V_Lee

My wife and I are taking my in-laws on their first ever visit to Europe, for their 50th anniversary. We suggested Italy for a first trip, and then they asked if we could add in Vienna and "that Sound of Music" place. Does this itinerary sound reasonable?
(Flying from the Midwest)

Rome - 3 nights
Florence - 3 nights (including a 1-day drive around Tuscany)
Venice - 3 nights
7-hour bus/train to Salzburg, 1 day - 2 nights
drive to Vienna, to see some sights along the way - 2 nights

My wife and I would happily wear outselves out visiting museums, architectural sights, and just interesting cultural things, but my in-laws don't have as much stamina. Am I trying to do too much?

Thanks

Andrew

Yes, I think you are pushing it. That's a lot to cram into 13 nights. I'll bet they'd be exhausted.

Scootoir

A rule of thumb we use is that each move of hotel and location takes the better part of a day with packing, checking out, traveling to catch the train or plane, transfering to the new hotel, check in and unpacking. So even when distances are short such as between Rome and Florence a lot of sightseeing time is lost. In a trip of this length I would choose the three most important destinations to your group of travelers and focus on those.

janisj

Rome will be a blur -- the first day a jet lagged fog and then two days to cram in everything.

A 7 hour train ride to net 1 day in Salzburg, and 2 nights in Vienna to give you a bit over 1 day there.

The parents are probably in their mid-70's, right? IMO too much. Your original idea of just Italy was a good one.

ira

Hey VL,

If you are taking them to Europe as a present, intended to bring joy to their hearts, then skip Italy and visit that "Sound of Music" place along with Munich and Vienna.

If you are doing them a favor and letting them come along on your visit to Italy, it would not be reasonable to add Salzburg and Vienna.

The Salzburg card is worth the money
http://www.salzburg.info/de/sehenswe...urg_card/index

Enjoy your visit.

Bougainvillea

We did the Sound of Music tour a while back with "Bob's Special Tours". It is not a short tour, in fact I think it took all day to get to most of the spots the movie was filmed, and it was a long day.
I agree that if the trip is about them you should skip Italy, if not skip Salzburg and Vienna.

mamcalice

How about skipping Rome and Florence and visiting Venice, Salzburg and Vienna. I loved Vienna and Salzburg the one time I was there but have returned to Italy 7 times. It's a shame to miss most of Italy but if this is "their" trip and if Austria is what they want, use your best judgement.

bobthenavigator

I agree, pick 3 out of 5.
I like the idea above---Salzburg, Vienna , Venice.

bigtyke

I don't think that is too much for a younger person - I did them in less time and enjoyed it but I was 50 years younger than they are. What are the most important things that they want to see? Schedule them and see how your time goes - perhaps Venice and Florence could be reduced one day each ( I would gladly exchange one day in Venice for another in Salzburg and be willing to perhaps also skip one in Florence). Is the 7 hr train ride something they are interested in? Perhaps they would rather fly so they could have more time in Salzburg. The SOM tour I just took was 4 hours and that doesn't include sights inside the city proper that are best visited on foot - that would take the rest of the day.

annw

I also like the Venice-Vienna-Salzburg proposal though as others have said it depends on whose trip it is. Other than that I would drop either Rome or Florence, depending on the group's interests.

I say this having just scheduled a Munich-Venice-Paris-Berlin-Frankfurt(fly out) trip in the same time period, all via trains, but we are train people with good stamina, are repeating some visits, and will likely have opportunities to travel again.

janisj

Yes -- Venice / Salzburg / Vienna would be a great trip in that time. If all of you would be happy w/ that trio. Three beautiful cities.

V_Lee

Thanks everyone for your replies! My wife and I honeymooned in Italy, so we have see the Big 3 (Rome, Florence, and Venice) already. Also, we each have visited Austria before separately before we got married.
I think I will suggest to them that it might be too rush, and offer either Venice/Salzburg/Vienna or Venice/Florence/Rome.

francophiletasmania

It depends on how mobile they are but Vienna is a dream to get around, it's flat, has loads of lovely cafes and the food most everywhere is divine. The museums etc are superb. Excellent tram service around the city on the Ringstrasse too. Think they would enjoy it more than Rome which is much hillier, worse pavements, more rip-offs etc than Vienna. Think the Venice Salzburg Vienna trip would be a great combination.