ziggy13

I'm finishing a graduate degree this April and have a month to travel. I'm a 24 year old female traveling alone. I'll arrive in Rome late on April 17 and will fly out of Paris May 17. I've been trying to work out a rough itinerary but am having troubles filling in some blanks and would love some help!

This will be my last bit of freedom before starting an intense job, so I want to have some fun. I plan on staying in party-oriented hostels some nights for this. I hope to meet other younger travelers this way. However, I'm quite keen on culture and history for the days. I want to see the general big sights but would also love tips on some less popular sights. I want to check out some museums but I'm not a huge art buff. I'm on a tight budget as well, so I love free/cheap museums/churches/etc. I like old architecture and scenic views. I'm very excited to eat and drink wine but I wouldn't consider myself a foodie or wine expert whatsoever. I would say I'm a general interest budget traveler.

For pace, I'm good with lots of walking and busy/packed days, but I also want some leisure time and to have some flexibility with my schedule. I don't want to spend my entire trip in transit! But I do want to see as much as I can. I haven't had much opportunity to travel in the past, so I'm eager to explore. I'm only doing bus/train/flights if needed - no car rental.

Here's my rough schedule so far. I plan on taking some day trips in the Rome/Paris periods. As you can see, I've a better idea of where I want to go in Italy than France, where I've got around 5 days that I'm undecided on. I'm basically very flexible on where to go between Nice and Paris and would love suggestions (and welcome Italy suggestions too!).

April 17 - ARRIVE ROME
April 17 - Rome
April 17 - Rome
April 17 - Rome
April 17 - Rome
April 17 - Rome
April 17 - Rome/Florence
April 17 - Florence
April 17 - Florence
April 17 - Florence/Pisa/Cinque Terre
April 17 - Cinque Terre
April 17 - Cinque Terre/Venice
April 17 - Venice
April 17 - Venice
May 1 - Venice/Milan
May 2 - Milan
May 3 - Milan
May 4 - Milan/(Monaco?)/Nice
May 5 - Nice
May 6 - Nice/FLEX
May 7 - FLEX
May 8 - FLEX
May 9 - FLEX
May 10 - FLEX
May 11 - FLEX/Paris
May 12 - Paris
May 13 - Paris
May 14 - Paris
May 15 - Paris
May 16 - Paris
May 17 - PARIS FLY OUT

Flex ideas: Cannes, Marseilles, Avignon, Lyon, Geneva, Dijon?

Thank you in advance!

ziggy13

Oops, I forgot to fix the dates and I don't see anywhere to edit. So here's the proper dates:

April 17 - ARRIVE ROME
April 18 - Rome
April 19 - Rome
April 20 - Rome
April 21 - Rome
April 22 - Rome
April 23 - Rome/Florence
April 24 - Florence
April 25 - Florence
April 26 - Florence/Pisa/Cinque
April 27 - Cinque
April 28 - Cinque/Venice
April 29 - Venice
April 30 - Venice
May 1 - Venice/Milan
May 2 - Milan
May 3 - Milan
May 4 - Milan/Monaco/Nice
May 5 - Nice
May 6 - Nice/FLEX
May 7 - FLEX
May 8 - FLEX
May 9 - FLEX
May 10 - FLEX
May 11 - FLEX/Paris
May 12 - Paris
May 13 - Paris
May 14 - Paris
May 15 - Paris
May 16 - Paris
May 17 - PARIS FLY OUT

ziggy13

Sorry for the instant update, but I made a rough schedule for my previously undecided time in France based on further browsing. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated!

April 17 - ARRIVE ROME
April 18 - Rome
April 19 - Rome
April 20 - Rome
April 21 - Rome
April 22 - Rome
April 23 - Rome/Florence
April 24 - Florence
April 25 - Florence
April 26 - Florence/Pisa/Cinque terre
April 27 - Cinque
April 28 - Cinque/Venice
April 29 - Venice
April 30 - Venice
May 1 - Venice/Milan
May 2 - Milan
May 3 - Milan
May 4 - Milan/Monaco/Nice
May 5 - Nice
May 6 - Nice/Cannes/Nice
May 7 - Nice/Marseille/Avignon
May 8 - Avignon
May 9 - Avignon/Lyon
May 10 - Lyon
May 11 - Lyon/Paris
May 12 - Paris
May 13 - Paris
May 14 - Paris
May 15 - Paris
May 16 - Paris
May 17 - PARIS FLY OUT

bilboburgler

For a young person it is a bit, well, what the middle aged might do. I'f drop the whole Milan thing and go to an old university town, so Bergamo (maybe a bit small) or Bolgona and see something different.

isabel

I don't see anything at all wrong with that itinerary. Perfectly fine - you are seeing the highlights, have plenty of time in each place. So you wouldn't need to change anything at all and you'd have a great trip.

