fly into Heathrow only.
I get questions all the time from people trying to plan the cities on your list in a total of 10 or 11 days. Those people are being WAY too ambitious, but to do them in 21 days feels just about right. You’d be moving around pretty quickly, but slow enough to enjoy each stop.
On the other hand, if you wanted to save Italy for a future trip, you could also have a wonderful time focusing only on England, Netherlands, and France in those 21 days. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I apologize, I also wanted to ask in what order do you recommend visiting the cities and how to travel from city to city. Hotel recommendations and currency exchange would also be greatly appreciated. This is our first trip to Europe and don’t want to get overwhelmed. Thank you so much for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
karen
Hi Roger,
I’m glad I stumbled across this site too! Your information has been EXTREMELY helpful. I am planning a trip to Europe for 10 days in October 2017. Which cities should I visit for the best experience? I know we can only do 2 or 3. I’m torn between Paris and London OR Rome and Florence. Any advice will help. Thanks
Danielle,
I’m always happy to hear that people find this useful. If you’ve got 10 days I’d recommend doing 3 cities. You could spend 5 days in London and 5 days in Paris, and do a day trip or two from either or both and have 10 great days, but I think you get more out of another city than you get out of the 4th or 5th day in the same city.
As you mention, you could to London and Paris OR a visit to Italy, and combining them isn’t as easy. So here are your best options:
London 4 nights then take the Eurostar train to
Paris 3 nights and then a 3.25-hour train ride to
Amsterdam 3 nights
Amsterdam is really wonderful and very easy to visit because everyone there speaks flawless English. It’s also VERY different from Paris and London. You could either fly home from Amsterdam or fly back to London for your flight home, as long as you pay attention to which London airport you are using.
Or, as mentioned, you could do 5 days in London and then the Eurostar to Paris for 5 days. That would give you time to visit Stonehenge or Oxford or Cambridge on a day trip, or even spend a day in Bath and Bristol. And in Paris you’d have time for a day at Versailles or any other day trips.
Actually, 10 days in Italy is plenty of time to see 3 or 4 cities. Venice is small enough that 1 or 2 nights there is ideal, especially if you arrive early and/or leave late. You could do 3 or 4 nights in Florence, which would give you time for a day trip to Pisa or Siena or even Cinque Terre if you like. There are also some really nice hill towns nearby that make good day trips. And then you’d have 3 or 4 days in Rome. I really recommend Rome for 3 days to most people because those two full days are enough to see the main sights, but not so much that you really get frustrated with how chaotic the city is. Still, it’s filled with attractions and 4 days would be good as well.
You could also do a day or so in Milan, which is the main transport hub in the north and has fairly cheap flights. In other words, you could potentially fly into Milan for a day, then a train to Venice for 1 or 2 days, then a train to Florence for 3 or 4 days and then a train to Rome for 3 or 4 days before your flight home. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hello,
My family and I want to travel to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, and Rome during the end of May for 2 weeks. We are having some difficulties in starting to plan out travel…how do we go about traveling to the different countries as well as within the country. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Karen,
The best way to do that would be to fly into London for 3 days and then take the Eurostar train to Paris for 3 days. Then take the train to Amsterdam (3.5 hours) for 3 days. Then fly to Venice (or nearby Treviso) for 2 days and then take the train to Rome for 3 days. From Rome you can fly home or fly back to London for your flight home. That is the easiest way to do it, but there are other ways and you can do it in reverse if you prefer. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thank you for your quick response. The family is now thinking that it might be better to visit Ireland and Scotland instead of Italy (they prefer to do it on an entirely separate trip). How would you recommend the itinerary? Which cities in Ireland and Scotland? Once again thank you so much!
karen
Hi Roger,
I am so glad I stumbled upon this site. It is by far the most extensive and sorted site for planning a Europe trip. Ill try to be as precise about my questions as possible. My husband and I are planning a 16 day trip to Europe in 2017. The places we have in mind are Italy, Paris, and Amsterdam.
1. The most suitable time to visit these places (any way we can beat the crowd in Italy?
2.Best route given we are traveling from Bangalore, India. (I believe flying in to one country and flying out of the last one saves some time and travel)
3. I had planned the Big 3 (Italy) as also suggested in your blog. Should we also include the much popular Amalfi coast in the trip?
4. For my itinerary, should we buy a eurail pass or book all the tickets in advance?
Thanks in anticipation!
Parinitha
Parinitha,
I’m glad you found this site as well. Interestingly, I just wrote an article about the best time to visit Italy. You’ll see that if you can go in April or May you’ll get smaller crowds, better weather, and lower room rates.
If you can get a good fare flying into Amsterdam and flying home from Rome, it would be ideal. You could fly into Amsterdam and 3 days later take a train to Paris. From Paris it’s best to fly to Venice or nearby Treviso Airport. After 2 days in Venice you can take a train to Florence for 3 or 4 days, and then a train to Rome for 3 days or so. The train from Paris to Venice takes a whole day and costs a fortune. You could of course also do it in reverse, ending up in Amsterdam.
