First trip to Europe, thoughts on this itinerary?
 

Hi everyone!

My wife and I are trying to plan our first trip to Europe next April/May. We plan to be there between 2 and 3 weeks and need to start pinning down our locations and itinerary. We have several places that are absolutely musts for us including Paris and Rome. Food and sight seeing are our priorities. There are a couple of other places we'd like to visit but not spend as much time in, including Peterborough (where I was born and I haven't seen since I was 2 years old), Venice, and Florence. I've been reading a LOT, especially posts here in the forums and other places and got some great info from a friend that spent a month in Europe earlier this year. Great info on packing light, places to see, and using trains for travel within Italy but I have a feeling that we're trying to squeeze in too much for this trip. First time over there...want to see everything you know?? Anyway, here's our current itinerary...any comments/suggestions on it?

4/13 - Houston to London
4/14 - Day trip to Peterborough and back
4/15 - London to Paris (via train)
4/16 - Paris
4/17 - Paris (our anniversary)
4/18 - Paris
4/19 - Paris
4/20 - Paris
4/21 - Travel to Venice (flight?)
4/22 - Venice
4/23 - Venice
4/24 - Travel to Florence ( via train)
4/25 - Florence/Tuscany
4/26 - Florence/Tuscany
4/27 - Travel to Rome (via train)
4/28 - Rome
4/29 - Rome
4/30 - Rome
5/1 - Rome
5/2 - Travel back to London (flight)
5/3 - Stonehenge visit?
5/4 - Travel back to Houston

Thoughts/suggestions??
Thanks!

It seems a well though out itinerary that leaves ample time in the key cities - if going by train check out these great sites IMO - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com - and you may also want to check out the France-Italy Railpass, valid on every train you will be taking in France and Italy - my decades of rail travel in those two countries makes me exhort first-time rail travelers on the trip of a lifetime to pay extra and go first class - a world of difference IME (even though 2nd class ain't no cattle car) - but much more relaxed, especially for folks hauling luggage around - easier to find storage - I seem to always have an empty seat next to me to lay my luggage on - lots more empty seats in first class IME and seats are also significantly bigger if mobility or size is a factor. Only in first class will you find the desirable IMO isolated seats - those with a window and an aisle - rows of just one seat - some face each other - nice for couples and come with a table in between, nice for snacks and postcard writing!

You can get discounted tickets online at www.voyages-sncf.com (France) and www.trenitalia.com (Italy) but these are train specific and are sold in limited numbers so must be booked weeks in advance to guarantee at times and cannot usually easily be changed nor refunded. The pass can be used on any train, needing only the mandatory seat reservation so if you miss the train all you are out is the seat reservation fee.

If you fly from Houston to London on 4/13, you will land in London the morning of 4/14. You're going to press on to Peterborough as soon as you land, and then come back and spend the night in London and leave for Paris next day? That's a disaster in the making right out of the gate.

Also, I don't understand planning a trip with two teeny little stops in London at the very beginning and very end of the trip. Why not actually plan to spend some time in London after you land, then continue to the Continent as planned and fly home from Rome?

The in-between parts look reasonable.

Sounds like OP was born in Peterborough and has had her fill of London, at least to spend time there at the expense of other places not so familiar. But I agree with perhaps needing an extra London night at the beginning.

Why are you coming back to London? I would do an Open Jaw of London/Rome...get extra days.

I echo that the first day on the continent will be a otugh one for travel. You land, you are jet-lagged. By the time you get out of airport and into central London , it will be around noon. You need to get to hotel, check in. maybe lunch. Then off to train station, feeling crappy. On train, you fall asleep, which does not help with jet lag. You get to Peterborough, grumpy. :)

I would stay...three or four days in London. Day 1, after hotel, go for long walk around city. Day 2 mid-morning train to P. Day 3..more London, or Stonehenge.

If you have never been to London, I think you might be shortchanging it with...1/2 to 1 day total in your plan.

Some people find they can't sleep at all on the overnight flight to Europe. Even if you do great, and manage four hours or so, the next day tends to be a blur - - and your memories of the day can also be a blur (so be sure to use your camera!). You might be better off with a relaxed first arrival day - - whether it is London, and then visiting Peterborough the next day - - or flying an open jaw into Italy and back from London (you can fly into one city and back from another, and pay half of each round-trip fare) and not doing London twice. You could also fly into London, stay longer there, and then fly back to the States from Rome.

Congrats looks pretty good also headed over there in April

go a lot at least yearly were in Italy lots last April May

Usually get best flight deals flying RT London

Open Jaw costs more

skyscanner.net cheap flights booked in advance would save

over train for me seat61.com day train is nice you see more

eurocheapo.com great site good city tips everywhere

betterbidding.com for great cheap hotels recent wins for us

Hotwire.com Novotel Paris Les Halles their secret Louvre

Hotel 115 euro/nt excellent for a 4 star

Hilton Molino Stuky 5 star Venice-tourism.com $120/nt

bidding priceline.com Intercontinental.com Rome Ville

bidding priceline $180/nt Jpin hotel clubs flash

cards for free upgrades to club suites for us if available.

London deals on Priceline usually Marriotts for us from $80/nt

ryanair.com easyjet.com usually best for econo flights

pack light onebag.com insuremytrip.com wise

Happy Travels!

I agree it makes no sense at all to fly back to London at the end of the trip. Some people think you must fly in and out of the same city, but you don't. I usually do not. It doesn't cost any more to do open jaw(at least there is no penalty, of course a flight back from Rome could be more than from London, flights from Rome usually are, but not excessively and I imagine the cost would be less than the cost of getting from Rome to London, not to mention all the time you'll waste).

