msfelithatsme

Hey everyone!

I am leaving for Europe in 2 weeks.. my first time and i am a solo female traveler. I am having a difficult time deciding on the lengths of my stays in each city. since i will be alone i dont want to stay in a city long enough to get bored or lonely, yet i dont want to miss out. PLease comment on the days i have planned. Thanks!

Flying into Rome: 3 nights..?
Trouble deciding on FLorence vs. Venice or both.. i have 2 nights in total
Night train to ...Nice: 1 or 2 nights??
night train to ...Barcelona: 3 nights
night train to ...Paris: 3 nights. then home.. my indecisiveness is basically concerning the first 1/2 of my trip on Italy. Where to spend my time and should i stay in Nice for more than one night.

ira

Hi ms,

With only 2 nights after Rome, I would skip Florence and stay in Venice.

janis

You are going in 2 weeks and you don't yet have accomodations in Venice? You need to jump on that ASAP . . . . .

rex

I agree with the notion that you are going to face "picked-over" (or overpriced for what you get, or both) inventories of hotel rooms in most, if not all of these cities.

I find it less than ideal that you are including essentially none of small-town or rural Europe, but you need fewer total destinations, not more. And maybe you can make a day trip or two from somewhere. And the first 5-7 days, you are less likely (perhaps) to have boredom/loneliness if you stay with the kind of major cities you have listed.

I think you SHOULD go to Venice (if you are not terribly money-constrained), and from there, I think you should fly to Barcelona - - see alpieagles on www.whichbudget.com for details. Might also be worthwhile to fly from BCN to PAR, but the night train might indeed be a good match, since you are so inclined.

I typically recommend starting in Florence, rather than in Rome, but in your case, that tweak may be inconsequential.

Best wishes,

Rex

suze

Personally I would skip Nice and Florence with your outlined itinerary. I would not take an overnight train so often (most people cannot sleep very well on them, and on top of jet lag you could get to feeling pretty bad with this schedule).

I travel solo female with a minimun of 5 nights in a city. I have yet to experience boredom or lonliness. The most boring thing I see in your plan is ALL that time on trains.

msfelithatsme

thanks for the advice so far!! i am planning on staying in hostels in all of the cities i am visiting.

i am a little confused when planning the whole train/overnight train thing anyway. if i decide to fly, which cities would be cheapest and most worthwhile to fly from and to, and if i take 2 overnight trains then is it worth it to buy a eurorail pass? im so lost!! haha.. i wish their were budget-student traveling sites!

rex

<<i wish their were budget-student traveling sites!>>

there IS! the ThornTree at www.lonelyplanet.com

I have told you the two best segments for flying instead of train. There really is no good overnight train westbound fron Venice, nor from Nice.

And www.railsaver.com can help analyze your rail ticet purchase needs. Make sure you click on "only if it saves me money". Train tickets are such a good value in Italy that you probably should not buy a rail pass.

janis

"i am planning on staying in hostels in all of the cities i am visiting"

Do you have any idea how full hostels are in August? I really enjoy planning trips on the fly - deciding where to go at the last minute, etc. But I don't try that in the busiest month of the high season. I would at VERY least search ahead of time for accomodations in all of your planned stops -- it is very possible there won't be rooms available in hostels in some or all of those cities.

msfelithatsme

Hi all.. thanks for all the advice you have given. With your help (and re-lookingf at my plans thinking i will be on the train a whole lot) i have decided to change my plans and cut out Nice and fly instead of train it. My new itinerary is as follows:

4 nights rome..
2 nights florence..
2 nights venice..
fly to barcelona (thx rex!)
3 nights in barcelona..
fly or train it to paris.. for last 3 or 4 nights..

thanks so much for your help. Janis, i have booked hostels already for half of the cities i i will be visiting.. and now will book with my revised schedule. !! thanks again

rex

You're most welcome. Come back here and tell us how it went!

suze

excellent revised plan! that looks like a much more enjoyable trip. don't cut out all train travel because it's a fun part of traveling Europe IMO. but maybe just a couple times, one day train and one night train maybe. and no, a rail pass is not needed for only two trips.

sounds like you're in good order now, but as mentioned above www.lonelyplanet.com and their bulletin board called The Thorn Tree IS a fantastic resource for budget travelers.

suze

For example, Florence to Venice should definitely be a train ride not a flight. It's a short trip and the train gets you right to the city center.

jules4je7

MsFeli...The only thing I'd change is that I'd probably skip Barcelona and go to Paris for a few extra days, especially if you've never been before, but other than that, your revised itinerary is excellent.

I also think you won't be bored, especially since you're staying in hostels (take earplugs so you can sleep at some point) . You might even find you make a friend or two along the way and wish you could spend more time in each city.

Have a great time!

Jules