About us

First Europe Trip is for people planning their first trip to Europe, and especially for readers flying in from Asia and the Gulf: from Delhi and Mumbai, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Seoul, Hong Kong or Dubai. We write the guides we would want in our hands before a first long-haul trip: what the visa really asks for, which cities fit in ten days, how long the train actually takes, and what nobody tells you about Sunday opening hours.

Why fewer places, and more time

Europe looks small on a map. Paris to Rome is a short line, Switzerland fits between them, and Amsterdam seems just around the corner. So many first trips try to see seven or eight countries in two weeks, and spend a good part of them in stations, on motorways and in hotel lobbies with suitcases.

We think the better first trip is the slower one: two or three countries in ten days, four at most in two weeks, with the first day kept free for jet lag and the last one close to the airport you fly home from. You see less on paper and more in real life, and you leave with a reason to come back.

Rules first, then the fun part

For many of our readers, the trip starts months before the flight, with a Schengen visa appointment, a list of documents and a travel insurance certificate. Then come the new things at the border: fingerprints and a photo under the Entry/Exit System, and soon an ETIAS travel authorisation for visitors who do not need a visa. We explain these step by step, for different passports, and we update the guides when the rules change.

What you will find here

First time in… is where we start with a country or a city: what to see first, how many days you need and where to stay. Itineraries puts those places together into 7, 10 and 14-day routes with real train times. Visas & entry covers Schengen visas, the 90/180-day rule, EES and ETIAS, and the rules for the UK, Ireland, the Balkans and Türkiye. Getting around is about trains, rail passes, night trains, buses and ferries. Know before you go deals with cards and cash, phones and eSIMs, plugs, tipping, vegetarian and halal food, safety and everyday manners. When to go follows the seasons, from Christmas markets and spring tulips to summer heat and the first snow in the Alps, and News reports the changes that affect a first trip.

How a guide comes together

Most of our guides start from a question people ask before their first trip, the kind you find on travel forums at two in the morning. We read the answer on the official pages of the governments, embassies, rail companies and tourist boards concerned, write it down in plain English, and put the date of the last update at the top of the page. When a rule or a price changes, the guide changes with it.

If something you read here is out of date, or if there is a question we have not answered yet, write to us.