Just “before kids”, I booked a 5 week holiday to get a sample of Europe, fully expecting the sample would never be enough. The travel agent recommended the touring company Cosmos and within a short time, an itinerary was chosen.
Australia to Singapore to London, with time to see a play in the West End; before boarding the 17 day bus tour, featuring Brussels, Amsterdam, Rineland, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Florence, Nice, Geneva, Paris and back. A few were drive throughs, others were a couple of nights, but we appreciated it was a lot to take in, in a short time.
To relax after that pace, we hit Athens on the way to Santorini; before the need to return home.
This wasn’t the beginning of the travel bug, but certainly a great way to experience a glimpse of what we were missing.