Eleanor edits GoStaySee's European coverage and writes the kind of city guide that starts with where to stay and ends with a route you can actually walk. She is most interested in compact rail trips, old neighbourhoods and knowing when a famous sight is worth the queue.
Three art-heavy cities are enough for ten days. The route works because the trains are fast and the itinerary leaves space for mornings, meals and one city that surprises you.
Rome's major sights deserve their reputation. The mistake is putting all of them into consecutive ticket slots and leaving no time for the streets that connect them.
Trains are better for the classic art-city route. A car becomes useful when the accommodation, landscape or village sequence sits beyond the station — and a burden the moment you enter the historic centre.
Rome rewards walking, but the centre is larger and more uneven than it looks. Choose a base that fits your evenings and the attractions you will visit early — not simply the closest pin to the Colosseum.
The museums are only the beginning. A genuinely good free day in London mixes one collection, one long walk and a neighbourhood you might otherwise have crossed by Tube.
Rome is easier to eat well in when you choose the neighbourhood before the restaurant. These four areas suit different days: a market lunch, a lively night, a central stop between ruins or a calmer dinner after the Vatican.
Three cities, two straightforward rail journeys and enough time to notice where you are. This is the first UK route we recommend before adding Bath, the Highlands or another airport.
The best London base is not the neighbourhood with the most sights. It is the one that lets you end the day well — with a direct ride home, somewhere good to eat and no unnecessary cross-city commute.
For London, York, Edinburgh and most first-trip routes, a car creates more friction than freedom. The trick is knowing where the rail network stops being the easy answer.