Help me plan my trip within Europe ( destinations inside )
 

Hello everyone

So ill be going to Rome, Florence, Vence, Paris and London . I have my dates and Hotels booked

I will need to know how to go about within cities as I mention them below.

Also when I travel within the cities From the train stations or whatever what will be the best way to get to my hotel

Thanks BELOW ARE THE DETAILS :)

Thanks

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***I will be Landing in Rome at the FIUMICINO Airport on January 17th/2009

I will be staying at in rome from 17th - 20th at :

DE LA VILLE ROMA
InterContinental
VIA SISTINA 67/69
ROME, 00187
39-06-67331

How should I be getting to my hotel from the Airport? What places Should I see in Rome . Also what is the best method of transportation ( if you can name me bus names or something )
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***NEXT destination is Florence from 20th - 22th . What is the best way to get to florence from ROME( train? )
I will be staying at the following:

Best Western Premier Vivahotel Laurus al Duomo
Via Cerretani, 54r
Florence 50123
Italy

Again I would need where to go , what do see , where to eat
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*** NEXTdestination is Venice from 22nd - 23rd. What is the best way to get to Venice from Rome:

Ill be stating at :

Hotel name: Ruzzini Palace
Address:
CASTELLO 5866
30122 VENICE
Venice Island, IT 0

Again I would need where to go , what do see , where to eat

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*** NEXTdestination is Paris from 23nd - 26rd. What is the best way to get to Paris from Venice:


Ill be staying at
PARIS-RÉPUBLIQUE
Crowne Plaza Hotel
10 PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE
PARIS, 75011
33-1-43144350



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*** NEXTdestination is London from 26th- 29th. What is the best way to get to London from Paris:

Ill be staying at

LONDON PARK LANE
InterContinental
ONE HAMILTON PLACE
PARK LANE
LONDON, W1J 7QY
44-20-74093131

Again what to eat and look around

Per your previous threads, you've been planning this trip for at least four months, but you still don't know what you want to see/do in these places? Are you sure you've given yourself enough time in Venice? I think you need to read some guidebooks.

Rome - Intercontinental from the airport

In order of convenience, priced highest to lowest

Private driver
Taxi
Train to Termini then taxi to hotel
Train to Termini then subway to Spagna station, walk 100m to hotel.

As for getting around Rome it really depends on where you want to go. Rome is a big city. Google maps is your online tool, and a good street/bus map will help you get just about anywhere in the city for the price of a bus ticket.

From Rome to Florence to Venice the best way is train. Venice to Paris is by air. Paris to London is train.

As for sights, in Venice I recommend you see the Grand Canal and that famous bridge.

Too many places in too little time IMHO. Only 13 nights would have been better staying in Italy especially in winter when it's gets dark so early. If flight are already booked, you might consider dropping Paris and flying to London from Venice so you could have some time to see things in Italy.

If you are determined to stick to this schedule, use either EasyJet or AirBerlin to fly from Venice to Paris. Both airlines also fly Venice/London.

I would take the Eurostar train from Paris to London. I do think you need to get some guidebooks and decide what sights appeal most to you as your time in each location is pretty limited.

You have made a common 'mistake' listing your itinerary so it looks like you have more time in each place. Instead of "days" think in terms of "nights"

It is really:

Rome three nights 17th - 19th (the 17th will be pretty much a jet lagged fog, so really only 2 full days in Rome)

Florence two nights 20th - 21st

Venice one night 22nd

Paris 3 nights 23rd - 25th

London 3 nights 26th - 28th. (assuming you are flying home on the 29th)

And in your planning remember, two nights does not equal two days in a place. You have to subtract all the travel/packing/unpacking/checking out/checking in.

So IMO you are really trying to cram in aawful lot in a very short time. You won't have time to see more than a very few of the major sites/sights in any one of those places.

For the things you might want to visit - click on 'DESTINATIONS' at the top of this page and you will see descriptions of all the major sites.

I agree that you're trying to cram in too many cities. My travel would take at least 12 days to visit one country, and even then I wouldn't feel I'd had enough time there.

It's as Rick Steves says, assume that you're going to return to Europe again. You don't have to see everything on one trip.

At the very least, I'd suggest four days for any city, keeping in mind that half of a day will be spent just getting to that place, and at least half of a day will be spent traveling to the next city. So as the above poster explains, you're not really spending as much time in each city as you may think you are.

Get a guidebook and look up what the guidebook says about travel from the airport to hotel or from one city to another.

Your itinerary looks pretty ambitious. Just be prepared to feel exhausted half-way through your trip. I would skip Venice and add a couple of days to Paris and do day trips from Paris. Don't forget to opt for only the high-speed trains and/or flights. Remember it takes at least 1/2 day to check in/out of hotels/lodging (many hotels do not allow you to check in before noon, so even if you get there early you'd still have to wait until the afternoon; this is why you waste at least 1/2 day when changing lodging locations), so for every check-in/out at a new location, subtract 1/2 day.

