Help! London/Europe May 06--where to begin?

[AG2europe]

Hey everyone, I'm lost on where to begin and I'd really appreciate any advice or tips!

My boyfriend and I are trying to plan a trip to Europe for 2.5-3ish weeks in May after we get out of school. We have absolutely no idea on how to begin planning this trip. I have researched tours, such as Contiki, which seem like a pretty good deal, but I'm not sure it's exactly what we're looking for. I have family in England and Paris that we can stay with, but we'd like to do some independent traveling.

We wanted to begin in London, then to Stratford upon avon, and a few other places in England, then to Paris, the French Riviera, then finally Scotland and maybe Ireland. (not necessarily in this order)

If you have any advice on the best & most cost effective way to plan this.. how to travel (rail?), where to stay (hostels?).. or anything at all would be helpful.

Thanks! Amber & Geoff

[ivybell]

Lucky you with free places in the most expensive cities!

Travelwise you could take the chunnel from London to Paris, it's from the downtown in both places. www.eurostar.com

The other places could be done either with train or bus.
French rail website :www.sncf.com
Italian rail website: www.trenitalia.com
Netherland rail website: www.ns.nl
Buses in general: www.eurolines.com

Here is a list of hostel sites I made up. Most sites are similar, but some are better for one country than the other.

www.hostelz.com
www.hostels.com
www.hostelbookers.com (they have no booking fee, while most others do)
www.hostelworld.com
www.hosteltraveler.com
www.hostelsclub.com
The hostel page on this site and the one on www.lonelyplanet.com
The one on www.bootsnall.com and there may be one on
www.roughguides.com and www.letsgo.com, but as I'm rarely on them, I don't know for sure.

For where you are going, a eurail pass doesn't seem like a good idea, but you can compare point to point tickets versus a pass with the above sites.

If you just stayed to the places you listed you would likely have a comfortable 2.5-3 week trip.
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In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.
Robert Frost

[jabroni79]

I went on a three week trip similar to yours. If you just plan on going to London, Paris, the French Riviera, Amsterdam, and Rome, you might want to fly to Rome from Amsterdam or the Riviera. It might be cheaper than taking the train. Check out ryanair, easyJet and other discount airlines in Europe. Out of all the places, I would not spend more than 3 days in Amsterdam. It is enough time to do all the things you want to do there.

I would suggest getting Lonely Planet's Western Europe Travel Guide.

[jbarrow013]

I would really suggest you go on a Contiki. I went on one this summer and had a great time. Not only do you get to see the sights but you meet tons of cool people that you travel with. My friend and his girlfriend went on a seperate trip as well and they had a blast (some people might say a Contiki isn't for couples but it is). Hope you have a great trip reguardless...cheers!

Jess[/b]
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Jess