4 city Madrid, Paris, Venice & Rome in 18-20 days
 

Hello frendly people. My wife and I have narrow it down to 4 cities Mardrid,Paris,Venice & Rome. Flying from Miami Fl. On a budget of 10,000 US for 18-20 days. This will be our first time in Europe. We will be flying into Madrid and flying back to Miami from Rome, using easy jet in between cities one way. I would like ur opinions or any friendly suggestion would help thanks.

Your plan doesn't seem too rushed and your budget should be OK, depending on yuor expectations.

First, does your budget include airfare - and so is really about $8000?

Second, what time of year are you going?

Third, what are your expectations in terms of hotels and meal? Are you looking for a modest/pleasant/central hotel and mostly casual meals - you should be fine. If you want upscale hotels and michelin * meals you will need to really increase your budget.

If you tell us your intersts, time of year and expectations people can make specific recommendations.

Sounds like fun to me. What time of year are you going?

Read trip reports on this forum for the cities you are visiting to get an idea of the kinds of things people do there. That is how I get many of my travel ideas.

We are planning to go in early June. We are intersted in staying in hotel price range $150-200/nite with breakfast included 4-5 days in each city. Using the local transport and walk around visiting the highlights of the cities and hang out in cafes etc. we are in our early 40's.

This is better than the original plan due to the extra days.

You might not want breakfasts in the hotels. It may inferior or more expensive than is what down the block.

For example in Madrid you might want to go to a churrería.

http://www.notesfrommadrid.com/2008/...the-churreria/

Or in Paris, the world of pastries and real croissants awaits you.

Sounds good to me, however, I would shy away from this kind of itinerary because nowaday its such a hassle to go in and out of airports. I assume that between Venice and Rome you're planning to take the Eurostar train? Hope so, much better than flying.

The train between Venice and Rome is called the FrecciaRossa. The Eurostar trains are a thing of the past.

It is extremely simple to get to and from the airport in Madrid.

Check out reviews for the Hotel Brittanique in Paris. For Rome (and possibly Venice), you might get better accommodations in your price range if you look for b&bs. Check out reviews for Residenza Gens Julia. In Italy in June, you want air conditioning, not only for possible heat waves but to be able to shut windows at night against mosquitoes in Venice and noise in Rome.

For breakfast in Italy, the hotel breakfast will be just as good (and bad) as most any cafe, so you might as well eat the hotel breakfast if you eat breakfast. But buy fruit from the markets and try out the coffee for sure in Italy at the cafes.

I agree it sounds like a fun trip. Have a great time.

oriole1251, we just returned from a two-week trip to France, including one week in Paris, so if you like, you could read my report for restaurant recommendations. We looked for less expensive restaurants. We stayed at the Hotel Bonaparte, which I highly recommend. I know that when I booked it in March, the price was about $170 USD & I had to pre-pay one night. But the exchange rate was more favorable when we wee there last week, so I think it was about $156. Excellent location, friendly staff, elevator, A/C, & the rooms weren't too tiny. We had a double bed with about 4-5 feet of room on either side of the bed. Bathroom was modern & a good size. You have to pay extra if you want to have breakfast, but we like to go out for breakfast. We typically had croissants & coffe, & sometimes splurged for a "big" breakfast of croissants, baquette, & ham & cheese omelet, freshly squeezed orange juice & coffee. Sounds like you have a great trip planned.