You can’t do many of the “must sees” in a week so tell us a little more about your interests – art, history, nightlife, nature, etc. Have you already bought your plane ticket to visit your father? Were you planning on returning to Birmingham after you travel?

I was worried about that, so I might increase my time to two weeks. I love history, architecture, and nature. I haven’t bought my ticket yet, and I suppose it might make more sense if I didn’t go back to Birmingham. I would be able to see more that way.

I would start with UK. London, Edinburgh plus maybe a day or two in a smaller place would take care of 7 or 8 days. I’d then take Eurostar to Paris for 3 or 4 days and try to make it to Brugges or Amsterdam for the rest. I’d try to book a flight coming home from Paris or Amsterdam. You can reverse Amsterdam and Paris depending on what you find for the cheapest flight home.

Are there any places you are already interested in? If you want some help with airfares too let us know where are you going to be flying from.

Of course I want to see Paris, I would love to make it to Italy and Spain but the time frame may not allow it. I’m slowly starting to realize my idea that I’d travel around all of Europe in a few weeks doesn’t leave any time to explore or actually see the country. So each time I think about the trip, the time frame increases in my mind. But specific places I don’t know, I’ve been doing some research but there is so much I want to do!

I’ll be flying from Indiana. Depending on price it will either be from Fort Wayne or Indianapolis.

Thanks! Those sound like good places to visit. If I wanted to get to Italy or Spain how much more time do you think I would need to add to my trip? Also, how much money should I be looking at? Just an estimate so I have some sort of idea how much in the hole I’ll be. That is if you’ve done something like I’m talking about.

Whatever you decide, don’t try to cram in too much. Averaging three days per place is generally good. That doesn’t mean you have to spend three days everywhere, but a trip with nothing but one or two day stops in a ton of places is not a good idea. Some people prefer to concentrate on one country or region, but if you put a trip together right you can see places that are spread out. I also see nothing wrong if you choose to see nothing but big cities, others will disagree. In your case, you could see a place or two in Spain (do it! ) and Italy if you work out the logistics correctly. What dates are you thinking? Depending upon when you can go, I see airfares ranging from $800 to $1200.

One example itinerary of the many possible would be London, train to Paris, flight or train to Spanish city, flight to Italian city, then fly home from Italy. Of course it might be cheaper to switch the order of Spain and Italy, or you may decide to skip one or both (but don’t skip Spain ).

Your father might have some insight on sites to see in Great Britain; he might even want to take you to some and pick up the tab.

You can find historical sites throughout Europe, so unless you have a specific one you want to see, I wouldn’t use that as a basic criterion. Once you have picket the sites you will be visiting for other reasons, research what historical sites are there or nearby. I always worry that I will visit somewhere and come home, only to discover that something I would have really wanted to see was nearby and I missed it.

Nature is something found, generally, outside the major cities. To get into the best and most beautiful nature sites in Switzerland, for example, you have to go up into the mountains, not to the cities. Many cities do have large parks which are pleasant to see.

There are many places to see great architecture. I like Florence for the renaissance architecture, but Paris and Barcelona stand out to me for their architecture. Paris has a great variety of new and old sites. Barcelona is memorable for the modernista architecture.

Since your funds are limited, I would limit the sites you plan to visit, saving on transportation. I would not go far into debt to extend a trip. Better to save up and take a second trip when you can afford it.