Do i need to plan for a long trip or do i have to get a visa to stay for a few months?

Question

i want to vist some family in london but i also want to bum around europe.

Answer 1

Whether you need visa depends on your nationality, not just on where you want to go.

As you do not mention where you are from and what passport you travel with, you better check it for  yourself, this site can tell you for about all countries in the world:

http://skyteam.com/EN/travelPlanner/tima...

If you are from the USA, you should not need visa, but be careful, yesterday someone here had planned to travel from the Schengen countries in Europe to England for a long visit before returning to the Schengen zone again.

He was denied entry to England because it was thought he might want to settle illegally and his plans did not work out at all.

Answer 2

i believe that in  any EU country you can stay and visit for up 90 days before you would need a visa, seems like you would be alright without one.