Need advice planning my European adventure?

I'm finally doing it! Taking a month-long trip to Europe. I would like to buy a round trip ticket from Los Angeles, California into either London or Paris and from there get take the Eurorail into other countries. I must see Paris, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. Aside from that anything else would be bonus. I need advise on whether it's better to fly into England and go accross to France, or just fly into France, plus any other travel advice you may have for me. This is my first time going and I have a limited budget but luckily have friends in Spain and Switzerland where I can stay for free.Need advice planning my European adventure?
I would keep it to these places. While you hear that Europe is compact and it doens't take long to get around there are quite a few places to see and you can spend a day literally travelling ( as I did in Italy travelling from Venice via Florence and Sienna to Montepulciano ( and only got to look around Sienna).



There are several ways to get from England to France..plane can be cheap try www.skyscanner.net (really good for flights in europe)if you go at the right time and its an hour by plane ( thats not including waiting times at airports etc), there is bus ( www.eurolines com), train ( Eurostar is apparently quick and nice but I don't think it will be cheapish) or ferry ( with bus or train). AS you have limited time sometimes taking the quick option might be better.



Switzerland I have heard is very expensive. I was working in the UK and still could not bring myself to go there ( even though I REALLY wanted to as I have Swiss heritage!), but having accommodation will help.



Paris is wonderful....although bits a dirty, there is lots to see and do. I had 5 days and still had things to see. Are you going with hostels in other places??? there are some good websites like www.hostels.com, www.hostelworld.com, www.hostelbookers.com or www.lonelyplanet.com. It will give you hotels as well but it gives you an idea of costs too! Hotels will generally give you breakfast as well which can help with costs if you eat big!



I had nearly 2 weeks travelling around parts of Italy and I can recommend verona, venice (small!), bologna, rome, florence, sienna.

Florence is close to Pisa and a wonderful town called Lucca.

I did a day tour to Pompeii from Rome which was great. I did not like the look of Naples as a place to visit to be honest!

My advice would be see less places but better as you will not regret seeing them and you remember things better as well. Spain is quite a big country and I am not sure how much you intend to see or stay around the area where your friends are.

I guess Switzerland is not huge but still if you are staying with friends you will want to stay several days.

Figure out what kinds of things you want to do as well.
well you could fly into london and see there first then you got a choice of the eurostar train direct to paris

http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/index.js鈥?/a>

or there is a european coach network offered by a company called EuroLine , they also do regular london - paris

http://www.eurolines.co.uk/Destinations/鈥?/a>

and again you can go all over europe by either method . there are pros and cons , travel by coach may be cheaper but will take longer . have a great tripNeed advice planning my European adventure?
I wouldn't miss London if it's your first trip to Europe.



Given that you only have a month, you will probably have a full itinerary with just London, Paris, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. Don't try to see too many places - you will enjoy your trip a lot more and get a lot more out of it if you have enough time to actually appreciate the places you are visiting - as opposed to rushing through each place to see 1-2 sights and then leaving, and spending a large fraction of your time on trains and in train stations.



You will want to see at least Rome and Venice in Italy. Florence is incredible if you like art, disappointing if you don't. I thought Pisa was lame, but many people feel they have to see it. Siena is much more interesting than Pisa.



In Spain, Barcelona is a must. I thought Madrid was overrated. If you have time to go deeper into Spain, see Granada and Seville. In Switzerland, don't miss Lucerne or the Jungfraujoch, and go to Interlaken if you want to do adventure sports (bungee, rock climbing, ice climbing, whitewater rafting, etc.).