Young couple trying to decide how to spend two weeks
 

I want to get the opinions of some more experienced travelers in order to focus the first stage of our planning. Here are the facts:

• Married couple in our early 20s, no kids
• Currently living in the south, but from the northeast (i.e. Boston)
• Planning a two week trip next June to reunite after we'll have been apart for several months
• I've never been outside the US & Canada; wife has only been to Europe as a kid

We are primarily interested in going to Europe. To me, that includes Scandinavia even though it has its own forum (but I'm posting here). By all means, if you have another suggestion after reading this, let me know.

Our interests include the following:

• Visually attractive, walkable cities
• Learning about history
• Food (especially chocolate and baked goods)
• Beaches and water
• Day-hikes in the mountains

We do not care for the following:

• Bars, breweries, wineries, nightlife
• Driving anywhere
• Bus or trolley tours
• Camping

To provide a baseline, the best trip that we've done so far was actually a long weekend to Savannah, GA. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, did a couple private walking tours, and attended a "cooking school" experience. We left feeling like we were very intimate with the city.

What we don't want is a stereotypical whirlwind of sightseeing, checking all the obligatory boxes, like most tourists seem to do. Since we're reuniting after several months apart (doing some very stressful work), we definitely want some quiet time together. I'm thinking that we should spend the entire two weeks in only one or two places in order to minimize time/effort spent moving around, also so that we can get to know the area(s) more deeply.

So what are your thoughts?

Since you specifically mention Scandanavia, am I correct in assuming that would be your primary choice, and some of the other things, like beaches and chocolate secondary? Knowing the answer could help in making better suggestions.
Assuming that my assumption is correct(?)
(1) Denmark and Sweden, essentially have NO mountains
(2) Norway DOES.
Except for the high prices, I'd go for (2)--but narrow down your priorities better.
A short train ride outside OSLO, you have magnificent scenery in Holmenkollen (a Ski area in winter), which has walking trails etc. The city is on a beautiful body of water, and one can visit a large number of interesting museums, using boat trips or just walking. [There are NO special chocolate factories.]
But Switzerland in June is also great, and they DO have chocolate.:)

Consider Vienna. Attractive and very walkable, lots of history, good food (not necessarily chocolate, but baked goods in the coffee shops), mountains nearby, "beach" at the Danube river. Furthermore you can easily move to other cities like Salzburg, Prague or Budapest which are not far away and easy to get to within a radius of 3-4h overland travel.

I have two more suggestions:

1) Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris:
Lots of history in all cities, good food in France, choclate in Brussels, but no mountains
Can be done entirely by train, there is a High-Speed connection between Amsterdam and Paris (with stop in Brussels). Amsterdam also offers some day-trips into the surrounding (incl. beach).

2) Switzerland/North of Italy:
Lots of history, good food, choclate in Switzerland, mountains in Switzerland
Iternary could be: Zurich, Luzern, Milan and Venice


There is also a train connecting Oslo with Bergen (City on the Westcoast) over the mountainous area of Hardangervidda. A side trip from there with the train to Flam at the Sognefjord offers the possiblity to do a fjord cruise. The scenery there is really spectacular.

If the Amsterdam/Brussels/Paris option interests you, I'd also add Antwerp to the list...the historic center is very walkable and has quite a bit to see from the cathedral to the river, historic war sites, etc.

Answering a couple questions...

We have looked at Scandinavia because it seems to be a little less touristy, less crowded, and possibly less expensive than more popular areas (although now I read that Oslo might be the most expensive city in Europe). It's not necessarily our primary interest. I have some concerns about weather (maybe still too cool in June) and food (wife does not eat fish). And although I said we want our trip to be "less touristy," I wonder if this would be like visiting Canada on your first trip to North America: nothing wrong with that, but will you regret skipping places like NYC or the Grand Canyon? I don't know.

