I want to take my wife on a trip to Europe. I, however, have next to no experience planning trips, especially of this magnitude. There are some trips on Groupon that seem pretty good that come with airfare, rental car and a place to stay. Anyone thats taken trips overseas before that could offer some help would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep the price in the $2,000-$2,500 range. I'd also like to go to Italy or Greece preferrably.

12/22/2015 11:23:40 AM

Dumb question, but I assume that price range is excluding plane tickets?

You might want to look at nicer hostels. You can get private rooms in a lot of hostels. Overnight accommodations are going to be your biggest expense. If you can get that on the cheap, it will free up a lot of your budget to do the fun stuff. And regardless, you'll be in Europe, you should give two shits about your hotel (as long as its safe and clean).

12/22/2015 11:52:03 AM

I went to greece recently although I didnt plan the trip so I cant be of a ton of help. I too am assuming thats without airfare because we flew cheap and for the two of us I am pretty sure it was close to 2000 maybe a tad cheaper.

12/22/2015 12:32:27 PM

theres a groupon right now for 7 days/5 nights in Tuscany for $999 a person that includes airfare, hotel and rental car. It would prolly end up being a lil more expensive as I would prefer to fly out of Charlotte than New York, but that seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

12/22/2015 12:36:45 PM

https://www.groupon.com/deals/ga-great-value-vacations-italy-13

12/22/2015 1:02:27 PM

Yeah, that one. It's even cheaper on travel zoo and travel zoo gives more information about it. Travel zoo has it for ~750/person with air, hotel and car. I guess in just afraid of getting screwed over and I really don't want that to happen with this kinda money. It's why I was asking for help/advice

12/22/2015 1:57:35 PM

I too am curious about these European trips offered on groupon. I've been considering one, but have never talked to anybody who's purchased a trip like this on groupon.

12/22/2015 2:16:50 PM

my personal opinion is don't go to Europe without being able to stay there at least two weeks. with the price of the flights, jet lag, etc. it's just not worth it. you'll barely get your feet wet and then you'll have to turn around and come home.

a cruise is a good way to see a lot of destinations and have more of a guided experience. you don't have to worry about carrying, packing, and unpacking bags the entire time. the draw back is that you don't get to experience the nightlife of the countries you visit, which to me is the best part, but if you're not a drinker it probably wouldn't matter.

I've also gone to Europe only booking major flights and doing everything else on the fly. the "name your own price" priceline app was great as my friends and I could lowball the hotels until we found their range and then try again on a different credit card and book it. Got some $270/night rooms for around $60 a few times. You'll also find that once you're there you'll discover things you want to do but can't since you're locked into a tight schedule. It's nice to just be able to chill in one spot longer if you find it's something you enjoy, or to ditch it early and move on to the next thing.

be careful in Southern Europe (Greece/Spain/Italy, etc.) in my experience there were a lot more scammers and things like that in those areas than in Western Europe. not like you'd be in danger, just be a little more aware.

12/22/2015 2:24:17 PM

jet lag is a few hours, just immediately adapt to sleeping and eating in the new time zone and its a non-issue. When I have meetings in Europe I always plan it so the meeting is Monday or Friday so work pays for a weekend vacation and I'm able to explore with just 2 or 3 days free. Going for 7-10 days isn't enough to see Europe, but if you have a specific city or two it's plenty of time for a worthwhile vacation especially if that's the only time/budget you can afford.

12/22/2015 2:29:38 PM

I did a London - Paris - Berlin trip over 11 days and I was exhausted at the end of it. I had friends along the way or did airbnb. I bet my gf and I sent $1000 on top of travel which came to around $1800 total I think.

I had a blast. Plan to visit friends in London again soon. Plane tickets are like $650 round trip on Norwegian air.

12/22/2015 5:37:53 PM

A week in Europe is definitely better than not going at all. Sure 2-3 weeks is a lot better since you won't feel as rushed, but honestly, it's cheaper than ever to go to Europe these days, and once you've been over there, it's not as big of a deal, and you'll wind up going back and knowing the ins/outs a lot better.

