McLisa

Hi fellow travellers,

I plan to take a trip to Europe next summer (2016) with one of my daughters. She adores ART. And she will be taking AP Art History this coming school year as a HS sophomore. We are just beginning to dream about her trip next summer. Looking for recommendations for itineraries that are affordable that will give us the most bang for our buck ($USD). We would fly from Boston. I suspect we will go to Paris to the various museums there. If we could only pick one or 2 other cities to add to that trip, what would you choose (for you art-lovers)? Rome or Florence? Maybe a 12-day trip, give or take. I need to keep total trip costs well under $5K.

We could fly into one city, travel by train to other(s) & then fly home from that location. I don't want to backtrack wasting time & $ on flying in & out of same airport.

I look forward to your suggestions. Thank you!

IMDonehere

Paris has an overwhelming collection of museums. Beside the Louvre, there is the Orsay, Orangerie, and Beaubourg among others.

I would add Madrid. There are three world class museums in Madrid. The Prado is up there with the Louvre and the Met in NY for having the finest general collections. Then there is the Thyssen and Reina Sofia.

Florence has a number of extraordinary museums including the Uffizi and The Galleria dell'Accademia. They also have one of the greatest architectural achievements in Brunelleschi's Dome.

In Rome, they of course have the Vatican Museum and the art is in the streets in the form Roman architecture.

As for you Mom, museum walking is surprisingly hard on the feet. What we often do go to a museum one day, and something else the next and alternate.
_________

I would broaden my definition of art to more that is what is hung on the walls or sculpture. And for that I would suggest a city that does not great museums, although it some worth seeing, and that Barcelona. The modernisme of Gaudi and Puig is something to behold and admire.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mode...w=1536&bih=686
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There are inexpensive but reliable airlines within Europe such as Ryan, Easy Jet and Vueling. Although they do have strict rules and penalties about the weight of luggage.

And back home NY and DC are two of the best cities in the world for museums.

el13207

Oh, the choices! I am a former art teacher and current docent at the art museum in my medium-sized city on the West Coast- and museums are at the top of my "must-see" list wherever I travel. One thing to consider is what kind of art excites your daughter the most: does she love the Impressionists? Contemporary? Painting vs sculpture? Certain destinations might lend themselves more to one style/medium over another. Also, if she is studying a foreign language you might want to tie in whatever country relates to that, to double the impact of your trip. One possible itinerary might be to start in London for a few days, train over to Paris for the longest chunk of your time, and then train to Amsterdam (see below) to finish with a few days there, before flying home from Schipol (Amsterdam); this would be linear and not involve any backtracking.

Paris is indeed a top choice (Louvre, d'Orsay, Rodin, Cluny, Picasso, Marmottan, etc.)and if your daughter loves the Impressionists then you could also organize a wonderful Southern France tour which would include both museum visits in places like Nice and also artists' studios like Cezanne's in Aix-en-Provence. I also think a day trip to Monet's home and gardens in Giverny is a wonderful experience and will inform the way she looks at Monet's work for the rest of her life (it is easy to do this by train from Paris, and any good guidebook will give you all the details).

Other cities you might link with Paris include Amsterdam (you could go by train) where the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum are stellar, London (go by Chunnel train which is fun) for the National Gallery, Courtauld, Tate, etc., and of course as you mentioned Rome (Vatican, Borghese, etc.) or Florence (Uffizi Gallery, the David, etc.). Madrid is also wonderful, with the Prado, Reina-Sofia and B-Theissen all within relative proximity to each other.

Keep in mind as you plan your trip that museum- going is exhausting even for those of us who love it. I usually plan on no more than 2-3 hours max per stop, and break things up with a snack or meal. Trying to do more than 2 museums (unless one is a really small stop) a day is folly, IMO. Plan accordingly! And have fun- how lucky is she to have this experience with you!

inspiredexplorer

Before moving ahead with itineraries, what art is your daughter particularly interested in, or emotionally responds to most? Is she a lover of Old Master paintings and/or Impressionism? Does the Baroque sculpture of Bernini call to her, or the moving towards modern sculptures of Rodin?

