We are looking at going to Europe for 10-12 days. I have never been, Wife has been a couple of times. It'll be me, wife and 10 year old daughter. Originally, I was considering London then Paris. Seemed logical destinations for a first timer. Easy flight across the pond and then train to Paris. But lately I have been talked out of London and considering Barcelona and then Paris. I think Paris is set in stone...or at least France (we are looking at getting a villa for week along the coast and using that as base camp for trips into the country). I have been really interested in going to Barcelona ever since seeing a documentary on El Bulli and seeing Bourdain's adventures in Spain.
First time travel to Europe: which would be your top two countries to visit?
- Thread starter Fijimn
- Start date
Buddy at work just came back from 3 weeks in Portugal and Spain. They hit beaches on the Atlantic and Med, enjoyed lots of great food and really raved about the architecture.
His wife is Macedonian and they go over the water every several years. He said going back to that region would be on his list.
We have always talked about going into the Basque regions of both France and Spain. I wanna see the Pyrenees.
His wife is Macedonian and they go over the water every several years. He said going back to that region would be on his list.
We have always talked about going into the Basque regions of both France and Spain. I wanna see the Pyrenees.
Too hard of a question to answer without knowing what your interests are. I’ve been pretty much everywhere in Western Europe and numerous places in Eastern Europe. Based on my interests, I keep going back to Norway, southern Germany, Switzerland, and Slovenia.
If you make it to Basque country, secure a reservation here: https://www.asadoretxebarri.com/en/home
Food and culture (I guess that's kind of generic). I don't want to kill the little girl with spending all the time in museums and churches. Language wouldn't be an issue in Spain and we could probably get by in France.
Let me ju.st say this about London - I have been there about 15 times over the years and have still not seen it all - anyone who tries to talk someone out of London, especially a first timeer, is steering in the wrong direction.
If you have 12 days to spend in Europe I would say you can not go wrong visiting any country there, but your inclination to do London & Paris first isthe correct one. From Paris you can easily do day trips by train to many grat sites in France and even into Belgium orLuxemberg. Spain & Portugal are nice, but even with 12 days they are a seperate trip IMHO, and they are simply not anywhere near the same catagory as Paris.
If you have 12 days to spend in Europe I would say you can not go wrong visiting any country there, but your inclination to do London & Paris first isthe correct one. From Paris you can easily do day trips by train to many grat sites in France and even into Belgium orLuxemberg. Spain & Portugal are nice, but even with 12 days they are a seperate trip IMHO, and they are simply not anywhere near the same catagory as Paris.
I'll be there in October -- firm retreat at Grand Lakes...sigh.
I’d agree on London. Actually the UK in general. London, Bath, York, the Lake District…all absolutely fantastic places to visit.
Edinburgh is my favorite European city.
We've been watching Rick Steves travel shows lately. I've been to Italy and France , but just in the urban areas. Hit Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice.
But now I'd love to go to Italy and just spend a week or so in the Cinque Terre.
Link
But now I'd love to go to Italy and just spend a week or so in the Cinque Terre.
Link
I watch his show all the time and listen to it Saturday morning.
My wife and I went there 20+ years ago. It was really nice. I have heard it is insanely crowded these days, unfortunately.
I took my wife, daughter, and three of my wife's sister to Poland and Lithuania, and it was a great trip. I was doing work in Lodz, Poland, so we went there for three days. It's actually a nice city, with the bonus of they got to spend time with locals, from the company I was doing business with.
We then picked my son up, who was stationed in the middle of nowhere in northern Poland, and went to Vilnius for four days. Vilnius is a beautiful town, and we stayed in a wonderful hotel in the middle of the Old Town. We also had a chance to spend time with family members from my wife's side.
We drove over 1,000 miles in a nine-passenger Ford Transit. Going through the countryside and stopping in small towns you get a completely different feel of a country. It was pretty cool.
On the other hand, my wife and daughter just got back from a week stay in Paris, and it was pretty spectacular.
Fiji - when you say villa on the coast of France are you talking northern or southern France?
I stayed at a little town called Deauville up around Normandy. It had a nice beach and was well situated for touring the Normandy sites and also close to Paris.
Down south is Nice and Cannes…different vibe and awesome but not really convenient to Paris.
Honestly, you could set up a base in Paris and do a trip to London (~2.5 hrs), trip through Brussels (~90 min) and even to Amsterdam (Paris to Amsterdam is just over 3 hours and and dumps you right in the city center).
I stayed at a little town called Deauville up around Normandy. It had a nice beach and was well situated for touring the Normandy sites and also close to Paris.
Down south is Nice and Cannes…different vibe and awesome but not really convenient to Paris.
Honestly, you could set up a base in Paris and do a trip to London (~2.5 hrs), trip through Brussels (~90 min) and even to Amsterdam (Paris to Amsterdam is just over 3 hours and and dumps you right in the city center).
Agreed. Love Edinburgh. We are going to Inverness via Edinburgh in December. I've often thought of moving to Scotland.
Prior to the UK/RA conflict i would say Germany and Italy.
Now i’d say Italy and England with a side trip to Normady.
Northern. I have a good friend from Brittany who said he’d either meet us there or if he can’t he’ll set us up with his family. It’s very early in planning stages.
If it's my first time travel to Europe, I'm thinking maybe the good old days of the Roman Empire to "see" the orgies. Caligula's reign, perhaps?
Prague
Munich
Vienna
Paris
Brussels
Amsterdam
London
Dublin
Edinburgh
10-12 days isn't that much time. Don't try to do too much/everything. Always travel as if you will go back.
