Yes, You Can Go to Europe for the Weekend

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about…

Have you seen the travel influencer Kevin Droniak, who takes absolutely insane day trips from the U.S. to places like… India, Egypt and Japan? Day trips!

Over time, his theses have gone from something like, “Did you know Montreal is a day trip from NYC?” to “Let me show you how to get from NYC’s Chinatown to actual China for a day trip.”

A couple of major themes run throughout his content: 1) you have free will, so you should use it to do whatever you want, and 2) if you’re going to have to sleep for eight hours tonight anyway, why not do it on a plane and wake up on another continent?

He’s young, energetic and healthy, and I don’t think he has kids, a spouse or a day job, so many of us may not immediately relate to his lifestyle. You might think, But I cannot sleep well on planes! Or, But I have to be back at work on Monday and I’ll be jetlagged! Or, But he won’t be able to see everything while he’s there! All of those things may be very true.

But Kevin Droniak has walked the Great Wall of China, and you have not. Kevin Droniak has gone iceberg hunting in Greenland, and you have not. Kevin Droniak has visited four European countries in one day, and you have not.

I’m sure Kevin Droniak gets horrible jetlag, and he certainly doesn’t get to see everything he wants on each of his trips. But he’s seen India and Egypt and flown to Rome just for pizza… you get the point.

I am not Kevin Droniak, and I will not be taking a day trip to El Salvador.

But he is really onto something.

I used to think that to travel to Europe, you needed at least two weeks. You’ll have jetlag and need time to adjust to the time change. You’re investing in a transatlantic flight, so you should “get more out of it.” And because you’re only ever going to get to travel once or twice a year, you really need to make the time to see everything you want while you’re there.

This was one of my biggest initial barriers to even thinking about significant international travel. How would I ever get the time?

My first trip to Europe was eight days in Spain, and I was very worried that wasn’t long enough. But for most working Americans, taking an entire work week off is about the max we feel comfortable with at one time. Even if you have “unlimited PTO,” we all understand the expectation. If you pick the right holiday week, you can extend your time off and squeeze in an eight-day trip to Europe without excessive guilt by flying home on a holiday Monday or leaving on a summer Friday.

Shortly after I returned from Spain, now officially and fully enamored with Europe, I was recounting my trip to a colleague when he told me that he and his wife were getting ready to go to Lisbon.

I asked when he was leaving and how long he would be gone—I figured I’d have to cover for him while he was out.

“Oh, we’re just going for a long weekend,” he said.

What do you mean?

“I’ll be back on Tuesday.”

What?

Why are you only going to Lisbon for three days?

“Well, otherwise we won’t be able to go. It’s all the time we have right now.”

I was shocked by the concept, but my newly travel-obsessed self started investigating how this might actually be possible.

Turns out, flying to Europe from the East Coast of the U.S. isn’t too crazy at all. And once you realize it, a whole world of opportunities presents itself.

I’ve now done “long weekends” in Edinburgh, Lisbon, Amsterdam and even Rome. Each of these trips required only one or two days of PTO. And while I certainly didn’t get to see everything I wanted on any of them, I got to see a lot.

I had some of the best days of my life—and completely changed the way I think about how much time you actually need to travel.

Here’s how I’ve done it.

First Things First: Book the Direct Flight

Most major airports have overnight flights to Europe. For instance, from Dulles, you can fly direct to Lisbon in the early evening or later at night. You can do the same to London, with a few more options in between. You can fly direct to Amsterdam and Paris and Rome and Athens and Copenhagen and Geneva and… you get the point.

So, if you want to try this out, first things first: book a direct flight.

Because we’re operating on a tight timeline, the direct flight is critical. We need to cut out as many variables and potential disruptions as possible. We don’t need to worry about missed connections or waste precious hours sitting in connecting airports.

Check your nearest major international airport’s flight schedule and see where you can get nonstop. It may be more places than you think!

Next, for how much time can you actually get away right now?

It’s not just about PTO for many of us. We have kids or pets or other responsibilities that can make it difficult to leave for very long. Fine.

A short trip is better than no trip.

Let me repeat that: a short trip is better than no trip.

Now, let’s talk about the pros and cons of a 6-ish p.m. flight versus a 10-ish p.m. flight.

