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 April, 2024.
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 2024 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 2024. The British pound had been close to US$1.50 for many years and since 2016 or so it’s been around US$1.25, which means your travel budget goes farther than it historically did.
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.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$131.73 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.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$123.52 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 2024 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.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$125.44 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.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$125.97 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.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$121.87 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.
Honorable mentions and other places to add
If I had to add two more cities to the list above it would be the two cities below. It’s not an easy call, but each of the cities mentioned below has a lot to offer and is also very different from all of the ones on the main list above.
Prague, Czechia
Something that isn’t widely discussed in the travel world is that most of Europe’s largest and most historic cities were bombed to bits during World War II. Many of them rebuilt some historic neighborhoods to look as much like the original buildings as possible, while many others just built new versions. Prague is one of the few that was mostly spared from bombing, and it has a mostly intact castle and historic district that is just stunning from every angle.
Prague is also an interesting stop compared to the Top 5 mentioned above because it’s very different from all of them. It was part of Eastern Europe and was under communism, which also means that prices of most things are generally lower even if hotels have become quite expensive lately. The cuisine is hearty and they make amazing lager-style beers. Prague just has a different feel to it than the others and it’s got pretty free-wheeling nightlife as well.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$76.73 per day
Barcelona, Spain
Another city I would recommend to add to the Top 5 mentioned above is Barcelona, as it’s unusual in many ways. Barcelona has arguably the most distinctive architecture in Europe. The Sagrada Familia church by itself has got to be the most interesting building in Europe and it’s finally almost complete after about 150 years of construction. The other Gaudi buildings are also highlights, but the whole city feels different with most corners having a wedge cut off so every intersection feels more open. You’ll see what I mean when you get there.
Barcelona is also one of Europe’s few large cities to not only be on the ocean, but to also have lovely sandy beaches within the city limits. This as well as the large marina complex near the city center give it a unique feel. Unfortunately Barcelona is one of Europe’s popular destinations (along with Prague, Amsterdam, and Venice) to worry about over-tourism. Especially in summer, the crowds here can be enormous and it’s really best to visit in spring, autumn, or even winter if possible.
- 2024 Backpacker Index: US$98.57 per day
Hello Roger!!
First of all, congratsss on having such an awesome blog with such useful information!!!!
I am planning to go to Europe with my husband and 3 kids, aged 14, 13 and 5, next july 2018. We have 15 days in total, and it will our kids’ very first time in Europe…. with your expertise, what would you recommend we visit in those 15 days we have in order for our kidsto experience the “best of europe”?
Thanks in advance for your time and dedication!!!!
Lucia,
That is going to be a fantastic trip. If you have 15 days I’d recommend choosing exactly 5 cities to visit. You might be interested in a more recent article I wrote for questions like this on my best recommended first-time in Europe itineraries.
Generally I think Paris is the best lynch pin for any first Europe trip, and I recommend 3 nights there or maybe even 4. It’s only 2 hours by train to London on the Eurostar from Paris, and you can make it to Amsterdam on a high-speed train in just a bit over 3 hours. So those 3 are an easy set to group together. As mentioned in the article above, the other two most dramatic European cities in my opinion are Rome and Venice. You can see Venice in only a day or two because it’s small (and very crowded). I like Rome in 3 nights because it’s much larger but it’s also kind of chaotic so it’s not as fun to linger there as some other cities.
So you could, for example, fly to London then take the Eurostar to Paris and then a train to Amsterdam. Then fly to Venice (or nearby Treviso) and then take the train to Rome before flying home or flying back to London for your flight home. Or you could save Amsterdam for a future trip and do Venice, Florence, and Rome, which are the Big 3 in Italy. Anything like that is going to be amazing for the whole family. Have a look at that other article and maybe it will give you other ideas as well. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger!
Just want to say that your blog is such a big help especially to first time travelers in Europe. My friends and I are planning our eurotrip for October this year. We already booked our round-trip tickets to London and we would want to visit France and Italy. We have 15 days. We will start in London and we are still deciding which city should we go next? We are considering that we have to go back to London for our flight back to our country. We also want to add 1 more city to this trip. Maybe Amsterdam? Which city do you think we should add that will not make our trip too tight and what’s the order of the cities?
Thank you and more power to you!
Sincerely,
Bianca
Bianca,
I’m happy to try to help. As mentioned in the article above, you can’t go wrong with Amsterdam. It’s a gorgeous and fascinating city, and it’s also very different from all of the others you’ll be visiting. Here’s what I’d recommend…
Fly into London and spend 3 or 4 days there. Take the Eurostar to Paris and spend 3 days there. Then take the high-speed train from Paris to Amsterdam, which takes a bit over 3 hours. Spend 2 or 3 days in Amsterdam and then fly to Venice (or nearby Treviso). Spend about 24 hours in Venice and then take a train to Florence for 2 days. Then take a train to Rome for 3 days, followed by a flight back to London. One thing to be aware of is that the cheaper flights from Rome to London will almost certainly land at Gatwick or Luton or Stansted Airports in London, and your flight home is probably out of Heathrow. There are buses between the airports, but they do take some time. So you either have to allow enough time or pay more for a flight into Heathrow.
