Diana_CA

After reading all of your suggestions we have altered our itinerary and here is what we came up with:

Paris 3 days
Italy 11 days: Venice, Rome and Positano (not sure how to divide 11 days between the 3)

Let me know what guys think about this?

jamikins

I would personally drop Paris and focus on Italy. For 3 days you wont see much and its a hassle to travel.

I would fly into Venice and out of Rome (or vice versa) and spend 2 weeks in Italy...3/4 days in Venice, 6 days in Rome and 3/4 days in Positano.

Dayle

Diana,

You're doing a little better, but what you are still not grasping is the effort and travel time between cities! What you are trying to do is something like traveling from Dallas to LA to SF to Seattle.

Venice to Rome would take about 6 hours by train. Rome to Positano about 1/2 day.

Arrange your trip geographically and you will get more bang for the buck (and time).

violetduck

Diana, you should have no problems with language. You will often find many of the people just look at you and start to speak English, always amazes me, and I usually wear black and no white tennis shoes. However, I think it is very important and just courteous to at least learn greetings, thank you, etc. in the language of the country you are visiting. Take a little phrase book just in case you need it and one with foods to help in restaurants.
You can learn a lot from www.slowtrav.com and www.ricksteves.com websites. Both have excellent information on train travel also.

I also tend to feel you should just make Italy your focus this trip. You are getting there!!!!

AisleSeat

Hi Diana, I am with the others that would urge you to cut down the number of destinations. Most first timer do some combination of London, Paris, Rome (or Venice). Figure in your travel time and spend about 4-5 days in each of those and you will have a wonderful trip.

carolyn

Diana, on my first trip to Europe I did what the experienced travelers here are telling you not to do--a quick look at a lot of places--and against the advice of the International V.P. of my company who was widely traveled.

What that trip did was give me a taste of several places that helped me to know where I would most like to return for longer and more thorough visits. You can certainly get a taste of Paris and a closer look at Italy on a 14-day trip if that is what is in your heart to do.

Diana_CA

Thank you guys, I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions.
We have decided to spend 4 days in Paris and 10 days in Italy (venice, Rome and Amalfi Coast).

nona1

Diana, I'm going to be the voice of support for your plans here. Some people like to zip around to different destinations. You can't see a whole city in a month either but that doesn't mean you shouldn't visit for less than a month.

Your plans all sounded ok to me but then I'm in Europe and it's very common for us to nip about for weekend trips to other European countries - or even day trips! I know that many people prefer to stay in one place for a while, that's fine, but you shouldn't say that others always have to do the same.

Your travel to and from Europe is in addition to the 14 days here. I'll say you can pretty comfortably aim for 4 locations then. Take a look at train/plane timetables to help you work out which four. London/Paris is actually a pretty good idea as they are only 2.5 hours apart by train (like I said, people do it for a day trip).

It's up to you to pick your travel style - but I'd disagree with anyone who says a short stop 'isn't worth it'. I've enjoyed a lot of my short hops.

Dayle

Ok, Diana,

Much Better! As for your Italy portion, I would do this -

Venice 3 nights
Amalfi Coast 3 nights
Rome 5 nights and depart

Buon viaggio!!

suze

You latest itinerary is much more reasonable (enjoyable). I would not worry so much about the language, many people travel around Europe without local language skills. I've never had a difficulty. That said, the more simple you keep your plans, the less language/logistics will be required.

suze

For example, I try to have my plans organized when I go out for the day, so I'm not in the situation of needing to ask directions in a local neighborhood.

violetduck

Much better, Diana. Hope you have a great trip. One thing that might help you is to have the names of the train stops printed so you will know when your stop is coming up and you can be by the door and prepared to exit. On the train schedule you open details and it will list the stops.

GSteed

DIY travelling uses much time simply moving from site to site. It is also replete with physical hassles. Find one week bus tours of England, France and Italy. Pick two. Don't neglect to check Elder Hostel tours. Let us know what you decide.

Diana_CA

Thank you guys again.
Can you rate St.Tropez, Monaco and Nice according to your preference? Which one would be number 1, which one is 2 and 3.
Thank you

danon

Nice is easy to get to and visit other places on the Cot from.
Monaco is no big deal IMO, have not been to St. T.

janisj

What happened to the 4 days Paris/10 days Italy plan? Adding in the Fr coast only stretches things too thin again . . . .

luvtotravel

What about flying into Paris (4) nights, train to French Riviera (3) nights, train to Italian Riviera (2) nights, train to Lake Como (3) nights, train to Venice (3) nights, and fly home from Venice. Still too much moving around, but possible.

If you want to focus on Italy, think about visiting places either north or south. Major spots in Northern Italy include Lake Como, Italian Riviera (I know this was not mentioned before but worth considering), Tuscany (another worth considering), and Venice. You could fly into Milan and out of Venice. Southern Italy could include Umbria, Rome, and Positano/Amalfi Coast, although I would choose Rome and Umbria, or Rome and Amalfi Coast, not all three with your limited time.

On one two week trip my friend and I landed in Venice (4 nights), took an overnight train to Italian Riviera (4) nights, and trained to French Riviera (5) nights where we rented a car for several days. Finally flying home from Nice.

As you stated, this is your FIRST trip to Europe. Assume you will go back. Spend some time in each destination and limit the amount of moving around to three hotels or you will spend lots of time unpacking/repacking and traveling from one place to the other.