aspinxtreem

Well, our four weeks has now turned into three weeks due to work constraints. We have had to eliminate Dublin from our plans and try work with what we've got. As it stands now, we are going to fly into London, stay for 4-5 days, then fly to Rome, train to Florence and Venice, fly to Paris for a few days and depart from there. I tried to find an open jaw out of Rome, to avoid backtracking, but it increased the price by about $300 and the flight from London to Rome is only $45USD and 2+ hours. Does this itinerary sound too cramped? We really want to see those 5 cities but don't know if 21 days is too little time to do so. Any advice?

mamc

I just responded to your identical message on another thread. It is easier to post only one message so all of your responses will be in one place.

WillTravel

It's definitely rushed. I'd probably cut Paris out of this itinerary, because I think it deserves a week of its own.

You should fly back to London the night before. You could also do this order London to Paris (via Eurostar or flying) to Rome (via Ryanair or overnight train) to Florence (train) to Venice (train) to London (BMI if you are departing from Heathrow, EasyJet if you are departing from Gatwick). Or just skip Paris from the above, and start by flying either to Rome or Venice.

aspinxtreem

Sorry about the duplicate message. I figured the title from my last message was misleading to my new post. Thanks for the advice.

aspinxtreem

Thanks for the info mamc! I think we will try and do it the way that you suggested.

"Message: I think you can do it in three weeks if you plan on 3-5 days in each city. Paris could use 5 days, London and Rome need 4 days, perhaps you can get by with 3 for Venice and Florence. That leaves time for travel. You will be able to hit the high points and decide where to spend more time on your next trip."

chepar

Your itinerary sounds very similar to the one I did last spring - we had a little less than three weeks only.

We flew into Rome (4 days), train to Florence (3 days), train to Venice (3 days), overnight train to Paris (4 days), train to London (4 days) - then home.

I didn't feel especially rushed, but I felt during the trip that the 4 days in Rome, London and Paris did not even begin to scratch the surface of what there was to experience. However, it was enough to convince me that I needed to go back for an even longer period - so now I'm planning a return trip next year that includes 7 full days each in Paris and London.

PlayPlay

The chunnel from London to Paris is really a neat experience that you would not regret. Why don't you do London/Paris first, then fly from Paris to Rome and work your way to Venice by train as planned?

aspinxtreem

It's great to hear that people have been happy with similar itineraries. While we know that we won't begin to see what all of these cities have to offer, we would love to find the places that we love the best and plan future trips based on our time there.

Play,
We thought about the Chunnel but then thought that doing that would add more travel time. If we flew from Paris to Rome and then worked our way up, we would have to fly back to Paris to fly home.

aspinxtreem

This may be 6 of 1, half dozen of the other but, if we could choose between:

London- chunnel to Paris- fly to Venice- train to Florence- train to Rome, fly home from Rome. OR

London- fly to Rome- train to Florence- train to Venice- fly to Paris- fly home from Paris.

Is there any benefit to either one of these routes? They end up costing roughly the same amount. The only hinderance I can see is that the second option flight from Venice to Paris lands at Paris Beauvais and I don't know exactly how far that is. Any suggestions?

PlayPlay

Your first option makes more sense logistically, plus you will have that fabulous chunnel (Eurostar) ride that is a trip itself. I still remember emerging from deep underneath the water by train, then traveling through the French country side at 200 mph watching the cows zip past us grazing in the fields. Even at these speeds our drinks hardly shifted in our glasses. You will need to splurge and buy some Godiva chocolates from the attendent, so that you can really travel in class along the way!

Leaving from the Rome airport will also give you more departure times to choose from than in Venice. We will be leaving from Venice this coming June and had no option other than a 6:20 am departure back to the states.

Sounds like you have a perfect itinerary to me.

aspinxtreem

Thanks so much Play. I think we will take the chunnel from London to Paris. I think we will get to have 3 days in Venice, 3 days in Florence, and 4 days in Rome.

wifelet

Sounds like a perfect itinerary to me too!

JoeTro

Just a quick note. If you are needing to save money, you might could fly from London to Paris cheaper than the Chunnel. I'm doing this route in April and will end up saving about 1/2 the price by flying BMI (flybmi.com). But, then, you would miss the Chunnel experience which is nice.