ghermineh

My husband & I are planning our honeymoon for Sep 2013. We like to visit France & Italy and we have about 1 month. I've been to Europe but he hasn't been and we are coming all the way from Australia so we like to see as many amazing places as possible during our time frame
The plan is to start with Paris (4-5 nights), then take the train to South of France, rent a car & drive through South of France (for a 1 week or so) and then fly from Cannes to Turin and go from North to South in Italy.

These are the places we have in mind so far:
Paris (4-5 nights)
South of France:
- Marseille (day trip?)
- Cannes
- Nice
- Monaco (day trip)
- Monte Carlo/Provence (day trip)

Italy:
Turin (2-3 nights)
Milan (2-3 nights)
Venice (3-4 nights)
Cinque Terre (optional)
Florence (3-4 nights)
- Tuscany (1 nights?)
- Siena (day trip)
- Pisa (day trip)
Rome (3-4 nights)
Amalfi Coast (2-3 nights)
- Positano
- Naples
- Capri


I would like to know if this is too much for 1 month? Should we cross out any of these places? Any suggestions as to where to go?

Thank you for your help

victorbritts

Tuscany can be perfect honeymoon destination.

bobthenavigator

This is really a wish list---you need to define how many nights you will sleep in Europe and then decide hotel locations. " About a month" says nothing. Is that 27 nights in Europe or 31?

I see 8 hotels in this itinerary--located in:
Paris--5
Provence--3[ get car]
Villefranche--2 drop car]
Venice---3
Florence--3
Rural Tuscany--3[ car?]
Sorrento---4
Rome---4

That is 27 nights and 8 destinations, and the travel logistics will work. Stay big picture for now---time is getting short and you need to decide where and when and start to book hotels.

Gretchen

Scratch Monaco--that will free up a day.
Sounds like a lovely trip. Lots of better places in Provence proper--don't forget them.
I could pare down some of Italy for more of France, but that is me.

Jean

"... fly from Cannes to Turin"? Is that possible?

You should plot out this itinerary in terms of days (not nights), noting travel times (train, plane or car) between destinations, so that you understand how much time you'll have everywhere and how much time you'll spend in transit. Generally speaking, when you say you'll be 2 nights somewhere, that's really only one full day uninterrupted by travel (with possible delays), checking in/out of hotels, etc.

If you started early and organized your sightseeing day well, you could see the main sights of Milan in a day on the way from Turin to Venice. (You can store your luggage at the train station.) Make reservations to see The Last Supper if that's on your list.

This would cut down on one hotel check in/out and give you more nights to add elsewhere. Florence, for example, could use more time if you plan to make 2 day trips out of the city. (Make reservations to climb the Leaning Tower if that's on your list.) Only 2-3 nights to travel to the Amalfi Coast, see Positano, Naples and Capri is really rushed.

If you have to return to Rome to fly home, head to the Amalfi Coast after Tuscany and put all of your Rome days at the end.

IMO, in this itinerary, the Cinque Terre isn't optional. It's impossible...

msteacher

I would suggest 4 nights minimum in each location, with some day trips thrown in. And if something needs to go, I'd cut Turin and Milan. For example, you could do 5n Paris, 4n Nice (day trips to Cannes, etc), fly to 4n in Venice, 5n Florence (day trips to Siena, Pisa,etc)., 4n Rome, 4n Amalfi, all of which could be done without a car. If you wanted to add in Provence in exchange for one of the other locations, you could base in Aix, Arles, or some other town for 4 nights and rent a car to visit other towns in the area.

ghermineh

Wow this is great, thank you for all your responses.
Here is the revised itinerary:

1. Wednesday afternoon- Arrive to Paris- 5nights
2. Monday AM- Fly Paris to Nice- 4nights
- Day trip to Monaco/Monte Carlo/Eze
- Day trip to Cannes & Antibes (optional)

3. Friday AM- Fly Nice to Milan- 3nights
4. Monday AM- Milan to Venice- 4 nights
5. Friday AM- Venice to Florence- 5 nights
- Day trip to Siena
- Day trip to Pisa (optional)
- Day trip to Tuscany (OR MAY STAY 1 NIGHT)

6. Wednesday- Florence to Rome- 4 nights
7. Sunday- Rome to Amalfi Coast- 3 nights
- Stay in Positano
- Day trips to other areas
8. Wednesday- Rome to Dubai – 3 nights
9. Saturday- Fly back home

Total of 31 nights!
How does this look? Is this too much?

bilboburgler

Looks good to me, of these you may find Milan a little dull (unless you are into off-the-peg clothing, Opera or the Duomo) so you could have a day out to Bergamo by train.

msteacher

Wow. Sounds like an awesome trip! Have fun!

bobthenavigator

Better!
Put all of your Rome time at the end.

RonZ

Paris/Nice train takes about 5.5 hours and lands you right in the middle of town [Nice Ville station]. Trains from there go up and down the coast. Train from there to Milano takes about five hours, again downtown at Milano Centrale. Hotels near the stations would save a lot of running around.