The itinerary above would be enjoyable, but also a bit rushed. I’d say the other thing to consider would be to save Amsterdam for a future trip and fly straight from Paris to Venice. That way you could spend a bit more time in London and in Italy. Florence is worth 3 days if you have them, and Paris could be better in 4 days than 3. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thank you so much for your input. We are able to add 2 more solid days to the trip – you think we can squeeze in Amsterdam? That being said what would be the best route between Amsterdam – Italy – France? We will have 12 days total.
Best,
Mireen
Mireen,
The high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris is just a bit over 3 hours. If you only have 12 total days I think you should spend 2 or 3 days in Amsterdam then 3 or 4 days in Paris. From there it’s best to fly to Venice (or nearby Treviso) for 1 night, then a train to Florence for 2 nights and then a train to Rome for 3 nights. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
This blog is such a great read. I would really appreciate suggestions from you as our vacation days are limited to justv10 days. My husband and daughter are flying out of San Francisco to Europe for the 1st time. I am jealous as we are unable to see London due to time constraint with visa application – this trip is a last minute plan. So going by your suggestion we’d like to see Paris & Italy – what would be the 3rd city you’d suggest. Can you possibly suggest an IT for us?
God Bess you!! You are an amazing world traveler! Thank you for sharing your thoughts to all. It’s much appreciated.
Best,
Mireen
Mireen,
I’m glad you find this helpful. If you have exact 10 days and you want to see Paris and Italy I would stick to the basics and hit all of the major cities. In other words, I’d spend 3 or 4 nights in Paris and then fly to Venice (or nearby Treviso Airport) and spend 24 hours there, staying on the main island so you can experience it in the evening and early morning when there are far fewer tourists. Then take a train to Florence for 2 or 3 nights. Then a train to Rome for 3 nights before flying back to Paris for the flight home or flying straight back home from there. Of course you could do it in the reverse order where you start in Rome and finish in Paris.
That 10-day trip will give you all of the top highlights of both countries without rushing so much that you feel like you are spending half your time in transit. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My siblings and I are planning a trip to Europe. We’ll probably have about 25 days. We would be travelling from Mid Dec to early Jan. Since the weather will be pretty cold, do you have any places that you recommend for this time period/ places that are less ideal. Can you also recommend places that will be nice to spend Christmas & new year at?
We’ll be travelling around UK and Paris before the 25-days trip.
Thank you for your help!
Yvonne,
Earlier this year I started compiling my best monthly recommendations for European destinations, and the first one was best Europe destinations in February. To be honest, the upcoming list for December will be similar or identical, since these are already the best places to go in Europe in winter. My advice is to focus on the cities that aren’t quite so cold, along with the most famous cities that are interesting no matter what the weather is.
As far as where you might spend Christmas and/or New Year’s, I’d say pretty much any place on that same list would be good. Just be aware that in a few countries they celebrate Christmas (the main celebration) on a different day. For example, the big day in the Netherlands is in early December. Even then, there is at least a small celebration on December 25 everywhere. I’d probably opt for a larger city since there should be more choices of things to do, and there should be more things open. If you went to a smaller town you might find that almost everything is closed for 2 or 3 days around the holiday. New Years is the same everywhere, and of course the larger cities have the larger celebrations. You might have to reserve accommodation longer in advance because some cities do get booked up with people from the surrounding area coming in to party. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hey Roger,
Myself and a friend are traveling to europe, we will meet up next week on Paris on the 9th of June We have 3N in Paris, departing paris on the 12th of June. I fly out of Rome on the 20th of June. We are planning on going to Barcelona, French Riviera, Venice, Cinque Terra and Rome. is this dooable, and if so how much time in each? Cinque Terra may not be possible I think.
Sallie,
It sounds like you have 8 days after Paris before you fly out of Rome. You definitely want to spend 3 nights in Rome itself, which gives you two full sightseeing days. With 5 remaining days in between you won’t have time to see all of those other places. I’d cross Cinque Terre off the list, partly because it’s a bit remote, but really more because it’s now very overrated because it’s insanely crowded to the point that it’s not nearly as charming as it was when people started recommending it.
I’d say your choices would be to take a train from Paris to Barcelona and then 3 days later fly to Venice and then two days later take a train to Rome. Or you could save Barcelona for a future trip and take a train from Paris to Nice for 3 days and then a train to Venice for 2 days before going to Rome. Or you could do the more traditional Italy visit and fly from Paris to Venice for 2 days and then take a short train ride to Florence for 3 nights and then to Rome for 3 nights.
