oscar becerra

We are planning to spend 2 weeks in Europe in july. I was planning to rent a van and drive but it seems the driving will take too much and no way to return the car in other country. We'll be using the Eurailpass. My wife and me want to go to Greece but would like some advise about timing. We plan 3 days Paris, 2 days Florence,1 day Venice, 3 days Rome and then a train to Brindisi to get the boat to Greece where we would stay 3 days and fly back to Paris from Athens. Sounds reasonable? Any suggestions? We will be looking for hotels in the $100 per room night.

kam

Visited Greece, Sept. 99. We were there a month, and I feel we needed longer, I can't wait to go back. <BR> <BR>I think it would be better to just choose 1 country or the most 2. Why hurry thru, there is so much to see in all the countries you have listed! <BR>Enjoy your trip!

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Oscar, Forget Greece and probably Rome <BR>for this trip. In 2 weeks you should do <BR>Paris, Nice, Italy Lakes, Florence, and <BR>then fly home from Venice. That will <BR>keep you very busy for 2 weeks and is <BR>a grand itinerary.

Deborah Roty

DO NOT PASS UP GREECE!!! It is amazing! I spent 2 weeks there. It is more fulfilling if you know a little about mythology. <BR> <BR>That does sound like a lot to do in a short amount of time. We spent 2 weeks in Italy and it felt like a whirlwind. <BR> <BR>I would pick Siena over Florence and rent a car for the day (Avis or Hertz--reserve before you go) to see the country-side. I would cut it down to two countries. France and Italy both have way too many important things to see and do. <BR> <BR>You can check the train schedules over the web so you can calculate exactly how many hours this will all take. You will change your mind. Don't wait until you get there to figure it all out because it takes some time to realize how it all works.

Diane

Two weeks is not a lot of time -- you'll blink and it will be over. Based on your plans, you'll be spending most of it packing, unpacking, and moving from one place to another. <BR> <BR>I suggest you narrow down your choices and actually "see" something. My first trip to Europe was a month with a Eurailpass. I visited primarily large cities in six countries. Most of my memories are from places where I stayed at least three nights. On one trip I spent a week in Amsterdam, and a week with a car traveling around Belgium. On another trip I stayed in Venice, the Italian Riveria, and Antibes. <BR> <BR>I know it can be difficult to narrow down your choices -- there's just so much to see. You'll appreciate what you do see more if you allow yourself the time to enjoy your surroundings and give yourself a chance to meet the people who live there.

oscar

Thanks for your comments, we are trying not to miss Greece so we might probably fly some of the intercities. Do any of you know about some kind of airpasses within Europe?. Thanks, <BR>Oscar

elvira

check www.europebyair.com for $99 flights between cities <BR> <BR>I think AirFrance has an airpass; ditto BritishAir <BR> <BR>It's too bad Greece is out of the way (seriously, if you're doing the Italy/France/Spain/Germany sort of tour, Greece is out in left field) because it's a wonderful country. The Brindisi boat/ferry thing is a very long trip, and if you get seasick, you won't be in any shape to tour Greece. <BR>You should be able to find hotels in Greece and Paris within your price range. Haven't been to Venice or Florence or Rome in years, so I don't know about hotel prices there. <BR> <BR>If you can find inexpensive flights from Paris to Italy, Italy to Greece, Greece to Paris, you can see everything you've planned. Use the trains among the Italian cities. <BR> <BR>Any reason not to do an open jaw, i.e., fly into Paris, then out of Athens to home?

MB

Oscar, <BR>About 8 years ago, I did the "European Whirlwind Tour" with a girlfriend and spent 17 days. We landed in Frankfurt, went to Munich (twice), Vienna (wonderful "Sound of Music" tour), Rome, Florence, Nice/Monte Carlo, Geneva (overnight) and Paris. <BR> <BR>We had Eurail passes and if I did it again, I would buy those European Air passes for $99 and fly between some of the cities. <BR> <BR>We saw the "important" sites in those cities, which was nice, because now, I know which cities/countries I want to go back to and spend more time in. <BR> <BR>We are currently planning a trip to Greece/Egypt - spending a week in each. <BR> <BR>Good luck and have fun - don't spend all your time traveling from point a to b -- spend your time enjoying the sites!

diane

wow !! you'll be busy - and you'll miss alot if you stick to this itinerary .. we did rome in 3 days, florence in 3 days, venice in 4 days, milan in 1, spent 4 nights with relatives in northern italy and then finished the trip with 4 nights in paris !! if we had to do it all over again .. we'd cut venice down to 1 night only and add 1 or 2 days in both rome and florence - nothing we could do about the relative visit - but had it not been for that - we could easily have added those days in paris .. there is no way we could have worked greece and germany in there. <BR>good luck .. and bon voyage !! <BR>