As far as our priorities, they go roughly in the order listed. Being in a nice, walkable city/village is definitely #1 (luckily most of Europe appears to qualify). Learning about an interesting history/culture/economy is a close #2. Everything else is less important. We don't need beaches AND mountains, but access to one or the other would be nice.

And Brugge (Bruges)... and Gent... :) ^

Just a few comments on what you have posted, so far:

On Scandinavia; it could still be a bit cool in June, and the days will be long (June 1 2010 sunrise/sunset for Oslo ~0400/2230). Also, Oslo is not the only city that has a rep for being pricey. Still, the places I have been were very picturesque.

On visually attractive, walkable, history and food; have been to Europe enough I would have to dig out records to figure out exactly how many times (more than two dozen). Can't think of a city or town I have been in that was not worth looking at, wasn't walkable, had no history or had no regional foods to experiment with. I don't think you are going to find these discriminators.

On chocolate and baked goods; two words: Brussels, Paris. ;)

On not driving; on all those trips to Europe I have only driven once, and that was a business trip on which my boss wanted to get around by car. Otherwise, I have made do with trains/buses/taxis/feet and been quite happy with that.

On beaches and water; sorry, you will need to ask someone else. When I feel the need for these, I go to Bermuda :)

On day hikes in the mountains; Munich. Great base for day trips to places in the Alps. And, talk about visually attractive and walkable.

On Brussels/Paris/Amsterdam/etc; Yes, baby, yes! My favorite places in Europe are Brussels, Munich and Bath (yeah, I know, lots of UK folks will tell you they are not part of Europe). From Brussels you can make it to Paris, Amsterdam, Bruges, and Antwerp by train/bus quickly enough to make a day of it in those cities.

I love visiting Europe and think you will be hard pressed to make a mistake regardless of where you choose to go (unless, of course, either mountains or beaches are mandatory). Good luck with your trip and enjoy the experience.

Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels would be my pick.

Spending two weeks working your way from Amsterdam through Belgium (Brussels and Bruges) and then on to France (Paris and the countryside) is a GREAT idea! ^

Another possible two week itinerary: Munich-Salzburg-Vienna-Prague.

Either way you can't go wrong...

As a left field suggestion, consider doing the Hurtigruten.

Otherwise consider a Eurail pass and just have the freedom to go from place to place.

Alternatively plant yourself somewhere nice and use it as a base for day trips.

Possiblilities would be:
Bruges (gorgeous old town, good food, good chocolate)
Innsbruck (good food, lovely old town, mountains, and don't miss the Alpine Zoo)
Lübeck (near Baltic, lovely old town, excellent marzipan, very important in Hanseatic League so lots of history)
Zürich (lovely old town, food, chocolate, history, mountains, lake)
Aachen (old, seat of Charlemagne, so lots of history, good food, and good chocolates. Sits at "corner" between Germany, Holland and Belgium)

Vienna is also possible, but I'd suggest you avoid the big cities, from what you've written.

I hope that that gives you some different ideas!

Audrey

I would second these two options with possible variations.

I think if you enjoyed a place like Savannah I would definitely hit Bruges or Salzburg, especially in June.

Norway is the most expensive place I've been. Ordinary lunches were $15-20. The most expensive Chinese restaurant I've been to. Over $100 for dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

It is beautiful. I'd love to ride the ferry.

Switzerland is lovely and has great chocolate. NYTimes did a piece on Bern (yesterday) and mentioned my all time favorite chocolate emporium

River cruise Amsterdam to Budapest, 14 day Avalon. Easy pace. Lots of leisure. No issue meals, packing/unpacking, transportation, etc. Other Vendors to consider Vantage and Viking.

2 weeks will go quickly. I would consider an open jaw flight where I hit one area, buy a one way ticket on a low cost carrier to fly to another area, and then return from there. An example:
- Fly to Vienna
- Stay 3ish days, then train to Prague for another 3 days
- Fly to Brussels for a day or 2, hit Brugges then down to Paris for another 3-4 days
- Drag yourself back.

Another area worth considering is Italy, which hasn't yet been mentioned.

I'm envious already!