The best way to plan a trip to Europe is to resist seeing everything. Choose two or three cities that sit close together, give each at least three days, let fast trains carry you between them, and build the whole thing in one place so it grows as details firm up. Ambition is the enemy here; a slower trip is almost always the better one.
How many cities, and how to route them
A useful rule is no more than one city every three to four days. On ten days, that is two or three cities, not five. Cluster them so travel is short: London, Paris, and Amsterdam make an easy triangle; Rome, Florence, and Venice run neatly up Italy. A tight route means more time in places and less in transit.
Train or plane?
For any journey under about four hours city-centre to city-centre, take the train. You skip the airport ritual, keep your luggage with you, and arrive in the heart of the next city rather than an hour outside it. The Eurostar and Europe's high-speed lines make many classic hops quicker and far more civilised by rail. Save flights for the long jumps.
Pacing the days
Plan one anchor per day and let the rest breathe. A single museum or landmark in the morning, a neighbourhood to wander in the afternoon, dinner somewhere you chose on purpose. Over-scheduling is how good trips turn into forced marches. Leave slack for the long lunch and the street you did not expect to love.
Build it in one place, early
The friction that makes European trips stressful is rebuilding them across tabs every time something changes. Start the itinerary early in a single home and add to it as stays and trains are confirmed. Tralendr is built for exactly this, with its deepest curation in London and Europe, so you can see a place before you commit a day to it, then keep the whole route as one visual, shareable plan. Plan it free, and keep it in one place.