Lauram018

I need all of the advice i can get regarding our tentative plan, things to do/see, length of time to stay in each place, transportation, basically everything.

Seeing as we're going down for a wedding that I am in August 22nd, I can't avoid the high costs of travel during the busy tourist time. With the flights being so expensive at this time we figured we should just make the most of it and see a few places before going home.

The basic plan so far, without all of the little details as of now.

3 weeks in Europe

-Fly from Toronto to Paris (CDG) arriving August 17th around 1pm.
-August 21st take a train to Brive (where the wedding is, no choice we have to go here!)
-August 22- wedding

-August 23- train to Italy
(desired cities but i know can't see them all : Venice, Rome, Florence, Tuscany

-From there either plane or ferry to Greece
Santorini & Athens for sure
Fly out of Athens September 6 or 7th

Any advice/tips are greatly appreciated

Dayle

Laura
you could have a nice first trip to Italy in the time available if you didn't try to squeeze in Greece. Is there some compelling reason to do Greece on this trip?

dwdvagamundo

Dayle--

That was my thought, but it looks like they're returning from Athens. If the flight isn't booked, then I would surely omit Greece from this trip.

Laura---if you'd share the sorts of things you like to do, we can guide you better.

PalenQ

the Brive to Italy train ride may be rather long - consider taking the train back to Paris and taking the Thello overnight train to Milan, Venice or fly from near Brive - though if you can get from Brive to Lyon or the area you can then connect with daytime fst trains to Italy there but cross-country travel in France by rail is often very slow involving multiple changes of train.

anyway for lots of good info on trains and what to expect I always spotlight these IMO superb sites: www.seat61.com - great info on discounted train tickets which if you book weeks in advance to get as they are sold in limited numbers can save a ton but also usually cannot be changed nor refunded from a specific train they are booked for; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. For train schedules I always use www.bahn.de/en - the German railways web site that gives schedules for all European trains and is the easiest I've found to use.

There is a France-Italy Railpass that would be a good dela perhaps if you want to wait till France or Italy to chose your trains - vs. full fare tickets it cn save a bundle as you are traveling a lot on trains.

Lauram018

Dayle- The islands, food, scenery, and just for variety. Who knows when we'll be back, just want to see as much as possible I suppose. Nothing is booked yet so it's not set in stone.

We are big outdoorsy people, love nature and hiking. Sightseeing, a tour or two, we like to try new things, experience different cultures. We want to experience as much as we can in 3 weeks. We aren't really into the party scene, that phase in our lives has passed heh. Not sure how helpful that is...

Heimdall

Forget a ferry from Italy to Greece — it's simply too time consuming, because it involves overland travel both to the Italian port and from the Greek port (Patras) to Athens. You may be able to find a flight directly to Santorini from a city in Italy, so check that out first. Otherwise, find connecting flights via Athens to Santorini, then fly back to Athens from there.

sandralist

In the summertime, I am pretty sure you can fly direct from Verona to Santorini, or from Pisa to Santorini. However, if you are "big outdoorsy people, love nature and hiking", I think going to the Italian art and history cities you have mentioned at the peak of the heat & crowds season may not be the most amazing trip for you.

What might be amazing is to fly from Brive to Paris and immediately switch to a flight to Venice. After a few days in Venice, rent a car and take a tour through the spectacular Dolomiti Alps. Drop off the car in Verona and see the Roman ruins there, the Medieval castle and the Renaissance architecture, and then take a flight from Verona airport to Santorini. See the Acropolis on the way home (and please give those wonderful Greeks "un abbraccio" from me)

sandralist

Flights from Brive to Orly

http://www.hop.com/en/brive-flights

You can fly from Orly to Venice on Easy Jet, I think. Maybe other airlines. I think you can fly Meridiana from Verona to Santorini.

If you think you would rather go to Tuscany than the Dolomiti, then another route would be to fly to Brive than immediately switch to a flight to Pisa, then rent a car and drive a loop through scenic Tuscany, ending in Florence so you can see Florence. Take the train from Florence to Venice, and fly Volotea to Santorini.

Dayle

Laura,

All of Europe goes on vacation mid August and guess where they go?
Beaches and islands.

Since you don't mention any major must sees in the major cities of Italy and are looking for hiking, scenery and good food, I recommend:

Paris to Venice, then Verona (as suggested by sandralist)
then distribute your time between the spectacular Dolomiti, one of the Italian lakes and Tuscany.

I have not been to Greece so can't personally say what it's like, but I have to believe it would be as crowded as the French and Italian islands and beaches.

