mistadobalina

For next year, we're planning to go on a cruise for the Canary Islands, Madeira, Morocco, with a stop in Barcelona, Marseilles and ending in Genoa. After that, we'll have 18 nights before we have to come back. We'd like to hit up these 7 spots:

1) Rome
2) Florence
3) Venice
4) Salzburg
5) Prague
6) Vienna
7) Budapest

Our general default is to spend 3 nights most places, but we don't have enough nights for that. Of the above places, which would you recommend spending only two nights?

janisj

>>which would you recommend spending only two nights?<<

None actually since 2 nights really only nets you one full day (or 1+ a skosh if the cities are very near each other). You need to account mote for travel time. Most of your cities really do need 3 nights and Rome 5 or more.

3 nights will only net you two full days -- which is very little for places like Rome

Of your 18 nights/17 days you will be traveling between destinations about 5 full days, leaving only about 12 days for your 7 cities . . .

kja

IMO -- and it is JMO, the ONLY one of these places where you might get by with just 2 days (which would preferably involve 3 nights) would be Salzburg. The rest, IMO, deserve 3 - 7 days each. But then, I don't know what purpose you have in trying to rush through all these places at such a breakneck speed.

I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). And then see how things fit together and what YOU want to do.

unclegus

personally I think it is far too much in such a short time.I also would say to cut Salzburg down to possible a day trip if travelling between Venice and Vienna . how are you intending to travel, by car, by train by air?

bvlenci

People have different styles of travel, and for some people one full day in a city is plenty. My father was that type of traveler. After spending 20 minutes looking at Niagara Falls, he was ready to push on to Toronto.

It really depends on your interests. If you're not much into art museums, Florence could be easily cut to two nights, especially since the travel time on the day before and the day after isn't very much. Likewise, if you just want to "see" Venice, two nights would be enough. Salzburg could also be seen with a two-night stay, depending on what you want to do there. (I wouldn't cut it, because it's a convenient stop en route to Vienna.) I could even say that two nights in Prague might be enough for most people. If you want to do any day trips, you should add a night to these. I haven't been to Vienna or Budapest, so I'll pass on those.

Rome is a bit more difficult to cram into a short visit, because there are several very time-and-energy-consuming things there that people refuse to consider skipping, even on very short visits. If you insist on seeing it all in two days, you won't have time to get away from the hordes and discover the charm of the city. I sort of consider four nights to be a minimum in Rome: one full day for the ancient city (including the Colosseum), one full day for the Vatican, and one day for Rome itself.

You should make a list of the things you want to see and do in each city, and then we can help you decide where to cut and where to expand.

A_S_M

I am reminded of the story which used to be told in Europe many years ago. An American tourist turns to his wife and asks the time and day. She replies ' Wednesday. 1218'. He replies 'Then this must be the Mona Lisa'.

bilboburgler

I'd cull at least one. It depends on the time of year

1) Rome
2) Florence, cull if late July/August
3) Venice, cull if late July/August
4) Salzburg, cull any time
5) Prague, cull if late July/August
6) Vienna
7) Budapest

hope that helps

Tomsd

If you have never been to these places - and want to do a "survey" type of trip - go for it.

As suggested - really plan ahead and know where you are going - via what train schedule - and how far your accommodations are from the train station, how to get there - using local transportation, cabs, etc.

I/we also like to use the train days as fun - see the countryside pass by days - and take little picnics aboard to enjoy enroute.

I too might add a 4th night - either for Rome - and/or somewhere in the middle - and take from say smaller Salzburg - so you have a bit of R & R during the somewhat fast pace.

If you have looked at the train schedules - you know that the last part - Prague, Vienna and Budapest - are fairly easy by train - 5? hours from Prague to Vienna and then 2 hours to Budapest.

Gretchen

If your usual "default" is to spend 3 nights in each place you travel, then design a list that allows you to do that!!
You have enough days to do that but you have to decrease the destinations. LOL
But you should also probably take into consideration the travel time BETWEEN your destinations and count that in the final amount of time spent.

BigRuss

It's three hours from Vienna to Budapest by train (or reverse). But that to-do list is too long if you actually want to see anything.

mistadobalina

I should have mentioned the time of year, thanks for that. It looks like we'll be there mid-March to early April.

mistadobalina

I should have also mentioned we plan to take the overnight train where appropriate, to maximize our available time during the day.

janisj

>>we plan to take the overnight train where appropriate, to maximize our available time during the day.<<

that won't work since overnight trains don't make sense between most of your city pairs. Most will not even have sleeper trains.

nytraveler

Sorry - you just have too many cities. In 18 days - allowing for transit between places - you can do 4 and actually see more than just 1 or 2 major sights.

