12 days in France and/or Itlay
 

Hi all,

My wife and I are going to Europe for the first time in September. We have already purchased our two-way tickets to Paris (NR). We want to spend a few nights in Paris and then explore either south of France or Italy and then come back to Paris for our return flight back home at 4:30 pm on the 12th day.

Currently we are thinking of this itinerary but not sure how practical it is:

arrive in Paris-CDG (11 am) on day 1
day 2,3, and 4 in Paris
Fly to Rome early in the morning of the 5th day
day 5, 6, and 7 in Rome
Go to Florence early in the morning of the 8th day (train)
day 8, 9, 10 in Florence
Go to Venice early in the morning of the 11th day (train)
day 11 in Venice
Fly back to Paris-CDG in the morning of the 12th day
Fly back home (DC) later that day (4:30pm)


I appreciate your kind advice.

Amir

Hi Amirn -

Of course you're the best judge of what's enjoyable to you and just how ambitious you want to be, but I would subtract 1 day from Paris at the beginning of your trip and add it to Venice because it's definately worth more than just an overnight stay. The rest of your itinerary looks pretty good for the amount of time that you have. Hope that helps, and bon voyage!

Is there a reason you did not fly home from Rome or Venice.?

Thanks PamEwing. But is 2.5 days enough for Paris?

to Bobthenavigator: As I mentioned I have already purchased my return ticket from Paris and it is nonrefundable. So I don't have such an option. Thanks.

With such a short trip, I'd skip Venice this time.

Can you get a flight to Rome on day 1shortly after you arrive? That way you can end your trip in Paris and avoid the stress of either returning the day of your flight home or finding lodging for 1 night.

That should say on day 1 shortly after you arrive.

I think your itinerary is pretty good.

I would add a day to Paris and subtract 1 from Florence, but that's just me.

The first time I went to Venice, I stayed one night. That was plenty to give me a taste.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

Enjoy!

Hi again -

Absolutely, that's just enough time to take in a museum or two, ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower, take a river cruise along the Seine, and eat lots of yummy treats. Venice is so magical that once you're there, I think you'll reget not spending another day.

I definitely don't think 2.5 days in Paris is enough. I would go to either Paris and maybe another destination in France or to Rome and another destination in Italy but would not try to visit all 4 destinations on your current itinerary.

Hi amirn,

I'm sorry but I think that's way, way too much for 11 nights.

Flying between Paris and Rome will take more time and energy than I think you realize- you have to get to airport, sit around for a couple of hours, fly for a couple of hours, then get from the airport into Rome. You won't have all that much time or energy left for sightseeing in Rome on day 5.

Then the train between Florence and Venice is approx. 3 hours. So you'll only have .5 day in Venice before waking up really early and hauling off back to Paris. And if there are delays or troubles with that flight, you could very well end up missing your 4:30 pm flight home from Paris.

You could easily spend your entire time in Paris. If you really want to see some of Italy, then I would recommend choosing one or two cities in Italy maximum. Then you could do something like this:

Paris 5 nights
Rome or Florence or Venice 5 nights
Paris 1 night

or

Paris 4 nights
Rome or Florence 3 nights
Florence or Venice 3 nights
Paris 1 nights

My own preference would be for Paris and one Italian city because of the time involved in travelling between places. All of these cities have so much to see you wouldn't run out of things to do in a million years.

If you've not been to Europe before, you're probably not aware how time consuming it can be to get to and from airports from your hotel, even if you're just doing carry on. The airport in Venice is especially tricky.

All of these are spectacular destinations, and if you are content to be a tourist "hitting" the tourist spots among other tourists, you can gallop along having fun. But if you have any inclination to wander or linger when you travel, you'd be well advised to either head out of Paris using its fast train to explore the south of France with a car (with maybe a day's drive into Italy, say a town like Apricale, for lunch) OR, if you've your heart set on Italy, cutting one Italian destination.

If you want to keep Roma, I would go directly there on your first day, and return from you next Italian city of choice. Florence and Pisa have airports easier to navigate than that of Venice. There is an overnight train from Venice to Paris, but many people don't get any sleep on it.

By the way, if part of your thinking is simply that since this is your first trip to Europe it would be nice to experience more than one country, there are zippier countries with better transportation infrastructure to combine with France, and they are closer to France. But if you want Italy (I live here), you can get here, but I think Italy is more fun if you're not up against deadlines.

Thank you all for your suggestions. How about staying the whole trip in France? Starting and ending in Paris, could you suggest any itinerary to visit some other areas in France? Thanks in advance.

In September, your instinct to head south is fine because the weather will be lovely no doubt on the Riviera. I live on the Italian Riviera, so I am a bit prejudiced against the French one, which is a lot more orderly!

Personally, I would study the fast train map and think about what appeals to you. Driving in France is quite simple, so my inclination would be to take a fast train to a city that appeals to you, and then rent a car to see smaller towns as well, perhaps hooking up with another fast train back, dropping off the car when you board that train.

