I hear it every year when co-workers or friends talk about the vacations they have planned. Two weeks in Europe, packed with Italy, Greece, and France. All the sights, moving locations every day or two. It sounds exhausting, like they have to pack everything in to make the trip “worth it”. I already know when they return, they are going to need a vacation from their vacation. And worse, they might not even like Italy if all they see is sights packed with tourists.
I’m here to ask the question about how long you need to visit Europe, and make an argument against cramming in all the sites in two weeks. You can go to Europe for less time. You can see less of the sights. And yes, your trip will still be worth it. It might even be better. This is an architect’s argument about why less is more – with travel.
Short Answer – How Long Do You Need in Europe?
You want the short answer for how long you need to visit Europe to make a trip from the United States worth it?
One week.
Now there are a lot of nuances here depending on where you are departing from, what your destination is, and what you want to see. I’ll get into that, plus some sample itineraries that I have actually done.
What Makes a Trip “Worth It” Anyway?
Ask yourself what making the long flight to Europe “worth it” means to you? If you feel like you need to see all of Europe in two weeks, you are never going to be able to do that. Decide if you want to feel immersed in a different culture, have memorable meals, see world-famous museums? Whatever you want to get out of your trip, focus on that. Sometimes just choosing one city or experience can make the entire trip worth it. Not every trip to Europe needs to be a “Grand Tour” or a sabbatical.
Time to Reach Europe from the East Coast vs. West Coast
I have a friend that lives on the East Coast that hadn’t been to Europe in over 10 years. She didn’t feel like she could take enough time off of work for it to be worth it. My argument to her was, how often do you fly to the West Coast? She takes a six-hour flight to the West Coast for a long weekend trip about once a year. A direct flight from Philadelphia to Paris is about seven and a half hours. It is only an hour and a half longer to reach Paris than it is for her to fly to Seattle, which she doesn’t seem to think requires a major commitment. So why is crossing an ocean so much more of a big deal that flying across the United States?
From the West Coast, the flights to Europe are longer. A direct flight from San Francisco to Paris is eleven and a half hours. Almost twice as long as it takes to fly to the East Coast. On the other hand, I used to fly across the country for a two-day work trip, and even now I will fly to the East Coast for a long weekend. If you take a few extra days, doesn’t that make going to Europe worth it? If a three-day trip is okay for a six-hour flight, isn’t a six-day trip worth an 11-hour flight? I think it is.
If you can fly across the US for a Girls Trip weekend, you can fly across the Atlantic for a week.
Connections Matter
Depending on where you flying from, needing to connect to different airports definitely adds time. If you are worried about flight times, choose a destination with more direct flights to reduce travel time. Examples could be larger cities like London, Paris, or Rome. I recommend staying in one place longer and taking day trips if you have limited time to make the most of your precious PTO days.
Other Logistics for Traveling to Europe
So why are we acting like going to Europe is that big of a deal? Yes, it is another country and there are some additional barriers and logistics to consider. You need a valid passport, foreign currency, a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, a SIM card for your phone… But once you’ve sorted these logistics once, it gets easier on future trips. The logistics are manageable. I have my favorite resources you can use for planning your trip.
How to Deal with Jet Lag
I understand jet lag is a factor, but there are ways to make this less of an issue. I am one of those people that does not sleep on planes. My strategy is that if I get a good night’s sleep for the two nights before I leave, I will be okay with one night of bad sleep. I won’t feel great, but I will be okay.
On my first day in Europe, I force myself to stay awake until an acceptable bedtime. I will want a nap, but I know if I do it will only make the jet lag worse. After one night of good sleep, I am so excited and energized to be in a new country that my jet lag seems to fade away.
In 2022, I arrived in London in the morning and forced myself to stay out until a decent bedtime. I felt so deliriously tired that I was afraid I was going to make a dumb mistake like walking into traffic that I didn’t feel safe. I had an early dinner and went back to my hotel. Instead of going to my room, I forced myself to sit at the bar, slowly nursing a glass of wine and looking up things to do in London and chatting with the bartender. I wanted to feel safe, but also get on London time. If you are worried about feeling too tired, have a backup evening plan where you will feel safe. It might be a hotel bar or restaurant close to your accommodation.
You don’t need to plan a lot your first day, just adjust to your new location and time zone. You can adjust in a day, and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running after a good night’s sleep.
Less is More When it Comes to Travel
Seriously, do less, go to less destinations. You might enjoy your trip more.
Visit Less Destinations in Europe
Now that we have removed the excuses of a long flight and adjusting to jet lag, let’s talk about your Europe itinerary. Every time you move locations you spend half a day traveling, packing and unpacking, and checking into a new location. Go to less places in Europe. With less travel time, you can spend more quality time in each location. By making the most of each location, it will make the destination feel more worth it because you will have more quality time there.
Also, Europe is dense. There are so many destinations that you can stay in and just take day trips from without having to pack up and move locations. Give yourself permission to skip countries. Make that an excuse that you must go back to Europe again.
