Poll: your first trip to Europe

[spunkarella]

I'm planning a first trip, and thought this would be a good way to gather ideas and liven up this board a little!

Where did you go?

How long did you stay in each place?

How did you decide on your itinerary?

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)?

Anything you would have done differently?

[poppet]

Jun 30, 2012 12:08:54 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

I'm planning a first trip, and thought this would be a good way to gather ideas and liven up this board a little!

Where did you go?

Paris & Rome

How long did you stay in each place?

5 nights in each

How did you decide on your itinerary?

Those were my top 2 "must see before I die" cities so I figured what not hit both!

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)?

Adult, it was our honeymoon

Anything you would have done differently?

Not really, both cities were amazing and it was a quick flight between them. 5 nights was the perfect amount of time to see what we wanted without feeling rushed .

[mdgirl]

Where did you go? Paris

How long did you stay in each place? I think we were there 4 days

How did you decide on your itinerary? We were just out of college so we didn't have much vacation time, but we found an amazing price on flights ($250 roundtrip on Air France -- ah 1999!).

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 22

Anything you would have done differently? I would have brought warmer clothes and drank more OJ. It was cooler than I thought it'd be and I got a cold. Obviously it would have been nice to stay longer, but that wasn't really an option at the time.

[gtkim]

Jun 30, 2012 12:08:54 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

I'm planning a first trip, and thought this would be a good way to gather ideas and liven up this board a little!

Where did you go? Germany and Switzerland

How long did you stay in each place? 3 days in Munich, then 14 days in Switzerland

How did you decide on your itinerary? Dad planned it.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 23

Anything you would have done differently?Nothing! We took trains or walked everywhere and didn't get in a car until the last day we were leaving and it was perfect!

[blackkitty]

Where did you go?
London, Paris, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Venice, Interlaken, Amsterdam, Brugges

How long did you stay in each place?
Don't remember exactly but around 3 days in each place.

How did you decide on your itinerary?
It was a good "loop", I had friends visiting in London, Barcelona, and both cities in Italy

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 22

Anything you would have done differently?
Can't really think of anything. I was pretty happy with the trip. Maybe would have gone to Florence instead of Rome.

[marytini]

Where did you go? We went ot Italy in Feb 2004.

How long did you stay in each place? Total trip was 9 days I think. Flew in to Venice, 2 nights; Florence 3 nts, Rome 4 nts.

How did you decide on your itinerary? We wanted to hit up those 3 big cities. Not really sure why picked that order.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? We were 24 (twin sister and I).

Anything you would have done differently? Less days in Rome, more in Florence or Venice. We really did not enjoy Rome. We liked the sights, but beyond that, didn't care for it. Maybe it was bc it was the end of our trip and we were just ready to go home? We found the people to be seedier there.

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[Deleted]

Jun 30, 2012 12:08:54 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

I'm planning a first trip, and thought this would be a good way to gather ideas and liven up this board a little!

Where did you go? Paris

How long did you stay in each place? 5 days

How did you decide on your itinerary? I didn't, my parents planned the trip

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? College Student, it was my 21st birthday present

Anything you would have done differently?

No, it was a pretty thorough intro to the city given the time frame

[M]

Where did you go? We flew into Munich, then picked up a car that we bought (European Delivery) and drove through Austria to Venice, Rome, Pisa, Oviglio, French Alps, Mont Blanc, Montreux, Nürburgring, and back to Munich.

How long did you stay in each place? Munich 1 night, Venice 1, Rome 2, Oviglio 1, Montreux 1, Nürburgring 1

How did you decide on your itinerary? We only had a week and chose places that were reasonable for a road trip. Then we mapped it out and put them in order.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 24

Anything you would have done differently? Yes, we would have stayed a few more days so that we could stop by Monoco. We also wished we had stayed 2 nights in Nürburgring so that we could have a full day there to drive on the Ring (world's famous race track). But next time we pick up a car there again we will make better plans. We also would have gone around the Mont Blanc tunnel because it was freakin 35 Euros to go through it.

