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
Please help me to plan my trip from Atlanta. should i fly in Paris or london,? London might be cheaper to flying. In two week a must is Paris ,London, Italy and German. I am trave a group of 5 people including my Mother whom is 78 years old and love to travel by train.
thank you very much
Monique
Monique,
The ideal plan is to fly into London or Paris and then fly out of the other, or another city you are visiting. But in most cases (although not all) it’s much more expensive to fly into one European city and out of another. As you may know, you can get between London and Paris on the Eurostar train, which takes a bit over two hours. It’s worth checking the cost of flying into London and out of Rome, for example.
My strong recommendation is to plan for 3 nights in just about any European city you visit, and in the case of cities like London or Paris, four nights is actually better. So if you have two weeks you should probably be thinking about visiting 5 cities at the most. The main reason is that even if you take a train from one city to another, it still takes most of the middle of the day to get from your hotel in one city until you are checked into a hotel in another city. Even taking the Eurostar from London, if you check out of your hotel at 10am, you won’t be checked into your hotel in Paris until 3pm or so, and by then most of the sightseeing day is gone. If you change cities every other day it will mean only sightseeing every other day, and spending half your trip on trains and in train stations.
It’s also easier to plan a trip when you think in terms of cities rather than countries. If you spend 3 nights in London and 3 nights in Paris, you’d have 8 days left. If you want to see Berlin and Munich it would take most of that 8 days, especially as they aren’t very close to Paris. If you want to include “Italy” I would recommend what they call the “Big 3”. You could fly from Paris to Venice and spend a day or two there (Venice is quite small and also crowded). Then take the train down to Florence for 3 nights and then another short train ride to Rome for 3 nights. That would be an excellent trip and you could save Germany for another trip.
The trains are easy and convenient in Europe and your mother should have an easy time of it, as long as she can still walk a few hundred yards here and there. I’m happy to help more if you have other questions, so let me know. -Roger
Thanks sooo much Roger for the quick reply and your suggestions, greatly appreciated!
I’m so happy I’ve found this website. It is very informative and helpful for first time Europe traveler like me.
I will definitely visit these 5 cities but not sure how I should order it. I will be coming from US to Heathrow and go back to US from Heathrow, for 20 days. I would also like to add Lourdes, France, Scotland and Germany in my itinerary. Would you recommend them? If so, would you please help me plan the best route and maximize my time? Thank you for your help!
Rosie,
One of my strong recommendations is to plan 3 nights in almost any European city you visit. Of the 5 I mention in this article I would say 3 nights would be a minimum for all of them except for Venice, which is small enough that seeing it in about 24 hours is quite efficient if you are in a hurry. With that in mind you would be up to 13 days these 5 cities, and if you are going to Rome and Venice then stopping for at least two nights in Florence (in between the other two) is a wise use of your time. If you do that you are up to 15 days.
With the remaining 5 days you could stop in two of those three places you mention, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to fit all of them in. Even if you skipped Florence, it’s really hard to see “Germany” in a few days. The first place I would recommend in Germany was Berlin for at least 3 nights, and you’d have to fly in and out. I’d save Germany for a future trip.
As for Scotland, the best introduction to it is Edinburgh, which can be reached by train from London in about 4.5 hours. Two days there might be enough, but three would be better. You could then fly from Edinburgh to Amsterdam for 3 days and then take the 3.5-hour train ride from Amsterdam to Paris. From Paris it’s about a 5 hour train ride to Lourdes. You could spend a couple days there and then fly from their small airport to Milan and then take the train from there to Venice. After 24 hours or so in Venice you could take the short train ride to Florence for 3 days and then to Rome for your final 3 days. You could then fly from Rome back to London, but you have to be careful booking that because most of the cheaper flights fly into the airports other than Heathrow. It’s probably best to pay more for a flight from Rome into Heathrow as opposed to flying into another airport and then getting ground transportation to Heathrow. That is your most efficient route. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Oh my goodness, I am so happy to find your blog! It is so much more helpful than other ones I have found. My husband and I will be going to Europe and UK for 2 weeks in Sept. We have been to London and some of the UK but not anywhere else. We are considering landing in London for a night to see a show in the west end (bucket list item we missed before.) Maybe go to York for a few days or southern England to see some places like Dover castle, Canterbury/Rye/Bodium castle?? not sure if it would be better to skip those and do more in other countries? Love exploring the really old sections/cities/castles etc more than just museums I’m not sure what is most feasible: Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Rome, Venice Amalfi coast or someplace else? In the past, we did 3-4 days min in London and Edinburgh and did day trips from there. We loved using Airbnb type sites finding cool flats in historic areas in each city to get more of a feel of living in history. Any suggestions? It is so hard to narrow it all down!!! So many fabulous places. thanks!
