France-Italy-Greece Tour

Old May 13th, 2014, 03:54 AM
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France-Italy-Greece Tour

Hey All.

My Husband & I plan to land in Paris on the 2nd June and spend the next 13 days touring Paris-Italy-Greece. Heres my itinerary:

2 June: Paris- See the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and Place de la Concorde.
3 June: Disneyland France/Paris Spend the whole day at the theme park
4 June: Visit the Lourve. Take the night train to Verona, Italy
5 June:Verona...visit Juliet's balcony &? take the evening train to Venice
6 June: Venice
7 June Venice train to Pisa (visit the tower) then train to Florence
8 June Florence
9 June Florence
10 June: Early morning train to Rome...tour spanish steps, pantheon etc
11 June: Go to Vatican City
12 June: Tour Colosseum .Take Flight From Rome to Athens
13 June: Athens.... go to Santorini
14 June: Santorini
15 June: Santorini

I'm planning to take the Eurorail 3 countries pass for 8 days to travel from Paris to Italy and then within Italy. Is that a good choice?. How will I go from Athens to Sanotrini & Back?

Will we be able to drop off our luggage at a locker in the train stations in Verona & Pisa (as we'll there for just a few hours to tour around)

This is the first trip my husband & I are taking after marriage (been married 6 months) so we do want it to be romantic. Both of us love travelling and do not mind the adventure either!

How can I incorporate more of Tuscany in this trip (I've heard its beautiful).

Also, considering the itinerary, how much luggage will we be able to take? 10 kg handcarry trolley bags each?
NamreenSyed is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 04:35 AM
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I don't even know how to approach these questions.

You are bouncing around europe like a ping pong ball - and are spending a very large % of your time - and a lot of money - just getting from one place to another - rather than seeing and doing things.

Are you arriving (from where) on the 2nd and departing on the 16th? If departing on the 15th how will you get from Santorini to a major airport?

There is no way to add more places to this forced march - and IMHO you should take a couple of places out.
nytraveler is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 05:16 AM
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1) I would advise you to skip Disneyland, you have that in the States too, instead, visit The Palace of Versailles, or just spend a day in Paris in a place like for example, Montmarte, see the Moulin Rouge and le Cathedrale du Sacre Cœur. Its a really interesting place.

2) Also, I would skip Verona, it is an overrated city and the house of Juliet is a fake, it didn't belong to Juliet and it is ugly and a total tourist trap in general. Go straight to Venice.

3) Spend a day less in Florence and spend it in Athens. If you haven't been in The Acropolis, you haven't been to Europe. See The National Archaeological Museum, The Parthenon, the Ancient Agora and just stroll in the Old City.
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Old May 13th, 2014, 05:38 AM
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For train info: www.thello.com is the night train operator Paris to Verona - score nifty discountes if you book far in advance to secure the limited in number cheaper seats which however are non-changeable non-refundable - but much cheaper in some sleeping options than just showing up.

www.trenitalia.com is the Italian State Railways official site and you can also score deep discounts on long-distance trains but again booking early is required to guarantee - and there are restrictions of changing, etc so be sure of your date and time.

For lots of great info on European trains I always highlight these superb IMO sites - www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets); www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
PalenQ is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 06:42 AM
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The 3-country pass would be a total waste of money for this trip. It certainly wouldn't pay off in Italy, and I don't think you'll use the train at all in Greece. It doesn't cover the Thello overnight trains, and I don't see any other trains you'd use in France.

I would follow Palenq's advice and buy discounted tickets in advance for the Thello train and the Italian trains. You can buy both on the Italian rail site:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...005817f90aRCRD

You should be aware that the overnight train is not at all luxurious. It's a bit like a youth hostel. Bring your own food and beverages on board, because they often seem to run out of everything. When I took this train, the advertised breakfast didn't materialize, in either direction. I couldn't even get a bottle of water on the way out; the water in the bathroom was not potable. I don't know if it was available on the way back, because I learned my lesson and brought my own.

The only way to see a bit of Tuscany is to cut other things. You could cut Verona; it's a beautiful city, but the house of Romeo and Juliet isn't its best feature. I wouldn't call it ugly, though. It certainly wasn't their house, because there may not have ever been a real Romeo and Juliet, and if they did exist, neither one lived in this house. However, it is furnished in the style of a Renaissance dwelling.

If you're not much interested in art museums, you could also cut a day from Florence, and add two nights to Siena or some smaller Tuscan town. Read up on the area and see if something would appeal to you.
bvlenci is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 06:45 AM
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Your itinerary just isn't practical as you haven't calculated how much time you are wasting getting from point A to point B. The night train from Paris is not included in a pass.

Venice to Pisa would take about 3-4 hours just to get there.

