In two weeks, I’d concentrate on Northern Europe — forget about Greece or Italy. Remember that day 1 is an over night flight from the US, arriving with jet lag and culture shock on day 2 (so it’s usually not a good idea to plan much for that day). Day 14 will be entirely taken up by your flight home and it’s quite likely that day 13 will be spent getting back to London. Even if you fly, you’ll spend the better part of a day each way in transit between London and Paris, getting to/from Scotland or to/from Ireland.

UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and Ireland is a doable 2 weeks. You can add Paris if you don’t travel as extensively in UK or Ireland or if you’re a real whirlwind traveler.

Agree with what oldlady said. Two weeks really is not much time to see a several different countries that you haven’t seen before. Stick to less places – you will enjoy the trip more and actually end up seeing more than you would otherwise.

As for what to see, other people don’t know what interests you, so it’s hard to make personal suggestions. In fact, it’s strange that you would want to go to certain cities/countries without having any idea why you want to go there. First thing – you should go to a bookstore or find a guidebook somewhere and start reading about the places you think you are interested in. This will give you the best overview and will be simpler than asking other people for details. Then, when you have a better idea, ask specific questions here and you will get some great info.

Good luck.

I’ve done some folders of notes on England, Wales and Scotland – you are welcome to any/all if you mail me on avidcross@frogsmore72.fsnet.co.uk”>davidcross@frogsmore72.fsnet.co.uk

Well as far as Ireland goes, one of the people I used to work with, his daughter lives in Ireland and he visits every now and then. So I think I can get some ideas from him. I would like to visit some of the castles in England, Scotland, and Ireland. I would also like to see some of the country side of each country. The scenery looks VERY beautiful.

I want to go to Paris to see the Louvre, arc de triamphe, and of course Eifel Tower. I would also like to pick up a nice bottle of wine while I am there.

I think I just want to experience and try to submerge myself in another culture.

Now I am worried about transportation b/t all of these places. When I arrive in London how should I get around to scotland/ireland? Car,train etc.. I think from London to Paris and back it might be cheaper if I take a quick flight. Comments?

Hello, I’m kinda in the same boat as you. Only I’m going next fall and plan on staying at least 2.5 months traveling europe with a friend. I think we’re going to start north (london) and work our way south (rome). Anyone have any suggestions on how to go about it, where to stay, cheap anything let me know. You can email me at natc_00@hotmail.com.

You can pick up cheap flights with www.ryanair.com to Paris, or if you get lucky you might pick up a cheap train fare with Eurostar to Paris which takes the same amount of time (with the amount of time you lose hanging around an airport and travelling between the airport and downtown)
As for travelling around England, I suggest buying a railpass

Railpass seems pretty logical. To get to each of these areas I would like to visit, should I just walk there, take a cab, or a bus??

This is the part that worries me most, b/c here in the states we just hope in the car and go. Over there I know it is different, so I am trying to figure out the best way to get around. For Paris, I think I should be able to take a cab, but for Englad, Scotland, and Ireland I need some suggestions.

Thanks
Cris

Within any European city, busses, trams and subways will get you within walking distance of anything you want to see. Taxi’s are very expensive and I’d consider them "emergency" transportation — like "It’s after midnight, raining, I’m lost and I’ve got way too much baggage to haul around; I think I’ll take a taxi."

In UK, train is probably the best way to get from city to city. British trains can be expensive, so a britrail pass may make economic sense. I doubt that you’ll do enough travel in France for a French or eurailpass to pay. You could buy a 2 country pass for France and Ireland, but I doubt it would be worth it. You can see Ireland by train, but the bus is generally better for getting around Ireland.

You’ll have a very quick trip and, as others have pointed out, you’ll be very limited in terms of what you can see in a very brief period of time.
If you go to Ireland, and have time for a quick side-trip out of Dublin, the train would serve your purpose well, since you might just want to go to Galway, for example. If you want to see smaller towns or travel more extensively in Ireland, then the bus would be a better option—- but the train would be fine for getting to places like Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Killarney.
Realistically, you’d proabaly just have time for a quick day or two in Dublin, and it’s a very walkable city—- but there’s also good bus service.
London and Paris both have excellent public transport systems, too. Go to a bookstore, and browse a book or two about these cities, and you should find maps of the London Underground and Paris Metro.

Big suggestion.

if you guys are planning on going through Europe. I fully recommend Busabout. It’s kind of like Contiki, except they drop you off in a city and let you do your own thing. That’s your Transport taken care of for the whole trip. Go to www.busabout.com if you want the details. The tour guides and bus drivers are mostly Aussies and fellow travellers who will help you find the best places to go. The hostels you stay at are all pretty decent and if your like me it’s too much hassel lugging your bags around looking for somewhere to sleep. The camp grounds in Rome and Venice are like resorts with pools and nightclubs and stuff. Awesome!

