r/travel•
highlanderfil

Roast my Spring Break 2026 Euro itinerary?

Itinerary

I'm trying to keep this as uncomplicated as possible, but, because I am only able to get across the pond once, max twice a year, as usual I'm trying to cram as much as possible into a trip. I'm used to moving fast, though, and, because I've been to Europe at least once a year since 2008 (except 2020), the good news is that I've gotten most of the "must-see" touristy spots out of the way, at least in London and Paris (their significance will make itself known shortly). The main purpose of the trip is to meet up with friends from Malaga, but there are a few secondary themes, as well. The second half of the itinerary is what I most need help with. Dates are pretty well baked-in, as well.

March 6-7: MSP-LHR; the 7th will be largely spent on fighting jet lag with the obligatory stop at Twinings. Staying at the W for the two nights.

March 8: Get to Kent via Victoria by 10:30 for a lemur experience at the Fenn Bell Conservation project (will need to figure out what to do with the luggage - perhaps it will actually make sense to go via St. Pancras and use the lockers there, since that's where I'll be coming back to). My wife and I have been there twice, but booked a much more comprehensive "Keeper for a day" package and it was pretty life-changing. I won't have time for all that now, but I definitely need to visit Sammy the lemur and his dozen or so siblings again. Finishing around noon will have me back to St. Pancras by 2:30, but let's bake in an extra hour and a half just in case. There's a 16:01 Eurostar that will get me to Paris by 19:28 local time (timetable for March isn't out yet, but I'm just using a Sunday in September as proxy for times). Shame Eurostar no longer stops in Ebbsfleet: that'd have simplified things rather dramatically.

March 8-9: Get to Paris, not yet sure where I'd stay but I'll need to figure this out based on next steps. My only purpose for stopping over in Paris is to try out a couple of cafes I'd long had my eye on and to meet a few people I've not seen in a while. The idea would be to depart Paris on the evening of the 9th.

March 9-12: Get somewhere reasonably quickly that would satisfy the following requirements: (1) reachable from Malaga via train/car/plane, (2) interesting, (3) not too cold, and (4) with evening direct flights to London, preferably LHR. Right now, I'm thinking either northern Spain (Bilbao, Santander, San Sebastian) or southern France but am open to ideas. I could also just fly to Malaga and hang out with my friends there, but I've been there before and haven't been to the north of Spain.

There's an Intercites de Nuit train leaving Paris Austerlitz at 21:41, which would put me in Bilbao around 10 a.m. the following morning after a couple of changes. So, that's one option.

May 12: Fly back to London in the evening, stay by Heathrow.

May 13: Fly back home.

--------------------

One idea I had was to book the 3:30 lemur experience on the 7th and to head there straight from Heathrow, which would get me to Paris by that evening and allow me to add another day to hanging out with my friend, but that might be a bit ambitious. Still, it's something to ponder.

Thanks for reading!

Posted Sep 3, 2025, 6:25 PM UTC

10
Loading comments…