France,Spain,Italy
 

Hi,

Please advice if any changes/additions should be made in the following itinerary.We are planning to go early June next year

1. 4 nights at Paris
2. 2 nights at Florence
3. 1 day trip to Tuscany(Siena and Chianti) and night at Florence
4. 2 nights at Rome
5. 1 day trip to Capri and night at Rome
6. 3 nights at Barcelona

We are planning to take flights since it is faster. Train route only between Florence and Rome.

Does it make sense to spend more time in Rome?
Any suggestions on what can be added or removed?

Really appreciate the help.
TIA

Have you looked into the travel times between Rome and Capri?

Just remember every time you move to another city you will lose at least 1/2 day. Besides flying time you are not considering checking in/out, packing/unpacking, waiting time at the airport and the time traveling between airport and hotel.

2 nights somewhere is just one day. At the very least, I'd eliminate those day trips - you don't have enough time in places you are staying.

PErsonally, I'd knock off Barcelona. YOu have three countries in only 11 days, that's too much. Delete Barcelona and add those days to Florence and Rome. It will save you money, also, as you won't have that flight to pay for.

Rome is a big city, with many things to see. I consider three nights to be an absolute minimum, and not a very satisfactory one. The top sights in Rome (the Vatican, the Colosseum, etc.) are very crowded. If you really feel you have to see those top sights, you'll spend your entire time in a crowd of tourists, and totally miss the real beauty of Rome. If you spend four nights, you can see the Vatican on one day, the Colosseum and other ancient sites in that area on a second day, and you can reserve the third day for some hidden gems that will get you away from the hordes.

Capri is really too far for a day trip. And if you take a day trip from Florence, don't try to see Chianti and Siena in one day. Was this an organized tour?

I agree that you might want to skip Barcelona. I really can't imagine spending more time in Barcelona than in Rome.

Capri does not work as a day trip from Rome.
You would have:
Taxi from hotel to train station
Train from Rome to Naples
Taxi (or shuttle) from Naples train station to ferry port
Ferry to Capri
Then, all of that reversed going back to Rome.

Cut something.
Choices:
1. Cut Capri, add the day to Rome. Not good, but better.
2. Cut Barcelona, go straight from Florence to Sorrento for 2 nts , visit Capri from there
Rome, 4 nts.
3. Cut Capri and Barcelona, add time to Rome, Paris and Florence
4. Cut Florence and Capri, visit Paris, Barcelona, Rome

Were you flying from Paris to Florence?
Perhaps you could fly from Paris to Naples for the visit to Capri, then up to Florence and back to Rome at the end. All depends on available flights.
Check flights between Paris and Barcelona, and Barcelona to Rome.
Have fun planning.

Only you can figure out if it makes more sense for you to spend more time in Rome at the expense of something else, but you can fly non-stop from Paris to Napoli, and you can fly non-stop from Florence to Barcelona.

So if you wanted (not recommending, just pointing out)

1. 4 nights at Paris
2. I night Capri
3. 2 nights Rome
4. 3 nights Florence (with day trip to countryside)
5. 3 nights Barcelona

It's a bit easier that way.

You need more time in rome.

Also - a day trip from Rome to Capri is probably really only possible by helicopter if you want to actually see much.

I agree -- WAY too much, for all the reasons mentioned above! I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. You might end up deciding to cut a destination or two....

To give more useful feedback, I think it would help to know something about your interests and what kinds of things you want to see / experience.

Thanks for the help guys!

I agree with having much less time at Rome. Hence, I was concerned about the day trip to Capri.Added it because it sooo beautiful!But we can let go of it if it doesn't make logistic sense.

Dont want to let go of Barcelona.

Hence, the final itinerary can be-
4 N-Paris
3 N-Florence (with 1 day morning at tuscany)
3 N-Rome
3 N-Barcelona

I have an interest in art, history and food!

Better -- but still too rushed for my tastes. I don't think you are giving sufficient attention to the time it will take to get from place to place. Good luck!

You have 11 nights and only 6 places. Why not add 5 more to check off the list? That is what you are doing right, checking places off a list. You certainly aren't spending enough time in any of those places for any more than checking them off a list. Most people would say Rome or Paris for example needs at least a week to scratch the surface.

Florence is actually in Tuscany, in fact, it's the regional capital of Tuscany. I don't know where you want to go for one morning, but it would have to be nearby. An organized tour might be appropriate; otherwise there are buses to some of the small towns in the Chianti region, but you have to plan very carefully because of the schedules, which are mostly intended for students traveling to Florence in the morning and back in the afternoon. There are very few buses on Sundays.

In a morning, you could go by bus to Fiesole, a little town on a hill above Florence. It's not in the countryside, but there are nice views over Florence.

It might be possible to visit San Gimignano in a morning, changing buses in Poggibonsi.

I wouldn't advise going to a larger city, like Siena, where there's a lot to see. You'd have too little time there.