For my 18th birthday (December 30, 2005), I'm going to Europe. The original plan is to spend a week in Paris, but it seems a waste to be in Western Europe for that long and not see other cities.
If it were up to me, I'd buy one of those 17 country Eurail passes and just go crazy, but I'm going with my mother. :crybaby:
She doesn't want to jump around a lot and of course I won't be taking my mother to the bars and clubs, although I might sneak out and find a few of them while she's asleep. :whistle:
What other cities, relatively close to Paris, would you recommend? I was thinking Barcelona or Berlin. London was another city I thought of but I've heard it's really expensive and we've got a tight budget.

London is rediculously expensive. To get to Barcelona from Paris you have to take an overnight train, Elipsos(http://www.elipsos.com/htm/intro.htm), it's the only way to get there by train. But close to Paris cities: Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva, Zurich, the whole rest of France. Woah!! I just realized that you're going for New Years! Be in PARIS for New Years! also, if you want some sun, you can get to Marseille, France in 2-3 hours from Paris on the TGV. Nice is about 6 hours by train. I've been to Nice and I really liked it, but it was in the summer, and it's about 60 there in the winter so I here, so I'm not really sure.

I know what you mean though, haha, my parents are like: "famile vacation to paris!" and i'm like, :yawn: yea, i'm trying to find the phone number of this kid who lives in paris that i met last summer, haha, he can help me out.

oh! milan is about 6-7 hours away also!

and here's a good website for buying point-to-point rail tickets.

http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_sc...dules/index.htm

New Year's Eve is spectacular in Paris. Just don't do the Eiffel Tower thing, as it's far away from all the parties that will be happening afterward while your mother is sleeping.

Honestly, a week in Europe is NOT that long. In fact, if you like Paris, it'll take you a week just to hit all the worthwhile places. If you don't like Paris, you won't be able to get out of there soon enough!

With only a week, I'd want to spend as little time on transportation as possible. Amsterdam, like Ryder said, is only a few hours away. A 2-day trip to London might be worthwhile on a really early Eurostar train, and you can actually get a good deal if it falls on a weekend. Planes can be super-cheap, especially during the winter, so from the Paris airports (CDG and Orly) a lot of places are within easy reach. Since it's the winter, I'd opt for hitting Switzerland (although it's expensive) or getting on a train southward to Chamonix. You can see the Alps in all their snowy winter glory - and if you ski/snowboard, you can say you've ridden the Alps. On top of that, December lodgings in Chamonix can be dirt cheap.