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Help With Itinerary By Train: London, Paris, Nice, Florence

Help With Itinerary By Train: London, Paris, Nice, Florence

Old Nov 18th, 2017, 04:06 AM
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Help With Itinerary By Train: London, Paris, Nice, Florence

Hello,
I am from Washington, D.C. We are taking our three kids to Europe in mid-June for approx 2 weeks. We would like to see London, Paris, Nice and Florence. We will most likely book Airbnb for apartments. The kids are 21, 18 and 13. They are all French speakers and have traveled to Paris (as host students and for vacation) many times. We have never had a vacation with multiple city stops
so this is new.
For my daughter's HS graduation gift, she would like to spend at least 5 days in Nice. As for the other cities, we would like to spend 2 days to see "favorites." We would like to travel city to city by train, flying into London and out of Paris? We had originally thought we may try to see Rome, but decided to cut it in order to enjoy the other cities more. I am trying to determine the best order and itinerary so I can book our in-bound and out-bound flights and the apartments and possibly the train tickets by March.
1) For the most practical itinerary, is flying into London the best choice? Or would you suggest another order. Order is not important but at least 5 days in Nice is.
2) Can you suggest other stops in Italy that would be interesting for this age group. The kids love to travel, sight-see and hike.
3) Lastly, but not important, our middle daughter has become vegan. Any tips for traveling in Europe (if you are vegan)? Please share.
Gratefully,
Colleen
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 04:31 AM
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You've got nine days for London ,Paris and Florence. Assuming no travel time. I don't want to see it's a waste of time but it's pretty rushed.

The only way to make it work is to fly home from one end. If you fly into London fly home from Florence. If you can't find a flight home then go down to Rome to catch the plane.

If you try flying home from Paris you'll have to fly from Florence to Paris. There are two problems in that plan. First of all London to Paris is the easiest train ride you've got. You'd be replacing a two hour train ride with a flight to Nice . The second one is flying from Florence to Paris will take time. Check Pisa and the two Roman airports for the most convenient flight.

You don't have time to add stops. Personally I'd skip Florence and fly home from Nice. It would make your life easier.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 04:54 AM
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I agree with Nick, drop Florence, which will not be easy to get to from Nice.

You could then fly into London, take the train to Paris and another train to Nice and fly home from Nice.

For loads of info on European trains, see https://www.seat61.com/index.html

However, you are seriously short-changing London, which is the largest city in Europe with loads to see and lots of good day trips in the unlikely event you run out of things to do. You say your kids have been to Paris multiple times, have they been to London? If not, I would recommend flying into London, flying to Nice, and flying home from Nice. (see Easyjet, Ryanair and skyscanner for flights LON-NCE.)

BTW, forget Airbnb in Paris - see several threads here on why, but basically most are illegal and a crackdown is in progress.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 04:55 AM
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I would also skip Florence, if you have 2 weeks.
14 days minus 2 days travelling = 12 days. 5 days Nice leaves 7 for London and Paris.

Fly into London, train to Paris, train to Nice, fly home from Nice.

June is good in Nice; not too busy, usually pleasant weather. You could do a day trip to somewhere like San Remo, if you want to include a little bit of Italy.

Vegan food will be fine - most restaurants will have at least a vegetarian option. Watch out for hidden animal products (such as meat stock in a risotto). In London go to Farmacy on Westbourne Grove; a vegan restaurant that even my carnivorous husband enjoys.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 06:45 AM
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Train journey times:

Paris - Nice: 5 hrs 45 min, for example Paris dp 17.19 - Nice ar 23.04, no overnight train

Nice - Florence: 6 hrs 45 min, via Milan. No overnight train

Florence - Paris:
by day train: 10 hrs 05 min, for ex Florence dp 7.30 - Paris ar 17.35
by overnight train: 13 hrs, for ex Florence dp 19.00 - Paris ar 9.55
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 06:53 AM
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We would like to see London, Paris, Nice and Florence.>

2 weeks?

London - 4 nights
Eurostar train to Paris
Paris 4 nights
Fly or take overnight train to Italy or Nice (there is a Paris to Nice overnight train still)
Nice 2 nights
Fly to Florence - 2 nights

Have to drop IMO either Florence or Nice

For lots on trains and booking your own tickets often at a discount if early enough check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropretravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 08:18 AM
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@PQ - when will you start actually reading the OP? S/he says quite clearly that at least five days in Nice is a must.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 08:46 AM
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Ditto all above (other than PQ's which isn't possible).

You will definitely need a hotel (or aparthotel like Citadines) in Paris. The vast majority of rentals are illegal and the crack down is now starting. By next summer the inventory of legal rental will probably be very small.

Even just Paris & London with 5 days in Nice is a tall order. You say "at least 5 days in Nice". Five days requires 6 nights. If your 'at least' morphs into 6 days - then you would need 7 nights there. Leaving just 5 nights total for London and Paris.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 09:11 AM
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RE: your flight plan, I'd check prices first of all. Often there are really good rates for flying to London. Let that determine the start of your trip.

