jrf252

Hi all and happy new year! In the process of planing our honeymoon for late May - early June 2015. We have 2 full weeks (not including flying over and home). We are flying round-trip in and out of Barcelona. Despite the merits of an open-jaw trip, we found a really good deal on a nonstop RT ticket and went with it. that's the only part of the following itinerary that is set in stone and already booked.

i feel pretty good about the amount of time we've designated for each place and am particularly looking for feedback about travel logistics (the trains/intra-city flights - maybe there is a more efficient way that i haven't figured out?). However general advice for these cities and lodging is of course more than welcome. Thank you in advance!!!

Day 1 - land in BCN & spend the day and 1 night.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Catalonia.html
OR
http://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelHigh...Catalonia.html

Day 2 - morning flight to Rome - 4 nights in rome:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-ren...4597vb#summary

Day 6 - train from Rome to Riomaggiore through la Spezia -- 3 nights in Cinque Terre
http://www.limonicamere.it/limonicamere.it/Home.html

Day 9 - train from Riomaggiore to Pisa, flight from Pisa to Paris -- 4 nights in Paris
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...de_France.html
OR
http://www.dauphine-st-germain.com/u...php#tarifs.php

Day 13 - morning flight from Paris back to BCN - 2 nights in BCN
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Catalonia.html

Day 15 - morning flight home

nytraveler

Well I don;t get the CT - despite the way (the despised) Steves and his followers bow down to it.

I would add the time to Rome and Paris - or even another day to Barcelona. But then we are not hikers and clambering around cliff paths holds no interest.

jrf252

yes i know CT is out of the way but we are looking forward to some time out of the cities and the trails that are open.

bilboburgler

I don't get CT either.
You are spending two sessions in BCN for some reason, I'd try to reduce to one (are any flights capable of this)
I think you are jumping about way to much (looks like a business trip to me)

I'd sit down with skyscanner and see if you can make up a better itin.

jrf252

we have a round trip in and out of BCN and the original plan was just leave for rome right away upon landing and to end the trip with 3 nights in BCN.

However, we are thinking about splitting it up because then if our flight landing in BCN is late or delayed, we don't have to worry about missing the Rome flight. Also, there's no way to really time the Rome flight well so it means killing most our first day in the airport. If we spend the first night in BCN we should be able to enjoy most of a day in the city before heading to Rome the next morning.

Bedar

CT will be like being in a city with the hordes of tourists there. In Sept. my daughter said the hiking trails were closed off because of the numbers of people wanting to use them. From Rome I would go to Venice. Or, Florence and Venice. Lots of people, yes, but you'd be seeing worthwhile places.

sandralist

Hi jrt252,

I live on the Italian Riviera and I "get" le Cinque Terre (although I don't live there). In late May or early June you will not encounter hordes of tourists, although crowd levels will tick up if the precise days you will be there are weekend days and it is sunny.

However, you may not be able to hike if it has been raining for days before you arrive or is raining while you are there. If hiking is really important to you, you might reconsider another "out of city" venue (maybe a small Tuscan town near Pisa?), but otherwise I think your plan looks great and ignore the naysayers about the beauties of the Riviera. They are very real and very worthwhile and result in some people's very best memories of Italian travel.

Jean

If the Barcelona-Rome flights don't work well, consider changing the order of your itinerary and flying Barcelona-Paris at the front end. There may be better options.

The CT is definitely your call, but have you researched the travel times and logistics involved? The train ride from Rome to Riomaggiore takes 3.5-4 hours. Add time at both ends between hotels and train stations, and you're up to 4.5-5 hours. The journey from Riomaggiore to Paris will involve 6 or more hours and multiple modes of transportation that must all go as scheduled.

Alternatively, you could extend your days in Rome and Paris and make some easy day-trips out of the cities.

FYI, you're going to 'lose' two more half days flying to/from Rome and Paris. The airlines you'd likely be using for these intra-Europe flights have very restrictive baggage policies.

Jean

I like the location of the second Paris hotel more than the first hotel.

jrf252

Thanks sandralist - the itinerary above actually has us in CT midweek and not over a weekend so if we get good weather we should be good!

Jean - thanks for the tip on the train. I think the main issue is that it's really hard to predict how much time will be needed in between flights if we land in barcelona and leave the same day, whether to Paris or to Rome. Of course we'd overestimate to try to be safe and then end up spending the bulk of the day in the airport. By leaving the next morning I hope to avoid that. Also will definitely double check baggage policies on the smaller budget airlines.

Jean

The reason this is hard is because you've boxed yourself in with r/t flights to/from Barcelona when you really want to go to other places that are not nearby.

For me, the main question would be 'how much time of my 2 weeks do I want to spend getting from place to place, sitting on planes/trains v. actually sightseeing (albeit in fewer places)?' My choice would be to limit the trip to Spain and France or Spain and Italy.

sandralist

jrf252,

One more tip is regarding the day you take the train to le Cinque Terre is that you can add a bit of time to Rome simply by taking a later train out that day. Check out when the sun sets on the day you plan to travel. Or, if you wanted, you could buy a train ticket to Pisa, stow your luggage in the station, and do some sightseeing in Pisa before heading to le Cinque Terre. (Or depending on when your flight leaves for Paris, you might have time earlier that day to see the sights in Pisa. The airport is close in to the city).

Parking yourself in one city and doing day trips doesn't necessarily lessen the amount of time you spend on trains and buses, and it doesn't necessarily add to your sightseeing. All it means is that instead of spending one bunch of hours one day moving from one location to another, you will spend sporadic hours doing the same thing more frequently, going back and forth from your "base." That still involves time getting from your hotel, waiting on platforms, sitting on transport, and then doing it in reverse at the end of the day. Also, in Italy and Spain, many things close mid day, so unless you set out very early for day trips to finish your sightseeing in another town before lunch, you can end up with stretches of dead time when nothing is open, and you may not want to hang around waiting for them to reopen if you need to get back to the train station in order to catch one of the last transports back in time for dinner.

Jean

Day trips eliminate the need to pack/unpack, check into and out of hotels and always be schlepping luggage. Many museums and tourist sights don't close mid-day, so it's not hard to find something to see/do. You just need to have a plan.

Some people like day trips, and others don't. It's just one way of seeing multiple places and spending time outside of big cities. But after you get to Rome and Paris, you may decide you don't want to miss a minute of time away from these cities. Since day trips are not mandatory, they can be skipped without penalty.

kimhe

Barcelona:

The cutting edge Ciutat Flamenco festival goes on in Mercat de les Flors at the foot of Montjuic May 21-24. Some of the finest flamenco artists in the world. http://mercatflors.cat/en/ciclesifes...amenco-2015-3/

Perhaps paradise versions of traditional tapas at fun and affordable Tickets? Recently ranked #57 restaurant in the world. You must book online exactly two months in advance: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Catalonia.html
http://www.barcelonabook.com/tickets...estaurant.html
http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/51-100-winners

Or the 25 course and 95€ tasting menu at even newer and close by Nikkei cuisine restaurant Pakta: http://ca.pakta.es/
http://www.barcelonabook.com/pakta-restaurant.html