<p>Flying on Easyjet within Europe will probably be easiest and fastest if you want to see as much as of the continent as possible. Getting from Madrid to Rome on the train would take you over 24 hours, but if you fly, it’s only about two and a half hours.
Have fun! You’ll have a wonderful time no matter where you go. Europe has so much to offer!</p>
<p>If you like Beach and sites, I would definitely say you should go to Crete and Rhodes. You can fly to Crete for a four days and stay in Agios Nikolaos. A great beach town with beautiful scenery. From there you can visit some of the sites in Eastern Crete including my favorite beach in the world, Vai. You can then fly from Heraklion to Rhodes and spend four days in this great medieval walled city. Great beaches and sites. You can then fly back through Athens on your way home.</p>
<p>Thanks again mathmom. I’ll start a new thread or IM you if I have any more questions, as I don’t want to distract from this threat too much.</p>
<p>While I love the beach, I don’t want to spend my first trip to Europe sitting on the beach; I want to keep moving and see as much as I can.</p>
<p>I am hoping that we will spend a good bit of time in Italy; where, I am not sure. Paris is also on the list if we can work the flights out. Our goal is to please everyone; not an easy task!</p>
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<li><p>We’ve been visiting a bunch of European cities over the past few years, and the one everyone has liked best has been Barcelona. It’s really different from Madrid – historically, culturally, attitudinally, everything. So I wouldn’t cross that off the list just because it’s in Spain, unless your kids have already spent time there.</p></li>
<li><p>lkf725: My daughter spent December travelling on the cheap in Germany and Eastern Europe. No problems with hostility, except a little in Prague.</p></li>
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<p>The problem with Barcelona is both kids will have been there for a week or so. I realize they could do it again as there is plenty to see and do; I just think we would be better off going somewhere new.</p>
<p>That does not mean Barcelona is off the list totally!</p>
<p>
Then you might prefer my style of visiting Europe over some others. I don’t like to stay in one place for a very long time. If it’s your first visit and especially if it might be your only visit, I suggest considering seeing more of the highlights rather than spending a longer period of time in one spot. You’ll miss some sights this way and might miss out on some of the ‘local flavor’ but you’ll still see quite a bit. For example, rather than spending 5 days in Paris and 5 days in Rome, spend a couple of days in each and see some of the highlights. You won’t see everything but then, you wouldn’t see everything in 5 days either, but you’ll have some taste of the city/country/culture. IMO you’d get more out of your trip by visiting more locations (within reason) than spending a lot of time in just 2 or 3 places. Of course, you have to be reasonable about the distance you actually travel so you don’t spend too much time getting to your destination but central Europe is relatively small so it’s possible to see multiple countries easily. </p>
<p>I like to rent a car and head out - usually without hotel reservations other than on entry and exit of the trip. I have a rough idea of the path I plan to take but usually don’t know exactly where I’ll be on any night and I usually end up skipping some of the places I thought I’d go to and really enjoy seeing some other places I had no idea I’d go to. This can sometimes cost me some more due to not planning the hotel but I’ve saved money that way as well - especially by staying at some of B&Bs or pensions in smaller towns.</p>
<p>Everyone has their own idea of travel and vacation. I know people who’d be quite content and prefer to spend 2 or 3 weeks just in Paris or London but I’d go nuts with that amount of time in those locations and they’d probably go nuts being on the move as much as I do. </p>
<p>Check out a map and pay attention to the scales to come up with a reasonable plan that fits your travel style and trip goals and be reasonable about the time to spend in a particular location versus travel time. Don’t forget that you can zoom on the autobahns in Germany!</p>
<p>We saw Scotland with the no reservations and rented car. That works very well in the country when there’s one or two things to see each place you go and where you are unlikely to find no room at the inn. I just think it’s hard to go to a place like Paris or London and skip half the sites everyone sees. But I do like both kinds of vacations. I’d do the Scotland thing again in a heartbeat - only with more time for hiking and fewer castles.</p>
<p>If I let my husband loose on the autobahn, he may never return!! He loves to drive and drives fast, especially in his very high powered sports car. With my luck he will want to rent something as fast if not faster!!</p>
<p>If you have a driver in the family, then don’t bother with the autobahn, which is fast but kind of boring. You want southern France and northern Italy. That’s what those little red Italian sports cars were built for! Just think of all those James Bond movies where he’s bombing around the hills above Monte Carlo. Hope you’re comfortable with hairpin turns…</p>
<p>Maybe you should look at a few days in Madrid at the beginning and a couple of days in Paris at the end, with countryside and small cities in between. If I were making that trip I might drive from Madrid to Avignon (or take the train, if you can figure out how to do it - it looks complicated from the map). Charming town, incredible food, lots of amazing Roman aqueducts, medieval ruins, etc. in the vicinity (check out Les Baux on the internet - one of my favorite places on the planet). Then along the coast into Italy, inland to Florence, and the overnight TGV to Paris. You’ll want to check out driving times, as this may be more driving than you want to do, but you won’t be bored along the way. There are so many fabulous things to see and do along the way, not to mention all the wonderful French and Italian food to eat.</p>
<p>We not have part of the trip booked-the airlines!! My son will be in Barcelona for 5 days before heading to Madrid to spend time with his sister. He will stay in Madrid for 3 days, then both kids are planning to go to London for a 4-5 day weekend; although they may find a different city depending on travel prices. Back to Madrid for both kids while my daughter takes exams and finishes the semester for 4 days. Next, my husband and I arrive in Madrid where we will all spend 3 days before flying out to Rome. We then have 10 days before we fly home out of Milan. What exactly we are doing during those 10 days is still up in the air, but we are getting closer.</p>
<p>The family is suppose to decide what are must sees, what is a want to see if we have time, and what we can skip. Hopefully we can agree on most of what we want to do, of course we have no problem with splitting up during the day if necessary.</p>
<p>“Since 10-14 days isn’t a lot of time I would concentrate on having an intimate experience in a few places rather than getting the cook’s tour in a lot of places.”</p>
<p>I agree. To add to your Madrid stop, I suggest going to Barcelona and Paris. You’d have time to enjoy all 3 cities and to also get over the jet lag, culture shock and exhaustion that occurs with traveling so far.</p>