European cities for a stay of one or two weeks

[NW-Bound]

It has been like the above for decades, so nothing has changed. However, I used to see people allowed to bring on board slightly oversized rolling cases. And some airplanes have large enough bins that can accommodate them. I believe the twin-aisle planes usually do, besides they also have more bin room per passenger. And in smaller single-aisle planes, early people who board often hog the bins by putting their luggage in sideways, because theirs cannot fit otherwise. I remember wishing that the airline enforced the size of carry-ons.

 

[explanade]

Well more and more, you'll see them make you leave your carry on at the tarmac or at the jetway and you get them back when you deplane.

That's on top of any checked bags you may have.

 

[brett]

That's us but with slightly smaller rollers and only one almost empty backpack ( book, Ipad, and a light sweater). Next time we go to Thailand I suspect that I will take a smaller carry on bag vs the roller. Just don't need all the stuff and it costs so little to have it cleaned.

 

[sengsational]

Last time we flew, they allowed a rolling case that went into the overhead bin, and a smaller duffel or backpack that went under the seat.

That's the way I've traveled the last couple of trips (each 2 or 3 weeks). Same carry-on rules, but on full planes, they try to get roller's gate checked. All clothing and nothing else, went into the roller. The backpack had everything else (food, water bottle, tablet, camera, toiletries). That way, on a long flight, there's never a reason to dig into the roller, so gate check is no problem. And if you're looking for something, it's GOT to be in the backpack, or it's gone.

 

[NW-Bound]

As mentioned, we made quite a few off-season trips to Europe. So, we had to bring warm clothes, but we wore them when boarding so the heavy overcoats did not have to be packed. Plus, my overcoat had all kinds of pockets to put "stuff". I did not have a cargo pant, else would be able to carry even more.

 

[MBAustin]

When are you most likely to get dry, sunny weather in Scotland?

Never been and that's on the bucket list.

I was going to say "never" but apparently May, June, and September are your best bets:

Weather in Scotland - Lonely Planet

We visited Scotland twice, once in July and once in June, and it rained some both times. Most often it was a light to moderate drizzle, and with a good rain jacket it didn't keep us from doing anything we wanted to. So just go - beautiful scenery, interesting towns, and lovely people.

 

[HFWR]

Having never been anywhere in Europe, it's always been on my bucket list to make at least on trip to "somewhere". But, given that I'm not really a fan of cities, spending the time, money, and effort to deal with large crowds, language barriers, etc., I wonder if I'd rather just go hike in the Alps or hang near the coast of Italy, and skip the lines and crowds and expense to see really old stuff...

I have about enough AA miles to make one European trip, or, I could make 5-6 trips within the USA.

Now get off my lawn!

 

[pixelville]

Pretty much any city in Europe. Really. But then the replies on the thread say that!

My personal favorites

1. London. You can very easily spend 2 weeks in city. And numerous awesome day trips for which buy a regional train pass.

2. Stitch an itinerary with Fly into Berlin, 5-7 days in Berlin, 2 hr train ride to Dresden, 2-3 days in Dresden/Leipzig, 2 hr train ride to Prague, 6-7 days in Prague, Fly out of Prague. Or in reverse. Plenty of interesting stuff in each of these cities and decent day-trip options. Or you can do Prague & Vienna. Try Pushkin apartment-hotel in Prague. Great location, size of room/flats, pricing.
Apartments Prague Pushkin - Apartments in Prague, cheap accommodation in Prague

3. Nice, France with day trips to along the Med coast and other parts of Provence. Although you are better off renting a car for part of the trip.

4. Any place in Italy - Sienna/Tuscany (better with car), Cinque Terre (Monterosso is a good base), Naples/Amalfi coast

 

[pixelville]

If you have a choice and want to avoid the summer,
Late April/May is nice for Europe.
By October the days get short, so the number of sight-seeing hours become limited, definitely a concern if you are trying to pack a lot into your days!
Mid-May has 15.5 hours of daylight in London
Mid-Sept has 12.5 hours of daylight
Mid-Oct has 10.5 hours of daylight

I use Sunrise and sunset times in London, May 2015
to get daylight hours in any city and month/day for my travel planning

 

[explanade]

Me too.

I'm looking at a trip to Norway and the amount of daylight there is ridiculous. Of course, it's not as sunny as more southern locations.

 

[NW-Bound]

We were in Czech Rep. once in late November, and it was pitch black a bit past 4 PM. We went to Kutna Hora for a day trip. We came from Prague by bus, and planned to return by train. We spent some time wandering in the rainy dark night in a strange town, looking for the train station to get back to Prague. The streets were empty. I was a bit afraid of getting mugged, but of course nothing happened.

 

[deserat]

There's a series of books that are called Day Trips - one is based in France, the other in Germany. You essentially stay in one large town and then use the public transportation or rent a car to go to different regions cities in the country. I used these when I lived in Europe - great itineraries.

You need to figure out what you like and then base it on that. I see that not much of eastern Europe was mentioned - we reall like Budapest - we love Croatia, Greece (we took a ferry from Athens to Santorini and Naxos for about a week or so); we went to Calabria and Sicily; we went to Mallorca and hiked....lots of options.

Just need to do the research and ask (like you have here) -then when you get there ask the hotel, the locals, the Irish pub.....lots of places we've found out about have been due to the locals. Also, watch the Rick Steves shows or books or forums for more info....also lonely planet, etc.....