Plan my trip to Europe?

[agnes]

H and I are planning on going to Europe for about 2 weeks this summer. This will be our first time in Europe. Our budget is 10k. The only set plan we have is the Speedway Grand Prix in Cardiff on June 1st.

The only other thing H wants to see is the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, Germany.

I however want to see EVERYTHING. So, it's hard to narrow down where to go. The most narrow I can get is that I want to go to Paris.

So, I guess it would be England, Germany, France. Do you think we could add another country in there or would that be pushing it? H has a couple of friends in Greenland and Denmark.

Do you have any must see places in those 3 countries? What has been your favorite sight to see/place to go?

I know you guys are always recommending Rick Steve's books. I will def check those out.

ETA: I wanted to add that I gotta post and run for a little bit.

[Deleted]

The national Museum in Cardiff has some amazing Monets. The British Museum in London is one of my favorite places in the world. And if you are any kind of a Harry Potter fan, the Studio Tour at Leavesden just outside of London was one of the highlights of our trip.

If you're staying in Paris, I would open a Hyatt credit card and use the free night and any points you get to stay at the Hyatt Vendome. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING hotel.

You'll probably want to fly into London, take a train to Cardiff (You could stop in Bath, a super neat town) then back to London. Take the Eurostar to Paris and then fly to Germany.

How you divide your trip (# of days in each city) would depend on what you want to do there.

[CloudBee]

Copenhagen, Denmark is incredible, and can easily be done in just 2-3 days.

I would advise against Greenland, as flights are few and far between. You would likely have to fly through Denmark, as I don't know of any other direct flights unless you are coming from Iceland.

[agnes]

Honestly, I'm not all that interested in Greenland. It looks beautiful but effing cold in all of the friend's photos.

I was thinking that instead of going to the Cardiff Grand Prix, we could go to the Copenhagen Grand Prix on the 29th and that would be the end of the trip (H has to be back to work by July 3rd). But the price in flights are a bit more.

Oh that reminds me of another question...What airlines have you used and which ones do you prefer?

[hopenotlost]

I used to live in Spain, so I am partial. I love Barcelona! I lived in southern Spain, so if you want a nice day or two on the beach, definitely go south!

Also, Italy...Venice has a lot of stuff to see.

Germany--see the castles!

France--Paris for sure. And the Versaille Palace. Definitely worth it!

Amsterdam!

London, absolutely!

Cyprus, but you would have to fly there. But absolutely beautiful.

[casmgn]

In Germany, also visit Neuschwanstein Castle and Munich. Munich is probably my favorite city that I've visited so far in Europe, including Paris and London.

I would not add another country - you could easily spend at least a week in each country.

[casmgn]

As far as airlines, I'd just go with whatever major airline is cheapest - United, Delta, British Airways, Virgin, Lufthansa, etc.

I'd also probably fly into London, take the train to Paris, then the train to Stuttgart, rent a car to go to the castle and Munich, and fly out of Munich.

[casmgn]

Also, in Germany definitely go on an alpine slide!

[agnes]

Oct 8, 2012 14:23:13 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

I think you should think about the type of vacation you want to have here. With 2 weeks, you have enough time to rush through a bunch of different places, or take your time in only a few places. Do you want to get a little taste of everything? Do you want to be rushing between cities every day or two, or spend 3-5 days in a couple of places? Do you want downtime to relax, or are you go-go-go travellers?

I think this is part of the problem. I love doing touristy stuff. I'm cool with rushing. H...Not so much. I don't think he will apreciate being rushed everywhere to see a little taste of everything.

[casmgn]

Oct 8, 2012 15:03:17 GMT -5 agnes said:

Oct 8, 2012 14:23:13 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

I think you should think about the type of vacation you want to have here. With 2 weeks, you have enough time to rush through a bunch of different places, or take your time in only a few places. Do you want to get a little taste of everything? Do you want to be rushing between cities every day or two, or spend 3-5 days in a couple of places? Do you want downtime to relax, or are you go-go-go travellers?

Then I would compromise and only do three countries. He's probably going to feel rushed enough with only have ~4 days per country, I can't imagine adding another one into the mix. There is so much to see in each place, you will be missing so much if you spend less time!

I think this is part of the problem. I love doing touristy stuff. I'm cool with rushing. H...Not so much. I don't think he will apreciate being rushed everywhere to see a little taste of everything.

[laptopvixen]

Psst, Cardiff is in Wales, which is a separate country.

If you're gearheads, have you explored the BMW tour/test drive? I'm not sure if you actually have to be buying one to do this...

[agnes]

Oct 8, 2012 15:12:27 GMT -5 laptopvixen said:

Psst, Cardiff is in Wales, which is a separate country.

If you're gearheads, have you explored the BMW tour/test drive? I'm not sure if you actually have to be buying one to do this...

Sorry, should have said UK not England.

MH is the resident gearhead. I know practically nothing about cars/motorcycles.

Please, tell me more about this BMW tour/test drive.

[anna7602]

England, France and Germany is doable in two weeks if you're only going to London, Paris and Stuttgart. Like pps said, you can fly into London, take the Eurostar to Paris and take another train to Stuttgart. You can probably buy a multi-city ticket and fly back to the US from Frankfurt.

It's still doable if you add another British city and maybe another southern German city, but you're going to start feeling crazy if you throw Copenhagen into the mix. Copenhagen is kind of far from London & Paris, too far to take a train. And don't even think about Berlin (not that you mentioned it, just saying).

If you nixed Germany, you could fly to Copenhagen from Paris on Easy Jet. It's about a 2 hourish flight, I just did it this summer. So that would be fly into London, Eurostar to Paris, Easy Jet to Copenhagen, back to Paris and Eurostar back to London for return flight to US.