[Susie]

Where did you go? Ireland

How long did you stay in each place? on average, 2 nights per city (x5 cities)

How did you decide on your itinerary? I was going with my mom after she finished cancer treatment. I pretty much let her decide! She spent her whole time in chemo reading every guide book she could get her hands on. It was her fun activity. She went with a lot of Rick Steves' recommendations.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 29

Anything you would have done differently?[/quote] I'm going back to Ireland next year with Calvin, so I plan to see some different things - but no, I wouldn't really have changed the trip I had. I really loved Ireland. I found our trip to Italy a little more illuminating as far as trip planning. I realized that the things that I don't generally care to do in the US, I don't care to do abroad either, even if it's the best in the world. Namely, I loved eating and drinking my way through Italy, loved Tuscany, loved Cinque Terre and exploring Venice, but art museums (more than just a couple) will just never be my bag. Don't force it!

[CloudBee]

Where did you go? Paris, France .. Bruges, Belgium .. London, England

How long did you stay in each place? 6 days, 2 days, 3 days, respectively

How did you decide on your itinerary? We have family in Paris, and wanted to do England/Belgium.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? I was 22 or 23.

Anything you would have done differently? Nothing.

[basilosaurus]

I just took H on his first European trip, so I'll answer how I thought through that since I didn't plan my first (was a choir tour when I was 18).

We did a western Med cruise out of Barcelona (going to Naples, Rome, Florence, Marseilles, and Cannes). Plus a few days in Paris.

Why did we choose that? Partly b/c the cruise was insanely cheap. I didn't want to rush through all those cities the way you do with a cruise, but it was a good overview. I've always wanted to go to Barcelona and hadn't been, so leaving from there and doing a few extra days made me happy. I chose Paris b/c I think it's a fabulous city for a first trip. So is Rome.

Different? Just to have more time. What we did worked really well with our constraints.

Honestly, don't overthink it. It's a 1st trip, but so will every other trip to Europe. I had a first to Paris, first to Rome, first to Tuscany. I'm looking forward to my first trips to Germany and Austria. I'm looking forward to my first trip to Prague with H, b/c it will be different than my first trip to the city which I made with my sister.

[Deleted]

Where did you go? France and Spain (Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, etc.)

How long did you stay in each place? I want to say maybe 5 days in each country? Not sure

How did you decide on your itinerary? It was a school trip; I didn't get to decide.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 16

Anything you would have done differently? I found out that I didn't like guided bus tours across Europe!

[emilyj]

Where did you go?
~ Spent 4 days in Rome, then did a cruise of Italy, Greece and Turkey

How long did you stay in each place?
~ 4 days in Rome, 1 day in Santorini, 1 in Mykonos, 1 in Athens, 2 in Istanbul, 1 in Ephesus, and 1 in Napels

How did you decide on your itinerary?
~ The cruise was planned out for us, and since our port was Rome, we decided to spend extra days there before we left.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)?
~ Adult. 32.

Anything you would have done differently?
~ No. I loved the trip. I thought it was perfect.

[dearprudence]

Where did you go? England (London, Cambridge, Oxford, Stratford, York, Grasmere)

How long did you stay in each place? I was there for 10 days

How did you decide on your itinerary? School trip

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? teenager

Anything you would have done differently? No, it was a great introduction.

[ILikeSloths]

Where did you go? Italy (many cities but favorites were Rome, Florence, and Assisi) and Spain (only Barcelona)

How long did you stay in each place? We were in Europe a total of 14 days. We spent 4 days in Rome over Christmas and did a couple of days in each of the other cities, some with day trips to nearby towns.

How did you decide on your itinerary? DH (boyfriend at the time) and I went with a group of alumni from our university so most of the trip was planned for us. We extended our trip and stayed 4 extra days to go to Venice and Barcelona on our own after everyone else left because they were 2 cities we really wanted to see.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? I was 22 and had just graduated college.

