7days- Italy and France
 

I am joining my husband on a business trip and can only spend 7 days, split between France and Italy. Can anyone recommend the best places to visit in such a short time? We can commence from either Paris or any city in Italy as we will fly out from London initially. We prefer restaurant, cafes, food, shopping, little cultural villages etc, rather than museums and art. We have never been to Italy and only been to Paris once. Appreciate any suggestion..we will be traveling mid March....thank you

I would choose between Rome and Venice for the Italian portion of the trip.

Have done this a lot France still pretty cold in Mar so
For me ryanair.com or easyjet.com cheap flights LON to
Venice-tourism.com Florence and Rome. seat61.com/italy trains
cheap what we usually do www.booking.com for nice hotels at good ptices.www.eurocheapo.com good budget info www.ricksteves.com good euroewbie info.Personally will be doing this in April we always love ultimateitaly.com.Your time
is quite short so pare back for better experience.

Happy Planning!

Thank you Michael and qwovadis!! That's a great help.....I will research your website suggestions and keep you posted :-)

Hey DL,

Assuming that you will split your time 4 days Paris and 3 in Italy (or vv) I would choose one Italian city - Venice.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

I would chose either France and Paris or Italy and say Rome and perhaps Venice - but if doing both you can save time and money by taking the Hotel Train that links Paris and Venice - get a private double and a bottle of vino and it could even be romantic. Venice and Paris would be my choice - Venice because unlike Rome or Florence is compact and does not have nearly as many 'must' sights save its wondrous self.

For more on the overnight hotel trains check out www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - sites I consider the best European train sites I have come across.

DanlinOZ,

You wrote:

"We prefer restaurant, cafes, food, shopping, little cultural villages"


Venice is a huge tourist attraction with mainly tourist shopping, generally poor restaurants with uncomfortably high prices and even if you reject the notion that its world-class museums, church interiors and its antique architectural splendors count as a "must-see" is is anything but a "little cultural village". You might enjoy going there all the same, but you also might enjoy going to a destination in Italy with great restaurants, cafes, food and modern Italian shopping (perfumes and leather) that is rich in Italian culture. Consider Parma. There are five flights a week from Paris that take less than 2 hours.

I have no idea what you mean by a "little cultural village". Little villages by their very nature tend not to have major cultural institutions.

If you mean something else by "cultural" perhaps you could define it. Typical? Simple? Non-touristy?

If I had so few days and had not been to europe I would do either Paris or Rome - and stay there long enough to actually see some of the major sights, as well as explore some typical neighborhoods and spend some time relaxing - sitting in a cafe or a piazza and just watch the (quite different) world go by.

We have been to europe many times - a lot of the trips road trips - and have visited a lot of small villages in many country. the best ones are quite pretty/charming and may have one or two mildly interesting things to see/do (a small interesting church or a historic manor house.) Not how I would spend my first trip - but it's your trip.

Thank you all for your great suggestions! OK, considering your suggestions, we are now flying direct from Glasgow ( visiting family) to Paris for 4days.....the remaining decision is which city in Italy for 3 days? Great prices on Ryan air thanks......our thoughts are leaning towards Rome with a day tour to Capri or similar, any further suggestions?

Hi D,

With such a short time in Italy, I wouldn't use an entire day to travel down to Capri and back up to Rome.

I think that a daytrip to Orvieto would be better.
((I))

Thanks for all your tips.... it's decided 7 days in Italy, commencing in Florence!!! Lots to see, lots of great places to drive too.... any further suggestions appreciated!!

I hope you're not planning to have a car IN Florence. That said, besides the obvious attractions of Florence (which certainly isn't a "small cultural village"), there is a wealth of Tuscan countryside to explore from Florence. Get yourself a good map and go explore.

Thanks StCirq, the Tuscan countryside looks gorgeous, just waiting on flight confirmations look like we may need to fly into Pisa to get the cheaper flights. How are the roads to drive on? Obviously opposite side for us, for example could we drive from Florence , Sienna , Pisa and even as far as San Marino for day trips or an overnight?

It is not recommended that you drive in and out of Florence daily. If you want to spend time driving in Tuscany, it would be better to stay outside a city center. Florence in particular is notorious for handing our pricey traffic fines to those who violate their ZTL (Limited traffic zones for residents only). Most receive the fines as a charge to their credit cards almost a year after their visit to Florence

Read more about ZTL here:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drivin...s_speeding.htm

Wow.... Thank you so much for your advice! Any suggestions on where to stay, perhaps Pisa/Lucca?

Lucca one of the finest old-world walled towns in europe - Pisa IMO not so great but OK and much more modern.

.our thoughts are leaning towards Rome with a day tour to Capri or similar, any further suggestions?>


Capri is a long long day trip from Rome - there are some stunning sights really close to Rome itself - like Tivoli with the Villa d'Este's fabulous water gardens and Hadrian's Villa, two sights that are within a few miles of each other an hour or so east of Rome and there is also Ostia Antica, one of the preeminent archaeological sites of classical Rome anywhere - Rome's ancient port now in ruins. Ostia Antica is a short ride on Rome's metro from town.