advice for italy/spain/france
 

I am doing a cruise with family from rome, to marseille, barcelona, velencia, mallorca, then back to rome. After that I plan to do another 3-4 week backpacking trip across italy spain and france solo to see more places/re-visit certain places that i didn't spend enough time in during the cruise. This is my first trip to Europe and I'm interested in doing a mix of cities tours to see grand architectures, historic sites and more rural areas to see scenic paths. Here are a list of cities i plan to visit

Start in Rome - 2 days

Train to Florence - 3 days

Train to Cinque Terre - 4 days

Fly to Barcelona - 2 days

Fly to Seville/Granada - 4 days

Fly to Tenerife - 3-4 days

Fly Paris - 3-4 days

I think it will give me a good balance of nature and cities experience.

Do you think each places will offer different experience?

Would you route it differently to optimize travelling?

So far I have only planned Paris, are there scenic places to see in France near Paris?

I'd drop Tenerife from your list and spread the time into Barcelona, Rome and maybe Seville (day trip to Malaga and Cordoba)

Tenerife has none of "mix of cities tours to see grand architectures, historic sites and more rural areas" unless you mean Mount Tiede of which many countries have bigger mountains.

What time of the year are you coming?

Mid june to july.

I'm just lured by the volcan el tiede, now it seems a bit of a detour to go there just for the mountain. Would your swap tenerife with Asturia?

No, I certainly would swap Tenerife for the Picos d'Europa or the Rioja wine region or visiting wineries around Barcelona (two day trips there alone)

I agree, drop Tenerife and include Rioja and San Sebastian.

Is it really practical to fly from Barcelona to Sevilla?

Is it really practical to fly from Barcelona to Sevilla?>

well yeh it's a long long LONG train trip - how would you advise them to do it if not fly - I love trains but this is one trek I would wing it if I could get a cheap enough flight. Or take the overnight train direct between the two cities and save on the cost of a hotel to boot. www.renfe.com - Spanish Railways site for fares, including possible deep discounts.

You are going to be spending alot of time on the road and not enought time sightseeing IMHO. You're not going to have time to visit more rural areas if you are only hitting these big cities and for these short times - you won't have time to do Daytrips as you don't even have enough time to visit the cities. For example 6 days for Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona is way too short. I'd advise 10 days for these cities. I'd drop the Tenerife days and add to Barcelona/Sevilla/Granada. La Rioja and San Sebastian are great but visiting La Rioja can be challenging using public transportation. The other challenge would be finding the time - I'd advise at least 6 days so I don't know what you'd cut. It will be very hot in Andalucia during the summer - it may not be an issue for you but I thought I'd mention in case it is. 2 days seems extremely short for Rome. 3-4 days for Paris will end up being 2-3 days once tou factor in the travel time required to get to Paris.

Since you are young and seem infected by travel already, I suggest you see a few places well since you will probably return. You will lose at least 1/2 day every time you change a city.

Flying on Vueling, for example, it is only 1 1/2 hours in the air. I have flown on Vueling and they are a good cheap airline.

Barcelona to Seville is a long trip by train, I'd fly also (Vueling and Ryanair fly direct). Vueling is better, I think. It's very feasible and could be cheaper. I'm flying Perpignan to Paris in a few months, and that's actually a shorter distance than BCN to SVQ. Plus, you don't spend a whole day on the train.

There are plenty of scenic places to see near Paris, but if you are only there 3-4 days, you probably will need the time for seeing things in Paris.

ttt

Too many places, too little time in each. Except Cinque Terre-- 4 nights might be too much. Why more time there than in Barcelona, for instance?

You do see Barcelona on your cruise trip. I would skip Spain for the backpacking portion. Spend time in Italy, travel by train from CT up the coast to Nice, spend 3 or more nights there, then make your way to Paris.

After some consideration I decided to take off Tenerife. I'm a bit concerned with the heat down in seville and change to pico de europa and la rioja instead. How accessible are they by public transport?

I wanted to take 4 nights in cinque terre because i want to hike along the coast. I 'm not a fast hiker and i'll be taking pictures along so i figure i might need a bit more time. Nice is also along the coast. Would it be pretty similar to Cinque Terre?

Thank you for all the great suggestions.

No, Nice is nothing like the CT.

La Rioja is accessible by public transportation however exploring the villages and hopping to different bodegas using public transportation can be challenging. Unless you have a keen interest in wine I'd consider San Sebastian and the Basque Country. It's easier logistically to explore by bus/train and is incredible to visit! But you'll need to reserve your hotels in advance as this is high season for this area.

For travelogistics I'm planning Rome - Cinque Terre - Florence - Pisa - Barcelona.
Is it better to do a half day in Pisa before arriving in florence or after florence and before flying out to barcelona?

I figured out to routing from rome to barcelona.
I plan to spend a 6 days in seville and madrid then make my way to picos de europa and then paris.
What's the best way to get to picos de europa, i understand there's a renfe to ovieda or gijon, which place is stop by enroute to picos de europa?
Do i have to go back to ovieda in order to catch a train or flight to paris or is there a better option?

6 days for Madrid and Sevilla is still a little short. No time for a daytrip to cordoba or toledo and really only 2.5 days in each city once you factor in travel time. It's doable but doesn't give you time to explore anything outside of the major sights in each city. Personally I'd recommend 8 days for Madrid and Sevilla. This would give you time to visit Toledo and cordoba - World Heritage sights (Toledo is actually a world heritage city). I'd consider skipping time in the Picos and adding in Granada. It seems a pity to be so close but miss it. I guess this just all goes to advising focusing on less geography and enjoying the sights you are seeing. You're young and will have plenty of time to see all of the places you want to visit.