thepilotswife

Hi everyone,

I am traveling to Europe with my 8-year old daughter and my aunt in early June. Our trip will be 28 days total, including our travel to and from the U.S. I would love some feedback on our tentative itinerary.

Day 1 - U.S. to Paris (arriving on day 2)
Days 2 - 6 - Paris
Day 7 - travel from Paris to Nice
Days 8-12 - Nice
Day 13 - travel from Nice to Venice
Days 14-17 - Venice
Day 18 - travel from Venice to Amsterdam
Days 19-22 - Amsterdam
Day 23 - travel from Amsterdam to London
Days 24-27 - London
Day 28 - London to U.S.

1. Does this itinerary make sense (in terms of the order in which we visit each city)? I was thinking of ending up in Amsterdam and London since that will be late June/early July and they won't be as hot as Nice/Venice would be at that time.
2. Does the itinerary seem reasonable? Are we trying to fit too much in?
3. How would you recommend getting to/from each of the cities? We're leaning toward train from Paris to Nice, flight from Nice to Venice, flight from Venice to Amsterdam, and overnight ferry from Amsterdam to London.

Any other thoughts/suggestions?

traveller1959

1. Yes.
2. Yes and no.
3. Flying all sections.

4. You will see different parts of Europe, but your itinerary concentrates on big cities. Make sure to explore some of the countryside. Much of Europe's charm is in the small villages and in the scenery. Maybe cut a day from Venice (which does not have so much countryside) and add it at another place.

Nice is probably the least attractive city in the region Côte d'Azur. Make sure to drive the scenic corniches and visit the perched villages on their mountaintops. Out of London, visit Oxford and Bath and maybe the Cotswolds. Out of Amsterdam, see Utrecht and Delft.

HappyTrvlr

If you pit Lonon first, ypu could take the train to Paris, very easy.
We combined Venice and Amsterdam one time, a canal focus!

PalenQ

Perfect itinerary - I'd fly by high-speed train Paris to Nice, now just over 5 hours and see wome of the lovely France in between - like Burgundy and Provence - there is also an overnight train if that is in your interests. Be sure to book at say www.capitainetrain.com early for big discounts - and incredibly cheap fares at time that are much cheaper than any cheap flight.

Nice to Venice just got a two hours quicker by the reintroduction of direct Nice to Milan trains - so that whole trip to Venice may also take about 5 hours or so.

Venice to Amsterdam if you want to go straight thru yes fly - though again if you take a day train Venice to Munich you can do an overnight train from there to Amsterdam. Overnight trains are comfy in private compartments and you save money on hotels - book early for discounted tickets.

Anyway for loads of great info on European trains - www.seat61.com - good stuff on discounted tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

RonZ

Yes, the Eurostar fro London to Paris takes about 2.5 hours. Paris to Nice you take the train [5.5 hours]. Nice to Venice you can fly Easyjet, schedules changed day by day.

thepilotswife

Thank you all for the feedback!

Traveller1959, thank you for the suggestions of places to visit outside the big cities. We plan to do quite a bit of that. I included our main cities, but we will do day trips.

From Paris, we are planning to visit Giverny and Versailles. From Nice, we are planning to visit mountain towns, and possibly St. Tropez and/or Cannes. We have a family member near Amsterdam that will probably make suggestions for day trips from Amsterdam, though I will be sure to check out Utrecht and Delft. We're still working on London, but I will check out your suggestions there as well.

Thank you!

RonZ

Mountain towns near Menton: St Agnes, the highest coastal village in Europe; Breil-sur-Roya, marvelous alpine scenery. Read up on the history of the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, the inspiration for Versailles and our favorite Paris day trip.

Tulips

If you want to visit St Tropez from Nice, do it by boat and not on a windy day when seas are rough. There's a boat that leaves in the morning, back in the evening. Market days Tuesday and Saturday can be crowded, but June is not high season yet.
Will you have a car in Nice? It's easier when visiting the mountain villages, but you'd need somewhere to park it in Nice.

Your itinerary looks great, what a lovely trip!

Rubicund

I would do:

Venice
Amsterdam
Paris
Nice
London

Fly into Venice and home from London. Fly Venice-Amsterdam, then trains to Paris and Nice, fly to London. You'll avoid backtracking and using up valuable time.

PalenQ

I would suggest:

Amsterdam
Paris
Nice
Venice
London

Gretchen

You have days in Paris. You don't have time for 2 day trips and maybe not even one. Stay in Paris.

casperjj

I was thinking the same thing. Even if staying just in Paris, I would add an extra day. Paris deserves more time especially if you wish to do two day trips. Your first day in Paris will be a blur because of jetlag. Maybe take a day from Venice and maybe even Nice and add to Paris so that you can get over jetlag, enjoy the city and maybe take those daytrips.

jtpj777

Must contest the assertion that Nice is the "least attractive city in the Cote D'Azur area" as it is, firstly the ONLY real city in the immediate area everything else being either a town or a village.

Also I don't think many people would consider Nice unattractive and if in the area you really should see it to make up your own mind about it.

You can access the mountain villages of the Nice hinterland by bus, no need for a car.

PalenQ

Nice est nice! Tres tres nice!

Kathie

With the limited time you have in Paris, I can't imagine trying to take two days out for day trips! Nor the suggested day trips from London. If you want to do those day trips, then cut one city.

sandralist

I can imagine people wanting to go to Giverny and Versailles, or do day trips from London. In other words, they might not being doing the things many people would do, but surely that is easy to imagine. Of course they have time, if that's what they want to do. Travel is not a forced march. It's something you create to please yourself, and following one's own interest.

Sue_xx_yy

My only concern is that this itinerary involves a lot of flying. At least, it does if one wants to cover those distances efficiently.

If you stick to it, know that Easyjet flies 4 times a week from Nice to Venice.

Me, I would pick either Venice or Nice but not both, and substitute a little of Belgium in between Amsterdam and Paris to break up the train trip.

PalenQ

Nice to Venice is a long haul by train - can leve 8:09 from Nice and be in Venice around 3:30 pm - too long a day for me - but if you want to say break that journey and stay in say lovely Verona for a night then trains could be viable.

PalenQ

and overnight ferry from Amsterdam to London.>

Or take Thalys train to Brussels in about 2 hours and then Eurostar trains to London in less than 2 hours!

thepilotswife

Okay, I booked our airfare and took some of the suggestions I've received (here and elsewhere) into consideration...

Day 1 U.S. to Paris (arriving day 2)
Days 2-7 Paris (extra day here to recover from jet lag and fit in two day trips)
Day 8 Paris to Nice by train
Days 9-12 Nice and surrounding areas
Day 13 Nice to Cinque Terre by train/bus?
Days 14-15 Cinque Terre
Day 16 Cinque Terre to Venice
Days 17-19 Venice (cut a day from Venice)
Day 20 Venice to Amsterdam by plane
Days 21-24 Amsterdam
Day 24 Amsterdam to London via overnight ferry
Days 25-28 London
Day 29 London to U.S.

We're probably going to have a car in Nice and the surrounding areas. Would it make more sense to drive to Cinque Terre? How long is travel between Nice and Cinque Terre? Is it even worth adding Cinque Terre into an already busy itinerary?

How does the itinerary look overall, bearing in mind that I'll have an 8-year old with me?