Plan Less Activities Each Day
Another mistake I see people make (and I used to be guilty of this myself) is packing too many things into a day. Many people like to buy a city pass and hit up every museum to make the time feel worth it. I almost never buy these passes. I would rather chose one event each day and a neighborhood to explore. If you try to squeeze in too many museums or sites in one day, your brain will reach saturation and you won’t even enjoy or take in the experience anyway. By slowing down and doing less, it can actually make you enjoy a location even more.
Another argument for this, when you have less destinations to plan for, and less activities to squeeze in, this can lower the mental barrier to booking that trip.
Go to Europe More Often
Okay but sometimes more is more. If we start thinking of flying across an ocean as more accessible then you can travel more often and don’t need to put as much pressure on each trip abroad. If you can visit Paris for just one week, why not go once a year? The Louvre will still be there, so will the Seine. You can go back and see it next year. You do not need to squeeze everything in on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Just go more often.
Example Itineraries – Is One Week in Europe Enough?
If I haven’t already convinced you, here are some real itineraries I have done flying from San Francisco to Europe, without cashing in your entire PTO balance for the year. I made the actual itinerary one day less than the total time since you lose a day when flying.
One Week – Paris with a Day Trip to Champagne
In 2025, I had a friend that booked a flight to Paris from a Wednesday to Wednesday. Not the best use of maximizing PTO days with weekends, but she got a cheap flight so I matched her itinerary to join. We stayed in an Airbnb in the Marais district in Paris and had five full days to explore Paris and beyond. I can confirm, this felt worth it and not rushed because we only unpacked once.
Day 1 – Arrive in Paris. Walk around the Marais district. Dinner in the Marais.
Day 2 – Morning at the Louvre (book tickets ahead of time). Lunch walk in the Jardin du Tuileries. Afternoon walk to Rue Clare markets and picnic near the Eiffel Tower.
Day 3 – Morning visit to the Sacre Coeur, brunch in Montmartre, afternoon walk Canal St Martin, dinner in St. Germaine.
Day 4 – Day trip champagne tasting, bike tour of Versailles or Giverny. Dinner in the Marias. Note, I have actually done the champagne tasting tour linked and I loved it! I also did a bike tour of Versailles on a previous trip. I highly recommend both.
Day 5 – Brunch in Canal St Martin, go up the escalators at the Pompidou for the view, wander through the Latin Quarter and St. Germain, Sainte Chapelle Cathedral in the afternoon (book ahead of time).
Day 6 – Morning Notre Dame visit. We split up this day, my friend went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and I did a long walk to the Jardin des Plants, Rue Mouffetard Market, Jardin du Luxembourg, and then met up with her at the Eiffel Tower for a boat cruise on the Seine before a long walk along the Seine and dinner in Les Halles.
Day 7 – Fly Home
9 Days (one week of PTO) – Northern Italy including Venice, Verona, and Milan
I did this itinerary with a friend to catch the end of Carnivale in Venice in 2020 and continue to other locations in Northern Italy. Yes, we were accidentally in Northern Italy when Covid erupted, but that’s a story for another time. We left work on Friday afternoon to head to the airport and returned the following Sunday. For a total of 5 PTO days. The travel between each location was a short train ride, keeping the travel time minimal.
Days 1-3 – Venice. Plus a day trip to the islands Murano and Burano.
Days 4-6 – Verona
Days 7-9 – Milan
Two Weeks – Rome, Orvieto, and Florence – with a day trip for wine tasting
I spent two weeks between these three locations in 2018 at the end of a longer Europe trip. I’m also casually planning to return and doing this later this year with a little more emphasis on just getting to know Rome better. This example is what I would recommend for a first time in Italy. You will enjoy Italy more if you let yourself enjoy it instead of treating it as a marathon to see as much as possible.
Days 1-5 – Rome. Walk through the outdoor museum that is Rome and marvel at the architecture of my favorite building, the Pantheon, and more!
Days 6-8 – Orvieto. This is one of m favorite towns in Italy and I love taking a couple of days in a smaller town to decompress between cities filled with tourists.
Days 9-14 – Florence with a day trip for wine tasting in Tuscany.
More Time? Lucky You!
I’ve been fortunate enough to have a few extended trips to Europe (1-4 months each!) and it is incredible if you can make that happen. But the short trips are also valuable. If you are curious about my feelings on longer travel, I wrote about how a four month sabbatical in Europe changed my life.
Slow Down and Enjoy Europe More Often!
Europe doesn’t need to be a once‑in‑a‑lifetime, cram‑everything‑in experience to be worth it. A week is enough time to feel immersed, eat well, walk neighborhoods, and come home with memories. Waiting until you have two or three uninterrupted weeks only raises the bar so high that the trip never happens. Instead, go for less time, slow down, and give yourself permission to skip things. Europe will still be there next year—and the year after that. The real shift is realizing you don’t have to do it all at once. You can just go more often.
Leave a Reply