Liz123

I知 in a flux for summer travel. I have 4-5 weeks and would love to go to Europe. I知 worried about the safety and uncertainty with the world right now. I知 also not sure which city to fly into. If I flew into one, kind of centrally located, I would hope to be able to travel to other cities. Any cities recommended? I壇 love somewhere not overly touristy. Any thoughts appreciated.

JBord

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

You can see a lot of Europe in 4-5 weeks. Back up a little and figure out where you most want to go, maybe the top 5 places. Once you figure out your longer stops, it's much easier to string them all together with trains, buses, cars, and planes.

Try to go in a line from place to place without backtracking, so your travel time will be as little as possible. With that in mind, you may not want to start in a central city. You might start in Lisbon and end up in Copenhagen. But if you want to start in a central location, pick a major airport like FRA, MUC, VIE, ZRH.

Much of Europe is touristy during the summer, you won't avoid it...but certain cities like Paris are much worse.

Do some homework, come back here and post your plan and ask for critique. Most of us will kindly and gently give our suggestions once you have something to start with.

Liz123

Thank you. I was looking at Rome, Prague, and Greece. I've been to Spain, my favorite, so I was thinking around Greece.

JBord

Certainly do-able in 4-5 weeks. Fly into Rome or Athens and make your way around in a semi-circle pattern to the other. If you want to center around those 3 areas, best to take flights. With the amount of time you have, you could certainly make multiple stops along the way. For example, starting in Rome and taking trains, stop in Florence, Venice, Vienna on the way to Prague. Fly from Prague to Athens and then explore Athens and the islands? Just one idea.

EmailKid

If you've been to Spain, you may be a little disappointed in Italy. OK, Florence was great, but as I tell my friends, Spain is kind of like Italy, only clean.

Then again, it may be because I like to spend some time and get off the tourist path.

Don't fly to Prague unless you happen to find a deal, it's cheaper to fly to other airports @:-)

I've had VERY good luck with flying to MAD, including $1,500 fare in BUSINESS back when I was in Texas.

Of course Norwegian changed all that, and you can get some AMAZING deals to Europe (flying to BUD next month for $446, again from Texas, NOT Norwegian), and intra Europe flights CAN be cheap, and buses (coach) can be dirt cheap.

Prague is great if you don't go during tourist season IMHO. Haven't been to Greece in ages, but have VERY fond memories.

obscure2k

Suggest taking a look at the FT Italy Forum. A wealth of information and knowledge exist on that forum. In fact, it was the lead story in the FT Talkmail newsletter today..http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/italy-634/

Jeannietx

We have plans for Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Krakow and Istanbul for this summer.

We have been to most other places in Europe, some multiple times, so changing it up a bit.

We will be coming from Spain so will fly initially, then use rail as much as possible. I like to see where I am traveling, so love rail in Europe.

I wouldn't worry about flying into any of the major airports.

PsiFighter37

I would kill to have that much time off...

I'm doing 2 weeks in Europe in August - 10 days hiking the great outdoors in the Tyrolean Alps and the Dolomites, and then unwinding with 3 days in Paris. With as much time as you have, though, I would do a mix of the cultural and the outdoors. Very envious

WilcoRoger

I would avoid most places the OP mentioned in July-August (hot, overcrowded) but of course if that's when you can travel, that's when you travel.

Take a cruise down the Danube - you have a zillion options, also for the length of the cruise. (The river cruise boats are nothing like the ocean cruisers.)