Your Kind of Escape in Europe
Plan and book a custom Europe trip with a Canadian travel agent — city breaks, slower stretches, and routes that still feel like a holiday.
I plan and book European trips for travellers across Canada — city breaks, slower stretches, and routes with more than one stop. I’m a Canadian travel advisor based in Ottawa. We’ll shape the pace and the budget around the holiday you want.
More choice isn’t always more freedom.
Places to begin.
Cities, slower days, and the space between.
City breaks
Multi-destination routes
Slow travel stretches
First trips and solo travel
What I plan and book for a Europe trip
A travel agent helps most if you
Finding the right fit
Europe planning questions
Let’s plan and book your Europe trip
Europe is wonderful and slightly too good at offering options. Trains, neighbourhoods, museums, day trips, “you have to see this” lists — it’s easy to overbuild a trip before you’ve packed. Custom Europe vacation planning is about choosing a route that leaves room to actually be there.
I grew up visiting Europe while living in Germany, and I’ve gone back as an adult — Paris, Ireland, Belgium, a first solo trip that started in Berlin. I don’t pretend I’ve stood on every square. I do know how to plan a trip that doesn’t treat the continent like a checklist.
France, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK sit close together and connect well by train, so they combine naturally. Italy is its own route: two or three bases, with the train between them. Ireland is its own route too: Dublin, then one base on the west. Each guide covers where to base yourself, timing, entry rules for Canadians, and how I’d shape the route.
A few well-chosen nights in a city you actually want to walk — not three cities that each get a blurry afternoon. I’ll help with neighbourhoods, stays, and a pace that still leaves time for a long lunch.
Two or three places, connected by train or a short flight, with enough nights that unpacking is worth it. Multi-destination European vacations work when the geography is kind and the schedule isn’t greedy.
A village, a coast, or a smaller city after the capital. Personalized European itineraries often feel best when they have a quieter chapter — the part you remember when the photos of famous landmarks start to look the same.
Start somewhere manageable. My first solo trip was Europe, and I still think the kindest plan is one that doesn’t ask you to be an expert on day one. What I wish I knew before travelling solo →
Accommodations that match the neighbourhood you want to come home to. Transportation between cities that doesn’t eat a whole day. A handful of reservations or experiences that are worth locking in — and empty space so you can wander. I plan that itinerary and book the pieces worth locking in, not a 6 a.m. museum marathon printed on letterhead.
We’ll talk budget in real numbers, not vague “Europe is expensive.” Some trips are city-and-train modest. Some are a once-in-a-while splurge. Personalized travel planning is how we keep the spend on the parts you’ll still be talking about.
This page is the Europe side of personalized travel planning . I’m an independent Canadian travel advisor and travel agent affiliated with Trevello Travel Group (TICO #5003057). I plan the itinerary and book the stays, trains, flights, and details that belong with it. The professional research fee is $50 per traveller aged 2 or older. Children under 2 are not charged. The fee is paid upfront once you confirm you want my help planning the trip, and before I begin research. The initial 30-minute consultation is complimentary. Research and planning begin after the fee is paid. When you approve the trip and it is ready to book, travel costs are paid according to the supplier’s payment terms. I serve travellers across Canada and beyond. If Belize or the Caribbean is actually the trip you need this year, I’ll say that too.
Related reading from my own trips: travelling solo for the first time , when travel doesn’t go as planned , and where to escape the winter . Costs and the booking process are on Celovia FAQs.
Start with a country
- France — Paris neighbourhoods, a fast train to Strasbourg, Alsace wine villages, and December Christmas markets.
- The Netherlands — Amsterdam’s canals and museums, tulip season, easy day trips by train, and Canada’s liberation history.
- Belgium — Bruges overnight, Ghent and Brussels by train, and the Canadian First World War sites of Flanders.
- The United Kingdom — London, Edinburgh and Glasgow by train, festival timing, and a Highlands day.
- Scotland — Edinburgh on foot, Glasgow’s street art, and Highland scenery a train ride away — a trip I’ll remember forever.
- Italy — Rome, Florence and Venice at a human pace, with the coast or the countryside if you have the nights.
- Ireland — Dublin, then Galway or Kerry — coast, music, and a pace that leaves room for the weather.
- Croatia — Dubrovnik’s walls, Split’s Roman palace, island hopping by ferry, and the lakes and waterfalls of Plitvice.
- Greece — The Acropolis, whitewashed Cyclades villages, Crete, and long lunches by the sea.
- Iceland — Waterfalls, black-sand beaches, Silfra and the northern lights — high on my own wish list.
- Portugal — Lisbon’s hills and trams, Sintra’s palaces, Porto and the Douro, and the Algarve coast.
- Spain — Madrid’s museums, Gaudí’s Barcelona, the Alhambra and Andalusia, linked by fast trains.
Europe planning questions
Can you plan a multi-destination European vacation?
Yes. Multi-destination European vacations are one of the main reasons people ask for a custom itinerary — trains, city-to-city pacing, and enough nights in each place that you’re not living out of a suitcase. I’ll help you choose a sensible route instead of a highlight-reel that looks impressive and feels exhausting.
When is a travel advisor worth it for Europe?
When the trip has moving parts: more than one city, mixed travel styles in one group, specific interests, or a first trip where the options are overwhelming. If you already love planning every museum slot yourself, that can be part of the fun — I can still book the stays, trains, and flights if you want help with the logistics. If you want me to plan the route as well, that’s the work.
Do you plan custom Europe itineraries for first-timers?
Yes. First trips to Europe often go better with fewer bases and a clearer pace. I grew up visiting Europe as a Canadian living in Germany, and I’ve travelled there as an adult — including a first solo trip that started in Berlin. I’ll plan something manageable, not a nine-country sprint.
Can you plan both city breaks and slower countryside time?
That’s usually the better version of a custom Europe vacation: a city for energy, then somewhere slower so the trip has a breath in it. We match the mix to how you actually like to spend a day.