I would probably get a better sense of what art pieces/periods your daughter most wants to see in person: with 12 days and a lot of museums to cover, narrowing down interests. And I wouldn't overlook the museums of London, Amsterdam, and Madrid as well as possibilities, depending on her must sees.


With 12 days (and I would give here, not take), 2 cities is likely ideal if you want to see museums as well as some of the cities you're visiting. Even if you visit no other attractions other than the museums, you'll want some time to stroll, enjoy meals, and get a sense of the city I would suspect. And indeed, the architecture of Paris, Rome, Florence, Amsterdam, and London (haven't been to Madrid yet) is in many ways as much a draw to walk the city as the art pieces and artifacts inside museums. 3 cities are possible, but for say Paris + Florence + Rome, I'd suggest flying from Paris to Florence rather than taking the train to save time.


The only other thing I'd throw out there is summer can be more expensive since it's high season for tourism, so sticking to the $5K budget could be a little more difficult - still doable, but more difficult. If your main focus is museum hopping anyway, perhaps consider shifting the trip to February or April when the Presidents Day recess and Spring recess happen? Hotel costs are lower, especially in February, you are likely to have better flight deals available during the offseason, . February will have shorter daylight hours of course, but with a museum oriented itinerary, that wouldn't impact your trip too much. And it may be nice for your daughter to see these things while she is learning about them and could add some additional context/interest/information for her (and ahead of her finals).

inspiredexplorer

Of course I was writing as el13207 posted, and very much concur with that post

ceeast

Check out getting a year's ICOMOS membership. It includes admission to several museums throughout Europe. It can take a few weeks to obtain. I think the UK card is the least expensive. FYI Welltravelbrit first suggested this. Enjoy!

Calabria62

I agree with others to take into consideration the preferences of your daughter. IMHO, since 12 days+- isn't a huge amount of time, and considering that your daughter will surely visit Europe again,and budget is an issue,you might consider staying in one country, i.e Paris and another city.
Paris & Nice would be a great combo, as was suggested. We've actually done that a couple of times, ourselves.

You'd get the big city excitement and multitude of museums,perhaps a day trip or two, and the totally different appeal of a southern France Med city. Plenty of art to see in the Nice area, as well as Roman ruins, villages, gardens, etc. And it might help to keep costs down, too. Perhaps an apt/hotel in Paris, and an apt. in Nice. The TGV ride to Nice would be fun, too. Fly home from Nice.

Christina

I don't think the summer is any more expensive than Spring (or February, for that matter), in fact, it is often cheaper. That just isn't true that it is more expensive in any European city I've been in (eg, London, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, Madrid and more), which the sole exception of translatlantic airfare may be more. Nothing else is, like hotels, and of course museums, food, local transportation etc are the same all the time. IN fact, hotels are often cheaper in August. I know they are in Paris and I've gotten cheaper rate sin August in London and Prague, also (and Madrid is not going to be expensive then, either, but I wouldn't go there in August).

I really depends on the type of art, I do love Madrid but it wouldn't be as easy to combine logistically, unless you only do two cities, then you could fly. But I wouldn't go there in summer. Paris, London, Amsterdam, can't go wrong there.

IMDonehere

Is not that I disagree with the above, but I like to push students a little past with what they are comfortable. With what they know. That is why I general collection museums for students.

We finally went to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh. While the Rijksmuseum has a stunning collection of Masters, the rest of works do not compare to the Prado, Louvre, or Met. On the other hand Van Gogh is one of the finest single subject museums we have visited. It is organized extremely well. The written explanations are neither haughty or simplistic but very informative.

Underhill

Consider spending a day or two in Nice and the adjacent Antibes, which will give you Picasso, Matisse, the collection at the Musée des Beaux Arts, the modern art museum, and--over in Vence--the Fondation Maeght and the Matisse Chapelle de la Rosaire.

nytraveler

It depends very much on what type of art your daughter wantss to see.

