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10 days in the middle of September. Experienced opinions wanted! :)

10 days in the middle of September. Experienced opinions wanted! :)

Old Jan 27th, 2014, 08:30 AM
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10 days in the middle of September. Experienced opinions wanted! :)

Hi there fellow Fodorites. I know this is a hard question to answer because everyone has their own opinions based on their interests. But, I would love to hear your thoughts.
We are a married couple in our 40's. I love traveling and photography. We are not too into the party scene so bars and nightclubs aren't are main focus. I would like to have a cultural experience and love food, architecture and nature. We are in Oregon.

My parents ( love them ) offered to watch our kids for ten days in September. I have only been to Europe once and that was to visit Rome, Florence and Positano. What a wonderful trip.

This time around our options are Venice and train to Austria, Barcelona and surroundings, Paris and thinking about the Greek Islands. What are you thoughts?
I eventually would like to cross them all off of my list, Just need to find the time and money!

Thanks guys!

P.S- If you have any other ideas that would be great.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 08:38 AM
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Sorry, my opinions do not have enough experience.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 08:39 AM
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It sounds as if you may be including travel days to and from in the 10 days. That leaves 8. Then 4 more days between destinations. That leaves less than a day in each of your 5 places. Maybe combine Venice and Austria in 1 day. I'm being silly but you see the difficulty. I suggest you fly into 1 place, spend 3 or 4 days, on to 1 more for 3 or 4 days, then home from there.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 08:41 AM
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Maybe I misread your actual intentions but my last sentence still applies.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 08:42 AM
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You have ten days.

My opinion: pick two cities and spent 4/5 days in each. That will give you enough time to see the highlights of each city without being too rushed and get some good photos.

Which two cities? My opinion: I'd say Barcelona and either Paris or Vienna.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 09:39 AM
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If Paris is on your agenda for this September, I'd start planning soonest. September is a very busy time for the city, with all the trade shows, but it is a wonderful time to visit, IME.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 09:59 AM
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I think you could see Venice and Paris, or Paris and Barcelona, or Venice and Barcelona, or Venice and some region in Austria. I don't think you should try to do any more than that.

The first two options would depend on whether you could find a convenient flight between the two points. If you go for Venice and Austria, the trip through the Alps is spectacular. I think you have to go to Munich and change there for points in Austria, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

There are direct flights to the US from Munich, Venice, Barcelona, and Paris. You might consider substituting Munich for the Austrian destination, because it's easier to get to from Venice, and has flights to the US. If by Austria, you mean Vienna, there are probably flights from there to the US as well, but it's a much longer trip from Venice.

Between Venice and Paris, there would be the possibility of an overnight train, leaving Venice at 19:20, and arriving in Paris at 10:03. It's by no means a luxurious train, more like a Boy Scout camp-out, and you should bring your own food and beverages aboard (for dinner and breakfast). When I took the train, there was no potable water aboard that night, for some reason, so I was glad to have a bottle of water. However, I slept well, and was glad of the daylight travel time saved; it also saves the cost of a night in a hotel.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 10:26 AM
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Thanks so much. Just to clarify, I'm not trying to do all of these on one trip. Just debating on the four options.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 10:29 AM
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Venice & Paris would be my pick.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 10:46 AM
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With only 10 days and 2 of those will be flying, you should narrow down your trip to a couple of places or 3 at the most. I think you would enjoy Vienna as it is very cultural as well as beautiful. We were in Vienna last year for a one-day port stop. We loved our one day there and wished we had more time. We did a quick tour of the city, attended a musical concert that evening at one of the concert halls (ballet, opera, and classical music). It was part of our cruise tour. It was an enjoyable evening! There is so much to see in Vienna, google one of the travel shows and see what you can see. We also took the bus to Salzburg the next day and had a whole day there. A very lovely city to see, shopping galore, food galore, etc. Mozart's home is there.

You could easily spend 3 days there and then on day 4 take the train to either Prague or Budapest.

Just for sake of giving you some itinerary ideas here is a Trafalgar tour:
http://www.trafalgar.com/usa/prague-...-budapest-2013

If you like to do your own planning check out Trip Advisor forums and you will find lots of helpful information. Here is a forum for you:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...l_Hungary.html

If you can't open my link then go to TA forums and Budapest-Vienna-Prague and you should be able to open link.

3 days in Prague:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Guide-g27...e_Bohemia.html

This link is to the Vienna Card where you can get discounts on attractions in Vienna, definitely worth checking out of you go to Vienna.

http://www.wien.info/en/travel-info/vienna-card

Hope this helps to narrow down your decision. Keep us posted.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 11:14 AM
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If you choose 2 cities or areas, any 2 will be fine. These threads always become a lesson in the preferences of strangers and only you can decide where your own inclinations lie. If you do some reading and settle on the 2 most in line with your tastes then the practicalities will inspire more useful suggestions from the peanut gallery. Until then it's just white noise and of little real value, it seems to me. Tell us where and we can then fill it out with logistics and details for you.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 11:25 AM
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nukesafe--

What about October for travel to Paris? Heard it is a good time to go. Should we start booking now?

BTW--to original post, concur that two cities or areas is plenty for ten days. Venice and Austria would be good and compact, as would Barcelona, Greek Islands, or Paris. But not all of them on one ten-day trip.
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Old Jan 27th, 2014, 11:39 AM
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We have been to Paris in October, as well. The crowds are less than September, but it is always crowded at the iconic sites. The weather may be a bit more rainy and getting more brisk, and the flowers in the parks will be going, going, gone.

The worst thing about Paris in October is that the clothing on the lovely ladies will be heavier; thus the jiggle I so much admired as a young man will be hidden. Sigh ----

Since you will be staying only a few days, I think you will not be booking apartments. The good ones book up early; we reserved ours for this coming May last September. Hotels, particularly the modest ones, do not seem to fill as rapidly, IME, but you might well start looking through this site for good ones in your price range. If you see an interesting one that has a liberal cancellation policy, you might want to nail it down.
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