Planning European Vacation-help please!

We did 2 weeks hitting up London, Paris, and Amsterdam. My advice: avoid airports when you can! We HATED flying into London-Heathrow. We were in the line for immigration for over an hour and a half. And it was hot...I've been told Gatwick is a bit less crazy. My aunt and uncle just did Germany (they flew into Munich I think), Austria, and a few other places. They advise taking a flight in and a flight home but doing a train to get country to country. We did the train from Paris to Amsterdam and it was well worth it!

We LOVED the Citizen M hotel in Amsterdam, literally across from the World Trade Center and train station. You could be downtown in 5-10 minutes using the tram. The hotel may be a little more expensive than people want to spend BUT the location was amazing. The train can have you at the airport in 7 minutes!

Minus the hotel in Amsterdam, we stayed in Air BnBs. It was the best choice we made, though make sure you are close to public transit or close to downtown! They do have Uber over there but if you are on a budget, your best bet is staying closer to where you want to explore. The grocery shops are great and very budget friendly, but bring your own grocery bags! They will charge you if you want bags (sometimes we had room to shove things in our backpacks). The great thing is that you should be able to do laundry so you can pack less clothes. Just be warned, they do NOT use dryers over there. Plan what day you do wash and tack on at least 24 hours for it to dry. If they have outdoor space, use it for laundry hanging!

Pack light but also bring an extra bag if you like to buy things. We did carry on only and it backfired...we had to buy another carry on sized suitcase to get things home (yes, that includes souvenirs from Disneyland Paris!).

Not everywhere takes US cards (or credit at all) so make sure you have local currency cash. We took $100 each in Euros and Pounds. Had to take out a little bit more Euros. Only ran into 2-3 places that took cash only. Also, warn your bank and credit card companies when and where you're going. If you use your card and they ask if you want them to charge it in US or local currency, say US. The exchange rate should be better.

There are a lot of tourist traps, a lot of which are an 'enhance experience' for a fee. We had the most fun just walking around, seeing landmarks and just going with the flow. We didn't spend money on many things b/c a lot of the stuff to do/see is free. Our friend spend the 30 pounds to go up in the London Eye. She said it wasn't worth it. I had fun walking along the Thames and watching it go 'round and seeing street performers instead. If anyone is ever in Paris, go to the Louvre! It was fantastic. It did end up being overwhelming towards the end so if you have time and want to see the most of it, go over 2 days. You can also eat up in the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing but at $100/pp, I think it could have been more food but this is coming from an American and we all know our portions are bigger! The crepes though, oh man. Find a street vendor and order a plain sugar one. Then go and get one with fruit and nutella. Oh, if you don't like Nutella, beware, they LOVE it over there.

I could go on and on about where we were but that won't help you too much! My best piece of advice is to research. Use Google flights to track price changes in the flights that you want to take. Start searching Air B n B to see where you might want to stay. Try to do a lot of walking and sightseeing, eat from street vendors, buy your own food when you can and cook to save but also know you could be out all day and just want to stop in a local restaurant (so basically, don't buy too much!). Stalk the flight from US to where you decide to go first. We bought ours on sale last January for an Aug flight. RT $465 pp Philly To Heathrow. We flew Delta but I think next time we'll book a foreign airline even if it's more expensive. I've heard the foreign airlines are a bit nicer and have a little more legroom than our airlines.
 
We did 2 weeks hitting up London, Paris, and Amsterdam. My advice: avoid airports when you can! We HATED flying into London-Heathrow. We were in the line for immigration for over an hour and a half.
That's one of the reasons why I like to land early in the morning. Our plane landed at Heathrow at 6:30 am and we were waiting for our town car by 7:00.
 


That's one of the reasons why I like to land early in the morning. Our plane landed at Heathrow at 6:30 am and we were waiting for our town car by 7:00.

