Destinations
Where should you actually go?
Not a list of everywhere. A small number of places I know well enough to give you a straight answer about: how long each one needs, what combines, and what to leave for next time. Start with the country, or go straight to the city.
Italy
The country most people try to see all of in ten days; and the one that rewards you most for not doing that.
Ten to fourteen days is the sweet spot for a first trip to Italy
France
Everyone plans Paris. The trips people talk about afterwards are the ones that left the city for a few days.
Ten days lets you do Paris properly and add one region
England
The easiest country in Europe to travel badly, because everything looks close on the map.
A week covers London and one region
Scotland
Small on the map, slow on the road, and far better when you stop trying to see all of it.
Seven days covers Edinburgh and one Highland region properly
Rome
Three thousand years stacked on top of each other, and most of it is free to walk past.
Italy · 3–4 nights
Florence
Small enough to cross on foot, dense enough to need a plan, and the best base in Italy.
Italy · 3–4 nights
Venice
Extraordinary, genuinely unlike anywhere else, and much smaller than people expect.
Italy · 2 nights
Tuscany
The part of Italy where doing less is the entire point, and the hardest thing to plan for.
Italy · 3–5 nights
Paris
The city that genuinely lives up to how much has been written about it.
France · 4–5 nights
London
Deep enough for a week, and most people give it two days.
England · 4–5 nights
Edinburgh
One of Europe's great walking cities, and the easiest place in Britain to arrive at the wrong time of year.
Scotland · 3 nights
The Cotswolds
Honey-colored stone and green lanes, ninety minutes and a world away from London.
England · 3–4 nights
Guides in progress
I plan these too; the written guides just aren’t finished. Ask me about any of them and you’ll get the answer in person, which is better anyway.
- Portugal; Lisbon, Porto, and the Douro
- Greece; Athens and the islands worth the ferry
- Switzerland; The rail routes that are the trip
- Ireland; The west coast, at the right pace
Free guide
Planning Europe? Start here.
A practical guide to choosing where to go, how long to stay, how many places to include, and the planning mistakes that turn beautiful trips into exhausting ones.
- How many destinations actually fit in one trip (and the maths behind it)
- A realistic minimum-nights guide for the cities people most want to combine
- The five decisions to make before you book anything
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Still deciding where to go?
That's the most common place to start, and the easiest thing to help with. Tell me roughly what you're picturing.
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