My wife and I are considering renting an apartment in Florence for 3 months. We are thinking of using that as a base and traveling through Europe by train over this period of time. We would welcome any suggestions, one of the things we love to do is ride road bikes so this is something we will want to pursue. I realize we will need to get out of Florence to accomplish that. I would appreciate input on the concept.

I'm sure you will get a lot of helpful info from Fodorites. But I just saw your post & can't resist asking why you are paying 3 months lodging in Florence, & then traveling to other areas & paying for lodging in those other cities? I'm respectfully asking; just curious. Why don't you stay 2-4 weeks in the areas you are visiting? Florence doesn't seem centrally located as a base for "traveling through Europe"?

Whatever you decide, sounds like a wonderful trip.

Julie

You cannot reasonably "travel through Europe" from a base in Florence, unless you are prepared to pay for both an apartment and hotel rooms.

Well - you can't really explore much of Europe from a base in Florence. You'd be paying double for your accommodations. Many areas will be a full day's train ride (or 1/2 day flying) away.

If you really want to see other places -- I'd consider a 1-month rental in Florence, 1-month somewhere else (could be in any country/location that interests you), and 1-month in a third location.

we were all posting at the same time . . .

I think it depends on how long you're going to be away from Florence for each of your 'explorations'. If you're renting in Florence and then going off for weeks at a time, I agree with the others -- just plan your itinerary and stay in different places.

We're planning a similar length getaway (to England) and will also be exploring but for by far the greatest part of our 4 month stay, we'll be in an apartment in London with a three or four day trip away every month or so.

So I guess it depends on how much of a base your Florence home will be.

Hi KC255,
We also did a three month stay last Aug, Sept and Oct.

We stayed in various apartments in France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy and had a lease car. What I really liked about having a car was the ability to see the out of the way places that public transportation doesn't easily take you to. The relaxed pace of staying in one place for a week or two, or three or four gives you the chance to explore that region in depth and in my opinion and experience this is much easier with a car.

I fear that if you base yourself in just one location you will spend so much time getting to your other locations that it will get tiresome after the first couple trips. Just my opinion though.

Have fun planning!
Michele

You could hop overnight trains from Florence to Paris and arrive in the morning or overnight trains to Germany and Austria - yes depends what you mean by commuting from florence - if only for a day or two not practical IMO but for stays of several days yes really practical. You may even look at www.skyscanner.net and www.whichbudget.com for cheapie airlines to places like Amsterdam, London, Madrid, etc. the only railpass you would consider IMO would be a Eurail Flexipass good for 2 months - you buy a number of days of 100% travel - and overnight trains only count for one day on a flexipass. If you narrow the countries down to where you want to go then instead of the Eurail Global pass, good inall eurailpass countries - about 25 or so then look at the Eurail Select Pass- good in any 3, 4 or 5 of the Eurail countries and much cheaper. You could have one valid in Italy, France and Switzerland for example. Since you are going to be there for 3 months then try to marshall you out of Italy train travel into a two-month period - then do Italy or Greece (where trains are cheap and not the best option). For loads of info on European trains and passes check out these info-laden sites - www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com;www.budgeteuropetravel.com - on the latter you can download their free (and excellent IMO) European Planning & Rail Guide that has itineraries, rail maps, etc for each country.

"<i> . . . for stays of several days yes really practical.</i>"

Of course it is, IF you don't mind wasting lots of $$$/€€€ on an apartment you aren't using half the time and on very long train rides.

sure, not to mention the cost of those train rides. I don't think it makes sense myself at all, I would switch rental places several times in those three months, for example. Then you could maybe see places within a few hours of the place, or even an overnight.

If you really wanted to see all of Europe by train and have one apt during that time, I think you'd choose one as central as possible to where you wanted to see. Western Germany or Switzerland, something like that.

Thanks to all of you for your feedback. I am going to rethink my options. If you were going to stay in 3 cities 1 month each in Europe what three cities would you select? Our goal is to have a chance in the 3 months to get acquainted with Europe. I would prefer Florence to be one of them.

Florence, Paris and Prague (or maybe Dresden).

I'd probably opt for Florence, Paris and then just throw a dart at teh map

My actual 3rd city would be London or Edinburgh - but it mostly depends on what sort of experience you're looking for. Could be Barcelona, or Prague, or Munich, or Amsterdam, or anywhere.

Give the Mosel /Rhein area a look. great bike paths, beautiful scenery. good connections through Frankfurt or on effciient ferries up and down.. Lots within two hours on local trains. Very visual trip. Good wineries, tons of castles and Roman ruins.

Forgot to add that HHN, Frankfurt Hahn is Ryanair's hub so you have numerous cheap flights to Budapest, Prague, Barcelona, etc.

You will also find more people to communicate with in English in a German town base than many elsewhere.

It really depends what area interests one the most. I would hate to give up Spain, also, as I love Spain, but that is far away from the rest of Europe. Of course a place not far from London or Scotland would be great, also. Lots of folks like the Netherlands, as another choice -- you could do trips over to London from there, for example. There are just so many choices, you have to kind of select the areas of most interest to you.

Does budget matter - if so 3 months in some parts of Europe could bankrupt even Warren Buffet - if you have not been to Europe before prepare for sticket shock - especially in the U.K., Switzerland and Scandinavia - double the price of most things IMO there over here

Eastern Europe is still a bargain basement and places like Portugal and Greece are much more affordable

this might be an unconventional suggestion but you can consider netherlands/belgium as well. i do a bit of road biking myself and the bike routes here are quite awesome - there is the right amount of hills etc. Plus, there are dedicated bike lanes in certain areas and drivers are generally more accommodating towards cyclists.

also, either place would be quite centrally located to explore other areas like london, paris should you not be staying at those places already.

Paris, Amsterdam, Switzerland (outside Geneva) would be my personal 3 picks

I think we've lost him