Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Try kayak.com for airfare searches. Venere.com is good for searching European hotels. Of those you m
My husband and I decided to take our first trip to Europe this summer. It's overwhelming to plan by ourselves this first time! Because of our work schedules, we can only go for one week during the beginning of August. Since we live in a very hot, very touristy area, we would like to go somewhere cooler and less humid that Florida in August! And we would like to stick to a modest budget. Interests: I enjoy shopping, my husband enjoys walking/hiking, and we both prefer casual dining. Any suggestions about where we could go for such a short trip would be much appriciated!
Modest budget? Your modest may not be mine. We need to know an idea of your budget. Have you looked at airfares at all. For two will probably be in the neighborhood of $2500. So where does that put your budget.
I think as long as you choose 1 place you'll be fine. It's not hard to plan a first trip when it's a single cheap disney hotels destination. Just buy a plane ticket, cheap disney hotels make a hotel reservation, get a guidebook and off you go!
If you are on a budget, Switzerland and Scandinavia are pretty pricy. Since this is your first trip to Europe, I would definitely choose Paris. Paris is a beautiful city with lots to see and do and has lots of day trips into the nearby countryside. Paris can be warm in the summer but not nearly as hot as Italy, Spain and Greece. And Paris is very easy to get to.
You should check out some tours such as Trafalgar. We found them efficient - no schlepping cheap disney hotels bags, no looking for hotels and parking, most meals are included, hotels are usually very nice, they make sure you see everything, built in friends and professional guides to sites. Beware cheap disney hotels that the extra side trips can add expense to the trip.
A week long tour won't fit your criteria at all IMO - no time to hike and most shopping opportunities are where the tour guide gets a kickback. And just about by definition they only go to touristy areas.
By modest I mean budget! For the two us us I would like to keep it under 5 thousand if possible. We speak English and Spanish if that helps. I picture walking around visiting shops, eating outside, and maybe a museum or two. I would be happier walking to most places but we are willing to drive to a side trip time willing.
Doing some research (by research I mean looking at pictures) places like Paris, Vienna, cheap disney hotels and Prague interest me. i envision walking down an old street, with lots of history. Can these places be budget friendly? I would rather save money on accomodations to spend on shopping or side trips.
I admit I was shocked cheap disney hotels at the airline costs. Honestly, I figured about $1000 US. Where is the best place do purchase airfare, and it it more cost effective to book air and hotel together on a website like orbitz, or separately by myself?
I am having trouble finding flights for close to $1000 for MAY, so I know you are struggling with August. I plug all of my potential destinations into a Kayak fare alert. cheap disney hotels I also periodically check the websites of the airlines that fly out of my closest intl airport, as sometimes a sale will appear there and not make it onto the consolidator websites. For example, Austrian cheap disney hotels Air sometimes has decent fares to some of the places mentioned cheap disney hotels in this thread.
Once you figure out where you want to go you could look at doing a package on Orbitz, but to be honest I'm not sure you get such a savings that it's worth being locked into. You might want to pick the destination, get the best price on airfare you can (probably sooner rather than later), then spend some time researching and deciding how you want to spend your time and if you want to stay in the same hotel/city the whole time. Also, if you want to save on hotels and don't mind budget travel you might look at hostels (they're not just for young kids anymore and often have private room options).
Try kayak.com for airfare searches. Venere.com is good for searching European hotels. Of those you mentioned above, Prague cheap disney hotels is probably most budget friendly--though you can find good deals most places. Plan to picnic for meals...restaurants get expensive. A good guide book will give you a ton of practical info to help you start planning (I actually like the Rick Steves books for first time travelers).
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