Tyra,
Since you’ve already been to London and elsewhere in the UK, I think it should be a high priority to see the Continent. York and those other places you mentioned are all nice, but they will remind you a LOT of things you’ve already seen, while almost anything you see in France or Italy would be totally different. If you have two weeks and you want to spend a day or two in London that gives you about 12 days to work with. You should definitely take the Eurostar train from London to Paris and spend 3 or 4 days there. It absolutely lives up to the hype. With 8 or 9 days remaining you could either fly to Venice and then take trains down to Florence and then Rome, or you could take the train from Paris to Amsterdam for 3 days and then fly from there to Rome and see as much of Italy as you can in your remaining days.
I strongly suggest spending 3 nights in any city you visit for the first time, although Venice is small enough (and so crowded) that 1 or 2 days works better there. I’m sure if you do most or all of the cities I’ve mentioned you’ll have an amazing time. Just in case you are concerned about the language situation, you don’t need to be. In Amsterdam people speak fluent English and you don’t even have to ask first. In Paris and also those main tourist cities in Italy you’ll find that pretty much everyone you encounter (hotel desk people, wait staff at restaurants, museum ticket people) speak English to at least half the people they deal with.
Airbnbs in Europe are kind of hit or miss. In the larger cities such as London and Paris, you’ll find many apartments listed, but almost all of them are tucked into residential areas that aren’t walking distance to anything. And if you DO find a rental that is in a convenient tourist neighborhood, they usually charge a fortune because demand is so high. On slower trips where you want to shop at supermarkets and do some of your own cooking, those more remote rentals can be really fun. But if you are only in a city for 3 days or so and want to see the main sights, I think it’s better to make sure you are in a central area, even if it means staying in a hotel. In Paris I highly recommend the neighborhood known as Rue Cler, which is a small village-type area right next to the Eiffel Tower park. It’s close to the main sights and yet it feels like a small town.
I’m happy to help more if you have other questions. -Roger
I sent you a message earlier. But I think we have narrowed down our trip to four cities. London-Paris-Barcelona-Rome.
Can you give me an idea of minimum time to do this and a good travel plan between them? Do you like these four cities? I think we are going to have to skip Amsterdam and possibly Venice on this trip. Thank you!!
Bill,
I deleted your other message and we’ll just concentrate on this now. My strong recommendation is to spend 3 nights in each city you visit, and 4 nights is even better in large cities such as London or Paris. I would start in London and spend 3 or 4 nights there, and then take the Eurostar train to Paris. Then you can take a high-speed train to Barcelona in about 6.5 hours. You could fly from Paris to Barcelona and it would take about the same amount of time when you factor in airport transportation and security lines and whatnot, but the train is far more pleasant and more comfortable.
Unfortunately, the trains that run along the southern coast of France are quite slow, so a train would take a full day to reach Rome. In other words, it’s best to fly from Barcelona to Rome. These are definitely 4 of Europe’s most interesting cities and I’m sure you’ll have an amazing trip. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I am a big fan of your blog. Enjoy reading your tips and realized I need your help. We have 36 days in Europe. Yes, lucky us, it’s our first trip to Europe. Already have plans to land in London for 6 nights. Then will take the Eurostar train to Paris for 5 nights. Please help with the rest of our travels. We would like to go to:
Amsterdam
Switzerland?
Italy – Florence, Venice, Rome
Leave Europe from Barcelona to go to New York City (it’s a possibility not for sure) Would you suggest flying from Amsterdam to Milan? From Milan go to Switzerland? Then take the train to Florence? Need your ideas. Should we go to Berlin? Madrid? Lisbon? Any suggestions would help with our planning. HELP!
