Anyone in Europe or who has travelled to europe: I need yer advice

[Monk]

Send them to Italy.  Base them in Tuscany.  Rome, Florence and Pisa are all nearby.  Weather is nice and people are great, chow is outstanding.

[OIO]

only capri I know has her own website and she's very cute

[spitfiremkv]

Send them to balmy Albania. That way, you know they'll never dare to ask you for anything!

[Replicant]

Well, my favourite city is Paris, it truly is incredibly beautiful!  So I'd say send them to Paris for a week which should be enough time to see all the major attractions and the main galleries/museums.

I haven't been to Rome but I've been told many times that it's even more beautiful than Paris.  Therefore send them there for the second week!  (I'm going to Italy next month but sadly not to Rome! )

If you do use the Eurorail then I'm not sure what the routes would be from Paris to Italy.  I do know that where I live in Münich there are international train services to Paris, Salzburg, Vienna, Venice and Rome as well as the other major international cities.

[Saintaw]

I am not fond of Paris, so I won't speak for it. If your parents are into "culture tourism", it's a must see... as is Rome. If you wait another couple of months, the weather should be bareable(sp?) up north (Amsterdam, Bruges, Antwerp...) ... those are also "must see culture spots". Keep in mind that there is a lot of walking involved (I don't know the age of your parents).

[Replicant]

I always preferred Utrecht to Amsterdam!

[Seeker]

Holland is your best bet.

Amsterdam is amazingly beautifull; and has more than enough theatres, cinemas and museums for any 12 day stay; plus the whole country is small enough (and public transport good enough) that they'll be able to get some meningfull site seeing in in so short a day. (Northern Holland is a kalidiascope of colour in the spring due to the tulips; southern Holland is well forested and just waking up to spring).

Another bonus is that the Dutch are probably the best linguists of Europe (together with Scandanavia); so English will be no problem; and there'll be a surprising amount of Spanish speakers too.

[Shuckins]

Spend the entire two week period in the area between Mannheim, Germany and Rome,  with the major portion of your time in the Alps.

Lucerne...SIGH!!

[Thrax]

There is so much variety in Europe, it's hard to give an answer without knowing a little more about them?

What languages do they speak other than English?

What sort of things do they like doing - outdoor / countryside stuff, museums, theature, restraunts, historical sites, cycling?

Are they active - i.e can walk about with ease - or do they need to get taxis from A to B? This will also influence the route - trains / ferries are more 'fun' but I wouldn't recomend this for someone who may have trouble walking up some stairs.

Is weather important? Even in the height of summer, the climate in the north of Europe - UK, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia etc - is 'changable' to say the least

Give us a little more to chew on and I'm sure us Euroweanies can come up with some good ideas

[storch]

the south of france is cool but i would shy away from paris.  imho the best place to start is in madrid and work your way south to barcelona then follow the coast through france into italy. naples is a must see. especially sorrento and the blue grotto.  you will be fleeced in classic italian style but it is worth the experience.  in the north the best place to go in france is brussels which if i'm not mistaken is the capital of france.  i would stay away from england it's pretty much terra incognita to us romance language speakers and lovers of the culinary arts.  the food bites back, the beer comes straight from the toilets into taps and i hear tell there be monsters especially if manchester loses.  beware of people in red jerseys with white numbers especially if they are wearing #7.

[OIO]

Well they speak spanish since its native language and english is not up to conversational level but they can make themselves be understood.

I was trying to send them to the old 'glamour' places you know? They've never travelled and I think they'd enjoy more being able to go to the places they hear so much about... and in my country it was a sort of 'dream' for people to go to paris or some romantic italian city in the 1950's-1980's way of thinking. So I guess my mom will probably enjoy it the most. And my dad is the 'we're not lost i'm exploring' kinda guy and he loves to walk and find new places by himself.. so I think Venice sounds ideal for both and Paris would be the 'grand finale' before coming back.

I thought of sending them to Spain but... spain is like Colombia in many ways so there wouldnt be the 'wow' factor in every day of their stay.

So I guess ive decided venice/paris .. and if they want to train to Rome and see the sights they can do it .


Now the big question: WHAT time of year would be best to travel? Aka no bad weather, no heat waves (lol)?

[Thrax]

Last question - how long have they got over here? A week? 2 weeks? A month?

Weather wise, it's a bit of a two edged sword. The time of bad heatwaves in southern europe is July and August, but that's also the best time to visit northern Europe.

Also, do they have to fly  in/out of the same place, or could they, say, fly into London and fly home from, say, Rome (just an example, not sugesting they do that)

[OIO]

2 weeks is what im planning.. its their vacation from work.

They would be flying in to venice, spend a week there, then train to paris, spend the last week there and fly out of paris to florida (home).

So i think this is all 'southern' europe.

What time of the year in paris/venice has no rainy days or heatwaves and the place is blooming (no snow)?

[lada]

Send them to Swiss ... its lovely country.

[Ouaibe]

Venise/Florence/Paris are great choices, you can't go wrong with them.

To Storch :

in the north the best place to go in france is brussels which if i'm not mistaken is the capital of france.

It will please Saintaw
Brussel is the belgium capital, Paris the french capital.