Modern art?
Impressionists?
Old masters?
Renaissance?
Gothic architecture?
Greek classical?
Etruscan sculptue?
Ancient mid east remains?

All of europe is packed with art - and until she has an idea of her interests it's difficult to decide what will give you most bang for the buck.

Berlin is one of my favorite cities because of the many museums, esp the pergamon, and it also has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive.

Amsterdam is another great museum town - between the Van Gogh, The rijksmuseum and several others - and it's very close to Paris if that's where you plan on starting.

Naturally Italy has a massive amount of art - but we don't do it in the summer since the heat is so intense that we just don't enjoy ourselves.

outwest

I'll second Berlin. It's packed with great fine art museums--we got a museum pass and it was really inexpensive.

Unboundly

I agree with the others, it would probably help to narrow it down a bit, maybe go through the course pack (or just browse some art online) with your daughter and figure out what type of art she's into.

Definitely take into account the architecture of the cities and the street art too, you might be surprised!

You can also check for any events, art shows, or exhibits that might strike her fancy and include those into your trip too!

quokka

You can't do everything in one trip. So what is she specialized in, what are her classes about? In one year she will do just a very limited part of the big field of art history.

Architecture? Paintings? Graphics? Sculpture? Media art?
Ancient Greek? Ancient Roman? Byzantine? Middle ages? Renaissance? Baroque? Historism? Classical modern? Contemporary?
Which era, epoch, style?
Which area/national resp. regional culture?

PhD in Art History here...

travelhorizons

Ditto on architecture. Visit Chartres for early Gothic, see the Romanesque architecture in Rome, perhaps even Barcelona for modern.

Southam

Some of Britain's top museums are free http://www.visitbritain.com/en/Thing...ee-museums.htm
The Tate Modern, for instance, is free except for special exhibits, and it is the city's top tourist attraction, outdrawing even the Tower. http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern
Fly into London and home from Paris, commuting through the Channel Tunnel by rail (buy the train tickets as soon as possible to save money. It must be said that neither Paris nor London can be considered a cheap destination in other respects.
I hope the student gets to share in making the choices, after doing the bulk of the research herself.

tuscanlifeedit

I'll approach this from a budget point of view. For efficiency I would pick another city that you can fly out of and directly back to Boston.

I would combine Paris with another city that has fast and easy train connections. I don't think Florence or Rome are that easy from Paris. I would pick London or Amsterdam, both of which probably have direct flights to Boston and are very easy to get to by train from central Paris.

Getting to airports adds expense, so flying to Madrid or Rome or Berlin would mean a trip to and from airports unless you don't mind long train rides.

You can hardly go wrong traveling to Europe for art. I would plan my itinerary around specific art and ease/cost of travel. As you say, you are on a budget.

Pick your two cities then research day trips. Myriad choices, heavy on art, architecture, history, charm.

eastenderusvi

I notice that your daughter is in high school, so probably doesn't have a specialty...yet! For a general history of art, I don't think you could beat London (The British Museum) and Paris (The Louvre). From the early paleolithic carvings onward, she will get an entire art history course. The rest of the trip would be frosting on the cake!

nytraveler

One of the most fascinating pieces of art I have ever seen is the Venus of Willendorf (in Vienna) a goddess figure carved at least 25,000 year ago.

If you are looking at the larger meaning of art (including Egyptian objects, Greek architecture, Viking jewelry and onward) then agree that London and Paris probably have more than any 2 other cities.

But she may decide that she is mad for something very specific (our tween/teen daughters loved the Cluny Museum of the middle ages in Paris). So I would start going through course matrials with her now to get an idea of what will really interest HER.

ssander

I'd love to chime in, but -- unless I am reading too fast and missing something -- the OP has not yet listed the genres of art that they prefer. There is sooooo much art in Europe that it's really hard to make recommendations without knowing that.

SS

PS...however I will say this: if in London do not miss the Courtauld Gallery. It's not on everyone's radar, but it is a gem.