12/22/2015 5:41:05 PM

It'll be way better than Wally World

12/22/2015 6:36:16 PM

Best of luck planning your trip. Hope you are able to work out a trip you enjoy into a budget you are both comfortable with. We are planning a Europe trip also. Well, we enlisted a travel agent to do all the planning and we just adjusted an itinerary she came up with to what we wanted exactly. In the end it will be a 13 night trip hitting London, Paris, Barcelona, and Rome.

12/23/2015 10:13:37 AM

^ how many nights in each city?

12/23/2015 2:08:34 PM

I used airline mile and hotel points to keep the cost down.
Even if you don't want to go that length, the travel blogs regularly post mistake fares/good deals e.g.
$482 DC to Dublin in Spring, $516 New York to London & Iceland, $398 DC to Lima

12/23/2015 9:45:55 PM

Dont rent a car. You cant see as much if you are driving and everything is well connected by train or bus or shuttle.

12/24/2015 7:31:25 PM

Skip Greece and go to Turkey, best travel decision I ever made. Rented a car and drove around for 3 weeks with some friends and had an incredible time.

12/24/2015 9:34:24 PM

the tendency as Americans (especially if this is your first trip) is to see too many places in a short span of time. If you're OK with fast paced travel you have my blessing. You lose roughly a 1/2 day every time you change countries. It seemed like a good idea to see all these places until you're staring at the backs of people's heads at airports and train stations. I ignored this most sacred of travel advice, Griswalded all over Europe, and almost had my wife rip off my head. Choose 2 places and use each as a base for a daytrip if you must.

also europeandestinations.com is awesome and combines airfare and hotels with lots of customization

1/9/2016 9:24:33 PM

We did two countries in a week mainly b/c the stopover was free, plus that way I was jetlagged prior to our primary destination.

1/10/2016 3:27:43 AM

it certainly doesn't take a half day to go from city to city within a country like italy unless you're talking islands. high speed trains allow you to go from city to city in no more than a few hours. if you do greece, you will be much less mobile and need to narrow the number of places you will visit.

1/10/2016 3:19:09 PM

We did Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia last year. What kind of vacation are you looking for? Relaxing or partying?

I would say Rome is cool but if you are trying to party then it is def. not the best place. Obviously if you like history and good food Rome is awesome. I would also recommend you check out the Italian countryside. Rome is just a big city with cool historical things but not much more.

I would absolutely recommend Croatia to anyone, regardless of what kind of experience you want (partying or relaxing, it offers both BTW). It is a beautiful country, relatively cheap, and the Adriatic is absolutely beautiful. You could also do cool little side trips to Bosnia, which was also awesome. If you want any tips/advice I would be happy to help.

Just a little glimpse of our views throughout Croatia:

1/11/2016 9:57:57 AM

Quote :

"Dont rent a car. You cant see as much if you are driving and everything is well connected by train or bus or shuttle."

This isn't universally true. Southern Spain/Andalucia was super easy to get around by car and I was able to cover way, way more by just doing my own thing than relying on a train or bus. Same deal in Tuscany. HSR is definitely a nice way to get from large city to city, but if you're focused on a particular region at a time, renting a car is worth the expense in exchange for flexibility imo. I definitely wouldn't bother renting a car in major city though.

1/11/2016 1:23:27 PM

Airbnb can be your friend. I don't know how it is in Italy or Greece, but in India and Vietnam both we found really nice places that cost less than hotels and came with more stuff -- if nothing else, you're staying with somebody who speaks English and is used to having tourists, so they can provide a lot of helpful tips. They also might cook for you; if not, they'll most likely have a kitchen you can use so you don't have to go to a restaurant for every. Single. Meal. I know that the food is part of the draw but sometimes you just need to quiet your stomach and don't want to spend $europe.

1/14/2016 3:01:59 PM