France, Italy and Greec
 

Hello,

I am in my mid 20's traveling with my parents to France, Italy and Greece in May. We will be traveling for two weeks.

I am looking for recommendations on cities to visit and locations that are a must see.

Thank you!

Are you going by car, train, plane or a mixture? In two weeks France and Italy or two of those places would work but in two weeks three different countries well that is a bit rushed.

But say you fly into Paris - take an overnight train or day flight to say Venice - hit Florence and Rome and fly to Greece for a final few days - flying home from there.

A problem with cars is that if you pick them up in one country and return them to another you may have to pay steep dropoff fees for doing so. If going mainly to cities like Paris, Venice, Rome, etc cars are useless so take the train.

For lots of great stuff on planning a European rail trip check out these IMO superb sources: www.budgeteuropetravel.com (check out their free online European Rail & Planning Guide for lots of rail itineraries; www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets that can save you a ton of money if you book far far in advance, usually in stone; www.ricksteves.com - great review of railpasses - the France-Italy railpass could be on interest if going first class, which IME has lots of benefits over 2nd class for folks hauling typically too much luggage around.

It's time to look at an overall travel book on Europe. 2 weeks is not that much time, and given the three country destinations, the time will suffice just to see highlights given in such a travel book.

And if you are still looking for recommendations on cities to visit and locations that are must sees, how did you end up choosing these three specific countries in the first place?

In 2 weeks (and how many actual nights do you have on the ground - does this include 3 weekends?) four major cities (no matter how many countries) is a lot to cover.

If you are thinking more than that - multiple areas in each country - you will spend the bulk of your vacation in transit - rather than actually doing or seeing anything.

If it were me I would do 5 nights (minimum) in Paris and spread the rest of the time over 3 places in Italy (don't know which will work best for you since you don;t tell us what your interests are).

Agree you need to do some more research and come back with your thinking on some must sees.

If you really want to see any of Greece I would either drop Paris or limit yourself to one city in Italy.

"I am looking for recommendations on cities to visit and locations that are a must see."

Based on what criteria? Your question is useless unless you provide info on which people can base a suggestion.

Basic itinerary hitting most famous places between Paris and Athens:

Paris - 4 days
overnight train or plane to Venice
Venice 2 days
Florence 3 days including one day trip to an Tuscan hill town (like Siena)
Rome 3 days
Fly to Athens 2 days

In just two weeks that's as quick and as much of the major sites you can do if you want to see the 'must sees' in each place.

It would helpful if the OP indicated the airport of departure. I suggest the number of full days on the ground be plotted out. There are probably less than 14 days when subtracting going and coming. Every hotel relocation takes at least half a day, flights sometimes most of the day. A one-hour flight hotel to hotel, unpacked and out on the street, can easily add up to over 6 hours. The idea is not to get the traveling part overwhelm the enjoyment part.

Going from Paris to Italy without visiting Lyon ??

Lyon est nice mais ils y'ont plusiers places que je visiterai en place de Lyon quand allant de Paris a Italie!

<i>ils y'ont plusiers places que je visiterai en place de Lyon quand allant de Paris a Italie!</i>

Is Google translate that bad?

I've visited Athens one month ago for 3 days. Except from visiting Akropolis Kalimarmaro,Plaka and the temple of Hephaestus, I was surfing the web with my girlfriend to find great places to eat and have a drink. My girlfriend found a pdf with the 5 top places in Athens, and i can say that it was the bomb! Great recommendations for eating and drinking (and also a Gelaterie was included. YAY!), that were truly a life saver due to our strict schedule.
You can have a look at it here: http://goo.gl/PPkmtS

"that were truly a life saver due to our strict schedule. "

So speaks the list ticker tourist.

Is Google translate that bad?>

Pardon mon francais! There are many places I would visit when going between Italy and France than Lyon... nice as that city is - it is a detour and places like Chamonix, Annecy, Burgundy make more sense.

I'm not a list ticker at all! I didn't come to Athens on vacation. I was on a business trip.