Planning a my first Europe trip next year

Do you want to see a much as possible bc you doubt you will ever go back? Or really get to know one region and stay there the entire time?

Like the entire trip in Italy or France.

As others have said and will say it’s a broad question.

What are your interests? Food? Beaches? Nightlife? History/culture? Nature/hiking (Alps etc.)?

Time of year visiting.

My advice is skip the overly obvious greatest hits itinerary featuring Paris and London among others (usually throw in one of the Big 3 Italian cities).

As others recommended a region focus could be nice i.e. the Iberian Peninsula, the Alps, Italy etc.

For IMHO some greatest hits you could do that are slightly less obvious:

Diverse Mix: Lisbon (+ Sintra) > Amsterdam > Munich (+ Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Salzburg)

Iberian tour-A: Lisbon > Barcelona > Bilbao > San Sebastián

Iberian tour-B: Porto > Lisbon > Malága > Granada

Party tour: Lisbon > Barcelona > Amsterdam > Berlin

Northern Italy highlights: Venice (2 days) > Verona (1 day - day trip) > Lago di Garda (Sirmione) (2 days) > Bologna (2 days) > Cinque Terre (3 days)

With more context and info happy to offer more fine-tuned advice

Pick one large country. One. And spend all of your time immersing there. Use a large city as a hub and branch out from there.

Italy.
Spain.
Germany.
France.
UK.
Sweden.
Ireland.

Age?

I ask because you will get “do it yourself” from younger people and those with lots of international travel experience.

We are going to Italy in 2025 with Roads Scholars. I am a huge trip planner but at this point in life I’m ok with someone else planning that one.

Stick to a country, like Italy or Spain or France.

You can do 3 cities in that time frame very comfortably, use the train system in between. Fly into 1 city and out of another.

Another option would be using a place like Paris as your base, enjoy yourself take your time, take day trips elsewhere.

Do not do something idiotic like doing London, Paris, Rome, Berlin and see 4-5 countries.

Go get and read "Europe through the back door" by Rick Steve's. Follow one of his two week itineraries.

Don't focus on one country, but maybe one region.
I would do Italy- Germany- France or Spain France Italy.

Adding so more thoughts (as one does when one is a habitual rambler):

- Contrary to what is often stated in this Travel forum, train isn’t (always) the best way to get around. So to save time (and often money) consider budget airlines to get you between further apart destinations. Trains as I’ve said before make sense within a given country (and still within limitations) or dedicated transnational lines such as the Thalys connecting Paris > Brussels > Antwerp > Rotterdam > Amsterdam or the Eurostar connecting Amsterdam/Rotterdam > Brussels > London. Outside of this even famous national railway operators such as DB in Germany are marred by perpetual delays and overcrowded trains, and inter-regional/transnational travel by train can be a lot more costly and time-consuming than is typically given credit on this forum.

- There can be some merit in a diverse itinerary to get a taste of different regions and hone in on one to focus on for subsequent visits, but diversity and density of itinerary should trade off a bit to balance things out. In other words if you’re gonna go to multiple regions of Europe spread out, limit yourself to 3 “home base” regions - for example Northern Spain > Benelux > Alpine DACH (German speaking) region. And ensure your spending at least 3-4 full days in each spot. Traveling within certain countries can also offer as much diversity as going to other (neighboring) countries, Spain has several different regions and cultures as do Germany, the UK and Italy. Hell, even Maastricht in the south of the Netherlands probably has more in common with nearby towns/regions Belgium, Germany or France than it does Amsterdam. Or to better illustrate Bavaria in Southern Germany has more cultural and linguistic similarities to (most of) Austria than it does to Northern Germany.

quote:

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Don't focus on one country, but maybe one region.
I would do Italy- Germany- France or Spain France Italy.

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Can't disagree with this more. Its a terrible idea, IMO.

Any trip I've had remotely like that has been my worst ones.



Stick to a country. See different parts of it. It lets you immerse yourself in one culture, one language. You get a lot more out of it and way less travel time.

A lot of people recommend Italy as place to focus on and delve into.

I love Italy, I speak the language fluently and partially grew up there, it’s a second homeland to me. That said, I have to really push the alternative of the Iberian Peninsula.

Generally the infrastructure in Spain & Portugal both in a general (roads/public transport) and touristic sense are superior to that of Italy.

More favorably priced offerings in just about every category (for Europe these are gonna be your most budget friendly options west of Poland), excellent food, and diversity of landscapes that easily rivals those of France and Italy.

So another dreamy Iberian itinerary for inspirational purposes:

Fly into Barcelona, stay there 5 days including potential day trip to either Girona or Costa Brava.

Take train to San Sebastián (~ 5 hours) spend 2.5-3 days there, 1 hr 30 min bus ride to Bilbao spend 1 fullish day there see the town and the Guggenheim.

Fly Bilbao to Porto (probably an hour long flight max)

3 days in Porto (including Douro Valley daytrip excursion)

Train to Lisboa ( ~ 3 hours)

4 days in Lisbon including day trip to Sintra to hike through the enchanting palaces and estates and finish off with a dip in Praia da Ursa one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen the world over (disclaimer: Ursa only a serious option if you’re dealing with people capable of a semi-intensive hike to descend the cliff to beach)

Fly back stateside from Lisbon.

Second disclaimer: this is not at all to detract from the marvels of bella Italia, it’s absolutely worth visiting, but just providing an option that’s a little bit less cliche for an American visiting Europe for the first time and also a bit more budget friendly.