diteal

We have booked a trip to Europe ...flying in to Paris sept.26 , staying in Paris two nights , ne travelling to Lucerne , have a place booked for four nights..my question now is n the 2nd, when we check out it is worth our while to travel to Venice for two nights ? Our flight leaves Paris 1:00 on the 4 th ? Or just make our way back to Paris? It is our time in Europe and I'm scared it might be our last , so want to see as much as possible....

Christina

to answer your question about worth your while -- no, not with that time frame

Judy

I would try to change your accommodations in Lucerne to start Sept 26. Go directly there from CDG. Have your 4 days in Parisall together at the end of your trip.

MmePerdu

I agree with Judy. You must have a good reason for allocating twice as many nights to Lucerne as Paris, but, to my way of thinking, Paris is "worth" significantly more.

It appears you have 9 nights altogether. Moving on to Lucerne on arrival saves time, 4 there and 5 contiguous nights in Paris (no time lost to-ing & fro-ing which can be a significant factor on a short trip) would be excellent, IMO. Unless there's a reason for omitting more time in Paris that you haven't mentioned.

Venice is also "worth" more than 1+ day (2 nights) so save it for a time when you can enjoy it without the rush.

dwdvagamundo

If you go with your scheduled trips, you would be tempting fate to leave Venice on the morning of the 4th when you have a flight that departs Paris at 1:00 p.m. on that day. I get terribly anxious if I am not staying in the city from whence my plane departs the night before it departs.

If you can't rearrange things ala the good suggestions above, then fly back to Paris at the end of the trip. You'll probably have thought of a few more things you want to see in Paris by that time anyway.

Or, if you can rearrange your schedule and make Lucerne first, after leaving Lucerne, go on to Venice for two nites, then return to Paris got the last days of the trip.

StCirq

No, it's not a good plan to try to squeeze in Venice, especially if you're not going to BE in Venice, and near the airport, the morning of your flight.

I also think 2 nights in Paris and 4 in Lucerne is backwards.

Aramis

It is really pushing it for just 1.5 - 2 days in Venice but here are the facts;

You can get 1 1/2 days in Venice but have to leave your hotel at 5:00 a.m. to catch a flight back to Paris if you do what you have asked. All of the connection risk is on you but the connection is 4 1/2 hours


Flight 1: Zurich – Venice

Mon, Oct 2
1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Zurich (ZRH) – Venice (VCE)
easyJet 3330 · Economy Class · Airbus A319
1h 15m


Flight 2: Venice – Paris

Wed, Oct 4
6:40 AM – 8:25 AM
Venice (VCE) – Paris (CDG)
easyJet 3792 · Economy Class · Airbus A319
1h 45m


Alternately, you could fly on to Venice after landing in Paris, work your way back to Lucerne (Zurich Airport) at a more convenient time on the 28th and then move on from Lucerne to finish in Paris. That takes the early morning pain out of the equation but leaves you with some connection risk on the Paris to Venice leg after your arrival.

26 Venice
27 Venice
28 Lucerne
29 Lucerne
30 Lucerne
1 Lucerne
2 Paris
3 Paris

diteal

Unfortunately the hotel I booked in Paris is non refundable...I wish now I had written on here before...thank you...I may try calling the hotel to see if we could switch it...

PalenQ

Venice even for a day is worth it - especially if you may not come back -yes cut a day off Lucerne and add to Venice!

diteal

This certainly confirms yo me not to do Venice on the end...I'm thinking to arrive in Paris in the morning , after. Flying all night , then to. Drive or catch a plane to Venice might be a bit to much ..so, if I leave it the way it is...is there a different route bs k to Paris from Lucerne? To see something different?

diteal

I like what palenq said .to knock one day off Lucerne to go to Venice...at least the hotel in Lucerne is not non refundable...thank you for this suggestion...if I did that, how would you suggest travelling from Lucerne to Venice and where is best to stsy?

StCirq

I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what I do, which is consider the day I arrive in Europe after an overnight flight to be a completely shot day anyway, so I slog on through (for me it usually means another 6 hours of travel by train to my destination), instead of interrupting the cycle and feeling like crap for the next 4 days.