If you are looking for possible ways to tweak it though I would suggest a few days in some slightly less well known areas. For example, a couple days off Rome, Milan and maybe one off Venice and spend two or three in Bologna, or Verona, etc. Certainly firmly on the tourist trail, but a little different. And from either of them day trips to places like Ferrara, Modena, Mantua. I just love the feel of the smaller Italian cities. These are true cities, not little villages, but smaller and less tourist infiltrated. From Florence I would do a day trip to Siena. From Milan do a day trip to Bergamo, absolutely beautiful place. From Milan I think you could also do a day trip to Lake Como. From Nice there are lots of small villages you can get to for day trip including Eze, Villefrance, Vence, Antibes, etc. If you want to see photos of any of these places I have several Italy and France galleries here: http://www.pbase.com/annforcier


To save money look into the Rome card (or whatever it's called), I though that was a good value, especially given the number of days you are there. Also in Italy, travel by train is wonderful and if you are not in a hurry you can save some money by taking slower trains. For example, you can get from point A to point B on a train that takes a half hour and costs €15 or a train that takes an hour and costs €5. There are regional, intercity and eurostar trains and the regional ones make lots of stop and take longer but cost less. You can also get promo fares for the longer trips but those need to be purchased in advance. Although I've even gotten some decent discounts just by pressing a bunch of buttons on the ticket kiosk machine till a promo fare came up. Obviously street food, sandwiches, pizza and buying picnic supplies at markets and eating in a square or park save significant money over restaurant meals.

But I think you have a lovely trip.

tarquin

A very good plan with one exception - I would add one day to Venice and drop one in Milan. Milan is a city like many, Venice is "the special one."

ellenem

Check holidays for the countries you plan to visit. April 25 is a holiday in Italy and May 1 is a holiday in both France and Italy. This might affect touring crowds, train schedules, and seat availability on trains.

ziggy13

Thank you for the advice!

It looks like maybe I'll cut back on Milan for sure, check out some smaller places instead. I'll look into Bergamo and Bologna in particular.

I also didn't know about the holidays, so maybe I'll avoid longer train trips that day where I'll need to worry about space on the train.

What do you think about Naples? I've had some people say it's great, other people say it's sketchy/dangerous/not worth it.

isabel

Right now your itinerary has nine 'hotels'. The suggestions I and others made might alter the number of nights in each place, and add in some day trips but wouldn't significantly alter the number of different hotels you need to stay in. Actually I think what I suggested would make it ten. That's very doable for a month long trip but if you start adding in other places you will end up with one of the itineraries everyone on this board is always telling people not to do. There is a huge amount of Italy (and France) you aren't including, and that's fine. When you try to see it all in one trip is when you end up with a frustrating trip.

That said, it is possible to do Naples as a day trip from Rome so if you are bored in Rome (highly unlikely) you could swing down there. The beauty of day trips is that you aren't lugging all your stuff, plus they are very flexible - you can take them or not depending on how you feel at the moment. Day trips do often mean a little extra time on a train, but most people can relax, read or nap and don't find it a problem.

Naples is an interesting city. But if you are going that far south you should include Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. And if you are going that far maybe you should see Sicily. See what I mean. The temptation can be overwhelming sometimes to think, "I'm that close, I should go here...." But try to resist it. You have a good solid trip plan. Look into some of the places we've suggested that are more or less already on your route, but I wouldn't go adding more areas.

Christina

If you are going with the flow when there, it doesn't matter so much as you can do what you feel like when there. But given you have never been there before, I would try to see a couple places with a little more time than zipping through some of those you have in the France portion. I would drop Lyon unless you have some overwhelming reason to want to see it. It is a nice city, but you are only spending about a day in Nice and Avignon, I would think you should spend that time more in one of those locations and relax a little. YOu can always see Lyon during some other trip.

kybourbon

I would get the Roma Pass (30€) for Rome and group things together to take advantage of the 3 day pass coverage. It includes admission to two sites and transport for 3 days (bus/metro/tram is 1.50€ a ride). Use it for the more expensive sites such as the Colosseum/Forum/Palantine (counts as one entrance - normal price is 12€) to get the value.

http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2

If the Roma & Piu Pass (32€) is still available for the time you will be there (it hasn't been for sale in higher tourist seasons the last couple of years), I would get that. For only 2€ more, you can trek all the way out to Tivoli.
http://www.romapass.it/doc/sitiAdere...lietti_eng.pdf

suze

I think it looks like a great itinerary. I don't get the 'old person's' comment. They are major cities and regions of Europe. What's not to like about it?

I do agree with the people who mentioned to shave something somewhere to get a little more time in Venice. I just loved that city the two visits I've been (4-5 days each time).

And I'm glad to see you didn't try to squeeze in Switzerland, which is a personal favorite of mine but doesn't so much fit with what you've already got going on.

laurie_ann

I would drop Milan altogether and use those nights to add a night to some of your other destinations. And consider to fly Venice to Nice. Cheap direct flights on Easy Jet (just be sure to research the special restrictions for luggage and boarding on that discount airline). Another night in several destinations will make it more leisurely. You will still meet new people even in the same place if you are staying in hostels.

PalenQ

If taking trains as much as that in a one-month period then investigate the France-Italy Railpass - Youthpass because you are under 26 - a ten-day pass will be cheaper than a series of online discounted tickets perhaps and unlike them give you the ability to chose which trains to take once there not have to book them in stone weeks if not months in advance to get.

For loads of great info on French and Italian trains check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteurpopetravel.com and www.rickstegves.com.

dwdvagamundo

Glad you decided to drop Milano and add to time in Venice.

I think you have way too much time in Rome and Paris, too much time in Nice, and possibly in Avignon and Lyon as well. Arles is great for a base, as is Aix en Provence. I love Lyon--I could live there, but two days is enough.

Three days is enough for Paris unless you're going to be taking a lot of day trips, and Roma can get very annoying very fast. If so, consider Pompeii as a day trip. If it were me, I'd have three days (four nights) in Rome and add some time to Florence

Like Isabel, I am concerned you are spending too much time in larger cities and not seeing places like Verona and Bologna in Northern Italy, or Arles and towns near there in Southern France.

PalenQ

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