Shivraj

Hi all,

We are planning to visit Paris and Venice in May 2015 (9th May start and ending around 16th/17th May). The plan is like spending 3 night in Paris and then moving to Venice planning to spend 2 nights.

While returning, we plan to spend a day in Florence and then taking the return flight if it is possible and not exhausting.

We will start and end city of the travel is Mumbai, India.

I would like to know:
1. Is the chose time is good for traveling there?
2. in three days (0.5 day will go for jet lag/ immigration/ hotel check in), how do I plan the itinerary that I cover Eiffel Tower, Louvre and other few interesting sites (please feel free to suggest some attractions)
3. would it be good to travel from Paris to Venice in Train? Is it available daily? is booking an issue?
4. What all we can see in Venice for 2.5 days?
5. Is taking flight a better option from Venice to Rome for international return OR taking an over night train to Rome for international return travel?
6. in both places where should we do some shopping i mean of the local flavor !!
7. Is there any chance that we could squeeze Florence in between?

I would be really thankful to you if you could share your views.

neckervd

For train rides, check
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en
http://www.seat61.com/international-...tm#Paris-Italy
http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#.U-simGM1TCc
http://orario.trenitalia.com
For flights, check
http://www.swoodoo.com/
Florence has 2 airports: Florence (rather small) and Pisa (1 hr by train from Florence city center)

Shivraj

Dear Neckervd

thanks much for these links !! but is there anything you can help me with my other clarifications?

theotherside

With respect to question 2, you could use one of the open top buses if that is your style? The link gives details for one of them

http://www.paris.opentour.com/en/

bvlenci

There is an overnight train from Paris to Venice, but the service is not very good. I would suggest flying. You can find budget flights as www.skyscanner.net .

In May the weather is usually pleasant, but both Paris and Venice are very crowded. I would suggest avoiding the most popular sites in both cities, because you have little time and it would be a shame to spend most of it in the midst of a horde of tourists. I would get two good guide books, one for each city, and read through them looking for museums and places you never heard of, but that look interesting to you.

bilboburgler

Lets look at this a bit more carefully

nights
9 Paris (nothing much planned for this day)
10 Paris
11 Paris
Travel to Venice (you could do a night train)
12 Venice
13 Venice
14 Florence
15 Florence
16 Paris, Rome?
17 Flight home

My thoughts, 1) Paris has a lot ot offer, 3 nights is really not enough. 2) Can you open jaw your flights to go home from Florence or Venice? 3) Look at overnight train as well as flights or day train 4) Rome before going home would be better but if you want to see Rome you need more days.

sandralist

The train trip from Venice to Rome is less than 4 hours. So you don't need an overnight train. If you like, you can stop in Florence on your way to Rome, put your luggage in the train station, do some sightseeing, then go back to the train station, get your luggage, and continue your journey.

However, there is no non-stop flight from Rome to Mumbai as far as I know, so you might look to fly out of Florence airport or Pisa airport or Bologna. The closest airport where you could find a non-stop flight to Mumbai might be Munich. If you want to see Florence, maybe you could fly to Florence from Paris, see it, take the train to Venice, and at the end of your trip fly or take the train to Munich (very pretty) and fly to Mumbai from Munich.

There is a message board called FlyerTalk. Maybe those people could help you figure out a good flight plan. Also, sometimes if you post on a travel message board for travel to India, people who take vacations in India know a lot about the best ways to get there from Europe.

sandralist

I want to clarify my post regarding airports:

There may not be any non-stop flights to Mumbai from the airports near Florence, but maybe one of them offers a good flight to an airport with a non-stop flight to Mumbai so you don't need to go all the way to Rome just to catch a plane. You should also consider Milan airport, as well as Venice, Bologna, Verona (and if you want to see Florence, consider flying home by first catching a flight from Florence or Pisa to some airport with a non-stop flight to Mumbai).

nytraveler

First that is a great time of year to go - weather pleasant but not yet too hot and not the worst mobs of tourists.

I think Paris and Venice is plenty to do in your very short amount of time - considering you will have a day jet-lagged in paris and a day lot getting from Paris to Venice. Suggest you fly to avoid wasting more time than necessary. Believe there is an overnight train - but I tried one many years ago and hated it - too noisy and bumpy and I slept very badly.

I know it's tempting to try to add more places - but I think that you will end up spending too much time just getting from one place to another.

As for what to see do - get a couple of good guidebooks and decide what speaks to you. Each city has way more than you can see in fhte very limited time you have so you will have to be selective.

A couple of my favorites"

Paris:
St Chapelle
Musee de Cluny
Jst sitting in a cafe with a drink and watch the world go by (pick a busy corner with a lot of foot traffic - in the 5th or near the Opera for preference

Venice
Tocello - don;t miss this fascinating outer island where the resident fled from the barbarians pouring over the alps into Italy as the Roman empire collapse - the church has wonderful Byzantine style mosiacs

Mimar

Easyjet flies from Paris Orly to Venice Marco Polo. Orly is quicker and easier to reach than Charles De Gaulle airport. That's the way I would go from Paris to Venice. At the Venice airport, I'd take the Alilaguna (shuttle boat) for a water arrival in Venice.