Yeah we were suppose to land about 6:30-7 am but our flight was delayed (another reason we won't be flying Delta ever again). Instead we landed at 8 with hundreds of other people. It really sucked. Same thing going home-the earliest flight from Amsterdam to London had us landing at 8 am and we took off for home at 10. We had to ask security at immigration to bump us up so we could catch our flight. If we did it again, I'd do it differently, it's just those flights we got so cheap it made sense at the time. Now we know better. Others said the same as you though so I think it's just a matter of day and time (we landed on a Saturday which I know is popular). When we go back to London and fly in, I do want to try Gatwick to really see if it's better.
 
Yeah we were suppose to land about 6:30-7 am but our flight was delayed (another reason we won't be flying Delta ever again). Instead we landed at 8 with hundreds of other people. It really sucked. Same thing going home-the earliest flight from Amsterdam to London had us landing at 8 am and we took off for home at 10. We had to ask security at immigration to bump us up so we could catch our flight. If we did it again, I'd do it differently, it's just those flights we got so cheap it made sense at the time. Now we know better. Others said the same as you though so I think it's just a matter of day and time (we landed on a Saturday which I know is popular). When we go back to London and fly in, I do want to try Gatwick to really see if it's better.

Why did you go through immigration on your way home? At Heathrow, they have a 'connections' process - no need to go through immigration (though you do re-clear security). On my way home over Christmas, I had an almost four hour layover so was hoping to meet up with a friend for coffee (she lives near the airport), but took one look at the immigration line and gave up on that idea and did the normal connections route instead. Was in the lounge within about 30 minutes.

Coming back, I had a full day layover so was definitely entering London. We were the first plane to land and I was the first person in the non-EU line. My wait was snaking through the lanes and waiting for the officers to actually get to their desks!

I've now had my four entries into the UK and can apply for their "frequent visitor" program (not really what it is called, but blanking on the name), which would mean that I can use the e-passport lanes.
 
Why did you go through immigration on your way home? At Heathrow, they have a 'connections' process - no need to go through immigration (though you do re-clear security). On my way home over Christmas, I had an almost four hour layover so was hoping to meet up with a friend for coffee (she lives near the airport), but took one look at the immigration line and gave up on that idea and did the normal connections route instead. Was in the lounge within about 30 minutes.

Coming back, I had a full day layover so was definitely entering London. We were the first plane to land and I was the first person in the non-EU line. My wait was snaking through the lanes and waiting for the officers to actually get to their desks!

I've now had my four entries into the UK and can apply for their "frequent visitor" program (not really what it is called, but blanking on the name), which would mean that I can use the e-passport lanes.

It wasn't a 'true' connection. Our flight from Philly to London was direct round-trip (or was suppose to be until they changed it with a stop in JFK coming home). Even our checked bag never would have made it to the US since it had end destination of London and not Philly. We had planned to do carry on and use the connections process but but we bought too much! I even got rid of some clothes to save room and we still couldn't get in in 2 carry ons. My original plan was to fly into Heathrow from Amsterdam the night before our flight home but we wanted the extra time in Amsterdam. We won't do that again! We were at least smart enough to ask workers at Heathrow about our flight situation so we knew if we checked a bag, we couldn't go straight to the connections process but back through immigration just to grab our checked bag just to recheck it for the flight home and get to the new gate. It definitely was mostly our fault for not planning better but meh we lived and learned.

Sadly our flight in both times landed the same time as a bunch of other flights so the line was ridiculous. We tried to land earlier but there either wasn't an earlier flight or our early flight was delayed. Hence why we are going to try to fly into a different airport next time.

I will say flying directly out of Heathrow to Paris was great. The security line wasn't bad and we made it with minutes to spare...our gate wasn't even posted yet so I'm not too sure why we had to clear security by a certain time but whatever.
 


Not everywhere takes US cards (or credit at all) so make sure you have local currency cash. We took $100 each in Euros and Pounds. Had to take out a little bit more Euros. Only ran into 2-3 places that took cash only. Also, warn your bank and credit card companies when and where you're going. If you use your card and they ask if you want them to charge it in US or local currency, say US. The exchange rate should be better.