If you really want to spend a little time in London, such as to see Stonehenge, do it at the beginning of the trip instead of leaving immediately, not at the end of the trip. Rest looks good.

quovadis is mistaken about open jaw or multi-city flights. For one thing, he is not taking into account the cost of flying back to London to catch the flight home. Plus the cost in wasted time to backtrack.

I'm another fan of open jaw flights. The time wasted traveling back to the city of origination is a bigger problem for me than any additional cost incurred by flying open jaw. Sometimes open jaw pricing actually saves both money and time.
Ann Marie

Paris to Venice could well be on the Artesia overnight trains that run nightly - get a private double berth, some nice wine and..... laugh the night away and save on the cost of a hotel to boot.

Thanks for all the replies!

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things real quick. First, I'm aware that flights from Houston to London are overnight. I should have put that we will arrive in London on 4/13. So we'd be leaving from Houston on 4/12 in the evening and arriving in London the morning of 4/13. As for coming back to London...my wife and I priced out tickets and found that its much cheaper to fly back to London from Rome, then catch a flight home. When we priced it out last weekend it was estimating about $1,600 to go from Rome to Houston, but only $50 from Rome to London and about $1,000 from London to Houston.

Perhaps we can squeeze in the Peterborough and Stonehenge trip at the very beginning instead of having them as bookends on the trip. Good advice, thanks!

And shift the itinerary back one day to accommodate the Stonehenge visit. So we'd take the train to Paris on 4/16.

I checked on kayak.com and found Houston to London and Rome to Houston for $1187.

I see United/Continental flights Houston to London direct and Rome with one stop to Houston on your dates for $1195 including taxes.
Ann Marie

Ok, on your $50 pricetag for the Rome-London flight, I am going to assume that you are considering flying Ryanair. You have to be aware that the "initial" price of Ryanair is NOT what you will actually pay. You pay for each piece of checked baggage and they can be very strict in terms of size and weight. One kilo over can cost you 30 euros. In addition, if Ryanair, be aware that they fly into both Gatwick and Stansted. The Gatwick prices aren't showing up, but the Stansted are. Going through the quicky price-check, the cost if each of you are checking in one 20 Kg bag would be about $170 total. Ah, but now you have to get from Stansted to London, which adds probably another $30-$50, same for Gatwick. You also have to get to Ciampino, which will run another $30 minimum. Plus, you have pretty much blown an entire day. So yes for about $250 you can get from Rome to London, not $100. Now compare your price to what Judy found.

dave

Sounds like a well thought out plan, giving you plenty of time in each city.

I'd agree that if you can do open-jaw, that's be a better way to go. Try one of the megasites like Kayak.com, although my personal preference is skyscanner.net.

Flying between Paris and Venice would also be an easier choice. The less expensive airlines are offering flights between Paris (Orly or CDG, do not fly out of Paris-Beauvais!) for about $50-60 (that's dollars, not euros!), so it's very affordable. Sit on the RIGHT side of the plane to get the best views of Venice on landing.

Have you gotten far enough in your planning to decide how you are going to get into town from the major airports? I find that even that part has to be planned ahead. Gone are the days when I'd arrive, tired and blurry-eyed in a major city, and wander around a strange airport wondering how to get to the center of the city. If you have planned out how to get from airport to your hotel, it too takes a lot of the hassle and fatigue out of traveling long distance.

>>>When we priced it out last weekend it was estimating about $1,600 to go from Rome to Houston, but only $50 from Rome to London and about $1,000 from London to Houston. <<<

What site were you using to price tickets? I don't see any flights for $1600 into London and out of Rome for your dates. Most are just under $1200. The cheapest I see in and out of London are just under $1060. Not much difference if you add in the cost of getting back to London and if you value your time wasted backtracking.

I would fly to Rome first as I prefer to get the long flight out of the way on the overnight. Price are about $60 more into Rome and out of London.

I don't understand that pricing, either. There may have been a fare last weekend on some airline for $1600 RT Houston-Rome, but the point is that you didn't want a RT to Rome ticket, you wanted to fly into London and out of Rome. So why would you even look for something like that? Of course flights from Rome are going to cost more than from London, it is farther, for one thing. And there won't be any nonstop, I imagine. So paying more for a flight from Rome (which you will have to do) wouldn't make sense both ways, when you don't even want to do that. You will have to pay more for a fligth home from Rome than from London, of course, it costs more. But it shouldn't cost more to depart from there (rathern than London) than to get you from Rome to London as the alternative. You can easily get that open-jaw itinerary for $1200, I know, eg on United/COntinental or American and probably other airlines.

The point is that your comparison should not be a RT ticket Houston-Rome vs RT London, but into one city and out of the other. So if your comparison is $1200 for the open-jaw vs. $1000 for London, it wouldn't be worth it considering the flight and then getting into the city from wherever it lands may cost you $100 or so and the time you'll spend out of your vacation. Maybe you would save $50-100, but it wouldn't be worth it to me.

When we priced it out last weekend it was estimating about $1,600 to go from Rome to Houston, but only $50 from Rome to London and about $1,000 from London to Houston.

When I searched for a one way from Rome to Houston I also saw a pricetag of $1600. However, what you need to do is a multi-city search on kayak rather than two one way searches. Multi city flights are what we are referring to as open jaw flights. Two one way flights are often terribly pricey.
Ann Marie Walker