In Europe there are often jokes about foreign tourists who try to see everything in one trip, with the punchline being something like, “It’s Tuesday this must be Belgium!” For Europeans the idea that you can do our continent in one two week trip is an alien concept. Each region, each city and each country will consider that it would take weeks or months to truly discover everything it has to offer, so condensing Europe into one two-week trip must be an impossible task.
And yet the urge is there, you have paid for your flights, which are the most expensive part of your trip, it would be a shame not to fit in as much as possible, right? It is the very premise of many groups tours. One city per day and in two weeks you will have covered the best of Europe. But opponents will tell you that you can’t experience Europe like that, that you will be too tired, it will be too rushed, and you won’t really experience anything. They say that spending two weeks in Tuscany will be far more rewarding.
These are 2 different types of traveller. One, the speed traveller, who has a list of things they want to see and don’t want to miss anything. The other who wants to feel Europe, to experience it like a local and bring back memories of a slower way of life. Knowing what type of traveller you are can dramatically improve how much you enjoy your trip.
The checklist traveller
Europe is full of monuments and museums that everyone tells you you “must see”. How can you go to Europe without seeing Big Ben, the Eiffel tower, The Colosseum and the Acropolis? They are monuments you know from film and TV, they are the photos everyone shows you from their European trip and you want the same photos. Can you see all of Europe in 2 weeks? No, but you can see a lot, if that is what you hope to get out of the trip.
There are advantages to this approach. If this is your first trip to Europe you perhaps don’t know what is going to pull at your heart strings, so you want to see it all and find out. You might be the sort of person who will feel true regret if they don’t get to see these historical monuments with their own eyes. Achieving a lifelong dream whilst travelling is very worthwhile.
This method of travel has its critics too. How can you really experience Paris if you only stay for a day? That fast travel doesn’t allow time for experiences. However, if your aim for your trip is to see the monuments or visit the museums you have dreamed of then the purpose of your trip is not to truly know Paris or Rome. Provided you understand and accept the limitations of fast travel in Europe you can embrace the experience.
One thing fast travel requires is careful planning. When you are maximising the number of European cities you can visit in 2 weeks every hour counts. The order of travel and the method of travel between cities needs to be optimised so that downtime is minimised. Hotels need to be as central as possible to ensure no time is wasted travelling to and from the accommodation, and mealtimes need to be planned in advance. A fast-paced tour, offered by the likes of Rick Steves, can help with that side of things, leaving you free to concentrate on the list of things to see, but it does mean you are tied into going to the places on the tour and not on your list.
The slow traveller
Maybe you aren’t the sort of person looking to tick places off a check list. You want to get to know a place. You want to be able to remember its sound and smells. You want to take the time to see what possibilities are open to you. To find the overlooked places, and feel like a local, at least for a little bit. You would rather spend a week in Rome, or in the Tuscan hillside, and don’t mind if you don’t see Venice on this trip.
You will certainly see a different side of Europe if you take your time. An hour spent at a pavement café watching the world go by is not an hour wasted, it is an hour lived. Wandering the streets and finding hidden alleyways, taking the time to walk away from the tourist areas to find more authentic food, and visiting the smaller, lesser known museums can be incredibly rewarding. It is a more relaxed way of travel, one where time isn’t the most important factor.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that you get to know a place intimately though. It takes 6 months to a year to really start to get to know somewhere, but walking down the same street multiple times is sure to fix a place more firmly in your memory. Not having to constantly watch the clock means that you will take more notice of what is around you. And you will no doubt return from your vacation more relaxed than if you had been rushing around trying to see everything.
How many days do you need in Europe?
You can certainly hit some high spots on a 2 week trip, with careful planning. Even a one week trip is worth it when chosen carefully. Whether you are a fast or a slow traveller, a week in Europe is better than no weeks in Europe. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the long journey and expensive airfares are only worth it if you spend several weeks, but I think that time and experiences should not be counted like that. I look at what you can realistically expect from different trip lengths in my article Find your When.
Does age make a difference to how you travel?
Like it or not, as we get older the fast pace of travel can become difficult. Jet lag takes a little longer to get over, and rest becomes essential rather than a nice to have. Fitting this into the planning, so that hotels are conveniently placed so you can return for a break, and timing train travel such that an afternoon journey is the rest you need to keep going, becomes vital as you get older. Night busses and sleeper trains sound like a time save, but if it means that you are too exhausted to enjoy your trip they are a false time economy.
Europe itinerary – too many cities and countries.
Sometime people are trying to do too much, from a practical point of view. There are only so many hours in the day and we are all beholden to opening times and travel times so any itinerary that doesn’t take them into account will be too much.
If you are asking the question “Am I trying to do too much?” or “Is my itinerary too packed?” Then the answer is probably, “yes”. The fact you are asking the question and you have doubts means the balance isn’t right, and slowing down would be a good move.
If, however, you are asking the question “Can I squeeze in one more city or country?”, then you are probably a fast traveller. Lean into it and embrace it, and accept the fact that this is not a relaxing trip and you will be exhausted, but happy, when you return home.
Is trying to do too much a mistake.
It is often said on social media and travel forums, that the biggest mistake a traveller can make in Europe is trying to do too much. I think the biggest mistake is not knowing what type of traveller you are.
Telling someone seeing 5 Italian cities in 7 days is the wrong way to travel is judging people without knowing why that are travelling or what they are trying to get out of their trip. There is no wrong way to travel, just different preferences. It is why copying the same trip someone else said was amazing can leave you wondering why you aren’t enjoying yourself. I have known people who do a whirlwind trip saying it was the best experience of their lives, and I have seen known who say they are glad they only went to one or two places.
Europe is no different from other destinations in this way, the reason why it becomes an issue in Europe is because there is so much to see, so much variety, so much history, in what seems on a map to be a small area. It gives a false sense as to how much time is needed to travel between destinations. Conversely it is also the reason why Europe is the best destination in the world, and why whatever way you travel you are sure to want to return.