AshleyTaylor726

I am planning a 17 day Europe vacation next year with my husband for our Anniversary and to celebrate me graduating from grad school! My dilemma is this, I am having a hard time deciding which cities to visit and how long to stay in each one. My husband wants to travel to less cities and enjoy the area, and I don't have a problem with that but it is so tempting to visit as many places as much as possible because everything is so close. Here are the areas we are focusing on and the approximate days: London 3 days (with a day trip to Stonehenge), Fly to Venice for 2 days, Train to Florence and Pisa (stay night in Florence), Train to Rome 5 days (day trip to Naples and Pompeii, Fly to Paris stay there 5 days (with a day trip to Versailles), train to London to fly back home. What are your thoughts?

nytraveler

First of all - instead of making a giant circle you should get an open jaw ticket (will show as multi-destination) to avoid wasting a day getting back to London. That way you can put all of your London time at the front of your trip. In you case I would fly into London and out of Rome.

Second - you are trying to see too many places in too little time. How many days do you actually have on the ground - not counting the day you arrive and the day you leave?

If it's 15 - as I suspect then you should stay in 4 hotels - no more. You are seriously short-changing London - and will have no time in Florence - so I would cut that. Esp since yuo want to do day trips from London and Paris - 4 cities is the absolute max in your limited time.

So:

Arrive London (5 nights - 4 days)
Train to Paris (4 nights - 3 days)
Fly to Venice or Florence (pick one - not both for 3 nights - 2 days)
Train to Rome (3 nights - 2 days)

You must allow 1/2 to 3/4 of a day each time you move from one city to another - and cannot count any day 3 times - as in for London, for travel from London to Paris and for Paris). Each day gets counted once.

travelhorizons

Much better itinerary. I would do just 3 destinations:

London — 5NT
Paris — 5NT
Rome — 5NT

All three are great destinations, and I would give yourself enough time to do a worthwhile first visit to each.

dwdvagamundo

I believe your husband is right and strongly believe that you will enjoy your trip more--and have more actual sight-seeing time--if you save some of this for your next trip.

If it were up to me, I'd do the Italian part, as Italy is my favorite country and you've got the nucleus of a great seventeen day Italian vacation.

But if you do decide to take the "Grand Tour," fly into London and out of Paris to save having to return to London. Shouldn't cost you any more.

suze

<tempting to visit as many places as much as possible because everything is so close>

Not really. London is not "close" to Rome. Your idea spends a lot of time going around place to place, and not enough time in any one. Your husband's got the right idea.

I also agree with the suggestion of an "open jaw" flight. So you fly into London but can fly out of Rome or Venice and avoid backtracking on the ground at the end of your trip.

suze

Count your destinations. Including your "day trips" you named 11 places in 17 days. That really doesn't work.

PalenQ

For the Chunnel train back to London the early bird doth get the proverbial worm - if you book way WQAY in advance you can pay $100 or more less p p - but those cheapo tickets cannot be changed nor refunded so be sure of your date and time. www.eurostar.com is the official Chunnel train booking site. For lots of great info on European trains in general check out these superb IMO sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetrafel.com.

For Italian trains www.trenitalia.com is the official site of the Italian State Railways which runs most of the country's trains - similar to Chunnel train fares booking weeks or months early can result in good savings but again cannot be easily changed nor refunded. But if you book 3 months in advance you could get a 9 euro fares between any two cities that have high-speed train service.

jent103

Your original itinerary looks like this, if I understand correctly:

Day 0: Leave US
Day 1: Arrive in London - say you get into the city around lunch
Day 2: London
Day 3: Stonehenge
Day 4: Fly to Venice (at least a half day, maybe more)
Day 5: Venice
Day 6: Train to Pisa, then back to Florence
Day 7: Train to Rome
Days 8, 9, 10: Rome
Day 11: Day trip (long) to Pompeii
Day 12: Fly to Paris (at least a half day, maybe more)
Days 13, 14: Paris
Day 15: Versailles (probably 3/4 day)
Day 16: Train back to Paris
Day 17: Fly home

1) Absolutely buy an open-jaw ticket. If you stick with these cities, fly into London and home from Rome.

2) Am I correct in assuming this is your first trip to all of these places? If so, you have SO little time in London - really a day and a half!

This is what I would do:
Day 0: Leave US
Day 1: Arrive London
Days 2-5: London
Day 6: Eurostar to Paris
Days 7-9: Paris
Day 10: Fly to Venice
Days 11-12: Venice
Day 13: Train to Rome
Days 14-16: Rome
Day 17: Fly home

Taking out one more city might be better, but this is a doable if fast-paced trip. I put the extra day in London since you'll be jet lagged, plus if you really want to do Stonehenge, it's a full day trip, as opposed to Versailles. (Also because I really like London, but that's me.)

How much of a must is Pompeii? It's a very long day, from what I've read here.

PalenQ

ttt