PatrickH

Day 1-Drive to NYC/CLT/DCA/PHI
Day 1-NYC 1-spend day in ?
Day 2-Fly to London
Day 2-3-4 London 3 Days
Day 5. Train to Paris.
Day 5-6-7-8-9 Paris 5 Days - rent house near Eiffel Tower
Day 10 Train to Amsterdam
Day 10-11 Amsterdam 2 Days
Day 12- Fly to Rome
Day 12-13-14 Rome 3 Days
Day 15-16-17 Florence / Tuscany / Sorrento 3 Days total
Day 18 Fly-train to Barcelona or Dubrovnik
Day 18-19-20-21 Barcelona or Dubrovnik- Rent House
Day22-Fly back to NYC/CLT/DCA/PHI


Here is my tentative 22 day European itinerary
Any thoughts
Do I really need 3 days in Rome and then 3 more in Florence / Tuscany / Sorrento?
How do I get from Rome to Florence / Tuscany / Sorrento?

Should I consider Venice, Nice?
Are there any other spots I should consider?

janisj

>>Day 2-Fly to London
Day 2-3-4 London 3 Days<<

Nope. You're either taking the daytime flight and get in late at night so 2 days in London - OR - you're on an overnight flight and get to your hotel maybe by mid day which nets you 1.5 days in London.

>>Day 5. Train to Paris.
Day 5-6-7-8-9 Paris 5 Days<< that's 4.5 days

>>Day 10 Train to Amsterdam
Day 10-11 Amsterdam 2 Days<< . . . a bit less than 1.5 days

>>Day 12- Fly to Rome
Day 12-13-14 Rome 3 Days<< - nets you 2 and a skosh days

>>Day 15-16-17 Florence / Tuscany / Sorrento 3 Days total << this only equals 2.5 days which isn't enough time of all that. PLUS look at a map -- Sorrento is in the opposite direction.

What you need to is forget about Barcelona and Dubrovnik and add that time to the other cities.

StCirq

Too much. Plan an itinerary based on nights, not days. Days doesn't explain travel time. 2 nights= 1 day. 3 nights= 2 days, etc.

Sassafrass

As others are saying, you do not actually have even the time you have given, so no worrying about three days being too much for Rome. You do not have 3 days. You have at best, 2&1/2, same for several other places. You must count travel time and include time checking out of and into hotels, time getting to airport or train station, time waiting for flights, actual travel, time getting from airport to hotel, etc. It adds up! You do not have 22 days in Europe as your title suggests, you have twenty. Not meaning to be picky, but it helps to plan better if you are more accurate.


Pull up maps. Florence is in Tuscany, which is north of Rome. Sorrento is south of Naples, which is south of Rome, so Tuscany and Sorrento are nowhere near each other, and you can't do all of those in 3 days.

What time are you departing NY and arriving in London? Though you might have something different, most flights depart in the evening and arrive in the morning, so your trip might look like this, starting with departure day.
Day 1 - depart NY
Day 2 - arrive London, arrive at hotel by mid to late morning, jet lagged afternoon in London
Day 3, 4, - London
Day 5 - train to Paris, get to hotel by late morning or noon. 1/2 day Paris
Day 6,7,8,9 - Paris
Day 10 - train to Amsterdam, get to hotel by noon, 1/2 day Amsterdam
Day 13 - Amsterdam
Day 12 - fly to Rome, hotel by noon if lucky, 1/2 day Rome
Etc.

bvlenci

Actually, Rome has 2 1/2 days, not 1 1/2, but it's still very little time for a city with so many things to see. The idea of seeing Florence, Tuscany, and Sorrento in 2 1/2 days is not at all possible, unless you travel by magic carpet.

adrienne

<< Do I really need 3 days in Rome and then 3 more in Florence / Tuscany / Sorrento? >>

No...you need at least 5 full days in Rome and then another 10 for Florence, Tuscany (outside of Florence),and Sorrento.

In cities, you'll have far better luck renting apartments rather than houses.

<< Should I consider Venice, Nice? >>

Absolutely visit Venice. Drop at least 3 of your other destinations.

You need to review your itinerary as you don't have nearly the amount of time in each location that you think you have. It takes time to get from one location to another.

nytraveler

Agree that you need to relay out this itinerary day by day and include the time spend in transit - by plane or train - and you will see how little time you have in each place - unless you are beaming around via the old Star Trek episodes.

I don't understand at all the beginning of your trip - are you flying out of NYC or DC or Philly or CT (don't know what this is at all). And are you spedning a day in NY or ot????

And agree that 3 days for Florence, Tuscany and Sorrento is impossible - you need a map of Italy (they are in totally different directions) and a train schedule to see what you are proposing.

