20 Days in Europe
My husband and I are traveling to Europe and need help with our Itinerary. We are choosing between either going to Rome, Florence, Venice, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Rhine valley & Paris OR Rome, Florence, Venice, Lyon, Barcelona, Bordeaux & Paris. We have never been to any of these places so any input you can provide would be helpful!
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Sorry - but 20 days is not long enough for either of your itineraries.
If your entire trip is 20 days that leaves you 17.5 days free on the ground - which is not nearly enough to hit 7 or 8 destinations spread over half of Europe. (even if your trip is 22 days/20-ish on the ground -- too many places, too far apart, in too few days) W/ just under 3 weeks I'd consider Italy and Paris -- or Italy and Spain -- or CZ, Austria and Germany -- or some other variation. |
I agree with janisj.
It would appear your priorities are Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris. That would make a nice trip. I personally wouldn't plan a trip that was comprised of only big cities, but that's me. However, you don't say what time of year your trip will be. I'm not a fan of the big, crowded Italian cities in high season summer, and winter weather would also affect my choices. |
Way too much with way too little time. Every time you can location just scratch a day from your plans. Sometimes you can save a half day but for the most part between, packing, checking out, finding a train, riding, finding new hotel, checking in, etc. - you just lose more time than you anticipate. You need to cut in half.
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Agree that
1) you have way too many places for the length of the trip and have no allowed any time to get from one place to another 2) the time of year you are going will make a big difference -both in the size of the crowds and if you can tour all days without collapsing in the heat (or freezing in the cold) Suggest you lay the trip out day by day and list for each: where you will start sights you will see that day what travel you will do (get specific times from bahn.de and add an hour on each end for packing checking out and getting to the train station, then the reverse at the other end where you will sleep If you do this you will have a much better picture of the huge percentage of your time you will spend in transit if you try to see all of those cities in so few days. Don;t forget all of the different languages you will have to deal with, city geography, transit systems, foods/menus, culture and system for doing things. Changing this completely every couple of days plus all that time sitting on a train will make for a very expensive, exhausting trip that will be one big blur before you even get home. |
Count 4 days for Rome 3 for Venice 3 for Firenze with one - two side trips.
Then 4 to Paris + some says in the Rhine valley and 1-2 days lost in travel. It will already be compact and rushed. Come back for the rest later. |
Rome, Florence, Venice, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Rhine valley & Paris OR Rome, Florence, Venice, Lyon, Barcelona, Bordeaux & Paris.>
either choice may be too much to bite off think of combining them in a more realistic fashion: Rome -3 days Florence -2 days (one day trip to Tuscany hill town perhaps) Venice - 3 days Vienna- 4 days (inc one day to go by train Venice to Vienna) Munich - 3 days Paris - 5 days Fly into Rome and out of Paris Still too hurried for some but for me just about right. For lots of great stuff on trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted train tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com - a Eurail Select Saverpass may be a good investment for that. |
Thanks all. We also decided it was too much and have decided to just do: Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice & Paris. We will be going in May and will be flying into Rome and out of Paris. Now we are just trying to figure out the amount of days in each. Can you all recommend some good day trips out of the major areas?
Thanks for all your help! |
From Florence you can take a bus to Siena, a classic Tuscan hill town or of course train to Pisa for the Leaning Tower or many other close by places.
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>> decided to just do: Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice & Paris<<
Please clarify -- is your whole trip 20 days? If so -- IMO still too much. That leaves you just 17.5 days for 4 major destinations and the CT. By the time you account for travel time you'll have a little over 14 days worth of free time to see and do. I'd drop the CT myself - but that would still leave a very rushed itinerary. You'll want at least 4 or 5 days (5 or 6 nights) in both Paris and Rome and 3 or 4 days in Florence and maybe 3 days in Venice. If on the other hand you have 20 days on the ground (a 22-23 days trip total) you might be able to squeeze in the CT but I'd add those extra couple of days to Florence or Paris. |
Agree with Janis. And even if you drop the CT, which I also would, there won't be time for daytrips in your other destinations.
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IMO for the average traveler 3-4 days in say Paris are enough -of course you could stay there a year and not get bored but doing a day trip from say Paris at the expense of another day there I highly recommend - like to nearby Reims or Chartres and of course 1/2 in Versailles, to me a must if in Paris.Paris can be fatiguing - lots of traffic - lines at popular museums- always something to have to see more - relax a bit in very typical French regional towns liie Chartres or Reims or even Versailles in this regard- the town away from the Palace few tourists get over to.
But everyone has their own subjective take and that is mine. |
I would substitute the Amalfi Coast and/or Siena for CT. With the Amalfi Coast, you could include Pompeii.
3 nights for all except 6 or 7 nights Rome. Make sure you go to the gardens at Hadrian's Villa/Tivoli/Villa d'Este as a day trip from Rome. |
Ostia Antica, ancient Rome's port, is also an easy day trip from Rome- short metro ride- an archeological site rivalling Pompeii to many sans the overwhelming crowds:
https://www.google.com/search?q=osti...HemvDQIQsAQIHQ |
Ostia Antica is a REALLY good alternative to Pompeii for peope short on time like yourselves.
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Hadrian's Villa just east of Rome is also an awesome archaeological site- like shelemm says also visit the superb Villa d'Este water gardens with all those splishsplashing fountains!
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Thank you all for your opinions and insights. Some people have been asking and we have 20 days total to travel. Also we want to go to Tuscany one day for wine tasting so we wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations for wine tasting tours.
Thanks again! |
You can take the bus Florence to Chianti-en-Greve to hook up with wine tours or just do your own tour of major Chianti wineries in or near town.
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Your itinerary Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice & Paris seems interesting. I was there for several times and appreciated greatly French and Italian architecture and foods. However, these places are always crowded during the year...
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The reason people are poohpoohing the Cinque Terre is because some of the trails are closed and more are likely to closed after the winter. Also the CT is very crowded these days.
The Amalfi coast is out of your way and not easy to get to. If you really want seacoast, there are other places along the Italian Riviera to visit. Or look at Lago di Garda, one of the Italian lakes right on your route. |
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