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I actually found quite the opposite last summer in London & Paris. If you ask the restaurant/store to convert currency to US$, it's to their benefit. If you ask them to charge your card in local currency, the credit card (Visa, MC, etc) determines the exchange rate which I found to be a very fair rate. Some waiters acted like they didn't know what they were doing and said, "Oops, I accidentally converted it to US$$!" grrr. Both times it was a crappy rate. They were bad enough that we started saying up front to charge in pounds or Euros.

Also, if you truly don't want to check a bag that's fine but both of our flights to Europe (2013 & 2017) 1 bag pp was included. This was on US Airways (now American but same rules apply) and Delta. Just saying, don't assume there will be baggage fees. :thumbsup2

OP, I've never been to the countries you're looking at so I can't help you there but know it's easy to get local currency in Europe through ATMs. We use Capital One 360 checking accounts to keep our travel $ separate from our regular home $ for bills. I thought just in case my card was stolen, I don't want our mortgage $ to be stolen. Also I split our travel funds between dh's Cap One checking and mine. In case either of us lost a card, we could still easily get cash.

I agree with the pp who said to stay in prime areas that you want to see. Time & money are wasted trying to get to touristy places, just trying to save a few bucks staying in more remote locations. You "pay" in one way or another. For us, time was more precious than money so staying across the river from Big Ben was so worth it. We loved the convenience of having so much within walking distance of our door.
 
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I actually found quite the opposite last summer in London & Paris. If you ask the restaurant/store to convert currency to US$, it's to their benefit. If you ask them to charge your card in local currency, the credit card (Visa, MC, etc) determines the exchange rate which I found to be a very fair rate. Some waiters acted like they didn't know what they were doing and said, "Oops, I accidentally converted it to US$$!" grrr. Both times it was a crappy rate. They were bad enough that we started saying up front to charge in pounds or Euros.

Also, if you truly don't want to check a bag that's fine but both of our flights to Europe (2013 & 2017) 1 bag pp was included. This was on US Airways (now American but same rules apply) and Delta. Just saying, don't assume there will be baggage fees. :thumbsup2

OP, I've never been to the countries you're looking at so I can't help you there but know it's easy to get local currency in Europe through ATMs. We use Capital One 360 checking accounts to keep our travel $ separate from our regular home $ for bills. I thought just in case my card was stolen, I don't want our mortgage $ to be stolen. Also I split our travel funds between dh's Cap One checking and mine. In case either of us lost a card, we could still easily get cash.

I agree with the pp who said to stay in prime areas that you want to see. Time & money are wasted trying to get to touristy places, just trying to save a few bucks staying in more remote locations. You "pay" in one way or another. For us, time was more precious than money so staying across the river from Big Ben was so worth it. We loved the convenience of having so much within walking distance of our door.

We flew Delta PHL to LHR and had a checked bag each free, that was fine. The problem was to country hop, it was just like it is here, a checked bag is extra, at least all the flights we found to go jump from London to Paris to Amsterdam and back to London. That's why I plan on just flying out there and back but using the rail system to country hop. My aunt and uncle did it in September and said it was much nicer that way. But yes, at least international flights to and from the US you should get one checked bag per person included in the fare. I should have pointed that out more clearly :)

Interesting about the rate...honestly we didn't use our cards until we were in DLP and at that point I don't think they asked, I think everything was charged as Euros. I liked using cash everywhere else as it kept us on our budget but good to know!
 
We flew Delta PHL to LHR and had a checked bag each free, that was fine. The problem was to country hop, it was just like it is here, a checked bag is extra, at least all the flights we found to go jump from London to Paris to Amsterdam and back to London. That's why I plan on just flying out there and back but using the rail system to country hop. My aunt and uncle did it in September and said it was much nicer that way. But yes, at least international flights to and from the US you should get one checked bag per person included in the fare. I should have pointed that out more clearly :)

Interesting about the rate...honestly we didn't use our cards until we were in DLP and at that point I don't think they asked, I think everything was charged as Euros. I liked using cash everywhere else as it kept us on our budget but good to know!

Oh yes, I see what you mean. We took Delta into LHR but flew home from Paris.
We found great one way fares to Orly on British Airways that was around $70 US and included a free bag and seat selection. I dont recall paying for those separately but perhaps there were cheaper fare buckets that were a la carte.
 