Also agree you don;t have nearly enough time for London or Rome unless you have been to both before.

PalenQ

For Eurostar train London to Paris and Thalys train Paris to Amsterdam it is imperative to book ASAP to get deep discounted tickets - just walk up and pay thru the nose - go to www.eurostar.com and www.thalys.com - the official sites and they are easy to work (even I could do it!) - in Italy check www.trenitalia.com for discounted tickets within Italy - that site however can be flummoxing to novice encounterers.

there is an overnight boat between Italy - I think Livorno near Florence or Genoa to Barcelona - take a cruise, save on a hotel room - otherwise it's a long long train ride so fly if not doing the boat.

There are also overnight ferries between Italy and Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Coast.

You are not traveling enough on trains to merit looking at any railpass - for lots of great stuff on European trains I always spotlight these IMO superb sites - www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

dwdvagamundo

What everyone else said. In roughly three weeks, you could see some of London and southern England and Paris and Northern France, OR a good bit of Italy (including Venice) Otherwise, you're just rushing from place to place. Drop Barcelona, Dubrovnik (unless you center this in Italy, but even then, I wouldn't go there on a first trip) and Sorrento unless you're going to do only Italy. And even then, I'd consider leaving it to another trip.

However, without knowing WHY you chose each of these places, it is impossible to advise you well.

Do what NYtraveler says re scheduling, but schedule by the nite, not by the day, and factor in transportation between places. That way, you'll make sure you have a place to stay each nite and you'll be able to see the actual number of days you have in each place.

NYTraveler--I think the OP means that he's going to choose his departure airport based on the available fares.

PalenQ

I see the OP's itinerary as rushed for veteran travelers who always say you gotta stay several days in each place it seems - but yours is OK if you want to travel faster as I and others are want to do. Oh I would add one day to Amsterdam, Rome and Florence (but in Florence only if you want to do a day trip).

Sassafrass

The op's itinerary is not necessarily too rushed for a young person wanting to move fast. The problem was over estimating how much time they actually have in any place and not allowing travel time. It is fine to say they want only one day in a place, but another to say they have two full days when most of one day is taken up with travel.

nytraveler

I get the OP is considering different airports - but it seems that he may be losing 1 or 2 days or vacation by traveling a lot before even heading from europe. Without knowing where the OP is it's hard to make recos - but no one is equally close to NYC, Philly, DC and whatever CT is.

Why waste a couple of vacation days to save $100?

PalenQ

Well only two non jet-lagged days in London is one or two too few for most - but if they can hit the ground running and have a full day maybe - but I'd add at least one day to London - day of arrival with jet lag is often a down day IME.

ssander

CT is probably CLT (Charlotte, NC) -- a US Airways hub with some transatlantic flights.

This might make sense if driving from somewhere between DC and Philadelphia...or to the west of that area - IF the savings on flights is significant. PHL tends to be more expensive than either IAD (Dulles), EWR (Newark) or JFK because of USAir's near monopoly.

However, you might want to see if flying to one of those gateways actually costs a lot more than driving...it might not, if you buy a through ticket.

If you live in the Northeast Corridor, you can also take a train to the airport...Amtrak has a stop at Newark...Phila. has connecting suburban trains with a 20-min ride from the Amtrak station to the airport. BUT...Amtrak is notorious for delays.

SS

PalenQ

BUT...Amtrak is notorious for delays.>

And forget all horror stories of trains if you ride Amtrak - European trains will boggle your mind - true high-speed ones blowing along at speeds up to 200 mph - Amtrak is a dinosaur compared to European trains.

Just think a 200 mph train between Washington, NY and Boston would knock off airline competition just like it has in many short-haul European flights - like London to Paris in just two hours or so - trains have virtually knocked planes out of competition on that route.

ssander

Ditto what PalenQ said...European trains are fantastic.

SS

nytraveler

Amtrak is quite reliable in the NE corridor (more so than airlines in any of those major airports). It's only outside the NE corridor that it typically runs hours late.

That said, european express trains are MUCH faster and incredibly reliable in comparison. But local european trains are not much faster the NE Amtrak - just depends on where you are going to and from. Between major cities you can usually get TGV trains.

ribeirasacra

Another tick the boxes type of vacation.

PalenQ

I would not say the itinerary is to rushed by looking at it - just right for the average tourist IMO. You do not need to stay a week in every town as some think.

janisj

>>You do not need to stay a week in every town as some think.<<

Who said one needs a week in every town? Posting that over an over doesn't make it so - people have (rightly) noted that the OP doesn't have as much time in places as he seemed to think.

>>just right for the average tourist <<

Even you said he doesn't have enough time in London, Amsterdam, Rome and Florence.