Ok, so this is going to be really long, so please bear with me. Also, if i posted this in the wrong section, I do apologize.

My fiance and I are going to be heading to Europe from April 27th to May 6th. It is her second time outside the country in her life (last year we went to the bahamas, not exactly a long flight from the east coast of Florida) and now this trip. I have been to Europe a few times, but when I was much younger (about 10 years ago, when I was 15).

We are taking Virgin Atlantic from MCO-LGW in PE (seat 79 A&C if anyone has any experience in those seats, please let me know, im worried about the recline as its the first row in front of the stairs).

She wants to see London, Paris, Venice, perhaps northern England and possibly Wales. She knows there is not really enough time for this so here is what we had planned.

April 27th- Land in London at 815 AM.
Travel to the hotel, spend 2 days in London

Morning on the 29th, take the Eurostar to Paris

Depart paris the night of the 30th for Venice

leave on the morning of the 2nd of May to go up to Wales or northern England.

Spend some time there, come back to London on the morning or afternoon of the 5th and then depart the morning of the 6th back to MCO counting the days until we return again.

So here are the questions:

1-Assuming all travel except the eurostar (which was a lot of fun when I took it last time) is done by air, does this seem reasonable to get a good taste of a lot of different culture and sites? (I know we wont see nearly everything)

2- is it better to arrange a guided tour of the places we dont speak the language such as Paris? I've heard a good guide can really enhance the experience and you don't have to wait on the lines for the tower, but they only go to the second level, and I would very much want to go back to the top. If we use a tour, who should we use? I've seen some "sketchy" sites that seem like ripoffs............if its too good to be true, etc. etc.

3-where should we stay in Paris and Venice to really get a good view of the city

4-Probably most importantly. Where is the best place to go to see some castles, my fiance has not stopped talking about going to see them and is very excited, where can I find the best ones to take her too?

5- Is it worth it to spend a day at versailles or should that wait for the next trip when we can devote more time to it? I was there briefly and it was absolutely beautiful ^

6-any other tips or hints would be greatly appreciated, we are both growing more and more excited by the day and even though I have been there before, going with her is going to make it like it is the first time, so I can't wait

Thank you for all the feedback.


P.S. The only thing we have booked so far is the Airfare, she wanted to keep it flexible for now, and she purchased about 15 travel books to look for things to do and set a tentative schedule, but she wants to keep it "loose" so the schedule is totally changable

My, you have a lot of questions here, I'll just hit a few of them.

First of all, 4 cities in 9 days is a little unrealistic - I would pick 2. How about Germany (for the castles) and Paris ('cause it's *Paris*)? There are lots of castle tours around Munich; you could do London - Paris - Munich - London (yes, I know that's more than 2, but you could limit time in London, which is pretty darn expensive anyway. Don't plan a whole lot for that first day you land in London - you won't have slept well on the way over, and the time change will leave you slightly bewildered.

In Paris (as in most major cities), there are hop on/hop off busses, no need to reserve in advance, your hotel can hook you up. Language should not be an issue in any of the major european cities (although I would, as a gesture of respect, learn to say "thank you" and "where's the restroom" in each language), but I would *strongly* recommend the "Culture Shock" books for insight into the cultural differences you'll come across.

For hotels in an unfamiliar city, assuming that you don't have hotel point to spend, I'd start with http://www.tripadvisor.com. There you will find lists of hotels in each city ranked by average guest rating. Take the reviews with a grain of salt, hotels have been know to "pepper" the site with favorable reviews, but if you read through a selection it should give you a general flavor of what each place is like.

Frankly, the best advice I can give you is to pack lightly - carry-on only if you can swing it. It gets you at the front of the Immigration and Customs lines, and makes train travel infinitely easier.

I think your travel plan is a little too aggressive. With it you will be constantly on the move and have very little time for site seeing and taking in the ambiance of Europe. My recommendation to you would be skip London, it is way too expensive right now and focus on Paris and Germany (Germany is where the really cool castles are, some of the most famous are around Munich as was mentioned by the previous poster). If you still need to fly into London, you could always priceline yourself a 4 star in Kensington for around 65 US a night, then head out the next day on one of the LCC or take the Eurostar. Alternatively, you could refund your PE tickets and book an open jaw between CDG and MUC.

-Not a big fan of guided tours, if you cut down your trip to two cities you will have plenty of time to wander around and get lost and discover more of what is really going on and less about the tourist front.

-If money is an issue, I would just priceline something in Paris, you should be able to get a 4 star (such as the Le Meridien Montparnasse or Novotel Les Halles) for 95-105 a night. For the most part, I have been pretty underwelmed with European hotels (even when staying at higher end properties) so I would save money here and operate on the assumption you will not be in your room at that much.

-If you are in Paris for any length of time you should head over to Versailles and check it out. If you only have a couple days to see Paris, though, you can safely skip it.