Looking at air BnB in a bunch of locations. The prices per night are SO good. Can that be right? I feel like something must be wrong. Under $100 a night in Paris? And there are a lot fo them. Not just one or two
 
Anyone Air BNB in Paris?

I’d say that is correct. A few years ago we got a 2-br right off Rue de Buci which is prime real estate in the 6th for less than $300/nt ($150/couple). And the apartment was incredibly detailed and well-appointed. I checked, but she may have pulled the listing. I really liked being in the 6th, close to just about everything... I would check a map and pick the arrondissement for you ...then go from there.
 
Anyone Air BNB in Paris?

We did back in September. Just make sure you are in a central area and you'll be fine. We felt like we were in the middle of nowhere (about 20 minute drive from Louvre...all b/c our friend wanted to save money...

Looking at air BnB in a bunch of locations. The prices per night are SO good. Can that be right? I feel like something must be wrong. Under $100 a night in Paris? And there are a lot fo them. Not just one or two

Yeah, just make sure you read all the details. Some ppl charge various fees, such as cleaning fee or tack on a fee for any # of guests over the first 2-3 people, and such so an $89/night stay would actually come out to $120+ depending. Our friend was a bit picky, she wanted a separate bedroom with a real bed-hard to find over in Europe on a tight budget. I even told her hubby and I would take a sofa bed, I had planned to be out the whole time and only need a spot to sleep but she wasn't up for it. We also noticed a lot of places charging under $100 and claim it was a 2 bedroom-yeah, over there they consider a bed in a common area and a regular bedroom a 2 bedroom place. Anyway, yes, under $100 in Paris is right. Just read and ask questions. Check maps. Ask the owner the best way(s) to get around. We found a few who said they were close to transit but weren't. We also thought we had a 1st floor apartment BUT didn't realize what they consider to be 1st floor-it was actually 2 flights up from a grocery store so there were 3 flights of steps. Some listings are also just for private bedrooms. Those are really cheap so if you aren't planning on needing a kitchen or living area and can deal with private or shared bath, that's a cheap option as well.
 
We are a mother/daughter so can easily do a one bedroom. My concerns are getting there from the airport and getting around Paris, so your point of transit is well taken. We're also considering flying in to one city and departing from another so we can explore more. I am up to figure it all out on our own, although that makes me a bit nervous that we will screw something up and be in a mess, lol instead of booking a "vacation" that is scheduled and planned by a travel company. The security of that is appealing on some level though
 
How about Airbnb in London? Anyone? Or Copenhagen?

We did London too. But again, we stayed far-ish from everything. Nice, large place, quiet street. Close to a college so the buses come like every 10-15 minutes which was nice. I think we only spent $80/night, split between the 3 of us. Closer to downtown it was about $120/night for anything with 2 separate bedrooms (which we were looking for). I think if it were just hubby and I, we would have been able to do a studio for about $100/night closer to everything.

I think it was 25-30 minutes by public transit to get anywhere but it was sooooo easy with an oyster card. Cost little too. I think I put $40 on each card and only spent $25, if that, b/c it caps off at $6-7/day (we stayed in the area for about 6 days). We used Uber to and from the airport, even though I wanted to just hop on the tube there...
 
How about Airbnb in London? Anyone? Or Copenhagen?

Yup...

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p3005576

We split with another couple so for under $200/night we had this spot. Crazy. The owner is Sir Clive Sinclair, otherwise known as the inventor of the pocket calculator. I loved this place, but will say that some might have an issue with noise just by the nature of its location. Apparently brits never go to sleep ... We had no issues with it.
 
Two years ago, I put together a 2 week Budapst-Vienna-Prague trip for my family. We flew into Budapest and out of Prague. We rented a car at the end of our stay in Budapest and drove everywhere. Dirving was so easy and we loved the freedom it gave us. I think we got some really good rates on hotels because we traveled at the end of April, right before the start of tourist season. Our hotel in Prague, The Grand Mark, was the best deal and it was a five star hotel.
 

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