With the 6 p.m. flight, you’ll need to be at the airport around 3, so you’ll probably have to take at least half a day off work. You’re also less likely to sleep much because it’s earlier than your normal bedtime.

But you’ll arrive at your destination earlier, which means more time in London or Rome or Lisbon. Sounds great, right?

Well, that time will be very early. You won’t be able to check into your hotel yet, and you’ll be tired.

For example, an early evening flight from D.C. to London can land around 7 a.m. By the time you get off the plane, through border control and to your hotel, it might be around 9. Most hotels don’t guarantee check-in until 3 p.m., so even if you’re lucky enough to get your room early, it probably won’t happen until around lunchtime.

That means dropping your bags at the front desk, taking a minute to freshen up in the hotel’s public restroom and heading out into the city unshowered and unrested. You’ll tell the front desk to text you if your room becomes available early and set off exploring by 10 a.m.—probably feeling a bit jetlagged and a little crusty from your overnight flight.

On the other hand, you could book the 10-ish p.m. flight. You can work the full day, arrive at the airport around 7 and use no PTO at all. The flight is also closer to your normal sleeping time, so you may have a better chance of actually falling asleep on the plane.

The tradeoff? You’ll arrive later and lose about four hours of exploring time on an already short trip.

But instead of getting to your hotel around 9 a.m., you might arrive around 1 p.m. At that point, there’s a decent chance your room will be ready. And if it isn’t, you only have a couple of hours to kill. Take a walk around the neighborhood. Grab a bite to eat or a coffee. Then, at your guaranteed check-in time, you can put your things away, shower, change and even lie down in a comfy bed for 30 minutes if you’d like.

These slight differences in flight times may not seem important, but they really can be. And you might not know which option works best for you until you’ve done it a couple of times. It can also depend on who you’re traveling with.

Bringing kids? Take the later flight. Dragging exhausted kids around an unfamiliar city for six hours without an established home base is not worth those extra four hours.

Just you, and you’re a great plane sleeper? Take the early flight and enjoy the heck out of your first day!

Choose what makes sense for you.

But whatever you do, book the flight.

Three Nights Is Enough. Really.

The next consideration is how to make the most of your shorter timeline.

First, know this: plenty of people spend only three or four days in major European cities. You’re not alone. This is a perfectly normal amount of time to spend in one city. Sure, a lot of those travelers might be heading somewhere else afterward while you’ll be heading home, but three nights is not an unreasonably short amount of time to experience a place.

My Take My Trip itineraries can be used as standalone three- or four-day trips or combined with another destination for a seven- or eight-day trip. For example, I’ve done a standalone three nights in Lisbon and also a longer Lisbon-plus-Algarve trip. You could spend four nights in Athens or combine Athens with a few days on Paros.

Now that you feel OK being in London or Lisbon or wherever for only three nights, there’s something else you need to come to terms with—

You will not see everything. And that’s OK.

Seeing half of what you’d like to see is better than seeing none of it.

Again: seeing half of what you’d like to see is better than seeing none of it.

And here’s the other thing. Once you stop thinking of travel as such a huge ordeal—something that requires weeks of vacation time—and experience for yourself how reasonable and enriching a long weekend in Rome can be, you may realize something else.

You can come back.

One Anchor Per Day

Finally, you need to be thoughtful about your itinerary.

First, don’t book expensive tickets or anything too ambitious on your arrival day. Travel disruptions happen, and missing your most anticipated activity because your flight was delayed is not going to start your trip off well.

For example, many of London’s museums are free and don’t require a pre-booked time. Those are perfect for an arrival day. You can show up when you’re ready, stay as long as you’re feeling up to it and, if for some reason you miss it entirely, you won’t be out any money.

On the other hand, if you book a guided tour of the Tower of London at 1 p.m. but your flight is delayed and you arrive at your hotel at 1 instead of 9 a.m., you have a very different story.

So keep your arrival-day plans flexible.

That doesn’t mean you plan nothing and “waste” an entire day of your already short trip. Look at the things you want to do and ask yourself: Does this cost a lot of money or require advance booking? Is it something casual, like walking through a park or exploring a particular neighborhood? Could I easily move this to another day if needed?

Use those answers to build your first day.

Next, plan one big anchor activity each day.

That Tower of London tour? That’s an anchor. It costs money, requires a specific start time and will take up a significant portion of your day—probably four hours or more.

