10-day Europe Trip (5-15June)
 

Hi All,

I am planning for a 10-day Europe trip this coming June for me, my wife and 2 kids (7yo and 8yo). I am looking to fly into Paris and fly out from Rome. My planned itinerary is this:

Paris 3 nights (6-June to 9-June)
Rome 3 nights (12-June to 15-June)

I am stumped on which is the best place to go for 9-June to 12-June. My main consideration for the the third place would be not "out of the way" going to Rome. Would Switzerland or any German city be a nice place? Or any Italian city perhaps?

Hope you can help me in making our first family Euro-trip a memorable and enjoyable one. Btw, we are from Singapore.

Thanks!
Noynoy

Venice is an option, or just add time to both Rome and Paris. Why the need to have a third destination?

Three nights only gives you two days in each of Paris and Rome. I assume you arrive on June 6 and leave on June 15th.That gives you only 8 and a bit days on the ground. Your first day, June 6th will be jet-lagged. If it were me, I would stay in just one city (Paris). If your flights are already set, I would stay in Paris June 6-9th and then move to Rome, realizing that your travel day won't net you much sight-seeing. If you add a third place you will have to travel on 1 more day and will spend as much time travelling as actually "being" anywhere.

I agree (even before I read previous post). Venice is in Italy but with a very different feel to Rome, or indeed probably anywhere else in Italy.
How do you plan to travel between Paris & Rome? If you want to use trains, try to book early and you'll get some good deals. 3 months in advance is usually good, sometimes 4 months for the best deals.

Five nights each in Paris and Rome would be a lovely family trip. No need to over complicate things. If you really feel the need to see something else, you could always do a day trip from each city.

If you stick to your plan to have something in the middle, consider Torino. It is a 5 hour train trip from Paris. Kids can have fun there. Leaving Torino by train for Rome, you can store your luggage in the train station in either Milan, Bologna or Florence if you would like to take a walk around sightseeing and have lunch in those places.

But i think you need an extra night in Paris if you are coming from Singapore, just so everybody has a chance to recover from the long fights.

Paris and Rome without a 3rd city are very inteesting too. You can always take a day trip if you want more action.

Noynoy, when I read threads like this my heart sinks - 10 days and you want to see at least 3, if not 4 european countries. And you have young kids in tow.

You have barely any time to see Paris and Rome as it is. They are big cities and though the centre of Rome isn't that large, it is full of things to do and see. Paris is bigger so it takes longer to get between sights but there's just as much there.

This is roughly how your time will go :

Day 1 - arrive in Paris. [what time does your flight arrive?] go to hotel, either check in or leave luggage if room not ready yet. Set off to explore and try to fend off jet lag. try to find play ground so that the kids can let off steam. Then find a cafe where they can eat as they didn't eat on the plane. By now you are all really tired so you go back to the hotel for a rest. Crash out and sleep.

Day 2 - Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Boat trip down the Seine [the Batobus runs down the Seine so you can sail between these two major sights.] Get back on the boat and go down to the Jardin des Plantes so the kids can run around again. walk back through the Latin Quarter and have an early supper. Early bed as you are all tired again.

Day 3 - Versailles. Spend all day there along with the crowds. Fun but too many people.

Day 4 - leave Paris - what? We've only just arrived. What about the Louvre, the Champs Elysees, the Marais, the .....sorry, no time.

See what I mean?

To have the memorable and enjoyable experience your are dreaming of, please stick to Paris and Rome. You don't need to go anywhere else - just distribute those extra days between the two places you are already visiting. it won't be anything like enough but it'll be better than the 2 ½ days you've allowed yourselves.

I have a idea for you. From Paris, take the night train to Milan - it would be an adventure for the kids, and more time-efficient and civilized than air travel. When you arrive in Milan, store your bags at the station, look at the Duomo (right next to the train station) and walk around a bit, see a couple of sights, have lunch. Then take the train to Florence (less than 2 hours) and stay there 2 nights. Make reservations at the Uffizi first. Don't miss the Bargello. Tons of sights of course.

Then train to Rome (around 90 minutes). While Florence's main sights are mostly indoors, walking around Rome is pure theatre.

Oh, and I agree with Jane - I suggest to add another night in Paris, to help with jet lag.

Here's another thought, if you take the train trip I suggest, but don't have time to stay over in Florence.

Right next to the train station in Florence is Santa Maria Novella, a church with some spectacular, and historically important, works of Renaissance art. You could (again) store your bags at the station, visit the church, maybe have a meal, and get right back on the train to Rome!

I am not a fan of "whirlwind" tours but, as it happens, this one lines up nicely in Florence.

The overnight train between Paris and Milan will get you there, but whether it's civilized is debatable. I've taken it, and had no real problems, but it's very basic, bordering on grim. If you take it, bring your own food and beverages, including bottled water, as the time I took it there was no potable water on the train.

The overnight train arrives way too early at Milan. Stay in your berths up to Verona ar 7.54 and board your Florence bound train there.

How are you planning to travel between stops? If you are flying you don't have to think in straight lines. You are wide open to adding anything from Dublin to Athens, Munich to Barcelona. As other posters have cautioned, be sure to keep travel times in mind. You don't want to spend your whole vacation between places.

London, Paris and Rome are the big three because they each have so much to offer. You could that the chunnel train from the center of London to the center of Paris in a couple of hours.

The duomo in Milan is not near the train station. I don't think Milan would be of great interest to the kids.

Venice would be great for them. But I agree: with your limited time, just do the 2 cities Paris and Rome. More than enough to occupy your days.

Sorry - but you are counting several days multiple time - so really have no idea how long you will be in each place.

You say Paris 6 through 9 - wihch gives you 3.5 days there.

But then you have June 9 as a travel day - which would mean only 2.5 days in Paris.

And you have June 9 listed as a day in another city as well.

You can't have 3 June 9ths in your itinerary.

Especially with 2 kids you should stick with 2 cities - and actually have time to see more than 2 or 3 major sights as well as leaving time for the kids to be kids - parks, zoos, bot rides, carousels etc. Or you could be dragging 2 grumpy kids all over with you.

Thanks everyone for your well-meaning responses. We have already firmed up our itinerary. We are going to Venice first (2 days) then Rome (3 days) then we proceed to Paris for 5 days. I hope we can see as much sights we can.

regards,
Noynoy