Nat,
That is nice of you to say. I think the most efficient route would be to go from Paris to Amsterdam by train (a bit over 3 hours). From Amsterdam you could go to Berlin and then Munich (you could even visit Prague in between those two) and then Munich to Interlaken. Have a look at my article on where to go in Switzerland for some advice, but the short version is you want to focus on Interlaken on a short trip. From Interlaken you can take the amazing train ride down through the Alps to Venice, after a change of trains in Milan. Then Venice to Florence to Rome on trains. You could then fly from Rome to Madrid and then take the high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona for your outbound flight. I’d save Lisbon for a future trip, as you will already be rushing to do all of this in 36 days. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. -Roger
I just want to say this blog is amazing. This is my go to page on the internet right now for our upcoming trip to Europe. Thanks so much. We (wife and I) are planning a first time trip to Europe for two weeks in July and I want to include London and Paris for sure, but would like to add Italy to the trip. Would it be possible to hit Amsterdam and skip Venice, but do Rome? I would really like to see Amsterdam and visit the Netherlands and I hear Venice is super crowded. What do you think?
Bill,
Thank you for the very kind words. That really makes me happy to read that. Your plan sounds very good and it could work well in a few different ways. It would be easiest to fly into London and spend 3 or 4 nights there, and then take the Eurostar train to Paris and spend 3 or 4 nights there. Three nights is enough, but both of those cities are large and amazing so 4 would be better if you had the time. I’m also a huge fan of Amsterdam, having lived there for a few months at one time and also visited dozens of other times. It would be easy to take the high-speed train from Paris to Amsterdam in a bit over 3 hours. I would stay in Amsterdam for 3 nights.
From Amsterdam you should fly directly to Italy, or fly to Italy from Paris if you choose to save Amsterdam for a future trip. You could skip Venice, though I am not sure I’d recommend that. Venice is indeed very crowded so it feels like walking through a theme park on a Saturday, but it’s also perhaps the single most beautiful and impressive tourist city in the world for a short visit. If you skip it this time I would recommend putting it on your list for the next time. You could fly from Amsterdam to Rome and spend your final 3 nights there, or you could fly from Amsterdam to Venice (or nearby Treviso) and spend about 24 hours there before taking the train down to Rome. Most people stop in Florence between Venice and Rome, and I recommend that if you have time, but if you are doing London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Rome, you probably don’t have time to spend 2 or 3 nights in Florence as well. I definitely wouldn’t recommend staying only two nights in each city and taking trains between them every other day.
As always, let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi, thank you for all the info on your site. My daughter and I are celebrating milestone birthdays (21 and 50) and we’re planning our trip to Europe. We have 2-3weeks but 1 week is taken up by a Royal Caribbean cruise in the middle. We’re flying Klm/airfrance so need to start in Amsterdam, get to Venice then end in Paris. We’d like to cover Poland, Pisa and Rome. I see you recommend 3 days in each place and going south to north. (We’ll be starting last week in June to middle July). I’d like your advice please on how to make it a round trip if possible as we seem to be back and forth and also the travel agent quoted us higher prices on eurail than a hotel night and flight. Are air bnb better than hotels?
Anthea,
I’m a bit confused by your schedule and where you’ll be and when. If you’ve got 1 to 2 weeks not including your cruise, then you’ll probably want to focus on 2 to 4 or 5 cities. As for Poland I would recommend visiting Krakow rather than Warsaw or elsewhere. Krakow is the former capital and it’s far more charming and tourist-friendly than Warsaw, plus Auschwitz is just outside of town and that is a very interesting and worthwhile half-day or day trip. From Amsterdam to Krakow the train would take over 15 hours so it’s much better to fly.
From Poland to Italy it’s also too far for a fast or cheap train ride, so I’d fly from Krakow to Rome. After a few days in Rome you can take a short train ride to Florence and stay there 3 days or so. Pisa is about an hour by train away from Florence, and once you’ve seen the Leaning Tower and the cathedral next door, Pisa is pretty dull compared to Italy’s more famous tourist cities, so it’s best done on a day-trip from Florence. Venice is less than two hours by train from Florence, and I would spend a day or two there before the cruise. If you have time after Paris you have many options including London, which is only two hours from Paris on the Eurostar train.
As far as airbnb versus hotels in Europe, they tend to offer similar value. If you find an airbnb in a central and tourist-friendly neighborhood in one of Europe’s more popular cities, it will be priced accordingly. Hotel rooms in Europe tend to be quite small by international standards, but hotels also tend to have more central locations and they offer helpful services such as restaurant recommendations and directions to popular places that you can’t get with an airbnb. Personally, I usually prefer hotels on trips like this because they usually include breakfast and I enjoy trying the local cuisine for lunch and dinners, so having my own kitchen isn’t much of a benefit. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for the quick response. Sorry it was so confusing. It wasn’t in any order it was just for the sake of tracking the days. I guess the main question I was trying to ask is do we have enough time to visit the following places? What would be the best itinerary? We are taking your advice and eliminating Cinque Terre & Sicily. Where should we start the trip? Thank you so much!