For example if you say you'll be in Venice 22n-23rd (i.e., exactly 48 hours), technically you're only there for 1 day, since 2days-2checkin/out(1/2)=1day which means 24 hours. Subtract 16 hours (2 nights sleep, 8 hours per night), you get exactly 8 hours in Venice.

If you are traveling with 2+ people, I would subtract another 1/4day for each person after 2 from each day.

So in a group of 3 people, 2days-2checkin/out(1/2)-1/4day = 3/4day (18 hours) left to actually sight see. Subtract 16 hours (2 nights sleep, 8 hours per night) and you get 2 "real" hours in Venice to enjoy the city.

I know this is not what you asked, but you may not realize that on the 22nd, it will take more than half the day, leaving your hotel in Florence, train to Venice and getting to your hotel in Venice. The very next day, you are going to Paris. Even if you fly, it will take at least half an hour to get to the airport, have to be there an hour or so before flight time, flight time?, get bags in Paris, get to hotel in Paris. I know that will take at least half a day or more. That gives you practically no time to see anything in Venice. Choice: skip Paris and add one day to Venice and one to Florence (take a day trip to Siena), or skip Venice and add a day to Paris.

As to what to see. Are there not all kinds of places you have dreamed of seeing, or paintings or churches or places you have read about already? Pick up a couple of good guide books. You will want them anyway so you can read about what you are seeing. The more you know about what you are looking at, the more you will remember and the more you will appreciate the wonder of it.

I need to correct myself. This is how I calculate how much real sight-seeing time I have in each city:

2 "days" in Venice = 48 hours.
48 hours - 16 hour sleep = 32 active hours
32 active hours / 2 = 16 active hours per day


Assuming you are traveling to/away and checking-in/out on each day and you are traveling alone or w/ 1 other person only:
16 - 8 hours check-in//transit = 8 hours per day to sight-see
(use 8 hours because 1/2 active day wasted)


Assuming you are traveling to/away and checking-in/out on each day and you are traveling w/ 2 other ppl only (3 ppl total):
16 - 8 - 2 hours check-in//transit//3rd person = 6 hours per day to sight-see
(use 8 hours because 1/2 active day wasted and 1/4 of 8 hours wasted)


Assuming you are traveling to/away and checking-in/out on each day and you are traveling w/ 3 other ppl only (4 ppl total):
16 - 8 - 2 - 0.5 hours check-in//transit//with4th person = 5.5 hours per day to sight-see
(1/2 active day wasted = 8 hours wasted, 1/4 of 8 hours wasted = another 2 hours wasted, another 1/4 of 2 hours wasted = another 0.5 hours wasted)


Of course, not everyone travels the same way. I use this as my own way of approximating how much time I get while traveling. Sometimes it takes much less time, sometimes much more time. On a recent trip I traveled with 1 other person. Although the two of us are very efficient travelers, we still ended up wasting a lot of time because some/many things happened out of our control...

lost baggage at the airport
train was canceled / delayed
not allowed to check into hotel until 2pm
couldn't find hotel
missed the only morning train and so missed the connecting train and wasted the entire day
wasted time trying to find an ATM/bankomat because the train station wouldn't accept our credit cards
left a bag in the train and had to run back to the platform to get it
wasted time waiting for the bus/taxi/transit

Concur in the suggestion that you are doing too much, and that you should confine your trip to Italy. You would then have barely enough time to take a quick look at Rome, Florence and Venice, in each of which you could easily spend a week or more just getting acquainted.

Also concur in kybourbon's advice: daylight hours are VERY short in northern Europe this time of the year.

If you've already booked your flight from London, then cut out Paris and fly directly to London from Venice.

I would take a taxi to and fro airports/hotels - a small price in the total cost of the trip and will make life uch easier. In all of those cities the best method of sightseeing is feet. You really need to do a lot of walking to get the feel of a city (I would be prepared for at least 7 or 8 miles perday - with stops for a drink or gelato or whatever).

Agree that you are spending way too little time in too many places. I would drop Venice - 2 1/2 days there don't really make sense - and consider dropping Loondon (which I love - but you can;t really begin to do it justice in fewer than 5 days - 6 nights).

for local transit inLondon you use the tube, in Paris the Metro, in Venice and Florence feet. In Rome we did only feet and taxi - since buses were TOO crowded and metro doesn;t go a lot of places.

nytraveler: "<i> I would drop Venice - 2 1/2 days there don't really make sense</i>"

It is even worse than that. The OP leaves Florence on the 22nd and leaves Venice on the 23rd. Less than 1 day in Venice . . . .