There's also an overnight train leaving from Paris' Gare de Lyon at 20:00 and arriving the next day at 9:35.

As for seeing the sights in Paris, either take a standard tour or read up on the sights so you know what you would like to see.

joan

Since it appears you have eight nights, I would spend four and four or five and three - Paris followed by Venice (or Florence or Rome). Fly in between. You say you have "2.5 days" in Venice but your original itinerary of 2 nights is only really 1.5 days. You will just be frustrated if you add in Florence and a night in Rome in my opinion. Getting from Venice to Rome for departure: if you're not actually going to see Rome, why not try flying from Venice/Rome/Mumbai - thus saving a whole day.

Just my opinion, but eight nights = two cities. Any more, and you'll be whirling (or I would be). Have fun planning!

Shivraj

Thanks a lot friends!! I am sorry that I was away and got delayed in coming here and sharing my plans!!

As such my plan got postponed and shrunk a lot !! Now we are flying to Paris on 27th November 2015(reaching Paris on 27th morning) and leaving for Venice on 30th noon at 4 PM and reaching Venice at 5:30 PM.

We will practically have only 01 December 2015 as on 02nd 6:00 AM we will have return flight to New Delhi via Paris.

I wanted to spend my anniversary in Paris (29th November) I think we should cover 5-6 big attractions hence in this short period are there any options you can suggest?

Also I heard traveling the city could turn costly hence I would be thankful to you if you could suggest some alternatives there !!

pariswat

Hi
Paris transportation system is very good and cheap.
Buy a bundle of 10 tickets (called 'carnets') they come loose and you use one per trip.

There are a ot of sights in Paris, but the 'major' ones will be
- Notre dame de Paris' (dead center) on île de la cité.
try to see 'la conciergerie' next to it,a nd walk along the Seine.
- Champs Elysées (not much on itself, but very nice view) with Arc de Triomphe. From there you can end up at tour Eiffel
- Le Louvre (museum, Mona Lisa, la Victoire de Samothrace, some paintings, that sort of things), exterior is quite nice) from there you can end up in Concorde with a view on 'les Champs' and la Madeleine
- Sacré coeur (north) with Montmartre and you can end up in Pigalle (drinks, tourists, girls, peep shows, Moulin Rouge, that sort of things - funnier in evening). Go up and eat close to Abesse.

Enjoy your (short) trip and come back later !
Namaste.

annhig

with that short a time frame, I would stick with Paris. you will only have 4 nights on the ground in total so spending time getting to Venice for the sake of 1 night and then back to Paris for your return flight looks like time wasted to me.

you will not run out of things to do in Paris!

nytraveler

You really only have 4 days on the ground and IMHO it doesn't make sense to trek all the way to Venice for one very short day. Plus, you are giving Paris extremely short shrift. And you need to account for the fact that in Nov/Dec daylight hours will be very short and often grey/dreary.

I would just stay in Paris and have a chance not only to be able to see some major sights but also to have a chance to just sit in a cafe, have a drink and enjoy watching the (very different) world go buy.

Be sure you are prepared for the weather, chilly and often rainy. Be sure you have well-broken in waterproofed walking shoes, sturdy umbrellas and clothing you can layer since it can get quite cold in the evenings.

dwdvagamundo

Concur with Ann and NYT--stay in Paris; the cost in both time and money to travel to Venice and back is just too great on such a short trip.

manouche

Go to Venice, but go by EasyJet which only takes 90 mins and is cheap especially if you look for internet specials. Spend the night in an inexpensive hotel and come back to Paris the next afternoon. You can see a lot in Venice in one whole day if you check out a few guidebooks. Make sure to check the acqua alta season in Venice - no fun wading through knee deep cold water for several hours a day. If you will be there during that time, you might want to skip Venice and stay in Paris.

In Paris get the carnet tickets to share between you. Look on a map to see where the major sites are and connect the dots. Paris is not a big city and you can hit the highlights in one day if you really want to. You can find hotels for around 100 EU and eating and drinking can be as cheap as you want it to be, no need to spend big bucks. Just look at on the menus posted outside restaurants before you go inside.

PalenQ

3. would it be good to travel from Paris to Venice in Train? Is it available daily? is booking an issue?> Well like others say it's a long all-day slog by day train but there is an overnight train (www.thello.com) with some really cheap advance booking fares but for a private compartment it may cost more than flying - though you do save a night's hotel costs.

To learn about night trains and trains in general check www.seat61.com - great advice on discounted fares; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

These trains rarely fill up I think but you can save a lot by booking as far in advance as possible.

janisj

That '90 minute' flight will actually eat up more than 6 hours what with the hour to the airport, a couple of hours AT the airport, the flight, more than an hour traveling to Venice by water bus, and finding your hotel.

Stay the whole time in Paris.

Sassafrass

Janisj is absolutely right. 90 minutes is only a small bite of the time it will eat up to go to and from Venice. With all the beauty there is in Paris, stay and enjoy it.