austinlyns

My husband and I are spending 3 weeks in England/Italy/Spain to celebrate him finishing the bar exam. He has never traveled outside of the US before. The only city on this itinerary that I have visited is London. We want a relaxing trip and want to time to savor each city, but don't want to run out of things to do. Is this a reasonable amount of time to spend in these cities? Would you make any changes? Thanks in advance for your help! By the way, we have to fly in and out of London because it saves us tons of money!

August 1 Fly from US to London

August 2 Arrive in London at 8:00 A.M.

August 3 Full day in London

August 4 Full day in London

August 5 Fly from London to Barcelona, Spain, arrive at 8 pm

August 6 Full day in Barcelona

August 7 Full day in Barcelona

August 8 Day trip to somewhere on Costa Brava (any suggestions?)

August 9 Day trip to Montserrat

August 10 Fly Barcelona to Rome, Arrive 3 pm
August 11 Full day in Rome

August 12 Full day in Rome

August 13 Full day in Rome

August 14 Rome to Cinque terre via rail , train departs at 1:46 pm and arrives at 5:52 p.m. (Is this too late to get to and check into hotel? We don't know which town to stay in at Cinque terre yet.)

August 15 Cinque terre

August 16 Cinque terre to Venice via rail, train departs at 11:27 am and arrives at 5:28 pm

August 17 Full day in Venice

August 18 Full day in Venice

August 19 Full day in Venice

August 20 Fly from Venice to London on
Arrive in London at 11:45 AM, spend afternoon and evening there

August 21 Fly from London to US

ssachida

I can not comment on Spain, but the rest looks reasonable to me. It is a fairly tight schedule but will give you enough time to get a taste of London, Rome, Cinque Terre and Venice.
The fact that you realize travel between cities takes time and have taken that into consideration shows that you are heading in the right direction.
Good luck and have fun.

MFNYC

This looks good. Any big city needs a good 3 days, and I see you planned that. Granted, you can easily spend a week in London or Rome (I haven't been to Barcelona), but the time you allowed is definitely enough to have a nice visit.

Enjoy your trip!

HowardR

While I would leave on a trip like that in a minute, I would hardly call it a "relaxing trip"!
Just aware that three days in cities like London and Rome give you but a taste of these great destinations. Fear not, in three days each you'll never run out of things to do in just about every one of your stops.

LoveItaly

Hello austinlyns, You will be back to Europe many times. I think that the trip you have planned is just fine. You both will get a nice feel for various areas of Europe which will help you in the future when you plan more trips.

You will not run out of things to do so don't worry about that. I too noticed that you allowed for travelling from one location to the next. Good for you, so many people don't.

Having many lawyers in the family I know how stessful the bar exam can be. How wonderful you two have this beautiful trip to look forward to. Enjoy every moment.

jules4je7

I'd get a fourth day in Rome somewhere...I consider one day at the Vatican to be a minimum, and 3 more for the rest of Rome is also necessary, given how much there is to see.

The rest of your itinerary looks good to me...I think allowing whole days for travel is realistic -- and you'll be able to see a few things upon arrival on "flight days" if you leave late or fly early.

Happy travels,

Jules

ira

Hi Austin,

A very doable itinerary, but I don't think it fits with "We want a relaxing trip and want to time to savor each city,..".

Enjoy your visit and, please, let us know how it works out.

suze

what ira says.

It is a very fast paced trip you have planned. Certainly it can be done but my personal preference is less places and more time in each.

I don't think 3 days in major cities can be called relaxing or savoring by any stretch. And Ialso pretty much guarantee you won't run out of things to do if you spent... oh let's say 5 days instead

Indygirl2

I've never had the luxury of traveling for three weeks at a time so I envy you that. Your trip sounds doable, but hectic and it depends on everything running smoothly. If you heart is set, however, I would possibly rethink your day trips in Spain and instead either spend an extra day or two in London, Cinque Terre or Rome. I doubt that you would run out of things to do in either Rome or London, nor do I think it would hurt to have an extra day at the beach. Having taken the bar exam, I can say from experience that your husband will be exhausted--both physically and mentally. Hitting the ground running in a busy city like London and then traveling to a new place every few days for three weeks would certainly wear me out. For that reason, I might pare it down a bit. In any event, good luck to your husband on the bar exam and have a great trip.

By the way, arrival at a hotel at 5 p.m. should be fine, but it couldn't hurt to inform the hotel of your estimated arrival time when you make your reservation.