Hi, I'm new to Fodor's but have enjoyed reading what other members have shared. My husband and I are going to Paris in January for the first time for our anniversary. We got a great hotel deal, and I'm still waiting to buy the airfare, I'm hoping I can get a better price than I have found so far, what do you think would be a reasonable price for that time of the year. We were told is offseason, we are traveling from Orlando, Fl. We also wanted to spend some days in Italy but were not sure where to go to really see what Italy has to offer. We were planning on spending 4 nights in Paris and 2 or 3 in Italy. I don't know how much we can see from that short period of time but I rather see just a little of Italy than nothing at all. If we could get suggestions on what to do or where to go in Italy we would really appreciate it.

Thank you

We went from Italy to Paris last January. The best connection we found was MyAir.com between Venice and Paris Orly. Orly is Paris' most convenient airport.

If you can, fly into Venice first, then home from Paris. Return flights from Venice leave very early and transport to the airport becomes an issue. It's hard to say what you should pay. I assume you'll go thru Atlanta and there don't seem to be as many fare sales for those flights (I'm in the south, too).

I would definitely spend the entire time in Paris and save italy for another occasion. You would be spending an extra travel day in the middle.

Nicky:
Though we loved Venice, I do agree with estravel that staying in Paris is the better option. Four days will zip by. Not to mention the weather. It was <i>very</i> cold in Paris in January---all the fountains were frozen solid!--- and it gets dark early, around 4:30pm. You won't regret spending the entire week there.

I spent 10 days in Paris and it flew by...I really would just stay in one city and truly do it justice. It is a wonderful city, there is plenty to see and do and EAT and it is very romantic.
Have fun!

nicky

A couple of days in Italy would limit you a lot. Why not spend the entire time in Paris,with an easy day trip to Chartres, or Versailles? So much to see and do!

And with the airfares being a little more than you expected, you will save money by limiting yourself to Paris.

Now, may I ask at which hotel you got your great deal? I'm finalizing our February trip to Paris, and looking for deals.

Also, I just thought of this: USAIRWays has a super special deal if you book on the USAirways mastercard by Dec 15. If anyone has one, some of the deals to Europe are excellent, especially in January.

We booked our hotel through Hotwire. It was the first time we had ever booked through their website. It doesnt show the hotel name therefore I was a little hesitant but it said that it was a 4 star around the Eiffel Tower so I went for it. It's the Hilton Paris Eiffel Tower which I just checked with both Orbitz and Hotels.com is going for 286 + tax now, we paid 98 + tax, wow! now I KNOW we got a great deal. We did book this about 3 months ago. Try Hotwire and hopefully you'll be able to get something good too

Hi N,

It's unlikely that airfares will drop between now and January.

www.kayak.com has MCO/CDG via Dulles for $687 in mid-Jan.

USAir has a $472 special RT to AMS, but you will lose time to/from Paris and the cost won't be that much less than the kayak fare.

I also suggest staying in Paris.

Italy will be there your next visit.

Happy Anniversary.

My husband spent 4 nights in Paris for our 10th anniversary and it was so wonderful. I would spend it all there and not split up the time.

That would be my husband and I of course

What we were planning on doing is flying from Orlando to Rome stay there 3 nights and then take the train to Paris and spend the rest of our vacation there 6 nights. After reading most of you agreeing that we should spend more time in Paris then I have to agree. I talked my husband into flying a few days earlier so that we could spend a little more time in Rome. I read an article on the New York Time (that someone on this site had mentioned about) which tells you how to do Rome in a few days.If we could get some suggestions on hotels in Rome, we would appreciate it.