I flew home from Nice once, and it was easy. I used Mileage Plus points, also.

I'd drop Florence. Do London, Paris & Nice. That will also give you more budget to work with.

For London housing, look at Londontown.com. You can search by neighborhood and type of lodging.

In Nice, we liked the Hotel le Grimaldi.
http://www.le-grimaldi.com

Given your kids ages, I think they might like the Latin Quarter in Paris

But, since you've been to Paris several times, maybe go to Florence instead?
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 09:44 AM
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I agree with most above that you are trying to do too much with your limited time. Exactly how many nights do you actually have? Is it 14 or 16 or? Subtract two nights to get to/from Europe. If 5 days in Nice is a must subtract another 6 nights. I think 5 full days in Nice in June would be quite pleasant. This leaves you 6-8 nights and you need to subtract at least a half day lost from traveling in-between your destinations. Tough to add in both London and Paris in this scenario much less Florence. Consider dropping Paris as you have been there many times. This would leave London plus Nice plus? I would recommend renting a car and exploring Provence along with Nice although you could train to Florence and fly home from Florence. Personally I would leave Italy for another trip as there is a lot to see in Italy.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 11:51 AM
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5 days in Nice a must- OK - then if London and Paris that's about all. If have to return to Paris and wish to go by train as stated then consider overnight train one way - coming down 5.5 hours by train - www.voyages-sncf.com for various fares and booking your own.

But I'd consider flying into London and out of Nice or Florence instead of round trip to Paris.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 01:24 PM
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OP says: "We would like to travel city to city by train, flying into London and out of Paris?>

If flying out of Paris then fly from London to Florence then work your way back to Paris. But Florence to Nice is an all-day train ride with no overnight trains or direct trains. But seeing the Europe in between bases is cool too but that would be a little long for many folk and eat up a day. Ditto Nice to Paris- but you see a lot of France in between too.

5 days in Nice? Whatever your reasons are are fine but curious as to why 5 days- on the beach? (If so Nice and its rocky beaches may not be best for that but say Cannes with miles of soft sandy beaches or Antibes area.)

Nice is a great base for doing excursions if that is the goal - hill towns, along the coast, etc. Don't know your reasons why a must and again whatever that is of course fine but I'd say a couple of days here and have a chance to do Florence and more of London, etc.

Nice for 5 days may sound super romantic of course to a high schooler but...what does she want to do?
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 01:41 PM
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>>curious as to why 5 days- on the beach?
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 01:44 PM
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Nice is an excellent base for seeing things in the area. I have spent more than five days on more than one occasion and would be happy to go back for more. And I have never set foot on the beach.

For my first visit see the beginning of this:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...ern-france.cfm

And I would definitely add the walk round Cap Ferrat and a bus ride up to Vence.

On the other hand, despite several trips to Italy I have not yet been to Florence and I don't regret it. I have OD'ed on religious art elsewhere in Europe.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 06:53 PM
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Flying into one city and out of another is usually the most efficient use of time and may actually be cheaper when all the expenses of backtracking to the first airport are added in. Be sure to use a multi-destination flight search; these itineraries are not a pair of one-way tickets.
PS: Two of the three "kids" are adults. What do they want to see and do? Get the answer and ask them to make the arrangements.
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Old Nov 18th, 2017, 09:15 PM
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I agree about not staying in airbnb in paris but pay attention to citadines. Last we were in such appart hotels we had one good bed and one sofa.
Once the sofa was bad the second time worse. You don't want to let adults sleep in such sofas.

Btw you are 4 adults and one kid. And all can drink wine in paris ;-

You have an excellent shuttle service by Air France from Paris to nice. Might be a good choice against train even if train is ok. Then you have lots of low cost companies. Look on kayak.com and book with the actual airline.
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Old Nov 19th, 2017, 07:10 AM
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>>curious as to why 5 days- on the beach?

No there is no mention of anything why 5 days a must in Nice just because a high school student says it is a must - I wonder why and theorizing dreams of beaching could be it not that it is.

What do you think what it is about Nice that is a must for 5 days when only 1.5 days in London, Paris and Florence?

and if and that is IF the dreams are beaching it then maybe the dream and reality will not be the same? Now if it's taking day trips to other places plus some beach action that's cool.

Fair question whether you think so or not IMO.
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Old Nov 19th, 2017, 07:13 AM
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On the other hand, despite several trips to Italy I have not yet been to Florence and I don't regret it. I have OD'ed on religious art elsewhere in Europe.>

I have spent days in Florence and never seen any religious art -really Florence is much more than religious art. The city itself is exceptional - give it a chance sometime - you may be surprised.
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Old Nov 19th, 2017, 08:58 AM
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The OP wants 5 (or more) days in Nice. it is their trip.
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Old Nov 19th, 2017, 10:24 AM
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@PQ - don't know when you were last in Florence, but everything I have read lately says it is now wall-to-wall tourists.

And give it a break on Nice. If the OP wants to answer you they will, you don't have to keep pushing the issue.
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