Be smart - go to the less populated countryside and higher elevation. That's the place to be in peak summer!

Heimdall

The good news about Greece is that the weekend of Aug 22-23 is when many people will leave the islands at the end of their holidays. It will still be busy, but not as packed as earlier in the month.

jtpj777

Can't say your proposed itinerary sounds like a good use of your time.

For a start - have you got something against France? From Brive you have the Dordogne and the Lot on your doorstep? It would seem a pity to spend no time there.

You could then drive down to the Pyrenees and have a few days of wonderful hiking before exploring Northern Spain, Barcelona etc. A flight from there if you want to go to Italy?

Of course, there is also Provence to explore or the Alps, the Dolomites or the northern Italian lakes!

You have many options that might make better use of your time; it obviously depends what your priorities are.

jtpj777

PS I don't consider summer to be the best time to visit the cities you have listed.

And there is not much hiking to be had in Santorini!

dwdvagamundo

Given your interests, I'd counsel a combination of what Sandralist, Dayle and jtpj suggest:

You'd need a car. The Dordogne and the Lot--then I'd go east rather than south at that time of year into the Alps, then down through Turin and over to the Dolomites via Verona. Maybe see Lakes Como and Garda as well, although they'll probably be jammed. Or head down into Tuscany where lots of hiking (or better said walking) possibilities.

This would be cooler and probably less crowded, and you'd have lots of opportunities for hiking.

I'd leave Greece out for now. Don't know how much hiking can be done on Santorini, but doubt you'd find it very pleasant to hike in Athens aside from climbing the Acropolis which I've done and which would be fun--but that's just a couple of short hours and definitely not worth going all the way to Greece to do.

You'll also find this less expensive than the cities, and the food just as good or better.

mariha2912

First- Many does not equals to much. In order to experience as much as possible, choose less destinations and enjoy in a decent pace.
Secondly- I see nature as a priority but all I see on your list is cities and an island. Could you clarify what you mean by "nature"?
Then - The more specifics you provide, the better. Are you willing to hire a car for part of your trip? Do you have any budget issues?
How do you usually cope with the heat? With crowds?
By hiking, do you mean a few short hikes every day or serious hiking? Use a place as a base or hike from place to place?
How do you envision your days spent?
Even if flights are not booked yet, which airports are more suitable for your return flight?

Lauram018

Wow a lot of great advice! I'm sorry if I seem like I don't know what I'm talking about because well i don't haha. The fact that my interests contradict where I wanted to go is just embarrassing but makes me realize i made the right choice in asking for your insight!

We do like history and art and all of the beautiful architecture but don't want to spend all of our time inside museums, outdoor sightseeing would be preferable. We just like to be doing things, I don't want to sit around tanning all day but I'm told I do need to experience the beach at least once.

I did find out exactly where I'm going for the wedding and it appears to be in Dordogne so I guess we will be going there after all. I'm taking a train to Brive. I think we are going to take your advice and skip Greece that way we can really explore France and Italy.

By hiking I just meant explore, walk around outdoors doing things. We don't like to sit around, we enjoy staying active. I'm from Canada and it gets hot in the summer so i'm used to the heat. I know August is not the ideal time because of the crowds and such but I have to plan it around the wedding and with the prices of flights during that time we wanted to make it a longer trip while we are down there anyway.

So with that being said we land in Paris(CDG) on the 17th, we have a few days there until we have to make our way to chateau la Fleunie on the 21st where the wedding is and would love to explore more of France before making our way to Italy! I love the idea of going to the Alps, I'll have to look up all of the other places you have mentioned because I've never heard of them.

I admit ignorance when it comes to other parts of the world but there's a vast world out there and i'm eager to explore!

travelerjan

Laura, you have tons of time and you can while away the cold & gloomy winter by going to your wonderful Toronto Library & chcking out a ton of Guidebooks on France & Italy ... sometimes there are even special ones on DOrdogne, on Paris, On Tuscany or the Alps. Websites can give you the wonderful pictures... but th better guidebooks can tell you about the delightful sidelights that will make your experience special.

mamcalice

If you haven't made airline reservations yet, I would suggest arriving in Paris a couple of days earlier. As it is, you plan only 3 days there and it is worth so much more. France and Italy sound wonderful. They are out favorite places to travel and there are no end of great places to visit as you can see from your responses so far.

PalenQ

Yes if you could squueze in two more days in Paris and two in Italy it would be more viable to do 2 countries and not feel so so rushed.