Which five European countries would you recommend visiting during a 2 week vacation?

Sean Lee

In Europe, there’s unlimited permutations to do so.

Let’s say you max out the two weeks with three weekends getting 16 days. Spend one day each for flying and the total should count to 14 days. Here’s a few workable suggestions.

If this is your first time to Europe, there will be an urge to see as much as possible. It would do good to do the staple.

U.K. — France — Germany —Switzerland — Austria/Italy via only express trains to cut travelling time:

• Start in London with 3 days;
• take the Eurostar to Paris for 3 days;
• Take the TGV to Stuttgart for 2 days;
• Take the ICE to Zurich for 2 days;
• Take the Railjet to Vienna 3 days

Use a day buffer to stay an extra day at any of these cities and use it to visit a sixth country by crossing over to Slovakia which is a quick 2 hour bus ride from Vienna to Bratislava.

Alternatively, head to the fashion capital of Milan instead of Vienna:

You can also choose shorter express train connections in the Northwest:

U.K.— France — Belgium—Netherlands — Germany via only express trains to cut travelling time:

• Start in London with 3 days;
• take the Eurostar to Paris for 3 days;
• Take the Thalys to Brussels for 2 days;
• Take the Thalys to Amsterdam for 3 days;
• Take the ICE to Cologne 2 days

Use a day buffer to overstay one location.

Central Europe:

Italy — Switzerland — Germany — Austria — Czech Republic

• Start in Milan with 3 days;
• Take a train to Zurich for 2 days;
• Take another train to Munich for 3 days;
• Take a third train to Salzburg for 2 days;
• Take the final train to Prague 3 days

Use the day’s buffer to travel on slower trains

For travelers whose been to Europe before:

Northeast Europe:

Finland — Estonia — Latvia — Lithuania — Poland

• Start in Helsinki with 2 days;
• Take the ferry to Tallinn for 3 days;
• Take a bus ride to Riga for 2 days;
• Take another bus to Vilnius for 3 days;
• Take the train to Warsaw for 3 days

Use a day buffer to overstay one country.

The Balkans

Serbia — Bosnia and Hercegovina — Croatia — Montenegro — Albania

Spend 2 days each in Belgrade; Sarajevo; Mostar; Dubrovnik; Kotor; and Tirana each with the remaining time to travel from town to town. All of them are pretty amazing and are up and coming travel destinations for those who have been to much of Europe

Italian Rendezvous

Italy — Vatican City — San Marino — France - Monaco

Start in Rome for 3 days , visiting Vatican City which is the world’s smallest country within the city of Rome. Then take a bus ride to the second smallest country of San Marino for a day trip, heading to Florence, Pisa, Genoa all the way to Nice. Visit Monaco as a day trip.

Iberian Peninsula

Portugal — U.K. — Spain — Andorra — France

Start in Lisbon for 3 days , taking an overnight train to Seville for 2 days , followed by a bus to Gibraltar for a day trip, another bus to Granada for 2 days, then overnight train to Barcelona for 3 days. Take a bus ride to Andorra for a day trip, then another bus ride to Carcassonne for 2 days.

Minimal Moving About (cheating)

Italy — Vatican City — Switzerland — France — Germany

Simply start in Rome and swing to Vatican City, then head to the Rome Airport and fly to Basel which lies on the border of France, Germany, and Switzerland. It will be a pretty comfortable two weeks.