European Trip Advice Needed
 

Trying to plan a European trip next year. I want to visit Italy (Rome), France (Paris) and Spain (Barcelona) flying in from the Caribbean. I wanted to know what was the best and most economical way to travel between these countries and also is there a best order to travel between these countries or does the order not make a difference. Want to use most of my money on sightseeing and not necessarily the transportation.

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Iberia.com runs cheapest non-stops from MIA to MAD usually

from $300 each way or so all in...

cheapoair.com has this and other options might check there

econoair skyscanner.net or cheap regional trains from there

eurocheapo.com virtualtourist.com good budget tips for you.

Happy Travels,

Thanks very much for responding. I will check these out. Keep any further suggestions coming.

How long do you have for your trip? Why do you only want to see 1 city in each country? Most people would suggest spending your vacation in just 1 or 2 countries, especially since you say you don't want to use your money on transportation.

Two weeks, whatever I can get in within a two week period (14 days). I will not limit myself to those cities but those are the cities i definitely want to see.

So any advice.

I've been to Rome and Paris but not Barcelona so someone else will chime in on that city. 4-5 days each for Rome and Paris is the perfect amount of time. There is so much to see in those two cities alone. You can easily fly between them. If this is what you want to do, then do it. It's better than cutting your time short in these cities to spend time in other places.

The times alloted for Rome and Paris by michele_d are good, which means you'll have 3 days for Barcelona (I'm assuming that day 14 will be travelling back home), which is good.

There's no "best order" as such, just what flights you can find between each - and there are flights between each regardless of the order you visit. Do try to book an open-jaw ticket, ie into say Paris from the Carribean, and out of Rome to fly back home. This will save time having to backtrack to yoru original point of entry to fly home and give you extra time to play with.

You could:
Fly into Paris
stay Paris 5 nights
fly Paris to Barcelona (fly from CDG or Orly, not Beauvais as it's too far out)
stay Barcelona 3 nights
fly Barcelona to Rome
stay Rome 5 nights
fly out Rome

What time of year are you planning to travel?

Thanks for this response, some really good stuff in here for consideration.

At this point I am thinking May 2011. It may be later. Is there a best time to travel to these places? I would appreciate any advice.

May 2011 was 3 months ago.

Several years ago my sister and I did the same trip - started in USA though. We flew into Paris stayed there for 4 days, then to Barcelona 3 days, then to Rome 4 days. Back home out of Rome. The only difficulty we had was a feared taxi/transportation strike in Paris. We flew Click Air at that time. It was a great trip.

In May work your way north for better weather: Rome to Barcelona to Paris. Actually Rome and Barcelona are about the same temperaturewise but it rains more in Barcelona in May, slightly less in June. And Paris can be cool and rainy in May. (However, it was warm and humid when we were there last May.)

You could easily do it by train, depending on how long your trip is going to be, of course or mix in some flights - but with flying you see IMO airports and big cities and not the lay of the land, to me as nice as big cities.

Trains are great in all three countries and between them as well. There are overnight trains between Italy and Paris and Paris and Rome and Madrid, though southern France of Provence is a real charmer as well.

Anyway if going by train check out the Eurail Select Saver Pass valid in Italy, France and Spain since you are traveling long enough distances to make it worthwhile, especially if you want flexibility to chose which trains you will take once you are there - great sites IMO for planning a rail trips - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Good advice above

Trains are a great way to meet people. May would be nice in Madrid, Rome not too hot and Paris ok.

Hi bar,

>Want to use most of my money on sightseeing and not necessarily the transportation.<

You could save a lot if you limited your two-week trip to two countries.

You might even consider only 1 country.

((I))

Barca, if you have the freedom to schedule this trip before mid-June, do so. As summer arrives, so do hordes of tourists in these places. Also, it gets extremely hot and humid after mid-July. Although you may be used to that heat, in Europe it means the big cities are like ovens, and walking around in this conditions is not fun.

Or postpone the visit until mid-September, when the heat and the crowds have abated. somewhat.

I was thinking that I would actually postpone the trip to September 2012, after all the Olympics activities and everything. How are these countries in September as suggested above?

I do definitely want to get bang for my buck, this is a lot of money coming to Europe on a vacation for two weeks so I want to see and experience the most but economical as possible.

Keep the great responses coming forward.

September is a good time for travel but it is still high season so you won't find much bang for your buck. Hotel and apartment prices in Italy drop A LOT on November 1st.

I have heard all the responses. So what is the best time for a sightseeing tourist like me to travel to those three countries and get bang for my buck in 2012? It is going to be like delayed honeymoon trip as well. Please bear in mind that Olympics is summer next year and I don't want to get caught up in that travel mess.

Anytime after April 2012 that is.

May is my preferred travel month. There are fewer travelers, the days are longer (more time for sightseeing), and lots of spring flowers are in bloom. And May should be slightly cheaper than September.

There's never a guarantee on the weather. Since your itinerary consists of cities mostly, the weather is not so crucial.

As for the Olympics, they don't start until late July and end on Aug. 12. So they shouldn't interfere with your trip at all no matter which month you choose.

September is high season only a relatively few places and actually it is shoulder IME - hotels may not have low season rates but you are more likely to get the cheaper hotels for your budget over the real high season of July and Sugust. In Paris for example the huge tourist crowds IME clear out dramatically after the last weekend in August, when many european have to go back to work or school. May and early June would also be IMO great times to go.