ETA: My favorite place on your proposed itinerary is Paris. But, I would propose doing a southern European tour on another trip. I'm more partial to Portugal, Spain and Italy than I am to northern Europe.

[agnes]

Oct 8, 2012 14:09:09 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Also, in Germany definitely go on an alpine slide!

This would be fun for me. I wouldn't be able to get MH on a lift. He's afraid of hights. He does well on airplanes, but has a hard time in/on anything open. He doesn't use glass enclosed elevators, ladders, the bridges that go over the Strip in Vegas, etc.

[agnes]

Oct 8, 2012 15:17:51 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

ETA: My favorite place on your proposed itinerary is Paris. But, I would propose doing a southern European tour on another trip. I'm more partial to Portugal, Spain and Italy than I am to northern Europe.

I would LOVE to go to Spain and Italy. H shows no interest in going to those places. He's crazy. I know I will have to go by myself or with a friend another time.

[laptopvixen]

There are different factories in Germany so you'd have to Google it. I don't know anything about it, other than that it exists.

Does he watch Top Gear (BBC)? You can apply for tickets to a taping.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59

[womet]

I'll also throw out Prague. It's my favorite city in Europe. I loved it! And you could take the train from Munich fairly quickly.

If you are driving fron Stuttgart down the Romantische Strasse to see Neuschwannstein, I also suggest you go to Salzburg. Very cool history. And you could go on the Sound of Music tour!

[casmgn]

Oct 8, 2012 15:22:43 GMT -5 agnes said:

Oct 8, 2012 14:09:09 GMT -5 casmgn said:

Also, in Germany definitely go on an alpine slide!

This would be fun for me. I wouldn't be able to get MH on a lift. He's afraid of hights. He does well on airplanes, but has a hard time in/on anything open. He doesn't use glass enclosed elevators, ladders, the bridges that go over the Strip in Vegas, etc.

They aren't all so big that you have to take a lift up.

[agnes]

Oct 8, 2012 15:32:26 GMT -5 laptopvixen said:

There are different factories in Germany so you'd have to Google it. I don't know anything about it, other than that it exists.

Does he watch Top Gear (BBC)? You can apply for tickets to a taping.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59

Thanks. I think H might enjoy Top Gear, I'll have to remember to sign up when it's closer to the trip. They're still doing 2012 shows right now.

[gt7301b]

Oct 8, 2012 15:26:32 GMT -5 agnes said:

Oct 8, 2012 15:17:51 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

ETA: My favorite place on your proposed itinerary is Paris. But, I would propose doing a southern European tour on another trip. I'm more partial to Portugal, Spain and Italy than I am to northern Europe.

I would LOVE to go to Spain and Italy. H shows no interest in going to those places. He's crazy. I know I will have to go by myself or with a friend another time.

WHAT? That is just crazy talk. Spain is so much fun.

[cricketwife]

Oct 8, 2012 13:46:59 GMT -5 hopenotlost said:

I used to live in Spain, so I am partial. I love Barcelona! I lived in southern Spain, so if you want a nice day or two on the beach, definitely go south!

Also, Italy...Venice has a lot of stuff to see.

Germany--see the castles!

France--Paris for sure. And the Versaille Palace. Definitely worth it!

Amsterdam!

London, absolutely!

Cyprus, but you would have to fly there. But absolutely beautiful.

Cyprus IS beautiful, but I'd never recommend it for a first trip to Europe.

I would stick with two countries, but you could do three. Like others said, it depends on how rushed you want to be and if you want to go-go-go. I would recommend that you read as much as you can and just see want jumps out at you. There really is no wrong answer here. I'm sure that you'll love wherever you go.

[M]

Are you driving and is your H a car fan? H and I did a 2400 mile/5 country road trip in 8 days starting in Munich 2 years ago. So more countries is doable in two weeks, but you won't have much time at each town to tour all of. Here are some things in Germany and France that we did and you or your H might like:

- BMW Welt in Munich - They have a lot of different BMW's on display, old and new. You can tour the factory. I think they build all their cars except the SUV's there. And there's a guy on a motorcycle doing stunts also.

- Neuschwanstein Castle - Sleeping Beauty's castle was modeled after this.

- French Alps - It's a really nice drive with beautiful clear blue lakes and tons of waterfalls. Lac du Mont Cenis was one we stopped by.

- Nürburgring - It's a huge famous race track. If your H likes this kind of stuff, it'd be fun for him. But plan for a good amount of the day for it. They close at 6pm I think. You don't have to have a race car to do a lap either.

- Pistenklause Restaurant - if you go to Nürburgring, be sure to eat here. It is AMAZING.

- Stelvio Pass - It's in southern Germany, but in case you're interested... it's another famous road for car enthusiasts, but there was so many people on it when we went that it wasn't fun to drive.

- Autobahn - H really enjoyed it since it is the only time he will get to go 200 mph legally haha.

Top Gear did some episodes on Nürburgring and Stevio Pass. They took a bus onto the Nürburgring haha. We are car enthusiasts so our trip was mostly for the drive and sight seeing.

[bunnies]

Oct 8, 2012 15:45:24 GMT -5 womet said:

I'll also throw out Prague. It's my favorite city in Europe. I loved it! And you could take the train from Munich fairly quickly.

If you are driving fron Stuttgart down the Romantische Strasse to see Neuschwannstein, I also suggest you go to Salzburg. Very cool history. And you could go on the Sound of Music tour!

Lurker coming out - I did the Sound Of Music tour last year, haha! It was so fun and cheesy. ;-)

We did 7 cities (Amsterdam, Prague, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, and Paris) in 6 countries in 9 days last year and it was exhausting! My friend planned this trip and I just paid the money and tagged along. I spent $2,500 total (including airfare, meals, lodging, and souvenirs).