Hello,
This will be my second time leaving America alone. I am 25 living in New York. I love Italian & Spanish Art & Fashion. (I am a fashion designer) I would like to fly in Italy or Spain , last week of May and leave from the opposite country. I have some questions if any of you can help me I would truely appreciate it Thanks

1. Which country and city should I fly into, think budget. Should I use a travel agent or something like Orbitz??

2. What cities would you recommend a most for Italy & Spain?

3. Hostels or Hotels, and how safe is it?

4. Hows the night life, what time does it start and end. What city has the best night life.

5. Should we practice basic italian or spanish??

6. Who has the best shopping, and prices Italy or Spain?

7. We would like to go to a beach while over there, any suggestions.

8. How should we pack, during my last trip to Paris & London, I brought clothing for all occations, but had no space to pack things I shopped for.

9. Any safety tips??

Thanks you very much for your help!! I will keep you updated on what happens
Ciao

Please, please do not try to do
this in 10 days. We have been to
Italy 3 times and Spain 2 times and
still so much to see.
Stay in one country for the 10 days.
At your age, you will surely go
to Europe many times.
Barcelona is a wonderful city with
a lot to see. It is easy to travel
into the surrounding area, including
the Costa Brava. We loved this area.

This trip I am taking a female friend and my boyfriend wants to tag along, me and my friend love art & culture, my boyfriend likes warm weather, and beaches, he doesnt like the idea of moving around country to country either. His mother is hispanic but he is very American, and we both love spain food, but my favorite is Italian, I am a pasta, tomato and cheese lover!!

I just want to say, I just love this site!! You are all the best for advice

I too would suggest only one country in 10 days, but I really posted in response to your question about bringing home extra stuff.

I always pack a collapsing nylon tote that folds up into about the size of a paperback book, but unzips to the size of a duffel. The other thing we do is each take an expandable suitcase. We take it to Europe in its smaller, unexpanded state, but come home with it expanded and bulging!

I will strongly dissent that you cannot or should not plan a trip to Spain and Italy, spanning 10 days. Many. many novies and veterans alike undertake two-country trips od 10 days duration.

You do have to decide which 5-10% of each country you want to visit. Sure, you could drop almost anywhere in either country - - spend 10 days and never leave a 50 mile radius, and never exhaust the possibilities, nor get bored.

But no reason that you can't "sample" some of each country.

See www.whichbudget.com for options to fly between the two, cheaply. Venice and the Veneto, coupled with Barcelona and Catlunya would make an excellent 10 day trip. And hudreds of other combinations.

You need to do some serious reading; you need to help us by telling - - in 100 hundreds or less what you see when you close your eyes and think "I can't wait to get to *******, so that I can ....."

Best wishes,

Rex

This is really easy. All you need to do is rent a helicopter and fly over both countries - because there's no way you could see them by ground in 9 days (it would take a full day to travel between).

I'd leave the boyfriend home. It sounds like he is already influencing your plans in a negative way.

I also suggest that you drop the boyfriend.

I get a somewhat difference sense of priorities here: night life, shopping, THEN art and culture.

In Spain, night life goes on into the wee hours, then everyone goes out for hot chocolate and churros (sort of like long doughnuts) before going home to bed. In Italy, it might stop a little earlier, and people go straight home to bed.

High-end shopping or just plain shopping? For plain shopping, Spain is probably just a little cheaper than Italy. High-end shopping in Madrid is in the Castellana section; in Rome, it is in the area around the Spanish Steps.

Both Spain and Italy are jammed with art and culture.

I don't know Barcelona, so I am at a bit of a disadvantage, but I would think that 5 days in Madrid or Barcelona and 5 days in Rome would satisfy your requirements.

Try to book open-jaw; into one country, out of the other, and take a discount airline between the two. For discount airlines, look at www.whichbudget.com.

In Spain, there are things called "hostals"; these are not hostels but a kind of government-approved B&B. If they're in a safe area, they are generally safe.

Learn the basics in both languages: Hello, Please, Do you speak English, Where is..., Thank you, and get an idea of how to count in both languages. In both countries, though, most people in the tourist industry speak some English.

You're from New York; you must have some street sense. There are areas in Madrid, in Barcelona and in Rome where you have to exercise a certain amount of caution, but they are no more unsafe than New York, where I assume you would also avoid certain areas.

Tuscanlifeedit has already told you how to pack.

P.S. If you <b>have</b> to take the boyfriend, you can send him off to the (crowded) beaches near Rome and Barcelona. There are no beaches near Madrid.

&lt;&lt; ...it would take a full day to travel between... &gt;&gt;

pish, tosh...

There are countless flights between almost any pair of cities in either country, available for pocket change. For example, a flight from Venice to Madrid hardly takes any more time than does a train from Venice to Florence (about 2:30), and can be purchased for as little as 14.99 euro (plus taxes) on myair.com

See the myriad other choices on whichbudget.com

How many times a day will there be recommendations to make a ten day trip to &quot;<i><b>just</b></i>&quot;

London and Paris
Paris and Madrid
London and Amsterdam

... and the list goes on and on...

I can't imagine any good reason on earth that Feesa shouldn't feel comfortable picking two cities/regions... one in Spain and one in Italy... and make a perfectly great 10 day trip.