Here are the list of places in 23 days including travel time:
Madrid
Barcelona
London
Amsterdam
Paris
Venice
Rome
Sorrento
Santorini
Sierra,
I think the most efficient way to do this itinerary would be to fly into London and then take the Eurostar train to Paris. Then take the high-speed Thalys train to Amsterdam. Fly from Amsterdam to Madrid and then take the train to Barcelona. Fly from Barcelona to Venice (or nearby Treviso) and then take the train down to Rome. I’m not sure you’ll have time for Sorrento, but if you do you can take the train there from Rome, and then back to Rome for a flight to Santorini. You can visit Venice in about 24 hours, but otherwise I would try to stay 3 nights in each place. If you only have 23 days I would save Sorrento for a future trip. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi, Roger. I’ve been reading through a lot of your posts trying to determine the best itinerary for our honeymoon in June 2018. We will be traveling to Europe for 22 days including travel time. We would fly out of Chicago. We are really debating where we want to fly into Madrid, or Amsterdam. We also would like to travel to Switzerland instead of one of the places on our current itinerary perhaps eliminate Sicily or Cinque Terre? Worth it? What would make the most sense traveling wise for a relaxing honeymoon? We are gearing toward the second half of the trip relaxing and ending in Santorini. Please feel free to make any suggestions:
6/28 Traveling from Chicago
6/29 20 hour lay over in Dublin (is this worth it or should we get to Madrid?)
6/30 Land in Madrid @ 10 AM
7/1 Madrid
7/2 Madrid
7/3 Venice
7/4 Rome
7/5 Rome (only two days but we think this might be enough for us.
7/6 Paris
7/7 Paris
7/8 Paris
7/9 Paris
7/10 Sicily
7/11 Sicily
7/12 Sicily
7/13 Cinque Terre
7/14 Cinque Teere
7/15 Santorini
7/16 Santoini
7/17 Santorini
7/18 Santoini
7/19 Santorini
7/20 Fly back home (?) not sure where out of. We could possibly add another day here as well and fly out 7/21.
Thoughts? Again in no particular order. What order would make sense? Should we have eliminate one and make room for Switzerland? Fly into somewhere else other than Madrid?
Thank you so much!
Sierra,
I’ll take your questions in the order they came up. I would skip 20 hours in Dublin and just head to Madrid. Dublin is nice enough, but if you are jet-lagged it might be hard to enjoy. You could see the Guinness Storehouse and have a look around, but really the best things in Ireland are the small towns and countryside.
The order of your cities is confusing, which I guess is why you are writing. Cinque Terre is almost in between Rome and Venice so returning to Italy to also visit Sicily seems much more complicated than it needs to be. Honestly, I would recommend eliminating Cinque Terre for this trip, and also saving Sicily for a future trip. Cinque Terre was a charming group of 5 fishing villages as of 10 or 15 years ago, but now they are so packed that the local government is planning on limiting the number of daily visitors. And in July they will be so overrun (because one of them has a nice beach) that you’d barely be able to move. I’ve yet to make it to Sicily myself, and that’s party because it’s surprisingly hard to reach and it’s not one of Italy’s Top 10 tourist areas. If you have family there or some other similar reason then it could be great. But if you just want to explore more of Italy I would recommend Florence, at least one more day in Rome, and at least a few days in Sorrento to visit Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi, and the Isle of Capri. Sorrento is my favorite place in Italy to relax and it should be perfect for a honeymoon. To get to and from Sicily you need to either fly in or take a series of slow trains.
If you are open to it you might also add Barcelona for a few days after Madrid. The train between them takes only 2.5 hours or so, and the cities are both very different from each other. In fact, Barcelona is now the more popular of the two, partly because it’s on a beach. Or you could go from Paris to Switzerland and then to Venice and then south through Italy. Have a look at my article on where to go in Switzerland for some ideas of what you want to do. I’m happy to help more as your plans start getting more firmed up. I’m sure you’ll have an excellent honeymoon. -Roger