So in your situation I would fly to Paris, then fly on to Venice, collapse, and have a few days there. How you get back to Paris is up to you. I am not a fan of Switzerland, so others can better inform you what to do after that.

PalenQ

Trains take 7 hours but are scenic in places and to me seeing the lay of the land in between is cool -can leave Lucerne around 9am get to Venice 4pm but since your time is son limited I'd suggest going to Zurich and flying -may still take 4-5 hrs all told though.

Trains: www.sbb.ch -check for discounted tickets; www.seat61.com - general info www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Judy

I have been able to change dates in non-rerundable accommodations.....just can't cancel without penalty.

StCirq

So?

diteal

I'm now convinced that if I want to see Venice , I need to cut the time in Switzerland , so how do i travel from Lucerne to Venice and when I'm looks for a place to stay in Venice , where do I look?

diteal

I'm realizing this is a lot of work! So, to travel from Paris to Lucerne, do I need to purchase a train ticket online ahead of time? These are the things I don't know....

kja

Sometimes it makes sense to walk away from a nonrefundable reservation. You might want to read about "sunk costs" on wikipedia (or elsewhere).

I would urge you to get a good guidebook. In comparison to the cost of your trip, the cost of a guidebook will be nugatory, and you will have a wealth of information at your fingertips. For that matter, you can consult one at a local library or book store..

Sassafrass

First, deep breath. You have time to make a good decision. Don't rush to make a reservation this minute. Take a couple of days. Get facts about airfare, flight times, etc. Train may or may not be best for you. Personally, I doubt that it will for the first leg of the trip once you arrive, but you need more info.

You may not go back to Europe, but unless you really are very old, or ill, chances are you will make it back, and probably sooner than you now think. Even if this turns out to be your only trip, burning through places in such an exhausted state that you won't remember how it felt to be there is not good.

As to having non-refundable reservations. It may seem an unusual way to think, but total cost of trip is likely in the thousands. If you find your itinerary is not good and is causing you to miss the very things you most want to see, and if you must eat the cost of a couple hundred dollars to make your trip great, in the end, it is worth it! Considering it part of learning to travel and get what you want. Don't have regrets for something you didn't do. Unless it was an absolute fortune for a hotel that was a destination in itself, I would eat that cost in a skinny minute if it allowed me to see Venice and I wanted to do it.

Hind sight says it would have been best to fly into Venice or Lucerne and out of Paris. It would be worth a good bit of money if you could do that. Have you tried? If, even for a considerable fee, the airlines would do that, it would be great. You would be asking them for multi-destination tickets, NOT two, one-way tickets.

Assuming, you can't alter flights, if you are set on Venice, check flights and see which connections and times would be best from Paris - to Lucerne or Venice, with a reasonable lay over, as soon as you land.

Arrive Paris, fly on to Venice, 2 nts
Fly to Lucerne, 3 nts
Fly (or train) to Paris, 3 nts

Or
Arrive Paris, fly or train, on to Lucerne, 3 nts
Fly to Venice, 2 nts
Fly to Paris, 3 nts

PalenQ

I'm realizing this is a lot of work! So, to travel from Paris to Lucerne, do I need to purchase a train ticket online ahead of time? These are the things I don't know..>

No you can always buy walk-up tickets, especially in first class, but those same exact seats can be had often for a fraction of full-fare - but yes those tickets are train-specific and can't be changed nor usually refunded but if you are sure of your exact date to go to Lucerne yes book as www.voyages-sncf.com - French Railways - for answers to all your train questions - www.seat61.com (superb advice for booking your own discounted or full-fare tickets yourself online) - general info like first v 2nd class www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

1st class is discounted too and at times may not be much more than the cheapest remaining 2nd class tickets - and 1st class on a fairly long train trip - 4 h 30 min - it may well be worth it IMO.

So yes book your train ticket in advance not to get on trains, but to get a cheaper fare. You will have to change trains once at least in Basel as there are no direct Paris-Lucerne trains. Changing is very easy to do. Most Paris-Basel trains leave from Paris' Gare du Lyon.

Anyway start a search and see what you find.

Ditto all this for Lucerne to Venice trains.

And from Venice you can take the overnight Thello train to Paris - www.thello.com - save daytime time over flying and save on the cost of a night in a hotel.