I am going to Europe with 6 of my friends for three weeks in August. If any of you have been to Europe i would appreciate advice as to places to see and how to get around. The cities i want to hit up are: London, Rome, Prague, Paris, and Amsterdam. If i have time i want to hit up: Stokholm, Vienna, Florence. I do not mind splitting up with people. I think we are compenent enough to meet back up if we split up. For instance, to go to Stockholm I would book a flight via Ryanair (or other intraeuro cheap airfare). Do you think i would have time to see the first mentioned countries in a three week period? What about the latter countries, would i have the time to see those? I want to try and spend about 3 days per city. Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!11


I am planning to arrive in London via American Airlines and I am buying a Youth Eurorail flexpass (do you think i need to buy a 10 day or 15 day one? It is good for a 2 month period, so the dates do not have to be consecutive, they are only "used" when you are on the train")

well being a European myself ;-) the most important thing I would suggest is to spend more time in less cities than the other way 'round... here in Europe we are always joking about the tourists who don't know anymore if what they have seen was in Paris, London or Barcelona or keep talking about "the Collosseum in Florence". I think if you spend at least 5 days in cities like London and Paris and around 3-4 in cities like Prague and Stockholm you'll end up having seen "more" in the same amount of time than the other way around.

That being said, from the cities you mentioned I would suggest you shouldn't miss in any case London, Paris and Rome (albeit the latter is awfully hot in August). Florence matches good with your travel plans to Rome, so don't miss it either. Stockholm and Vienna are nice but no must-have-seens. Haven't been to Prague and Amsterdam yet, so I can't tel much about it. Have you thought about going to Venice? This seems to be another city not to miss for me...

Hope I could help a little bit.

Sounds like you'll be spending more time traveling than seeing.

Either double or triple the time or cut the schedule in half.

Rome is awesome. You could spend lots of time there. Like others, spend more time, less places. You will be happier in the end.
The other advice is to make sure you go off the beaten path. See the locals side of life, not just the touristy places.
Also, if you have time, visit some smaller towns outside of the big places. Since you have a rail pass and a flexible schedule, just get off at a place that strikes your fancy. Gives you a new perspecitve on the people and places. Plus, adds a little adventure to your trip.

Since no one else has said it yet, welcome to flyertalk, UPOD. You may get more specific answers in the Europe forum (under "Travel & Dining: Destination >> The World"). And you'll also get more helpful advice the more refined your plan becomes and the narrower you can make the subject of your inquiries.

Personally, in a 3-week first time to Europe trip, I'd do Rome, Venice, the Alps, and Paris. But that's just my preference.

In understand you want to see as much as possible in the time you have, but you could always wait until you're in your 60s and take that 3-week all-expenses-paid package tour of LondonParisRomeFlorenceVenicePragueAmsterdamVienna StockholmMunichMadridBerlinMilanCopenhagenBarcelon aLucerneEdinburghSalzburgGenevaTheHagueBrusselsBud apestdidItouchallthebases.

In reality, the fact that you're making the trip now, while you're young, and the experience you'll have on the trip you take, not to mention the tricks you'll learn if you stick around here on flyertalk, will insure that you'll be back again and again, and ultimately have time to see all the places you want to see but don't have time for on your first trip.

Bon voyage!

If you cut that time down to two days each, you will have no problem seeing all 8 cities mentioned, and maybe have time for "muxt see's" like Venice, Cote d'Or, and so forth.

Thanks for the advice. I fly into London and i am wondering what is the best way to leave? Do i need to fly or take a ferry? Should i start my trip clockwise, traveling towards Amsterdam first, or go counterclockwise via Paris?

One more small piece of advice.

I've travelled a bit and the two memories of which I'm most fond are:

1) an early summer evening sitting on the Nelson Column (right next to one of the lions) at Trafalgar Square watching people for a few hours.

2) a May afternoon and evening, during which it poured rain off and on, sitting at an outdoor cafe at Piazza Navona right in front of Bernini's 4 Rivers sculpture again watching people for hours.

The point being that I've seen the sights, all the museums, and for some reason it's other things that I remember.

Agree with the doing less, seeing more thoughts.

But to answer the specific question, consider taking the Eurostar train to Paris, through the Channel Tunnel. Its the quickest way to Paris from London. If going to AMS, then fly. Look at both Easyjet out of LGW, but also look at BA out of London as well - they are in competition, so the fares can be competitive.

Yes, welcome to Flyertalk! Hope you've already picked up on the fact that this isn't exclusively an American forum and that the people who participate here are from all over (don't worry though, there are people who've been here for years who still don't seem to have grasped this concept ).

London, Paris and Amsterdam are quite easy to get from and to. However, extending this 'travel triangle' to both Prague and Rome will make things tricky - you might want to settle on one or the other. Also August is a very popular time for Holidays here - half of Spain, France and Italy will be taking August off and they're also keen to travel around Europe as well as their own countries, you'll be jostling with tourists everywhere!

Another airline who can provide cheap travel to Holland from the UK is this one: www.transavia.com, Rotterdam is pretty near Amsterdam. Do shop around though, sometimes it's the established airlines who can provide the cheapest prices. Have a great trip, and do post any further queries in the European forum.

a budget airline (like Ryanair *ducks*) really might be a much faster way to go if you want to see all of those cities. Spending all of those hours on the train, especially since you're going far south to Rome, will really wipe you out, plus it's more traveling than sightseeing.

personally I would stick to cities further north to start, and save Italy for another trip. I took a very similar trip (3 weeks for London, Glastonbury, then Interlaken/Gimmelwald in Switzerland, Berlin, and Paris) and had a blast. Italy needs at least a week, ideally two or three on it's own.

From London, the eurostar through the Channel tunnel will get to right to Paris in a few hours.

Also, I wasn't wild about Amsterdam. It's really just a college-town vibe, not a lot to do when compared to places like London and Paris. The party scene is good but not really worth more than 2 days. Just my .02

Also, if you're going to Paris--Versailles is so worth a day trip. it's beautiful!

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Although I agree with this in theory - trying to find enough cheap flights to hook up into an itinerary now for August will be a real challenge.

Thankfully rail travel in Europe is kind of a destination in itself - the real challenge for the OP will be to make their group seem approachable enough (7 foreigners can be pretty intimidating even when they're behaving politely) so that they get a chance to engage with and chat to the locals. Friendly banter with someone from another culture with a constantly changing backdrop of gorgeous scenery... Don't miss out by huddling into an impenetrable group.

Wow, why the rush to leave? You're travelling in August so I would think being in the UK would be GREAT place to be. London is wonderful, why leave so soon? Why not travel throughout the British Isles?

Whatever you do, spend time where you're going. I would concentrate on Northern Europe given that you'll be in Europe during the hottest time of the year.

To get out of London, I'd fly and start at a "corner" of sorts if travel by rail was to mostly be my cup of tea. In that case I can see Stockholm to Copenhagen to Hamburg and then into the rest of Europe on rail working rather well if hitting multiple countries/cities is of the primary interest.