lainey12000

Schedule - mid to end of June

Fly Palermo to Milan(2), train to Nice(3), fly to Paris(4), plane or train to London(3), fly home. () are # of nights

How far in advance do I need to make plane reservations?

Need hotel recommendations. We are 2 seniors who want to be in a safe area. Require private bath or shower, air condit where needed, & convenient location for sites. Not interested in clubs, bars, etc.
Prefer low priced! Is it realistic to find hotels upon arrival or are reservations required? Thanks.

nessundorma

You need to make air reservations immediately, and given your itinerary, I suggest you skip Milan and fly directly to Nice if you can. If that's not possible, fly directly into Genoa.

If there is some reason you must be in Milan, fly to Nice from there. The train ride is extremely long. Or fly to Rome from Palermo, and get an air flight to Nice. There are also airports in Pisa and Torino that might offer you flights to Nice if you can fly there from Palermo.

From Nice, it makes sense to take a train to Paris.

For June you will need hotel reservations in all of those cities. And in mid-june you will need air conditioning. All of those citeis are expensive, so if you are looking for budget options, you need to move fast.

You will probably save time by looking for B&Bs in all these cities. Milan is likely to prove the most difficult and most expensive, and it is another reason I suggest you skip it, as much as I like Milan.

m_kingdom2

I would skip Milan too, I am not a fan of it. You sound like you're too old to be worried about current fashions, so its shops will not be of much interest to you. The art certainly, but save that for another time.

As for hotels, what is your budget? You may find it harder to find a cheap property with aircon in London.

nessundorma

I don't think somebody's age determines whether or not they are interested in fashion and design, not to mention that Milan has a lot more to offer than that, artistically and gastronimically.

sandi_travelnut

too old to be worried about current fashion? Would someone please email be the rulebook? I seem to have lost mine...

m_kingdom2

"We are 2 seniors who want to be in a safe area. .....Not interested in clubs, bars, etc."

Unlikely to be involved in fashion and worried about what is current.

nessundorma

sez you mkingdom. My mother isn't interested in bars or clubs but she sure would be interested to go to Milan for a whole lot of reasons, including that two of her grandchildren are fashion models and keep telling her how interesting it is to visit the churches and museums of Milano.

m_kingdom2

"ncluding that two of her grandchildren are fashion models and keep telling her how interesting it is to visit the churches and museums of Milano."

So she is going there to see the "churches and museums" rather than front row at the shows. My point.

Underhill

For hotels, try the venere.com web site.

In Nice, you might like the Mercure Promenade des Anglais, which offers discounts to seniors. The hotel is in a quite safe area and is within walking distance to many of the Nice sights. For June you MUST reserve now--go to the Accor Hotels web site and start looking, as there are several other Mercure hotels in the area.

Desert_Sue

My husband and I are in our early 50s and we love Milan. I highly recommend the Hotel Spadari al Duomo. It's in a great location and has a wonderful breakfast and staff. Take a taxi to the train station; the metro is difficult with luggage.

nessundorma

no, mkingdom, she is also interested in fashion. my point.

lainey12000

Thanks for all your replies. The main reason I chose Milan was because it was easy to get to from Palermo on the discount airlines and is only a 5 hr train ride to Nice. We like trains but do not want to do an overnight. I am going to do some more research.
Pricewise, prefer to be as close to 100 euros as possible. Can go higher if necessary for conveniences already mentioned.
In Nice, would like to be near train station because we would like to go to Monaco & possibly Cannes. Underhill, is that hotel near the station.

nessundorma

Well, a five-hour train ride is not the worst of all possible train rides. But do book yourselves onto a Eurostar with reserved seats. You don't want to run any risk of having to stand.

Also, by the time you tote up the cost of getting to the train station from the airport and two tickets to Nice, do look to see if perhaps you can fly from your airport in Milan to Nice.

There is a website called Which Budget that I've often seen posted on this site which might give you the best overview of discount flights.

Finally, I have rarely found it worth it to stay near the train station. Usually it is the least attractive part of town and the budget hotels aren't as nice as comparably priced B&Bs. It is seldom more than 5-10 euro to take a taxi with your luggage to a better budget hotel in a nicer part of town, and usually you can walk without your luggage back to the station (or take a bus) if you are doing day trips.

Many of us who have been to Monaco were shocked by how much we disliked it! I'll let others defend it to you, but I know I wasn't expecting hillsides absolutely covered with high-rise modern apartment buildings. And not much else. More enchanting might be a trip to Eze.

lainey12000

Thanks ness. I'm still trying to finalize our plans.