In order to enjoy the Amalfi Coast you’d need 3 days more. It takes most of a day to get from Rome to Naples to Sorrento and then to Positano or Amalfi, and most of a day to get back to Rome. So only having one full day in Amalfi isn’t worth it really. I’d save that for your next Italy trip when you don’t also want to spend more time in Rome or Florence.
A Eurail Pass would not be good value for a trip like this, so you’ll definitely want to book the train tickets online in advance. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
First and foremost congrats on your travel articles. Me and my wife are planning our first Europe tour end of March till mid April this year. We loved to visit some of the cities featured in your articles. Our itinerary is as listed below.
28 March Fly from Dubai to Rome
29 March Rome
30 March Rome
31 March Train from Rome to Florence
01 April Florence (Half-day tour to Pisa)
02 April Train from Florence to Venice
03 April Venice (Half-day tour to Murano, Burano and Torcello)
04 April Fly from Venice to Barcelona
05 April Barcelona
06 April Barcelona
07 April Fly or train from Barcelona to Paris
08 April Paris
09 April Paris
10 April Paris
11 April Train from Paris to Amsterdam
12 April Amsterdam
13 April Amsterdam
14 April Amsterdam
15 April Amsterdam to Dubai
I would appreciate if you could provide us recommendation on accommodation (Hotels or AirBnB) and transportation ie: trains and airlines (how to go about booking the train tickets and nearest train stations in the cities).
Would love to hear from you soon. Thanking you in anticipation.
Warm regards,
BH Ung
BH Ung,
Your itinerary looks really good and very well planned. As for transportation, it looks like you’ve got that figured out as well. Trains are your best option except for that flight from Venice (or Treviso) to Barcelona. From Barcelona to Paris, the train takes about 7 hours, while the flight would take about 5 hours from city center to city center. The train is far more pleasant and the scenery is quite good in much of it. Personally, I’d take the train because it’s comfortable and relaxing, but a flight would be a bit quicker and might even be faster.
This article covers how and where to buy cheap European train tickets. Each city has one main station (except for Paris which has a few, but only one main station that goes to any given destination), and it’s cheapest to buy tickets online at least a month or two in advance on the official rail websites for each country.
As for hotel accommodations, I have articles with recommended hotels in all of those cities except Florence. Here is the recommended Paris hotels article. You can find the others by looking at the main page for each city on this site and checking the middle column below the main text. Here is the main Rome page, for example.
Without knowing your budget and tastes it would be hard for me to recommend specific hotels. Also, the room rates go up and down depending on how many rooms they have sold. Airbnbs could be a good option in these cities as well, although you’ll find that very few apartments have central locations in these cities. If you want to be in the heart of the tourist district and walking distance to many attractions, hotels are usually the better option. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Appreciate your prompt response. Shall get in touch with you should I required more information/assistance.
Thank you and regards,
BH
Hi Roger,
I’m so glad I’ve found this article! Me and my fiance are going to europe for our honeymoon. We have 30 daya, so much to see. We’ll be going in june, I know it will be so crowded that month but we don’t have so much choice so we’ll go with that plan.. So I loved to viait your cities that you recommened and we’ll starting and ending our trip in amsterdam, and because we have enough time so countries I had in mind is netherland, london, swiss, germany, france, spain (barcelona), italy(not gonna miss it!), and santorini. It would be great if you could suggest an itinerary for us. About cities we should visit and routes. Would love to hear what you think, I’d appreciate any of your advice please. Thanks a lot!
Vincensa,
I really prefer not to do itineraries from scratch, but I will try to help. First off, I always recommend 3 nights in each city on trips like this as the ideal balance between seeing a lot and also not spending too much time on trains and in train stations. So if you have 30 days you should think about 10 or perhaps 11 cities. Paris and London are so big and full of attractions that 4 days is better, while Venice is small enough to see in about 24 hours or two nights at most.
And you should also think more about cities rather than countries. Let’s start with the ones we are sure about.
Amsterdam 3 nights
London 3 or 4 nights
Paris 3 or 4 nights
Rome 3 nights
Florence 2 or 3 nights
Venice 1 or 2 nights
Barcelona 3 nights
Santorini 3 nights
That is 21 to 25 nights and doesn’t include German or Switzerland. If you want to include Germany then Munich and Berlin are the obvious choices, though Berlin is a bit out of the way for you. In Switzerland the best choices are Interlaken and Lucerne.
I have several articles that should help you decide which cities to include.
Where to go in Germany
Where to go in France and Italy
Where to go in Switzerland
After you skim through those you should have a better idea of exactly where you want to go in your 30 days. Once you have a list of destinations then it will be fairly obvious how you will string them together into an itinerary. You’ll want to take trains between most of them, except for Santorini which will obviously require flying in and out.
I’m happy to help as you are getting your itinerary more together. Have a great trip and congrats. -Roger