But September is likely to be beautiful everywhere.

Have a great trip!

hi amirn,

assuming that you are arriving early in the day at your Paris airport, I would immediately get the TGV train to the south of france - eg Nice - [i think that you can get that train direct from Paris CDG, but others may know better] and stay there for 3 nights. then pick up a car, and drive north to Avignon, stopping where the mood takes you. [in september, you could need to book for just two of you].

you could take 6-7 nights doing this.

then get the TGV back to Paris and spend the last 5-6 nights there, ready to go home at the end of your stay.

if you do it this way, if you decided that you really like the area around Nice, you can stay there, no problem. but you will have the freedom to go up into northern Provence and explore avignon, arles, nimes, the pont du gard, if that's what you want to do.

leave Italy for another time- or two.

I think heading to Nice (5 plus hours) is too long after a transatlantic flight when one's hotel in Paris will be only about an hour away.

I'm not recommending Lyon (although I'm not discouraging it either -- I'll just point out it's only 90 minutes by fast train from CDG if for some reason you don't want to plunge right into Paris. The weather will hold for you in the south.

Thanks Zeppole and Annhig for your suggestions. As Zeppole mentioned, I'm not sure if we would have much energy left after the transatlantic flight. Currently I'm thinking of staying in Paris for 5 nights, then heading to Provence by fast train and renting a car there to explore around, spend 5 nights there, and then take the train back to Paris and stay the last night in Paris. Does that sound practical? Also, any suggestions for where to see/what to do in Provence?
Thanks.

I would be inclined to look around for an itinerary that allowed me to move from one fast train line to another without backtracking -- but some people prefer to pick a "base". But living in Italy as I do, I'll let the Francophiles advise you. But you might specify whether you want to see the most famous towns of Provence or prefer to steer clear of them in favor of less-touristed places, and whether or not you care about markets.

I think your new plan sounds great. I haven't been to Provence so I can't offer any suggestions, but here's the tvg route map in case you haven't already found it:

http://www.tgv.com/EN/index_HD.html

hi again armin,

following zeppole's suggestion, and apres Londee's link to the map, I see that there's a direct train to Dijon. it's very highly spoke of for a two-3 day trip, and is then on the direct line to the south.

it might be a slightly quieter introduction to France than Lyon.

regards, ann

You could also consider taking a train to Avignon and renting a car there to explore Provence. There are many threads about Provence. We stayed in a farmhouse near St. Remy and found that to be a great central location

oops, I meant that in September, you WOULDN'T need to book for jsut two of you.

Thanks a lot for all your great suggestions. I think we will do 3 nights in Paris, 6 nights in Provence, and followed by 2 nights in Paris at the end. For Provence, any suggestions as of where to stay. Also, do you think I should book my place now or can I handle it then in late September? Same thing for TGV?
Thanks.

Well, because you will probably be jet lagged and a little out of it the first day you arrive, I think continuing on from CDG to your furthest stop south is a good idea. You won't get in much sightseeing that first day anyway.

Easyjet has 2 flights per day from CDG to Nice. Or you can take the TGV train directly from CDG to Avignon or Aix-en-Provence.

You don't mention whether you plan to drive. Provence is best seen by car. Whereas you can get around the French Riviera very well by public transportation from Nice.

Thanks Mimar. So you suggest to start with Provence and finish with Paris. And yes, I want to rent a car in Provece.
Thanks.

Yes. Start in Provence, end in Paris, close to your flight home. Lacking an open jaws flight, getting yourselves to the furthest point on your itinerary on Day 1 is the most efficient use of your time.

The only quibble would be if you want to avoid the heat in Provence. But it cools down to very pleasant temps in September.

I like the idea of 3 nights in Paris, then the TVG to Provence (it's only just under 3 hours to get there), rent a car, stay in St-Rémy or thereabouts, and then back to Paris. You really do need 5-6 days to do Paris justice. If you're energetic, you could actually drive from Provence down to the coast and into Italy, around Ventimiglia and San Remo, just to get a taste of it (if you wanted to - I wouldn't tout it, but it's possible).

Booking your TGV tickets now is advisable, as you've probably already lost out on getting the best PREM fares, which are available 3 months out from the date of travel. Go to www.voyages-sncf.com to check out what's available.

Our family has taken a flight to paris then TGV to Avignon the day of arrival. When we got to Avignon a friend picked us up at the train station. I was glad we did not have to drive after such a long trip.

Thanks for all the advice. I still think I'd start with Paris, just like it better that way. Likely 3 nights in Paris, followed by 6 nights in Provence and then 2 nights back in Paris. Would you recommend to spend a little in Lyon or not? Also, on the TGV website, when I choose my country as USA, it rerouts me to RailEurope.com which sells same tickets a lot more expensive, I mean a train that I can get for 44 euro If I set my country as France or UK will be 192$ on raileurope.com? How come?!!!