I had 2 weeks and I spent like 3 days in every major stop. I went Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prauge, Vienna, Munich, Venice and Rome. If your worried about what to do, I suggest doing the Bike tours or walks. In most of the places there was some sort of bike or walk tour that did a general walk/ ride around the whole city and it’s alright. Don’t be a fraid to include some time out rest days. I went like 1 day sight seeing ( I’m not hugly into museums and monuments and stuff) one day chill out or recovering from Hangovers, especially when you visit Munich (Cause you have to do the beer gardens) and anywhere in Czech (Because the beer is just so dame good and cheap, i had a great massage for like 6 Euros)

Let me know if you want more info.

thanks for all the suggestions..should I purchase all these bus/train tickets before hand? Or should I wait till I get there and just wing i?

1. It’s best to buy railpasses in advance. They’re sold in only a few places in Europe, they cost at least 10% more in Europe and there are fewer choices available. There are lots of web sites where you can buy them. "buy a railpass" and "buy a buspass" at the top of this page are reasonably good places to start looking.

2. It’s best to buy individual point to point train tickets after you get there. Buying them in advance usually costs 20 to 35 % more + plus shipping

3. Whether a railpass saves money over point to point tickets depends on your specific itinerary. Reading old posts on the transport forum will give you some rules of thumb to help with that decision. Once you have an itinerary, railsaver.com can HELP you decide if a pass is better than point to point tickets and which pass or combination is best if you check "use a railpass only if it saves money." Also, you can post more specific questions on the transport forum.

ok cool thanks… the hardest part I am having is acutally planning my itinerary. I know I want to go too Scotland, Ireland, Paris, and England. I am flying into London. I am rather interested in seeing some of the castles and overall architecture in Scotland and Ireland, plus I want to see and vist the coast line. I hear it is VERY scenic. Paris kinda speaks for itself I think…

Any suggestions?

hey I’m sure you can pick up a ticket for transport when you get there. I did. I went to Edinbough with a bus company called Silver Choice which was cheaper than the National express one. I did an all night bus trip. It’s cool to see the sun coming up and those massive green hills on either side. I heard trains are faster (6hrs) but more expenive.
The best thing about my trip is that my Hostel was right around the corner from the Bus station and the Train station was close by too. I stayed at a place called Princes Street Hostel. This place is amazing. Right in the middle of everything. Edinbough castle is like across the street and the guys there book the tours for you. I had people in my hostel going on all kinds on tours, they loved it. I was looking for work at the time, I actually got to scub dishes in Edinbough castle itself (free entrance).

I don’t know about Ireland. I’ll go there next time.

speaking of point to point train tickets, does anyone know where I could search for these tickets? Im not so much worried about buying them once Im there, but I’d like to get some ideas about how much the tickets will cost me (Im already going to be on a tight budget). thanks to any help you can provide…

jomegz: For tickets within a specific country, you can get actual prices (and often even buy the tickets) at the national rail site: trenitalia.com for Italy, sncf.com for France, etc. The German rail site: http://reiseauskunft…
will give prices for trips in Germany and prices to/from German cities and major cities in surrounding countries.

International tickets are tough. Check out point to point prices at raileurope.com and at "buy a railpass" at the top of this page. These 2 sites represent the 2 major places (to my knowledge)that all european rail tickets or pass sold in the US ultimately come from. These will be the inflated prices (in US $) to buy the tickets from the US in advance — so understand that price in Europe will probably be at least 20% lower, although I priced one ticket in France where I think the "buy a railpass" price (excluding shipping) was actually lower than buying in France due to the $/euro exchange rate. Also, the maps at ricksteves.com and putting the specific trips in as an itinerary at railsaver.com (checking "use a railpass only if it saves me money&quot will USUALLY give you fairly accurate estimates for international trips.

Can anyone recommend some low-budget hotels in London or Paris?

Where’s a good place to go for a first-time visit, but you only have little more than a week? Thinking about spring break.

Hush — for spring break I’d plan a week wherever it’s cheapest to fly to. While you might find better weather in Southern Europe, it’s likely to be rainy anywhere in Europe (assuming March) and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find "beach weather" anywhere. The cheapest flights are often to either Paris or London. You could easily spend a week in either one. Plan 3 or 4 days in the city, 1-3 day trips to nearby places and an overnight trip to someplace a little farther away or that takes more time to see.

Other alternative is a ski or snow board trek, but that involves some logistics that might be easier on your second trip.