Anything you would have done differently? DH and I both agreed that we'll never do another trip with a tour group again due to the limited flexibility and having to be around other people. However, at the time we hadn't traveled abroad much on our own and liked the ease of everything being planned and taken care of for us. It was a good intro, but now we're seasoned travelers and I'm a control freak who loves to plan trips, lol. The only other thing I would've changed if I'd had the chance is to stay longer in each city so we didn't feel so rushed.

[spunkarella]

Thanks for all of the responses. In reality, I know that no matter what we choose, we will have a great time. It is still really nice to hear everyone else's experiences.

I'm especially glad to hear from the cruisers. We are strongly leaning toward a Med cruise with a few days in one place on either end of the cruise.

[tricolore]

Jun 30, 2012 12:08:54 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

Where did you go? Southern Spain

How long did you stay in each place? I stayed in one place and did day trips mostly. Although I did fly in and out of Madrid, so stayed there too.

How did you decide on your itinerary? I love the beach.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 23

Anything you would have done differently. No.
?

[Deleted]

Spain (madrid) and France (Paris)

4 days in each place

I didn't, it was a school trip

I think 14 or 15, it was a 9th grade trip

I wish I would have appreciated it more. While I'm so thankful that I was able to go, I feel like the trip was wasted on me.

[mrsukyankee]

I'm planning a first trip, and thought this would be a good way to gather ideas and liven up this board a little!

Where did you go? London and Paris on my own

How long did you stay in each place? 5 days each

How did you decide on your itinerary? Used a guidebook and went with the flow. This was before the Internet was really useful for such things

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)?
late 20s

Anything you would have done differently? No, cause just wandering around and doing what stuck me as fun was the awesome thing about doing it on my own.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Jun 30, 2012 18:09:05 GMT -5 Susie said:

Anything you would have done differently?

I'm going back to Ireland next year with Calvin, so I plan to see some different things - but no, I wouldn't really have changed the trip I had. I really loved Ireland. I found our trip to Italy a little more illuminating as far as trip planning. I realized that the things that I don't generally care to do in the US, I don't care to do abroad either, even if it's the best in the world. Namely, I loved eating and drinking my way through Italy, loved Tuscany, loved Cinque Terre and exploring Venice, but art museums (more than just a couple) will just never be my bag. Don't force it![/quote]

:Y: Same here. I never understand people who get all bent out of shape with us when we say we skipped "amaaaaazzzing" art museums in other places. We're just not into art. To me, it's not a valuable use of my time to wait in line for hours, pay a fortune, etc. when I just don't really enjoy that type of thing. We're the dorks that went to the Galileo Museum instead of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. (GASP) Different stokes to different folks and all that.

[sunshinedaydreams]

My first trip was when I was 16 and was an organized tour with my Spanish class. I don't remember much and took it for granted, so here's my first I planned myself.

Where did you go? Reykjavik, Iceland; Amsterdam; Venice, Florence, Rome, Positano; Dublin

How long did you stay in each place? 4 days in Iceland, 3 days in Amsterdam, 2 days in Venice, 4 days in Florence, 4 days in Rome, 4 days in Positano, 3 days in Dublin

How did you decide on your itinerary? We wanted to go to Amsterdam and Italy for our HM, and it was much cheaper to route through Iceland and Dublin to get to/from there. I looked at how much vacation time we had saved up vs. what we wanted to do in each place and pieced it together from there.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? 28

Anything you would have done differently? I would have spent a few more days in Iceland. I really want to go back. Probably would have stayed in Chianti instead of Florence, too. We didn't really like Florence much.

[basilosaurus]

What do you want to know about cruises? I've spent about 9 weeks total traveling Europe (mostly in Italy, but I've hit UK, Spain, and France, too) on land and 1 week on a cruise.

[Deleted]

London and Paris

5 days in each city

I went on a tour with my grandmother

13 years old

No, it was perfect for that age and my first trip to Europe. I travel differently now, but as a kid traveling with a grandparent a guided tour was probably the best thing. I thought London and Paris was a perfect first trip to Europe. I'd love to go back with my husband now, and spend more time just wandering the cities and eating good food, rather than just checking off all the main museums and palaces.

