muhdeeco

So, my boyfriend and I are going to be traveling Europe for two months. We've been planning this trip for the past year or so, and working hard to make it a reality. We finally have our itinerary set, out dates solidified, and with the help of Airbnb.com (and some friends), we have organized and paid for all the places to stay!


Now, all we need to do is continue saving and start figuring out all of the things we want to do and see in each place we go. For example, the first week we will be in Europe and it'll be my birthday! By the time we make it to Florence, it will be my boyfriends birthday! We're both trained and educated fine artists. We also both really enjoy eating (but who doesn't).

This is both of our first times in another country for a long period of time. We were planning on using mostly trains, though we are flying the further distances.


So, based on our itinerary are there any MUST SEES, MUST EATS, or MUST DO's? Or even just any advice on trains, budgets, or just general tips at all? Everyone here, I've learned, is so incredibly helpful and kind so I look forward to some great insight.


We leave February 1st.
Amsterdam - 7 night
Beaune - 7 nights
Paris - 7 nights
Barcelona - 7 nights
Venice - 3 nights
Bologna - 4 nights
Cinque Terre - 3 nights
Florence - 7 nights
Rome - 5 nights
Amalfi Coast - 5 nights
Rome - (our last night)

bilboburgler

Beaune, I'd try to get out of town, hire bicycles and get out of the tourist centred tasting rooms there.

Bologna, get to Ravenna by train and Faenza (bike or train) to see the massive pottery museum.

bobthenavigator

That time of year I would miss the CT.

How do you plan to get to Venice from Barcelona?

Spend all of your Rome time at the end.

muhdeeco

We were just going to fly from Barcelona to Venice.

muhdeeco

When we're in Beaune we're actually living at a family friend's house who produces a lot of wine. Paris we're also in a family friend's apartment, which is nice.

live42day

We flew Vueling from Venice to Barcelona. If you book far in advance it is very inexpensive.

michelhuebeli

Great trip, congratulations on giving yourselves time in all these places!
You may not get as much out of the two coastal locations as you are hoping, Cinque Tere (which of the five?) and the Amalfi Coast, because of the short days and the iffy weather, and no beach fun of course, and closures because out of season. Maybe substitute other locations - Milan - Verona - Padua on the way to Venice (fly Barcelona - Milan)?

If you can't resist the coast, you could change the order just a bit: Fly from Barcelona to Genoa, take the train to your chosen destination in the Cinque Terre (or some other Ligurian town along that stretch), then take the train to Pisa, spend a few hours walking to the cathedral and baptistry (both beautiful!) and of course the leaning tower, walk back to the station via the old town and take the train to Florence.

Then hop on a train for Venice, or spend time in Florence, or Bologna (with a mandatory side trip to Ravenna - see www.ravennamosaici.it ) - it's up to you.

You can fly from Venice to Naples, do the Amalfi coast, then spend the rest of your trip in Rome and fly home from Rome.

muhdeeco

All of those are very valid suggestions! We went into it knowing that there was a huge chance that the weather for Cinque Terre and the Amalfi may not be nice enough. This time around, we're really not all that interested in beaches or swimming to be honest. We kind of just wanted to do it for the scenic aspects and relaxation time. We were hoping that by the end of March, it will have started to warm up a little (though we know it won't be too much).

My boyfriend and I met in Venice for the first time two years ago, the first week of March! Verona was one of my most favorite parts of the entire trip.

We have a full refund on where we stay on the Amalfi, so if worse comes to worst we will cancel that reservation and stay in Rome a little longer!

muhdeeco

Also, we have a place in Riomaggiore for CT and I believe Sorrento for Amalfi.

DeborahAnn

We really enjoyed our stay in Verona also. We had 9 days and still didn't get to all the sights in the surrounding area that we hoped to see.

While staying in Sorrento I would recommend visiting Pompeii and Naples on two different days. We also rented a car for one day to drive along the Amalfi coast---the number of scooters zipping in and out of traffic made that road trip hazardous so I'm not sure I would ever do that again

In Barcelona you will find more places to visit than you will probably have time for whereas in Beaune you might want to take day trips to Dijon and other destinations as we found a week in Beane this past September very dull/boring. Unfortnately the weather was not pleasant for visiting towns/wineries along the wine routes.

