5 Ladies, 4 Destinations and 1 Month

Old Jun 27th, 2016, 04:50 AM
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5 Ladies, 4 Destinations and 1 Month

Now this trip will not take place until after Christmas December 2017. But with 5 ladies all wanted to go different places, I figured the sooner the better to start making plans. The desired destinations are Rome, Paris (must be in Paris for the New Year), Amsterdam and London. I NEED HELP!!! I do not know what city we should fly into or the best order our destinations should be in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 05:34 AM
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1. Where are you flying from?

2. How do you plan to get from city to city?

3. Who wants to go where and whose wishes are more important?
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 05:56 AM
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Sounds like you should have five different trips. If one place is on all five lists you could meet up there for NYE.

Seriously... If you are flying from the US you should probably start in London and return from Rome, or vice versa. Look for multi-city tickets on sites like skyscanner.com

Connect London, Amsterdam and Paris by train - see seat61.com and use a budget airline to fly from Paris or Amsterdam to Rome - again, skyscanner.com

You do realize that northern European cities are a lot further north than, say, New York, and it will be chilly, maybe wet, and get dark early?
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 06:18 AM
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With weather and short days, if New Years in Paris is the most important, I would just do a trip to London and Paris, five or six days in each, and let that be the trip.

I would save Amsterdam until Spring when weather is nice, with flowers blooming and being on a canal would be pleasant, when it would be easy to visit other towns and fun to walk around without winter coats.
Follow Amsterdam with Rome when it is warm and you could enjoy late evening walks around the city, when buildings and monuments are all lit up.

Myself, I would save the whole trip for Spring so I could enjoy sitting outside in Paris at cafes and walking in parks in Paris and London.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 06:20 AM
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5 ladies all wanted to go different places

never a good starting point
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 06:31 AM
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If your trip begins post Christmas on Dec. 26 or thereabouts, and you want to be in Paris for New Year, then it seems like you should fly into Paris first and spend at least a week there for New Year and other sightseeing.

From there, you can train to Amsterdam OR London, visit that location, fly from there to Rome, visit Rome, and then finish up by flying to whichever between Amsterdam OR London you didn't visit first. If you are flying from the US, it might be easiest to fly to Paris for New Year, train to Amsterdam, fly to Rome, fly to London, fly home from London.

And with 1 month, you can roughly allocate a week per location, which gives you more sightseeing time needed to compensate for shorter daylight hours, and allows time for a daytrip or two that strike your collective interests.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 06:40 AM
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It looks like there are divergent interests. Right from the beginning, it seems the highest priority is not the mechanics, but whether there is enough synergy to travel together at all. Some people present totally different behaviors between the planning time and during the trip. Some might mention whatever arrangement is ok, but no so once the trip starts when changing plan is no longer possible. If you have not traveled with these people, before you have to make time-interest-energy-finance trade-offs abroad in a setting you don't know all the answers, do a trial balloon multiple night trip this year before you have to make any non-refundable financial commitments for your 2017 trip.

What non-negotiable requirements do they bring? Wake-up time? Breakfast offerings? etc. None of these are deal breakers in themselves, but sometime, for a more optimal itinerary as a whole, certain areas need rethinking. Don't assume people are flexible. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some go ballistic if things has to be done differently -- which is necessary in an unfamiliar environment.

Here is a humorous, but all too realistic experience on what can go awry.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-sorrento.cfm
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 07:28 AM
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As a European I should warn you that I leave the place if possible just because it is so miserable and wet. I'd review and come again in April or May.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 10:25 AM
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I like what greg said.

Plus, why is Paris a "must" for NYE? I think a lot of people misunderstand what actually happens on NYE in Paris. If you're in your 20s and want to get drunk and singed with hand-held fireworks on the Champs Elysées, it's a fine idea. For everyone else, it's home with the family or a splurge in a fancy restaurant with a fixed menu, overpriced drinks, and some local warbling "old French music."

I think in general you don't have a grip on what days are like in Europe at that time of year. And it does sound as if you're not off to a great start with the differences in opinions as to what is important to see. That could well come back to haunt you once you're on the ground.

No one knows where you're flying from, so it's impossible to say where you should fly TO. But you should definitely plan for open-jaw tickets if this plan becomes a reality.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 10:30 AM
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the week between Christmas and New Years in Amsterdam hops - one of the busiest times of the year - book early if within that time frame and New Year's Eve day and night are simply bombastic in Amsterdam -kind of like a war zone.,
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 11:53 AM
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The desired destinations are Rome, Paris (must be in Paris for the New Year), Amsterdam and London. I NEED HELP!!! I do not know what city we should fly into or the best order our destinations should be in.>

If you don't care about flying but want to take trains:

Land in London
Take Eurostar train to Brussels then train to Amsterdam or train-ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland then train to Amsterdam.

Take Thalys train to Paris (3.5 hrs)

Paris take overnight train to Milan (connections for Rome) or Venice - I know Venice ain't in your plans but it is so so AWESOME even just to see for a day! Or of course fly Paris to Rome.

Fly home from Rome

Book train tickets far ahead of time to get deep discounts - see www.seat61.com for advice on that and all things train; and also www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 12:15 PM
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Of the four, rome has the best january weather. Come here as last stop!
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 01:31 PM
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It certainly sounds as though you need to start in Paris, if being there on New Year's Eve is a must. Or, maybe a few days in Amsterdam first if it's such a blast.

From Paris, train to Amsterdam if you haven't already been there, and then train to London. (I wouldn't dream of taking a ferry in January.)

Then fly London to Rome, and fly home from there.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 01:50 PM
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Are all 5 of you going together to each of the 4 cities? You are all going to be together for the entire month?

Why not split up and have people go where they want to go on their own?
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 03:47 PM
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I am traveling for two weeks with five women, we give each other alone time. Split up, don't always have to eat together. Some might take a class, some like to shop, give each other space. You can also do a group facebook page to help you pick apartments, hotels, things to do. Bounce things off of each other to see what each would like to do. Some might like to do a day tour, some a cooking class. You don't have to do everything together.

Paris first, Rome last for sure.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 03:59 PM
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<Paris first, Rome last for sure>

Why? If Amsterdam and London stay in the mix, wouldn't it make more sense to start at the more northern destinations and work your way geographically to the south?
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 08:03 PM
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Thank you all for the quick responses. Will be flying out of Tampa or Miami, Florida. Bringing in the New Year in Paris is my friend Dee's dream. She is a recent cancer survivor and I want her to have her dream. Everything else is open to change, although I would like for everyone to get what they want out of this trip. The only thing I know so far in regards to getting around is that we can take the Eurostar to travel between London and Paris and take the Thalys to Amsterdam. I really appreciate you guys sharing your time and ideas with me. Thanks
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 01:39 AM
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Five individuals and only four cities. You all are good friends who tend to be agreeable

I've no suggestions or tips since I'm two days away from leaving for my first trip to Europe. But, I smiled at the thought of you and your friends planning what sounds like could be an epic trip.

Happy planning!
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 02:02 AM
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I know that flying into London makes sense but if you want to be in Paris for Dec 31, your are short changing London so I suggest flying to CDG then heading to Rome then going to Amsterdam then London where you will depart from.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 02:13 AM
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London, Paris, and Amsterdam will probably all be miserable in January so I think I will reconsider my itinerary as such:

Paris
Amsterdam
London
Rome

Kayak shows me a TPA-CDG-AMS-LON-ROM-TPA fare for $1232/person.

If you prefer to start in London and train to Paris then train to Amsterdam then fly to Rome, kayak show me a $1600 airfare.
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