We are heading to Italy in late May for the first time (flying into Paris and then taking the train to Italy). We will be in Italy for 12 days and would definitely like to visit the following places: Cinque Terre, Tuscany/Florence, and Venice. We are also considering Nice (France), Milan, and Turin.

We haven't made any plans other than the flight and accomodations in Paris and a ride to Venice. Our parents will be driving us there from Florence and we will be staying with them for two nights. We need to decide what to do after Venice, as we will have 3 nights before we have to be back in Paris.

We need to figure out a route, methods of transportation, and accomodations (preferably under 100 EUR per night).

We want to get to know the places we are visiting. We love good food and wine and walking. Please help!

Hi C,

If you don't have your tickets already, it would be a lot more convenient to Fly into Paris and out of Venice.

See www.kayak.com.

>taking the train to Italy

It's somewhat faster and cheaper to fly.

See www.whichbudget.com

Let's see if I understand your post. You have 12 days in Italy, spending 2 days in Venice. You have to get to Florence to catch the ride to Venice, and you have 3 days between Venice and Paris. Right? If so, it seems you have 7 days between Paris and Florence at the front end. If you train directly to Florence, subtract 1 day, and now it's 6 days. If you pick one of the possible destinations on the way (Nice, Milan, Turin), subtract at least 2 days (3 would be better), and now it's 5 days. You could easily divide either 6 days or 5 days between CT and Florence or Florence and nearby Tuscan towns. The train from Venice to Paris is 10-12 hours. You could break the journey by getting off in Milan for a day/night.

If this were my trip, I'd look into flights from Paris to Florence and from Venice to Paris. All those hours on trains in a 12-day trip seem like a big waste of precious time. You could have a wonderful 12 days in CT, Florence, Tuscan towns and Venice. This will allow you time to "get to know the places we are visiting."

I have to say I would spend the 12 days between Florence (visiting Sienna, San Gimianno sp..) and Venice. Drop everything else!! If you must, add CT

I don't think that trains are a waste of time! It's an unbeatable experience that we really enjoyed. We took a train from Frankfurt to Munich and to various sites around Munich and another time around Vienna. We enjoyed the scenery and observing and meeting the locals.

We stayed in pensiones in Sienna, Padua and Rome. The cost was reasonable and included breakfast and dinner. We were able to have a private bathroom in each of them. You can find them listed in tour books. Many are now able to receive faxes, emails or phone calls.

I vote for Florence! We were there in 1984, and it was so peaceful compared to Rome or Paris. See "Room with a View" before you depart.

If you enjoy driving a lot and seeing the scenery, and/or you might never return to Italy, you can see most of them. However, if you will return in the future, I would choose to stay in Florence for three days and really see it and enjoy it. We've done this in Munich and Vienna.

I said I thought long train rides on this trip were a waste of time because the OP titled his/her post "First Time in Italy" and not "Scenery Between Paris and Florence, Venice and Paris."

for accommodations look on:

www.venere.com
www.hostelworld.com

they have great reviews to read to help make your decisions

Thank you everyone for your advice. We've made a lot of progress in planning this trip. This is how the itinerary is looking so far:

Sunday: Arrive CDG 11:30 am; spend afternoon/night in downtown Paris
Monday: Paris all day; depart 9 pm for overnight train to Nice
Tuesday: Arrive 8 am in Nice; spend night in Nice
Wednesday: Take local trains to Cinque Terre (stop in Monaco or Genoa for lunch?); spend evening/night in Manarola
Thursday: hike CT trail or take ferry around to different towns; spend night again in Manarola
Friday: Take morning train to Tuscany; spend day/night in Tuscany (parents in Florence)
Saturday: Spend day/night in Tuscany (parents in Florence)

Sunday: Spend day/night in Tuscany (parents in Florence)
Monday: Spend day/night in Florence (parents in Florence)
Tuesday: Drive with parents to Venice; spend night with them in Venice
Wednesday: Day/night in Venice with parents
Thursday: ???
Friday: ???
Saturday: Depart Paris at 1:40 pm

As you can see, we are still trying to figure out the last "leg" of the trip. Any thoughts on what region of Tuscany we should stay? Also, we still need to do something on the last Thursday and Friday of our trip before we head back to Paris. We are planning on flying to Paris from wherever we end up.

Well, its kind of like flying to/from Chicago for your Florida vacation ... but if you really are stuck with Paris for your flights, so be it. Here are some ideas...

1. Train to Bologna for 2 nights, eat like its going out of style, fly out of Bologna.

2. Just fly to Paris from Venice, spend the extra time seeing more of Paree.

3. Stay in Venice, see some of the other islands.