Munich
Vienna
Paris
Brussels
Amsterdam
London
Dublin
Edinburgh
10-12 days isn't that much time. Don't try to do too much/everything. Always travel as if you will go back.
Enjoy! I love the Highlands. If you can divert over to the Isle of Skye for a bit I’d highly recommend it. Beautiful country.
My favorite has been Belgium. Can hit Antwerp, Ghent , Bruges And Brussels if you want but I found that the lest culturally interesting. Better beer than Germany. Yeah, I said it.
I‘m not extensively well traveled in Europe, most of my trips have been to the US, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Belize, various Caribbean island nations, Australia and New Zealand. But I’ve spent a lot of time in the British Isles and Ireland plus a couple of days in Paris (Plus a work related trip to China, Japan and Vietnam where I didn’t get to do TOO much touristy stuff, I was mainly with the main entourage). And of all the world cities I’ve been to, I’d put Edinburgh just behind Sydney, Paris, Vancouver and New Orleans in that order and just ahead of San Francisco, Toronto and New York City.
I definitely loved Edinburgh far more than London, Cardiff, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, Liverpool or Belfast. My absolute favorite spot is a B&B at nearby Bonnyrigg just outside of the city that is within the old Dalhousie Castle. Not only did we have the very best meal in all of our European trips in the Dalhousie dungeon (even over Michelin starred places in Paris and London), but my wife and I had an amazing time learning falconry on the grounds including a subsequent hunt in their woods. And it has a “secret bar” hidden behind a trapdoor in the main library, two restaurants (an ultra fancy one in the dungeon and a lighter fare restaurant in the Orangerie), there’s a full service spa, a full onsite mews with Harris Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, Golden Eagles, Merlins, European Kestrels and Little Owls to fly and hunt with, and the staff treat you like royalty.
Jealous! I’ve been missing international travel the last few years. Have a 6 month old now too so don’t see it happening again any time soon. Been fortunate (thanks credit card miles) to go on some fantastic trips over the last 10 years or so. These were each 2-3 weeks
2014:
- London
- Paris
- Venice
- Florence
- Rome
2016:
- Bruge
- Amsterdam
- Berlin
- Prague
- Munich
2017
- Budapest
- Vienna
- Salzburg
- Barcelona
- Madrid
2019
- Zurich (Basel/Lucerne)
- Ljubljana
- Dubrovnik
- Athens
- Crete
Can’t go wrong starting with London and Paris. Just so much to see there and super easy to acclimate. In fact these days (at least in my experience) everyone speaks English and things are so accesible that it shouldn’t even be a real concern. Unless you are really going to some smaller cities.
As lame as it might sound, my wife and I have done tons of food tours on our trips to new international cities. Usually do it on the first day and it’s a great way to get some history on the city, talk with a local, and get some good food/drink. Probably would pass on one in London however.
Some of my personal favorite cities have been Rome, Budapest, Barcelona, Ljubljana, and Crete.
Still so many places I want to go in Europe across the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. Bummed to have not done portugal and Scotland yet, but still plenty of time. If you have any questions on any of the places noted above happy to chime in!
2014:
- London
- Paris
- Venice
- Florence
- Rome
2016:
- Bruge
- Amsterdam
- Berlin
- Prague
- Munich
2017
- Budapest
- Vienna
- Salzburg
- Barcelona
- Madrid
2019
- Zurich (Basel/Lucerne)
- Ljubljana
- Dubrovnik
- Athens
- Crete
Can’t go wrong starting with London and Paris. Just so much to see there and super easy to acclimate. In fact these days (at least in my experience) everyone speaks English and things are so accesible that it shouldn’t even be a real concern. Unless you are really going to some smaller cities.
As lame as it might sound, my wife and I have done tons of food tours on our trips to new international cities. Usually do it on the first day and it’s a great way to get some history on the city, talk with a local, and get some good food/drink. Probably would pass on one in London however.
Some of my personal favorite cities have been Rome, Budapest, Barcelona, Ljubljana, and Crete.
Still so many places I want to go in Europe across the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. Bummed to have not done portugal and Scotland yet, but still plenty of time. If you have any questions on any of the places noted above happy to chime in!
Honeymooned in Greece (Mostly Santorini/Mykonos) and did a two week eastern Europe swing through Warsaw—>Krakow—>Budapest—>Vienna—>Prague.
Would recommend any of those places. Admittedly haven’t spent time in Western Europe so can’t compare there.
Would recommend any of those places. Admittedly haven’t spent time in Western Europe so can’t compare there.
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Italy and Ireland. And don’t spend a lot of time in Rome or Dublin. See the countryside.
Dublin is fine but has and English sensibility, and is a lot like every big city. It's worth a few days. Go to Galway if you are going to Ireland. It's a great base to visit Connemara and is the most Irish of the bigger cities I've visited. I'm heading to Westport in 3 weeks. The advice to not do too much is good advice. Pick an area an soak in the local culture. Don't spend your whole vacation on a tour bus, train, or driving.
Scotland, Spain
Though, you can't go wrong with most of Europe outside of a few of the former Soviet/Eastern Bloc countries.
Though, you can't go wrong with most of Europe outside of a few of the former Soviet/Eastern Bloc countries.
Definitely do Barcelona over London imo. Unless your goal is to hit a bunch of museums and make your 10 year old miserable. Take a half day trip from Barcelona to Montserrat and take gondola up from there and you can basically see all of Spain. Barcelona is very hot in the summer so be prepared. The subway isn’t fun to be in then and isn’t air conditioned. Avoid rush hour subway times. There’s a reason everyone carries those peacock hand fans. But Barcelona hands down! The Hop On/Off bus is great in BCN as well as it’s not all walkable.
