triciag

Hello all! I'm planning a 10 ish day trip to France and Italy in July and would appreciate some suggestions. Below is our tentative plan:

- Paris 3 days
- Lyon 2.5 days (for a wedding)
- Venice for 1 day
- Rome 4 days

I've been to Rome and Florence before but my boyfriend hasn't. We are planning on taking the train to Rome and I don't really want to spend all 4 days in Rome. Any suggestions on other places to stop? I know it's not a lot of time but I'd love to see other parts of Italy, especially some less traveled ones. Is it even worth stopping in Venice? Someone recommended Ischia too.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

uhoh_busted

Of course it is worth stopping in Venice, if you can get a good hotel room. Have you checked the cost of train fare Paris/Venice/Rome? You might also look for cheap airfare for the Paris to (Italian destination) which could cost less and save you some time.

If you don't visit Venice (and I would take at least one night away from Rome if you do) you can visit a small Umbrian or Tuscan town that is accessible via train. Orvieto is my favorite. It is a good break from the big city. Plus it isn't hard to get to FCO from Orvieto, assuming you will fly back from there.

triciag

Thanks! We are traveling from Lyon, France to Venice. I still need to look into train vs flight costs. I've read some good things about Orvieto. Would you spend the night there? Or just day trip it?

StuDudley

Stay in France!!!!!!!

No need to spend most of your remaining days after Lyon on the train/plane/car getting from A to B. After Lyon take the 1 hr TGV to Avignon, rent a car, stay in St Remy, explore Provence, visit the lavender fields,, small hill villages, farmer's markets, Roman ruins, Alps, scenic drives, historic cities, and then either take the TGV back to Paris for your flight home or leave from Marseille.

Getting from Lyon to Italy will consume most of 1 day - and you have very few days.

July isn't the best time to visit either Venice or Rome, IMO. Dashing around and spending only 1 day in Venice is a crime.

Stu Dudley

sarge56

I can't believe I'm recommending someone <i>not</i> go to Italy... but I agree with Stu. The crowds in Venice/Rome in July will make it very unromantic, for sure.

If you cannot extend your trip another 3-4 days, then I'd also say stay in France. However, if you can extend the trip by 3 days- then certainly 3 days in Venice and 3 in Rome would be doable. Fly into Venice and home from Rome.

triciag

I would love to spend the trip in France but 4 out of the 6 of us traveling haven't been to Italy before so I think we are pretty set on going. We are good with 1 day and night in Venice and were hoping to take a night train down to Rome to help make good use of waking hours. I think we are pretty set on the travel dates too. I know it's a lot to cram in but we don't have enough time to take off work

bobthenavigator

Skip Venice unless you spend 3 nites.
I too would stay in France---Italy is your next trip when you have more time.

StCirq

This is the inherent problem with American vacation schedules - no one has enough time to actually go anyplace and enjoy it for more than a smidgeon of time. Shameful. I'd stay in France, too, rather than use up valuable "vacation days" in transport. You can all spend your next paltry lot of vacation days in Italy.

triciag

Thanks for everyone's opinions but again, we are set on going to Italy too.

mamcalice

I agree with remaining in France unless you can extend your trip by a few days. As it is, you will spend all of your time moving from place to place and have very little opportunity to enjoy your stops.

You asked for advice and a lot of experienced travelers have provided the same advice. However, if you decide to go ahead with Italy, do NOT add stops. If you want to spend less time in Rome, add a day to Venice.

ahiddenbird

Well, if you're set on going to Italy, why not spend 2 days in Venice and 3 in Rome? Crowds or not, Venice is a really cool, gorgeous city and I personally don't think just one day is enough!

Alternatively, if you skip Venice entirely, I think it might be a good idea to spend a couple of days somewhere that isn't a super touristy city. You'll be spending most of your trip in big, bustling cities that on top of that, will be super crowded because it'll be high season. It might be nice to break it up by spending time somewhere quieter. Maybe look for some places near Rome so you're spending less time in transit.

OOOoor, if you don't go to Rome and maybe stay a little farther north, you'll at least spend a little less time traveling, hopefully. So say instead of going all the way down to Rome, you could try the Ligurian coast, maybe Genoa and the Cinque Terre or something. Or the Italian Alps! Or the Lakes!

Whatever you choose to do, my main point is that I think you should try and whittle down your time in transit as much as you possibly can, since your time is limited. Really, other than some nice views from trains, getting from point A to point B is the most stressful, tedious part of traveling and it's really better to avoid it as much as you reasonably can

StuDudley

>>Thanks for everyone's opinions but again, we are set on going to Italy too.<<

Why on earth did you even post your original question????

Have you checked the flight schedules from Lyon to Venice?? Also, have you determined the mode/time it takes 6 people to get from the Venice airport to your hotel??? We took a water taxi (quickest) but that was very expensive. What time do you expect to arrive at your hotel in Venice & then "ready to explore" Venice??? Has anyone in your group visited Venice before and said that 3-5 hrs in Venice is fine??? Transportation from the airport and also within Venice is very time consuming - unless you stay near the Venice Santa Lucia (not Mestre) train station - which I would not want to do.

Stu Dudley

triciag

Stu - My original question was mostly related to the Italy portion of the trip. I thought that was clear but it looks like it wasn't

The Venice part isn't my choice....I'm traveling with 5 others. But you have good points, I'll make sure they look into that because I'm not sure if they have.

StuDudley

>> isn't my choice....I'm traveling with 5 others<,

Ah yes - itinerary by committee. Usually a formula for problems - especially with people who have limited European experiences.

- Getting from Lyon to Venice:
Train takes 10+ hrs and multiple train changes - forget a train.

Major airline:

Leave Lyon at 8:55 & arrive in Venice at 10:15
Leave Lyon at 3:30 arrive in Venice at 4:50

- For the first flight, you'll have to be "packed & ready" to go to the airport by 6:30 am - can all 6 of you do that??
- If you land at 10:15, by the time you collect your bags (I'll assume people attending a wedding will have checked bags) it will be 11:00 at the earliest. By the time you board some sort of transportation to your hotel, it will be 11:30. Getting to your hotel could take anywhere from 30 mins to 1 1/2 hrs - depending on the location of the hotel & transportation mode. For 6 people - I would add 1/2 hr to the total "plane exit to hotel door" time. I would add another 1/2 for buffer. That gets you to the hotel at 1:00 to 2:00. 45 mins for hotel check-in for 6 people gets you to 1:45 to 2:45 before you are ready to explore Venice.

- For the afternoon flight, you'll be ready to explore Venice around 9:30 to 10:30 pm.

Stu Dudley