Resist the urge to plan two anchors, even on a short trip.

My days usually look something like this: an anchor in the morning, flexibility around lunchtime, an afternoon reset and then an evening activity or dinner reservation.

And remember, you’ll experience plenty just getting from one place to another. Walk from your hotel to your Tower of London tour. Stop at Borough Market for lunch afterward, then wander along the Thames past the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe. Maybe you just take some pictures from the outside. Maybe you’re feeling good and pop into the Tate for an hour.

Either way, you’ll get great views of the Thames and its bridges, experience locals and tourists going about their days and get a little taste of British foodie culture at the market.

All of that—with just one anchor.

And don’t skip the afternoon reset.

You will be tired. You will be walking a lot. There will be weather. Maybe it’s rainy and cold. Maybe it’s hot and sweaty. Either way, two hours back at your hotel in the middle of the afternoon can keep you from burning out and give you a chance to get comfortable before heading back out for the evening.

You’re enjoying yourself.

You’re not checking boxes for a homework assignment.

Leave Some Room to Wander

I like to make dinner reservations for at least a couple of nights. Most big cities are busy, and popular restaurants often require a reservation or a long wait. I prefer not to spend my limited time waiting, so I make reservations.

That said, I also like to leave a night or two more flexible. I’ll research some tasty but quicker food options near my hotel ahead of time, so I know where I can go if we decide we don’t want another big meal.

Social media is actually really good for finding this kind of thing. Every city seems to have a few viral spots for its specialties—huge focaccia sandwiches from All’Antico Vinaio in Rome, mayo-smothered Dutch-style fries from Fabel Frite in Amsterdam, that sort of thing. If you had a big lunch, you might not want another sit-down meal that night. Know where the easy-but-good options are, too.

You might also have an evening event planned. This depends entirely on your trip and what you want to do. Maybe it’s a fado show in Lisbon or a West End musical in London.

But I also find evenings to be a great time to just wander.

Seeing the sights illuminated, people-watching as locals and tourists go about their evenings, popping in and out of shops looking for souvenirs—there’s something lovely about experiencing a city when you don’t have anywhere you need to be.

I’ll often look at the map around my hotel and plan a loose walking route. Maybe I decide that after dinner in Rome, I’m going to walk to the Spanish Steps.

That’s the plan: walk to the Spanish Steps.

But along the way, you spot a great gelato shop and, obviously, stop for gelato. You come across an ornate fountain in the middle of an otherwise ordinary plaza and stop to take pictures. There are street performers. People are spilling out of restaurants. You turn down a pretty street just because you want to see what’s there.

Eventually, you make it to the Spanish Steps.

But you got so much more than a walk to the Spanish Steps.

A lot of travel happens between the things you planned.

Plan three or four days like this and you’ve seen plenty! You’ve certainly seen more than you would have if you kept waiting until you had the money and time to go to Europe for two whole weeks.

And I think that’s the point.

For a long time, I had all these rules in my head about what international travel was supposed to look like. If I was going all the way to Europe, I needed at least two weeks. I needed to see everything. I needed to make the cost of the flight “worth it.” I needed enough time to recover from the jetlag. And if I couldn’t make all of that happen? Well, I guess I couldn’t go.

But none of those were actually rules.

I’m not Kevin Droniak. I’m not flying to China for the day, and I have no plans to cross an ocean just to eat a pizza and come home. I have a job and a family and responsibilities—and I really like sleeping in an actual bed.

But he is onto something with this whole free-will thing.

Sometimes the biggest thing standing between us and doing something we really want to do is our own idea—or other people’s—of how we’re supposed to do it.

A three-night trip to Lisbon isn’t the same as spending two weeks traveling through Portugal. Of course it isn’t. But those aren’t actually the two choices.

Sometimes the choices are three nights in Lisbon—or no Lisbon at all.

Take the three nights.

You might be jetlagged. You won’t see everything. You’ll probably come home wishing you had one more day.

But you’ll also have eaten the pastel de nata, wandered those absurdly steep tiled streets, watched the sunset over the Tagus and added another little collection of memories to your life.

And maybe, like me, you’ll realize you don’t need to wait quite so long before doing it again.

You have free will.

Book the three nights in Lisbon.