Have fun planning. Deborah

muhdeeco

Are there any specific day trips that people would recommend for when we're in Beaune (thanks Deborah!), Florence, Rome, Paris, etc?

Any specific museums or restaurants we should check out?

PalenQ

Or even just any advice on trains<

for oodles and oodles of great stuff on European trains I always recommend www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com as sites that will tell you more than you need to know.

You are traveling enough by rail in Italy to warrant a look at the Italian Railpass - youthpass if there is one and if you are under 26 - you could get discounted fares on www.trenitalia.com but those must be booked far in advance to secure as they are sold in limited numbers and cannot be changed nor refunded - the pass would let you decide which train to take once there - and even that many discounted tickets may be as much or more as the pass, depending on whether you can actually get them all or have to pay full fare on some - compare prices on trenitalia.com and pass prices (from any site I list above) and see.

All your other trains seem to involve France so www.voyages-sncf.com is the official French Railways site - unfortunately since France has pulled out of the Eurail Select Pass scheme a railpass is not viable for your French trains.

You can take the Elipsos overnight train Paris to Barcelona (though it may be scrubbed at some point in the fututre due to the opening of a direct TGV Paris to Barcelona line any day) - www.elipsos.com for the night train site.

PalenQ

Do you have relative sin Beaune - a very nice regional town but unless you want to spend a week putzing up and down the marked Route des vins bourogone - a road that goes thru several well-known wine villages and by famous wine houses for a taste and to buy from the source.

Why Beaune for a week? All the other long stops I can see but Beaune? I guess if you have a car you could go to Aleisa, scene of an ancient battle with the Romans or Vezelay, a primo medieval pilgrimage meccas that has been preserved pretty much as it was in its heyday before the venerated local icon in the Basilica was proven to be a fake and the pilgrim trade dried up - leaving the town to slumber along undisturbed by modernsity.

???

You could substitute 7 nights in Switzerland or the nearby Chamonix/Mt Blanc area too.

suze

it's a teeny tweak, but why go to Rome twice? put all the time at the end.

yestravel

If you end up passing on Amalfi Coast, maybe add Naples? A very chaotic, inexpensive fun city. We were on the Amalfi coast one year in April and it was cold and very few places were open. Still scenic. If you do the AC go to Ravello at least for a day. Beautiful views and nice small town.
Agree that you should do Rome at the end.

From Beaune easy train trip to Dijon, a cute little villiage and enough to keep you busy for most of a day.

Have a great trip!

ekc

We recently spent 5 days in Beaune and loved it (after 3 days in Rome). We had a car and spent the time driving to the villages (Vezelay and Dijon included) and wine tasting and relaxing in the beautiful countryside. I HIGHLY recommend dinner at Ma Cuisine in Beaune. Also catch the Duomo light show one evening.

Too bad you aren't staying on the Amalfi Coast. It will be a long bus ride to see the AC villages from Sorrento. Given that you aren't staying on the AC, I can't give you any restaurant recs there.

muhdeeco

We are just going back to Rome for that night, we leave the morning after.

Also, we're staying in Beaune for the week because we were offered a free house to stay in for the time there. We're staying with a family friend who is a very established wine maker.

Like I said before, we're both artists. We're staying in Beaune to relax and make some art for the friend hosting us.

yestravel

I think what posters are saying is to put all your nights in Rome at the end of the trip. Doesn't seem to be any reason to have the one night separated at the end. Go from Florence to the Amalfi Coast (or where you decide to go) and then go and to Rome spend all your days there and fly home. Saves moving around once.

kybourbon

>>>I think what posters are saying is to put all your nights in Rome at the end of the trip<<<

Yes. You should put all of your Rome stay together at the end. It doesn't make sense to go there twice.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I'm pretty well acquainted with all the major (and minor) day trips you can take from Paris. I have a huge day trip list that I post from time to time but rather than hog up the whole page with my list I'll give you a link to another thread that you can have a look at where I posted my list, as well as some info about using public transport in Paris:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...from-paris.cfm

I like Beaune very much and how lucky you've got a free place to stay. Are you going to have a car there? That makes a big difference as to recommendations of day trips. You can have a look at this thread which has links to all the major tourist office websites in Burgundy and info about biking, wine, châteaux etc.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...-Burgundy.html