Ask Lonely Planet: Plan to get most out of Europe

Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon. Photo / photolibrary.com

My family and I plan to travel around London, Italy, France and the Netherlands with a single-night stopover in Southeast Asia. Would you please recommend the flight routes? I prefer to see the four countries at a relaxed pace (I have somewhat limited mobility) though ensuring we'll cover everything we need to see. Can you also outline a 35-day European itinerary? Our 10-year old daughter is a bookworm and a big fan of English history.
- M. D

I'd suggest taking a flight from New Zealand to London via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Both are modern cities with great amenities for an overnight stopover. In Singapore there are cheap and comfortable hotel rooms in Changi Airport. Singapore Airlines even organises bus tours to sights around the city.

Taking 35 days in Europe equates to about a week in each country. Spend a couple of days in London (don't forget to visit the British Museum). Then hire a car and drive to historical towns such as Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and York.

Your next stop should be Amsterdam via Brussels on a Eurostar train. You can also visit historical towns in the Randstad region such as Delft and Leiden. Visit the Hague and Rotterdam if you have time.

Jump back on a train to Paris. A do-able itinerary in France would be to visit Normandy, Monet's garden at Giverny and Versailles. Then you should continue on to Italy. Working north to south, you can take your pick from Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence and end up in Rome.

* This is the letter of the week and earns a copy of Lonely Planet Discover Europe ($69.99).

Whistle-stop road trip

Leaving Austria by car we are travelling for 10 days through Hungary, Slovakia, Czechoslovakia back to Frankfurt. Please suggest an itinerary. In Budapest and Prague we need accessible accommodation where we can leave the car and sightsee on foot.
- G. Fraser

Move through Slovakia to Hungary, back up through Slovakia and into the Czech Republic before finishing up at Frankfurt. Assuming you are starting in Vienna, your first stop should be Bratislava, 40km away. Then make your way towards Budapest via Gyor (check out its medieval heart).

You really need four to five days to cover Budapest. From there you can make day trips along the Danube bend - Szentendre and Visegrad are popular stops. Here's where I suggest you let the car go.

If you want to drive into Frankfurt, you can then hire a car to drive across although a plane journey might be easier.

For accommodation, a few mid-range places offer car parking though you will probably have to pay for it.

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