Is my itinerary correct?

Old Sep 20th, 2015, 08:25 AM
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Is my itinerary correct?

Hi all,
Pls advise if the sequence below is correct. All comments are welcome
Note: I have bought the return airtickets to and from Paris.
Thanks!

1-3 Dec: Paris
4 Dec: Paris -> Basel -> Interlaken (stay 1 night)
5 Dec: Grindelwald
6 Dec: Interlaken to Venice
7 Dec: Venice
8 Dec: Venice to Florence
9 Dec: Florence
10 Dec: Florence -> Pisa (half day) -> Rome
11-12 Dec: Rome
13 Dec: Rome fly to Amsterdam
14-15 Dec: Amsterdam
16 Dec: Amsterdam fly to Tromso
17-18 Dec: Tromso
19 Dec: Tromso to London
20-22 Dec: London
iamcaren is offline  
Old Sep 20th, 2015, 08:48 AM
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Looks okay to me, logical enough. I'm sure you must have a reason for going to Tromso, especially in December.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 08:49 AM
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presumably you end in Paris then?

firstly it would be more efficient to move your nights in Paris to the end of the trip so that you are in the right place for flying home. that means that you spend your first day [often ruined by jet lag anyway] travelling , which in your case would be to Interlaken. However, I wouldn't do that and just stay one night - why are you not returning to Interlaken at the end of your day in Grindelwald?

secondly, IMO you are moving around too much. I know that it's a fodor's cliche, but you lose half a day or so every time you move from one place to another. Furthermore 2 night stays get very tiring after a while - you long just to stay another night so that you can really get to know somewhere but no, no sooner have you got the lie of the land, your itinerary forces you to move on again. And the places that you are going to, by and large, have a lot to see - Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, London -you could spend your whole trip in any one of them and not run out of things to do.

I would lose at least 2 places from the itinerary [Amsterdam and Tromso would be my choice, and I'm not sure about Interlaken in early December] and have a rethink.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 08:58 AM
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Besides moving around too much as commishannie says, I agree that you should group your Paris days all together at the end of the trip, especially since it is Christmas season. Just go straight from Paris to Interlaken. You will be comatose by the time you get there, but then you should be able to start appreciating your trip.

Frankly, when you are not spending much time in Italy, it is a complete waste of time to bother going to Pisa. We all know what there is to see there, but when you are in a rush, frankly it isn't worth it because it takes about 10 minutes to see.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 09:01 AM
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You are going by train in between flights, yes - if so check out these IMO superb sites for planning the rail part - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. May want to check into a Eurail Select Pass or a series of discounted tickets sold online by various national rail sites.

and yes your itinerary seems a bit too rushed - one day in Grindelwald or really is kind of hitting the tip of the iceberg or glacier in this case - spend a few days there and you'll really get to appreciate this wonderful area that is much much more than Grindelwald, just a nice base from which to take thrilling mountain trains, awesome aerial gondola rides, lake boat trips on either of the two lakes bookending Interlaken, etc.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 09:38 AM
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you'll really get to appreciate this wonderful area that is much much more than Grindelwald, just a nice base from which to take thrilling mountain trains, awesome aerial gondola rides, lake boat trips on either of the two lakes bookending Interlaken, etc.>>

in December, Pal? early December at that, so perhaps too early for the skiing and Christmas season to have started there but far too late for the summer activities.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 09:47 AM
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Sorry - way too many places in way too little time. You will be spending a very large part of your trip just in transit (a great tour of train stations and airports of europe) and wasted a lot of time and money with nothing but a blur to show for it.

You don;t say what your interests are - but in Dec you will have chilly to cold weather with possibility of icy rain, sleet or snow, and very short daylight hours - so really mostly indoor activities make the most sense - unless you are going for winter sports (obviously not in the cities).

Also agree since you have made the mistake of not getting open jaw tickets to put all time in Paris at the end of your trip so you do;t have to stay there twice.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 10:20 AM
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The itinerary you laid out above is very inefficient as nytraveler noted. You should be flying into London and out of Rome based on the cities you want to visit. Doing this will eliminate the need for that mid-trip flight from Rome to Amsterdam. It may also more than pay for the cost of changing your flight to/from Paris.

Seriously, unless you have a specific reason for flying in/out of Paris, you need to change your tickets.

You also have 9 cities in 20 days, which is a little more than 2 per day. Then you lose at least half a day moving from one city to another. I strongly suggest scratching 2 or 3 places from the list.

Stay in either Interlaken or Grindelwald, but not both. They are only 20 minutes away from each other, so there's no value in changing towns.
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Old Sep 20th, 2015, 10:22 AM
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"You also have 9 cities in 20 days, which is a little more than 2 per day."

Sorry, I meant to say that 9 cities in 20 days gives you little more than 2 days per city, before deducting transit time.
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Old Sep 21st, 2015, 10:45 AM
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Yes as always less can be much more! Pare down about half you dream places and have a more relaxed time.
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Old Sep 21st, 2015, 01:42 PM
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Stay in either Interlaken or Grindelwald, but not both. They are only 20 minutes away from each other, so there's no value in changing towns.>

exactly! the only reason IMO to stay in Interlaken, a sweet town as it is, is to use it as a base to do day trips on the lakes or to Bern or to Lucerne but by all means stay in Grindelwald if not using it as such and be eyeball to eyeball with majestic soaring Alps - not getting a distant view as from Interlaken. Many folks rave about Wengen, smaller and more quiet than Grindelwald.
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Old Sep 24th, 2015, 07:30 AM
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Tromsø presumably to see the Northern Lights - but it's costing you a lot of time and money to get there - and you may not even see the lights with just 3 nights. Just dropping Tromsø would give you the time needed to do justice to the rest.
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