Planning a Trip to Europe?

Europe rewards travellers who plan the shape of the trip before the details. The continent is compact enough that several countries in one trip is realistic, and connected enough that you rarely need to fly between them — which is exactly why it is easy to over-schedule.

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable months across most of the continent, with milder weather and thinner crowds than midsummer. July and August bring the heaviest tourism and the hottest weather in the south, and they are also when much of Europe takes its own holidays, so some businesses close while coastal towns fill up. Northern Europe has a much shorter comfortable window; the Mediterranean has a much longer one.

For most visitors from outside Europe the single biggest planning constraint is the Schengen area’s limit on how long you can stay: a set number of days across a rolling period, counted across all participating countries together rather than resetting at each border. Not every European country is in Schengen, and not every Schengen country is in the EU. If your trip crosses several borders, work the day count out early — it shapes the itinerary more than any individual booking does.

Rail is the quiet advantage here. Many city pairs are faster and simpler by train than by air once airport transfers and check-in are counted, and it puts you in the centre of both cities rather than on their outskirts.

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