Parsilady

My husband and I (in our late 50's)are planning our first trip to Europe in April '08. We would like to begin our trip in Rome, include Florence and Venice, then go to Paris, and end our trip in London. We'd like to accomplish (Italy and Paris) in about 12 days.

My q. is two fold:
(1) Should we even bother with an escroted tour, eg. Globus, Trafalgar, etc.?
(2) How many days minimum we should spend in Rome, Florence and Venice? If I decided 3 nights each, and 3 nights in Paris, will that be enough?

BTW we lived in UK so we are pretty comfortable, and have additional 6-7 days especially for England.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated--eg if I need to + or - from the # of nights in each destination.

johnthedorf

I guess it's a personal thing. For me...I love to plan my trip with lots of flexibility. Tours are regimented and I really don't need the droning tour guide to tell me what I'm looking at. If I want to get up at 6 AM, have coffee and a croissant, watch life begin and think about what I want to do rather than...bags in the Lobby at 8 AM, breakfast blah blah. Your #2 is right on except for Paris, but like I said....that's me. I'm a Slow Traveler so 3 days in one place wouldn't cut it for me because it takes me that long to really sop it up.

travel_hen

1) I think it depends on the person preference. I personally prefer doing it on my own bcs I like to explore and do things on my own pace. Not to say tours do not have their benefits (i.e. you do not really need to plan and get to be driven around )

2)I would think 3 days in each city would give you the opportunity to see the must-see sites. But it really depends on your pace and what you want to do and see.

KL467

Parsilady,

Everyone is different, and I like tours for a variety of reasons. I went on the Rick Steves tour of France in 2007 and loved it. His 2008 Italy tour looks nice. They are expensive. www.ricksteves.com

For me, three nights in Venice would be enough. However, I would need a few more nights in Rome. Keep in mind the jetlag.

Have a great trip!

jjkbrook

I wonder if you are asking whether you need to be on a tour or whether you will be able to navigate in Italy and France without a tour for support? It really depends on you.
My husband and I have always travelled independently and I cant really imagine enjoying a tour. I like to plan and fantasize and choose restaurants, hotels and itineraries, and I am not into the social element of a tour or being told what to do and when. As an independent traveler, the onus is on you to prepare, read guide books, make choices about what to see, where to eat and stay, to navigate around the city and interact with hotel staff, etc. We didnt speak any Italian before we went to Italy or French before we went to Paris (still dont have more than a few words of French!) but we did fine without - English is generally spoken in the tourist areas, tho is good to have a few words of the local language to ease things. So I think you can do fine without the escorted tour.

As for the time, I think three days in Venice or Florence are fine for a first trip - 3 days in Rome is a bare minimum.

I hope you are taking into consideraton travel time, and that you have an extra day for travel built into your schedule, since Since it pretty much takes half a day to get from Rome to Florence, ditto from Florence to Venice - the budget airlines, maybe Ryanair, make it easy and fast to travel from Venice to Paris. If you have to subtract travel time from your days in the places, it starts to feel pretty short and quick.

Parsilady

Thank you everyone who replied--all your suggestions have only confirmed what we were leaning towards-independent travel

If we are going from Rome-Florence-Venice by train, do I pre-purchase a rail pass here in USA? Would it be cheaper to buy each leg, or one pass? jjkbrook: I will also look into a flight from Venice-Paris. Also is it advisable to book a car in the US, or get one in Florence if we decide to drive around in Tuscany? Thanks.

LoveItaly

Hello Parislady, here in the Trenitalia website in English. You can buy your point to point tickets when you arrive in Italy. Do know that you need to stamp the train tickets at the small yellow box to validate them before getting on the train. http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

I haven't rented a car in Italy for ages but I believe most Fodorites prefer to rent their car through AutoEurope which is a broker and has a US tollfree phone number.

Parislady, under Italian law each person that drives in Italy is required to have an International Drivers Permit. The IDP translates your states drivers license into something like 15 languages. You can obtain the IDP's through your local AAA office, or if you don't have one in your area I believe you can do it online. You will need passport type photos which the AAA office will take assuming you have one in your area. I think the fee for each IDP is $15.00 (it use to be ten) plus the price of the photos. The company where you pick up your rental car will probably not care if you have the IDP but if you get stopped by any Italian law enforcement person they will as again it is the law in Italy.

Best wishes to you and have fun planning your trip. I believe you will be quite happy that you have chosen to travel on your own.

suze

If it is simply two train rides (Venice to Florence, Florence to Rome) you don't need a pass. You can buy tickets in Italy at the train station.

StuDudley

I think you really only have 2 1/2 days in each location. On Sundays, lot of stores are closed - so If you want to do some shopping, you may have to plan your itinerary around store closings.

If this was my trip, I would skip Paris. You really need more than 2 1/2 days to even get a glimps of what Paris has to offer. I also think 2 1/2 days in Rome is light. Remember, lots of things (even museums) close for a 2-3 hour lunch and many museums close one day a week. If you don't reserve ahead for some of the major museums in Florence, you may be standing in line for a long time and using up your 2 1/2 days. Ditto the Vatican in Rome.

I always tell people that because of the one-day-a-week lunch, Sunday, and often Monday morning closings, you can't pack as much into 1 day as you can in the US.

Here would be my itinerary.

- Rome 4 nights
- Take train to Chiusi, rent a car and explore the beautiful Tuscany countryside in the Val d'Orcia. Stay 2 nights in Pienza, Montepulciano, etc.
- Tke the train to Florence - 3 nights
- take the train to Venice - 3 nights

I would probably do this itinerary in reverse because arriving in Venice is less complecated than departing from Venice (early in the morning)

Stu Dudley

Stu Dudley

mscarls

One of the biggest advantages of a good tour is that you can see a lot more in less time. The tour company buys admission tickets to the most popular attractions in advance so that when you arrive at an attraction you can walk right in.
The tour company also takes you from attraction to attraction in an efficient manner.
In addition, the tour companies arrange excellent guides at every stop, so you can learn more and more easily than if you have to keep stopping to read your guide book.
Also, you don't have to worry about getting from city to city -- the tour company takes care of it. You sit on the bus and talk to the new friends you've made or take a nap while someone else drives.
Finally, if you don't like to worry about finding restaurants in strange cities, the tour company will have made arrangments for most of your meals. With a good tour company, the meals will be good.
We have taken Tauck several times and have been very happy with the company. Its tours are not cheap, but the hotels it uses are very nice and very well-located, and we have met very nice people (mostly in their late 50s and 60s) from all over the world (although primarily from the U.S.).

ira

Hi P,

>Rome, include Florence and Venice, then go to Paris, and end our trip in London. We'd like to accomplish (Italy and Paris) in about 12 days

You cannot properly visit Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris in only 12 days.

I would skip London. or Rome (others might skip Venice and Florence).

It is unlikely that you will want a railpass.

Trains in Italy are quite cheap.

See www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

There are cheap airlines in Europe. See www.whichbudget.com.

Enjoy your visit.

Parsilady

Thanks for all your suggestions. They really helped us. Hopefully we are off to Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice and England. Everyone enjoy your travels and be safe.