France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy in 12 days? Can it be done?
 

First trip to Europe and would love to see it all but only planning on leaving July 1 and returning July 12. Our "musts" are Paris and Rome. Is it possible to visit Paris, travel into Germany (just to say we've been there), and into Switzerland (just want to see the landscape) and then to Rome. And, of course, back to Paris for return trip home. Can this be done in 12 days (actually 10 days as we will have travel time)? If so, how do we make the trip? By train? I don't think I can drive there.

Also, where should we stay? Money will be "somewhat" limited.

Appreciate any help or suggestions.

Hi dherron,

First, you should investigate flying into Paris and out of Rome to save time & money. This is called "open jaw" and is fairly common.

And of course it CAN be done -- if saying "I've been there" is more important than actually enjoying being there!!

A better itinerary would be Paris-Switzerland-Rome, but even that will be rushed in 10-11 days.

Good luck!

s

Thanks, S. Perhaps Germany will be out of the question. Can Paris-Switzerland-Rome be done by train?

go to raileurope.com and go to train tickets, enter your destinations and see how long it takes to get to each city, then decide how YOU feel about it, have fun, alot of people do this on their first trip.

To save time you may want to consider flying between cities via budget airlines ( Easyjet, Ryan, etc). Try www.whichbudget.com to see if it might work.

Have a good trip.
Travelatte

I agree, fly into Paris and out of Rome and take the train thru Switz which will be a great way to see the scenery. We have taken a night train between Paris and Rome - it is quite a distance. You might want to break it up with a nite somewhere in betwwen the two but check out the rail schedules on www.banh.de (the German railway site) and make a plan!

Just a heads up, you actually have only 9.5 days. If you depart on July 1 from the US then you won't arrive in Europe until July 2. Even if you arrive in the morning it will take you a while to get through customs and transfer from the airport to your hotel to drop your luggage. You will likely only have a 1/2 day on July 2nd at best, plus you will be jetlagged and trying to adjust to the time difference.

Rome and Paris are both cities worth at least a week in and of themselves. Keep in mind that you will lose a 1/2 day or more every time you move to a new destination. Trying to see both cities in 9 days (b/c of the loss of at least 1/2 day in getting there) will be hectic and you will certainly miss some of the highlights. Adding another destination seems crazy... you would spend more time on trains or in airports than actually seeing Europe.

I would plan to split the time between Paris and Rome and try to get a cheap flight between the two (or do a night train). It would definitely be stretching it, but you could consider a daytrip from Paris to one of the nearby castles (chateaux). Florence is only a couple hours from Rome by train so that is another possible daytrip option if you don't mind missing out on some things in Rome and really want to see Tuscany.

Best of luck in your planning. Probably the best advice is to keep telling yourself that you will go back and don't have to see everything on this first trip

Ten nites means 3 destinations and each should be no more than 4 hours away.

If you want to do Paris-Rome via Switzerland, I would suggest taking the TGV train from Paris to Lausanne, a very nice small city on Lake Geneva, and spend the night there--if you have the time it's worth a day to explore it--the Cathedral, Olympic Museum, the waterfront, etc. Then take the train from Lausanne to Milan with some very nice Swiss and Italian scenery on the way, and change trains in Milan for Rome. The Lausanne-Rome total train ride is about 8 hours.

Hi D,

Paris and Rome make a nice 11 day visit.

You can fly Paris Orly to Rome Ciampino. See www.whichbudget.com

Switzerland and Germany will still be there when you go back again.

Have a nice trip.