You could visit Paris (4 hotel nights will give you 3 sightseeing days), fly Easy Jet from Paris Orly to either Rome or Venice, spend the remainder of your time in Venice/Florence/Rome. You don't have time for Greece.
kybourbon is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 07:18 AM
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Your plan sucks. There is no other way to put it.

You can spend time IN places seeing/doing things or you can spend time BETWEEN places moving. You can't spend the same time doing both. You have not given any thought to how much of your time you will spend moving with this plan or you would not have come up with this plan in the first place.

You are doing the typical 'here is my list, now divide my time by that list' type of planning. Instead of saying, 'here is my time, now how many places should I plan to fit into that'. Cart.....horse.

For basic planning try using 'the rule of 3s'. Never plan on less than 3 full days/4 nights in a place unless it is just an overnight stop between A and B.'

Note the 'less than', it is a minimum, most people would agree that somewhere like Rome needs more than that. The 3/4 allows for a travel day between places.

If you take 15 days and remove your arrival and departure days from that, it leaves 13 full days to see/do things. Using the rule you will see you should not plan on more than 3 places including your arrival and departure points. Compare that to your plan.
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Old May 13th, 2014, 07:18 AM
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Your plan sucks. There is no other way to put it.

You can spend time IN places seeing/doing things or you can spend time BETWEEN places moving. You can't spend the same time doing both. You have not given any thought to how much of your time you will spend moving with this plan or you would not have come up with this plan in the first place.

You are doing the typical 'here is my list, now divide my time by that list' type of planning. Instead of saying, 'here is my time, now how many places should I plan to fit into that'. Cart.....horse.

For basic planning try using 'the rule of 3s'. Never plan on less than 3 full days/4 nights in a place unless it is just an overnight stop between A and B.'

Note the 'less than', it is a minimum, most people would agree that somewhere like Rome needs more than that. The 3/4 allows for a travel day between places.

If you take 15 days and remove your arrival and departure days from that, it leaves 13 full days to see/do things. Using the rule you will see you should not plan on more than 3 places including your arrival and departure points. Compare that to your plan.
dulciusexasperis is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 08:02 AM
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For first timers you are try to fit a quart in a pint pot. I might try and drop some stuff. Probably Greece, it just seems a bit weird going to Greece for 2 nights.

I'd drop Verona and put another day in Paris, this leaves enough time for Tuscany, maybe based in Siena or Montepulciano
bilboburgler is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 08:22 AM
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Juliet's balcony in Verona is a fake, totally not worth wasting a couple of hours to get to.
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Old May 13th, 2014, 09:31 AM
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While Verona is a charming town - if on the way between 2 other places and you have the time - Romeo & Juliet were in a PLAY. Not real people. And certainly noting to do with the house in question (not especially ugly, but the essence of tourist trap).

You don't have the time. Are giving every place short shrift - and I don't know how you're getting home from Santorini.
nytraveler is offline  
Old May 13th, 2014, 09:36 AM
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ah yeh Juliet's Balcony - completely Ersatz - was Shakespeare even in Verona or even Italy?

But it is probably right at the top of the tourist trek in Verona, a city with so so many historic churches and buidlings much more worth - yet it is kind of Kitschy fun to go see Juliet's balcony.
PalenQ is offline  
Old May 14th, 2014, 07:48 AM
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Thank you for the honest feedback everyone!

Will definitely cut out Verona from the list, add a day in Paris (not skipping Disneyland as we're coming from Pakistan not USA...Disneyland is really a novelty to us and it is not likely that we'll be visiting USA ever )

Will look into the train bookings- alternatively we might book a flight from Paris to Venice and just get the rail tickets for within Italy!

Greece- I suppose we could add 2 more days to our trip and spend more time in Athens and then Santorini.
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Old May 14th, 2014, 09:03 AM
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Namreen--

Good to see you've cut Verona. Verona is an interesting city, but not worth a stop of a couple of hours, and certainly not to see "Juliet's balcony"--we stayed there for several days years ago and if we saw it, I don't remember.

Also good idea to fly to Venice. I'd then train to Florence and take a day trip to Pisa from there.

IMO, you should be able to see what's in Athens in a day. Acropolis first thing, then walk down to the Agora. When it starts heating up, have lunch in or around the Plaka then finish up at the National Archaeological Museum.

However, I share the concerns above that you are trying to see too much in too little time, which means you'll spend more time and money getting from one place to another than to actually seeing things.

As you're coming from Pakistan, I'd save Athens for another trip on which you could combine Athens with Istanbul and perhaps a cruise of the Greek Islands. You're young and have lots of time to travel. Paris and Italy have more than enough to see in slightly less than two weeks.
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Old May 14th, 2014, 09:52 AM
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Will look into the train bookings- alternatively we might book a flight from Paris to Venice and just get the rail tickets for within Italy!>

ruling out the night train - Thello from Paris to Venice - saves time over flying and of course the cost of a hotel to boot. Get a private compartment and make an adventure out of it. www.thello.com.
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