I would choose either Italy OR central europe - seeing both will be an exercise in frustration - a lovely tour of the train stations of europe.

BigRuss

How are you going to stretch overnight trains out of Vienna-Prague (< 5 hours) or Vienna-Budapest (3) or Rome-Florence/Florence-Venice runs? The only possible overnight is Venice to whatever remnant of the Habsburgs will be your next stop - so much for maximizing your available time during the day.

And overnight trains leave you in the destination station about 6-8 hours before you can check into your hotel. Better ensure you can store your stash while you putter around in the destination city.

mistadobalina

Thanks for the input. Here is what I have put together, day by day, to see how everything works out. Let me know if you see any potential problems, or can suggest any tips, for the following:

Monday, March 21
Arrive at Genoa at 8am
Train 9773 from Genova Piazza Principe to Roma Termini, departing 12:12 pm, arriving 4:32 pm
[MAYBE SWAP ROME WITH FLORENCE, SO IN ROME FOR EASTER WEEKEND?]
Stay at ### for 3 nights

Tuesday, March 22
Rome

Wednesday, March 23
Rome

Thursday, March 24
Morning in Rome
Train from Rome to Florence (Firenze)
There are tons of trains, and they’re all about 90 minutes in length, so probably take one right after lunch
Stay at ### for 3 nights

Friday, March 25
Florence

Saturday, March 26
Florence

Sunday, March 27 (Easter Sunday)
Maybe attend an Easter mass?
Train from Firenze to Venice (Venezia)
Tons of trains, 2 hours in length, so probably take one right after lunch
Stay at ### for 2 nights

Monday, March 28
Venice

Tuesday, March 29
Venice
Train 236 from Venezia St Lucia to Salzburg, departing 8:57pm, arriving 4:09am
Stay at ### for 2 nights (this being one of the nights - late check in)

Wednesday, March 30
Salzburg

Thursday, April 1
Train from Salzburg to Vienna (Wien)
There are tons of trains, ranging from 2:22 in length to 2:52, so probably take one right after lunch
Stay at ### for 3 nights

Friday, April 2
Vienna

Saturday, April 3
Day trip to Bratislava

Sunday, April 4
Train from Vienna to Prague (Praha)
Couple options for train, all direct, taking just over 4 hours - 1pm, two different 3pm, two different 5pm, 7pm - maybe depart later since effectively 3 full days in Prague
Stay at ### for 3 nights

Monday, April 5
Prague

Tuesday, April 6
Prague

Wednesday, April 7
Prague
Overnight train from Prague to Budapest on EN 477, departing Prague at 11:50pm

Thursday, April 8
Arrive Budapest at 8:35am
Stay at ### for 3 nights (hopefully we can check bags when we arrive early)
Budapest

Friday, April 9
Budapest

Saturday, April 10
Budapest

Sunday, April 11
Iberia Flight 7537 (operated by British Airways), from BUD-LHR, departing at 8:00am
Arrive in London at 9:40am
Connection to Iberia Flight 4261 (operated by American Airlines), from LHR-LAX, departing at 12:15pm and arriving at 3:40pm

RM67

Scrap Salzburg and Bratislava at an absolute minimum. I am all for moving on and seeing more if your age/fitness levels allow (and as I was reading the Italian bit I was thinking, this is doable) - but once you start putting one night stops/day trips in the mix it gets much less viable. Plus the more destinations you pile on the more tired you will likely get toward the end of the trip, not to mention how it'll all go tits up if you have any sort of significant travel delay at any stage.

RM67

Plus you can't guarantee a good nights sleep on the train and a few overnight trips will soon start to take their toll...

Gretchen

If you like this itinerary then do it.

PalenQ

If going by train between each of them you may want to look at the new Eurail Select Pass - significantly cheaper than it was last year - any 4 countries - Italy, Austria, Czech Repubic and Hungary - may be as cheap as six discounted tickets and except for Italy can hopo any train anytime - in Italy you must pay 10 e for a required seat reservations before boarding but IME can always book on short notice once you're in a town - for lots of great info on European trains I always spotlight these IMO superb sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com - the latter great info on discounted tickets if you want to go that cumbersome route.