Andee01

This is my first trip report post. I visited the Fodors forum to get ideas for my first trip to Europe. The questions and answers posted here on the forum were very helpful for planning my trip. So a big thank you to all. This post is quite long FYI.

My husband and I travelled to Europe from Australia in May/June 2016. We started our journey in Paris, spending 8 wonderful days exploring this lovely city. We stayed in an apartment rented from a friend in the Marais 4th arrondissement. It was a great location and we did lots of exploring. We walked everywhere, and particularly enjoyed walks around the Bastille area. We walked the canals to the Bassin de la Villette, and enjoyed a walk around Parc Buttes Chaumont and along the Promenade de Plantee. There were still things we did not get to visit, so we definitely plan on a return trip.

We then took the train from Paris to Nice, an enjoyable and relaxing train trip. We stayed on the Promenade de Anglais in Nice in an apartment overlooking the very blue Med. DH was unwell on this leg of the trip so we spent a quiet few days doing short walks around Nice, and did a day trip by train to the lovely town Menton. Nice has a real holiday resort feel to it, I liked it a lot.

After 5 nights in Nice we took the train to Barcelona. This train trip was quite long, but it was interesting to see the scenery along the way. We arrived in Barcelona at about 8pm and took a taxi to our hotel in the El Born area. Due to a computer glitch we were upgraded to the hotels largest room...a bonus. We loved staying in this area and would highly recommend this location. It was an easy walk to lots of Barcelona sights, including La Ramblas, Barcelonetta, and to multiple Cathedrals. The food and service at the restaurant in this area was very good too. While Parc Guell and Sagrada Famillia were further away, we still walked to them, taking it slowly and enjoying a coffee stop on the way and a wine stop on the way back in the late afternoon. Barcelona definitely exceeded my expectations, so many wonderful things to see, with a laid back fun vibe. We both enjoyed our 4 night stay here.

Next we travelled to Valencia by train. We stayed near the modern Arts and Sciences buildings in Valencia. We enjoyed 3 nights here walking into the old town which is very pretty with plenty to see and easily walkable. I was unwell on this leg of the trip, so it was fairly low key with shortish walks each day to get a small taste of what Valencia has to offer.

After Valencia we took the train to Madrid, and spent 6 nights in this very vibrant busy city. We both really enjoyed our stay here. We stayed in an Aparthotel with a view of the Royal Palace. It was a good location with plenty of sights nearby. We had some of our best meals on the trip in Madrid also. We visited the Prado and Reina Sofia. The Prado is a fabulous art gallery with so much to see and such quality works. The Reina Sofia art gallery was also worth a visit, but the Prado was definitely the highlight. We enjoyed walking to Madrid's beautifully maintained El Retiro park, it was lovely to walk amongst the trees to escape the heat, and to sit near the lake and watch people in row boats and listen to music being played.

Another highlight of this trip was a day trip from Madrid to Toledo. We took the train in the morning and walked into the old town. The Cathedral was amazing and well worth a visit, we also visited the Alcazar, and El Greco museum. We spent the remainder of the time wandering around the streets, getting lost, popping into small stores to browse and eating ice cream to try and keep cool. It was an exhausting day, but so worthwhile.

Next stop Italy. We flew from Madrid to Venice, and took the water bus to the Cannireggio area and had a short walk to our small boutique hotel. We spent 4 nights in Venice, which in hindsight we could have cut to 3 nights. Venice is definitely a unique city with much to see, however I did find it very dirty, and clearly with the high number of tourists they are finding it difficult to manage this. That said, I am glad I visited, and we enjoyed some great food here with wonderful Italian service.

Last stop was Rome, we took the train from Venice, another scenic enjoyable train trip. We stayed in the Piazza Navona area, which was a fantastic location for seeing the sights, plenty to see in easy walking distance. We really enjoyed the Third Ring tour of the Colesseum, we got to access parts that general entry does not allow. Our guide was very informative, and I learned a lot about the history of Rome. Our only regret in Rome, was not having researched restaurants. We really struggled to find decent food, and some of our experiences were very bad...including broken mussel shells in a pasta dish, and watered down wine! Very disappointing, especially as most people report great food experiences in Rome. We spent 4 nights in Rome which was the right amount of time for us before our long flight home.

Overall we had a great time, and are now hoping to return to Spain and France in 2018.

massimop

Glad to hear you had a successful multi-country trip. They are not for everybody, but then can be rewarding for those who can handle the extra travel. Won't be surprised if you get a lot of blowback for calling Venice "dirty" and not wishing to stay longer. But you offered a balanced view.

It is definitely possible to get inferior food in Rome if you are flying blind and especially if you at near your hotel in the piazza Navona area. I will say that broken mussel shells -- while they will be assiduously removed in the highest quality restaurants in Italy -- are not invariably the sign of a bad restaurant in Italy. I've had some terrific seafood dishes that included a broken mussel shell. And while watered down wine is also a possibility from a criminal restaurant owner, I will add my experience that some white wines of Lazio are really very weak and low in alcohol content, even when they are poured in front of your eyes straight from the bottle. Sometimes these thin wines pop to life when paired with delicate seafood, but otherwise they can just stay watery in taste. But if you were drinking red wine...

There are definitely unscrupulous operators in Rome and it definitely helps to have some pointers about where to go to eat where owners take pride in the restaurants (plenty of them to be found). Glad that overall you found Rome fascinating and worthwhile.

Andee01

Thanks Massimop. I guess I was a little diasappointed in Venice, as it wasn't how I imagined it before our visit. But as I said, I am still very glad we visited. Thanks too for your comments about restaurants in Rome. While our food experiences were not as we expected we still loved Rome.

user_3939

Hi thanks for the trip report... I'm curious to know how would you rank all these destinations from the ones you liked most to least... Also how crowded were they, did the crowds hurt the experiences... Thanks

Andee01

It is difficult to rank the destinations as they were all quite different. However, we did enjoy our time in Spain the most. I would probably say I liked Madrid the most. I love art and the Prado was fantastic, and the city just had a fun vibrant feel to it. All of the cities we visited were interesting and I would recommend them to others. With regards to how busy they were, as the destinations were all major tourists spots they were all quite crowded. Valencia less so, as it is not as popular a destination as other spots in Spain. Barcelona was definitely the most crowded of all the places we visited. However, even though there were lots of other tourists like us visiting these places, it did not take away from our enjoyment.

bilboburgler

Nice report, I like Madrid too and by choosing June it would not have been too hot. Good decision.

Venice, well not sure what to say, I dislike the fat boats that vomit their clients everyday. If you ever go again I suggest get up early and go to bed late and use the time to walk around when the "clients" are still abed or eating buffet. During the day take the boats off to other islands or to the other end of the lagoon.

Of course it gets a bit better outside of June July August but...

I too found Rome food tricky and resorted to tripadvisor and back street rather than the main drag. I've been three times now and each time it took work. I've never had watered wine in any italian restaurant, but note that 11 or 12% is still possible to find and in my mind are often nicer than anything over 13% where the fruit and oak is not normally able to balance the alcohol. Certainly that is one reason why Australian wines are less likely to be in my cellar at the moment except say Eden Valley Rieslings

Andee01

Thanks Bilboburgler for your comments. I am glad we aren't the only ones to have struggled with food in Rome. It won't stop us from visiting again, but we will just have to be a little more prepared.

sundriedtopepo

There is a lot of BAD tourist food in Rome, and it's easy to find. Lots of good food too, but takes some research.

Thanks for the report.

Good advice from bilboburgler about Venice. It's absolutely lovely around 6 a.m.