The main thing is that it takes a good chunk of your day to go from one city to another, whether by air or train, so you don’t want to move cities every day or every other day. If you try to see too many places you’ll end up spending most of your holiday in transit rather than seeing what you flew all that way to see. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hey Roger,
As I am planning during Oktoberfest(sorry, forgot to mention), I shall be heading to Munich first.
Let me know if below seems like a plan:
2 Days – Munich
2 Days – Prague
2 Days – Vienna
3 Days – Croatia
Although I agree that I am rushing a lot to cover as many Major cities as possible but based on your experience, let me know if Quantity can be trimmed for Quality 🙂
–
Varun
Hi Roger,
Wanted to seek your advice for my first EU trip. I am planning September end but on a tight schedule of 10 days.
Can you please suggest how should I plan my itinerary(I shall be coming from India)
Thanks in advance,
Varun
Varun,
If you have 10 days I’d recommend choosing exactly 3 cities, and hopefully ones that are easy to reach from each other. As mentioned in the article above, I think it’s a mistake to skip Paris and London and Rome on a first trip in order to save a bit of money going to cities that aren’t as interesting. It’s very easy to combine London and Paris on a trip, and you could also visit Amsterdam as your third city, all by very efficient trains.
You could spend all 10 days in Italy, or you could do something like Paris for 4 days then fly to Venice for 1 day then to Florence for 2 days and finally Rome for 3 days. That is the fastest tour of Italy that I recommend. I wrote a more recent article on how to plan a Europe trip of between 1 and 3 weeks. I have many other suggestions there for groups of cities that are easy to visit together. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Great blog! Makes planning our trips a lot simpler – thank you very much for this…
I am from India and am planning a 20-day Europe (solo) trip in September. I have been to London before, so it will mostly be Western Europe. Please let me know what you think about the plan below.
1) Paris – 4 days
2) Brussels – 1 day (on the way)
3) Amsterdam – 3 days
4) Prague – 3 days
5) Gimmelwald – 2 days
6) Interlaken – 2 days
7) Rome – 3 days
8) Back to Paris
Prague looks to be far from Amsterdam, so I’m happy to replace it with something else to save time (or reorder) – do you have any suggestions?
The trip duration is also flexible – I can extend it by 4-5 days (though it will stretch my budget). If I am missing any obvious places there is room for one or two of them – please suggest (prefer nature/quiet places to cities/nightlife)
Thanks for your help!
Sriram,
Your plan looks really good. You are right that Prague is fairly out of the way, but it’s a very special place. Berlin would be another one to consider, but it would also require a 9-hour train ride to Interlaken. Prague to Interlaken is 11.5 hours, by the way. For a more direct route, you might consider a stop or two in Germany. You’ll find quite a few interesting options on my article on where to go in Germany. Cologne is an obvious one to consider, but so are Munich, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Fussen. Even Luxembourg City could be a good stop. Salzburg is another one that you’d love if you can fit it in. The scenery around Salzburg is some of the finest in all of Europe, and it’s a charming town as well.
Hopefully that gives you a few ideas. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Rodger!
I’ve found so much useful information in the comments section and I’d love some advice. I’m planning a 2 month Europe trip in 2017. This is the places (in order) and the number of nights we are planning to stay in each place.
London – 3 nights
Barcelona – 3 nights
Paris- 5 nights
Loire valley (tours)- 3 nights
Amsterdam- 3 nights
rothenburg- 2 nights
Berlin- 4 nights
Kraków- 4 nights
Prague- 4 nights
Venice- 2 nights
Florence- 3 nights
Cinque Terre- 3 nights
Rome- 4 nights
Mykonos- 4 nights
Naxos – 4 nights
Santorini- 4 nights
Athens- 2 nights
I’m am going with my partner and we are planning to save $30,000 aud (which is about $22,000 usd) between us which includes everything (flights, accommodation etc…)
Overall, what do you think about this trip. does it seem reasonable?
Paulina,
Thanks for the kind words. Your trip looks amazing. Any room for me? You are allowing plenty of time in most cities, which is where most people seem to go wrong. My standard advice is a default of 3 nights in each city. However, on a 2-month trip you don’t want to visit 20 cities for 3 days each, so your plan to stay a 4th night in many cities seems wise. Still, 3 nights in the Cinque Terre might be kind of long. Those towns now have tourism that is so out of control that they want to only let so many people in each day. They were evidently very special when few tourists knew about them, but now it’s like visiting a theme park. In other words, you might enjoy a day or two there, or maybe 3 days is fine.
The only other comment would be on the 3 different Greek islands near the end. I haven’t been to all of them, but in my experience the islands tend to be quite the same for the most part. Each has a few unique sights, but the restaurants and hotels and beaches will feel familiar. You might consider spending some time in Turkey, which will be quite different. It’s just something to think about. Overall I think your plan looks great and I’d think that your budget should work out pretty well since you are spending quite a bit of time in the cheaper parts of Europe. -Roger