[dorothyinAus]

Where did you go? -- a cruise to Stockholm, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Visby

How long did you stay in each place? -- 2 nights/3 days in Stockholm, overnight in St. Petersburg, one day in Tallinn, Helsinki. and Visby

How did you decide on your itinerary? -- it was as long as my friend could get off, and it went to St. Petersburg

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? -- adult

Anything you would have done differently? -- I might have scheduled a tour in Stockholm so I knew what I was looking at, but probably not.

[wanderlustmom]

Where did you go? London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Lucerne, Hamburg, Innsbruck, Munich, Italian Lakes region, Verona.

How long did you stay in each place? Three weeks.

How did you decide on your itinerary? My dad and stepmom took all of us kids (six of us) on a bus tour of Europe.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)?12

Anything you would have done differently? No,I was just ridiculously happy, I love travel and i really appreciated the intro to Europe.

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[cransplash]

Jun 30, 2012 12:08:54 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

I'm planning a first trip, and thought this would be a good way to gather ideas and liven up this board a little!

Where did you go? Flew into Rome and visited for 3 days. Stopped in Florence and Venice- Spent 3 days. Drove up through northern Italy and stayed 2 days in Geneva Switzerland. Drove up through France and spent time in Dijon, Lyons, Versailles, and spent 3 days in Paris. Took the Chunnel to London, and spent 4 days there. Total trip was 16 days.

How long did you stay in each place? (answered above)

How did you decide on your itinerary? Ha- I didn't. It was a family vacation when I was 16yo (my parents, 15yo sister, and 13yo brother)

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? My siblings and I were all teens

Anything you would have done differently?

I wished we could have gone down to southern Italy, and my parents also contemplated Athens and visiting the Greek Isles, but ultimately didn't want us to take a week off of school. (We have 2 weeks off for spring break)

[spunkarella]

Jul 1, 2012 15:06:44 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

What do you want to know about cruises? I've spent about 9 weeks total traveling Europe (mostly in Italy, but I've hit UK, Spain, and France, too) on land and 1 week on a cruise.

Your response above answered my biggest question - that you did feel like you got a good overview. I don't really want to rush through the cities either, but H has some travel anxiety and I feel the cruise would be a way for us to get a taste of Europe while having a "safe"* place for him to come home to every night.

I am torn between a cruise similar to the one you described above, and a Greece/Italy itinerary. I will probably go with whatever is the best deal when the time comes.

*By safe I mean familiar language, food, etc - not literally safe from harm.

[FrozenSunshine]

First trip was a HS exchange - so this is based on the first trip we planned on our own.

Where did you go? Flew from Alaska to Frankfurt then train to Munich, Prague, Venice, Florence, Rome, Nice, Paris, champagne cave region, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Cologne, and back to Frankfurt. We were gone for 32 days.

How long did you stay in each place? 2-4 days. We did meet friends in some locations

How did you decide on your itinerary? Cities we wanted to see divided by the # of days we had on our Euro rail pass

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? I celebrated my 24th birthday there.

Anything you would have done differently? Realized when cardinal elections were in Rome and not spending so much time with family in Nice.

[GilliC]

Where did you go?
Netherlands

How long did you stay in each place?
It was a bike & barge trip, so we toured the countryside and spent one night in each city along the way.

How did you decide on your itinerary?
It was my grandmother's idea. She invited my cousin and I to come along.

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)?
18 but still in high school

Anything you would have done differently?
In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have let Grandma talk me into buying a see-through black dress in Amsterdam.

[scout8]

Where did you go? London, Dublin, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, Interlaken, Florence, Rome, Munich, Salzburg, Milan

How long did you stay in each place? We were there for a month, but I don't remember how long in each place.

How did you decide on your itinerary? I don't remember, but we obviously tried to cram way too much in to a month!

How old were you (kid/teenager/college student/adult)? College student.

Anything you would have done differently? No, it was the right trip at the time, although now I would slow it down.