Schedules here:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?

Have a great trip!

StCirq

I don't understand the "1 day in Tuscany" Bit. Florence is in Tuscany, Siena is in Tuscany, Pisa is in Tuscany...so you're already in Tuscany for a good bit (and 5 days of it in Florence, which would be several too many for me).

I would be cutting out Milan, short-cutting Florence, and renting a villa somewhere in the countryside for a week or more.

ghermineh

Thank you for all your responses.

StCirq- I understand they are all part of Tuscany, what I had in mind was to rent a car and drive around the country side.

bilboburgler- Yeah we are thinking of cutting out Milan to have more time in other areas.


Q1- Are Pisa and/or Siena worth the time?
Q2- How about Verona and/or Bologna?
Q3- Would it make sense to catch the train from Florence to CT via Pisa & then fly from CT to either Rome or Naples?

Q4- If we decide to fly to Naples, how easy is it to get to Amalfi Coast from Naples airport? i understand there are trains, buses and ferries. How can we go from Naples to Sorrento/Positano/....?

bilboburgler

Siena yes, well worth a visit

Pisa has one large field with the tower in it plus some other buildings which are far more attractive. I think Lucca is a better visit

Bologna is interesting but I also like Ferrara

hd6524

You cannot add in Milan and cross out Naples. I am English but living in Naples now for four years and it is the most fascinatingly vibrant city in the whole of Italy. It'd be a shame to miss it.....If you do plan to go I'm here to give you some good tips!!!!


Forget flying inside Italy. It's a small country, fast trains are cheaper and probably faster.

From Naples Airport to the Amalfi Coast couldn't be simpler. There is a bus outside the arrival terminal that takes you directly down to Sorrento which is the start of the Amalfi Coast. Wouldn't spend too much time in Sorrento itself as Positano, Amalfi and Ravello are more worth spending some time in.

Have fun, sounds lovely

bilboburgler

actually many flights within Italy are cheaper than trains due to subsidy to ensure anyone flies to the south from the north (and back again)

ghermineh

Thank you for your feedback.

hd6524- We have actually decided to eliminate Milan and spend more time in Amalfi Coast, especially Positano. Yes please if you can let me know what to do and where to go while in Amalfi coast

So what I'm thinking is to catch the train from Venice to Florence and spend 4 days in Florence with a day trip to Siena. We can then catch the train from Florence to Cinque Terre and spend 2 nights in CT.

Q- What is the easiest/quickest way to get from Cinque Terre to Amalfi Coast? Flying or Train?
Which stations/airport to go to/from?

Underhill

Monte Carlo is in Monaco (most of it, in fact), and Marseille, Cannes, and Nice are all in Provence. I'd be inclined to skip Cannes if you're set on Monte Carlo (we find it boring; mostly high-rise buildings) and spend most of your time in and near Nice.

I also suggest that you skip Marseille and take the train straight to Nice. I don't quite see how Marseille would work as a day trip, if you mean from the Nice area. It's quite a distance.

ghermineh

NEW ITENARARY:

1. Wednesday afternoon- Arrive to Paris- 5nights
2. Monday AM- Fly Paris to Nice- 4nights
- Day trip to Monaco/Monte Carlo/Eze
- Day trip to Cannes & Antibes (optional)

3. Friday AM- Fly Nice to Milan- 3nights
4. Monday AM- Milan to Venice- 4 nights
5. Friday AM- Venice to Florence- 5 nights
- Day trip to Siena
- Day trip to Pisa (optional)
- Day trip to Tuscany (OR MAY STAY 1 NIGHT)

6. Wednesday- Florence to Rome- 4 nights
7. Sunday- Rome to Amalfi Coast- 3 nights
- Stay in Positano
- Day trips to other areas
8. Wednesday- Rome to Dubai – 3 nights
9. Saturday- Fly back home

ghermineh

SORRY, PLEASE IGNORE MY LAST COMMENT!
IT GOT POSTED BEORE I MADE NECESSARY CHANGES!

NEW ITENARARY:
1. Paris- 5nights (FLY FROM PARIS TO NICE)
2. Nice- 4nights (FLY FROM NICE TO VENICE)
- Day trip to Monaco/Monte Carlo/Eze
- Day trip to Cannes & Antibes

4. Venice- 4 nights (TAKE TRAIN FROM VENICE TO FLORENCE)
5. Florence- 4 nights (TAKE TRAIN FROM FLORENCE TO CINQUE TERRE, POSSIBLE STOP AT PISA)
- Day trip to Siena

6. CINQUE TERRE- 2 NIGHTS (FLY OR TRAIN TO NAPLES/AMALFI COAST)

7. POSITANO/AMALFI COAST- 5 NIGHTS (TAKE TRAIN NAPLES TO ROME)
- Day trip to Capri & Sorrento

8. Rome- 4 nights


Q1- HOW DOES THIS LOOK?
Q2- WHAT IS THE QUICKEST WAY TO GET FROM CINQUE TERRE TO AMALFI COAST?