Can you go over without said boyfriend for the first part of your trip and plan the area he might not be interested in seeing then have him fly over and join you for the rest?

DH hates cities so DS went with me to Paris then DS flew home and DH flew over to join me for two weeks in the country.

One can certainly do a 10-day trip to 2 cities. One cannot do a 10 day trip that covers 2 entire counries - including major cities, art, fashion, culture, nightlife and a week at the beach.

And it does take the best part of a day to fly between almost any 2 cities - given time checking out of one hotel, treking to the far distant airport, waiting for security, hoping the plane is on time, flying to the next city, collecting your luggage, trekking to the far distant city and finding/checking in to your hotel. (Driving NYC to Boston takes about 4 hours and is faster than flying - when the flight time is about 40 minutes. And that doesn;t include airports that are at the end of hell and gone.)

&lt;&lt; it does take the best part of a day to fly between almost any 2 cities &gt;&gt;

Wow. Not in my experience. From many hotels, it takes hardly any more time to get to the airport in Venice than it does, to get to the train station. A flight that leaves at 17:15 and arrives at 19:40 hardly kills the day - - in fact, getting to Madrid at that hours makes it just dinner time! True, an airport like Malpensa might reuire an hour or more of travel time (but from where? depends on where the origination is) - - but the flight is only 95 minutes to Barcelona.

&lt;&lt; One cannot do a 10 day trip that covers 2 entire counries - including major cities, art, fashion, culture, nightlife and a week at the beach. &gt;&gt;

Where does Feesa say that? She asks for what cities would be most recommended? Milan would be great for its fashion, with day (or overnight) visiting to any of number of nearby destinations... either Lake Como or Maggiore, Pavia or Bergamo. Not every trip to Italy has to be Rome-Florence-Venice.

Sorry -

1) her title says I want to see Italy and Spain

2) her op says what CITIES should she see in each country

3) she then adds info on beaches and all the things she wants to do

4) you have listed flight time - not travel time - the two are nowhere near comparable unless your hotels are at the airports and you have no security or check-in times (and the budget airlines esp are often at the end of hell and gone). IMHO you can get between hotels in city centers in any two places in Italy and Spain in 2 hours - only by science fiction transporter.

Perhaps you did not like the tone of my original post - but I was trying to point out that she is asking for way more than can be done in the time she has available and needs to rethink (picking only one city in each country is already a very major change in her plans - as is dropping the beach).

I would pick 2-3 cities, they can be in the same country or different. Book you plane ticket to fly into one and out of the other (&quot;open jaw&quot and train or take a budget airline in between, depending on where you pick.

Rather than thinking of the entire countries of Spain and Italy and seeing them in 10 days (which is a ridiculous idea and impossible task), narrow down a couple cities that appeal and fit into what you want (fashion, nightlife, etc.).

Forget the beach, you don't have time.

How safe is it? Another impossible questions since we don't know where you are going, what you are doing, where you are staying.

For myself, when traveling with someone to share a room, I prefer a budget hotel over a hostel, which can often be similar prices.

Yes, sure you should practice and brush up on any language skills you have, absolutely!

How about Madrid and Milan? Or Rome and Barcelona?

Take or purchase a duffle bag to get the extra stuff home. Also use your carry-on allowance for a shopping bag full of the best, most valuable, or breakable purchases.

Any safety tips? Don't flash money, be aware of your surroundings, carry the business card from your hotel in case you get lost, don't get too drunk in strange surroundings. If you live in New York City and are safe there... well take the same precautions abroad.

I never said that she can get from a hotel in Italy to a hotel in Spain in 2 hours.

I said:

&lt;&lt; A flight that leaves at 17:15 and arrives at 19:40 hardly kills the day ... &gt;&gt;

And I stand by that assertion (these are actual times for MyAir service, Venice to Madrid) - - having from sunup to 2 pm (when you would need to leave to go to the airport) in Venice could/should be a reasonably useful day (not so different from the day one might have if traveling by train from Venice to Rome, for example)... and arriving at your hotel at 9:30 pm in Madrid leaves a good 2-3 hours for dinner and nightlife (and more than that if you're a party animal).

I just don't see where Feesa says, in her original post that she has crazy, unrealistic ideas of <i><b>how much</b></i> she can see in the two countries. Yes, she asks for <u>cities</u> - - plural. Two cities: Milan and Barcelona - - that's plural - - and it need not exclude a day or even two at the beach.

I just don't think people should be &quot;yelled down&quot; when what they want to do can be sanely done. There is nothing inherently crazy about her original question, and many appropriate answers/itineraries can be proposed to meet her objectives.

hey, wait, I'm confused... you said you are leaving America &quot;alone&quot; but then mention both a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Are you traveling alone or with 2 or 3 total in your party?

^^^

Sorry for using the term travelling alone, when i say alone I mean with out supervision or a guide to help.
Ok so we planned to focus on 1 country, but maybe fly into the other into the main shopping area shop for maybe a day or two then fly to the other city.

So now I have another question:

What airports would you suggest flying into both Italy and Spain? We have decided which country yet

How far is the airport from the main areas. Do we have to take a cab or train to and fro?

Is it easy to get around either country?

How is it getting back to the hotel if we plan to hangout late? I know in Paris it was hell after the subway closed!!
Again thanks for all your replies