European Vacation...what to do for 2 weeks?? Options

[Mueller]

Planning on going to Europe while we still have a little bit of money left before the wife starts her new job (100% commision based which scares the living $hit out of me...)

anyways.....

What would be the ideal way to see/do as much as possible in these two weeks?

A trip to the Porsche Factory is a must on my list....do I have to make reservations?

Am I asking too much to visit more than 2 or 3 countries while over there?

On the list for sure...England, Germany and Italy

[ThinAir]

I've made 3 trips to Europe so far - hoping to go back again next year. I've been to Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France. We've almost always had more than just 2 so we've driven. This has also worked well for us because we've wanted to go to small towns to visit places from our family history in Netherlands.

If I was going for 2 weeks, with just 2 of us, I'd get a train pass for the countries that I want to visit. I'd visit London and Paris on the way to Stuttgart. Even with 2 weeks, you'll be hard pressed to do much more and do any justice to any of it. I can't speak for London, but Paris is just made for walking. We stay at the Etap hotel out by Vincennes, then ride the metro in to the city center for the day. Everything you want to see is basically in the center of any European city.

Of course if you take the train, you miss the experience of driving in Europe. (I love driving in Europe.) Driving in big cities like Paris is crazy, not because of the traffic, but because you probably don't know where you are going. In addition, mass transit is so good and parking so difficult that you are nuts to drive in a big city.

A good compromise is to fly to London, take the train to Paris, then rent a car for the drive to Stuttgart. You get the convenience of watching the landscape go by where it makes sense (London to Paris), but also the convenience of a car which allows you to leave when you want instead of when the train leaves. (BTW, European trains are almost never late so don't figure you can slide into the station a couple of minutes late & still make your train.)

Mostly, go with an open mind and learn a little bit about the culture before you go so that you can not make a fool of yourself. I recommend reading Rick Steves' books so that you can learn how to not come across as a "stupid American tourist" that the locals refuse to talk to. Have fun!