kathypdoe

Arrive Paris June 1, leave Milan day 13.

Days 1-5 Paris with a day trip to Bruge on one of the days. We will be up and running the first day, we always keep going until bedtime the first day.

Day 6 leave for Cinque Terre (take a flight to Nice then a train?).

Day 9 leave for Lake Como (or one of the other lake areas).

Day 12 leave for Milan because we leave at 11am for home....

Any thoughts? Is it too much?

worldinabag

Hi

Don't know anything about Bruge but it all looks OK. Just one thing. Why fly to Nice to get to Cinque Terre? Fly to Genoa instead. See this link - http://www.cinqueterre.it/en/ct2.html.

nbujic

Brugge is 3 hours by bus from Paris- makes for a long day!
I am not sure if the flight to Nice is the best way to CT. Bologna?

Michel_Paris

A few questions...have you been to Paris before? I'd reconsider Burges, unless this is something that is important to you, versus having seen everything in Paris and wanting more


I'd map things out a bit, on day 1 you will lose 1/2 day just landing at airport, customs, getting into city, checking into hotel. Leaves about 3.5 days in Pairs, 1 day in Bruges

Day 6, probably another 1/2 day lost getting to airport, landing in Nice,train...

I'm no Italy expert, so my comments are more logistics...my quick search shows.. it's 300 km from Nice to La Spezia. If by train, switch in Genoa? Sounds like a good part of the day used up here. Leaves about 2 days in CT.

La Spezia to Como is 276 Km, so 3+ hours here. Leaves about 3 days for lakes area.

I'd map out my time by including travel times (trenitalia to figure out train times, viamichelin to figure out driving times) and them decide to add or remove locations. I've been driven along Como, Garda lakes and it is indeed spectacular.

Hope this helps a bit

Mike

Are you renting a car in Italy, or trains everywhere?

nbujic

sorry, I MEAN GENOA

Michel_Paris

If Bruges is a go, TGV is 2.5 hours, cost is ~34E one way, using PREMS (non refundable tickets.

kathypdoe

Hi thanks for all your comments... they help so much. I was only thinking of Bruges because I have a map and it looked like 2.5 hours via train..and I saw a website that referred to it as the Venice of the North.. the pictures were so pretty and it looked like a nice town to visit... But I'm open to any suggestions..
http://www.trabel.com/brugge.htm

I was thinking of easyjet instead of a train because I thought it would be faster (and less confusing than the train... are there multiple changes from Paris?) Easyjet does not fly into Genoa.

I wanted to skip the Cinque Terre and just stay in the lakes, but my husband insists on seeing the lakes...

travelbunny

..I would keep negotiating and skip CT and just visit the lakes...a nice downtime between Paris and Milan.

kathypdoe

I meant to say:
I wanted to skip the Cinque Terre and just stay in the lakes, but my husband insists on seeing the CT...

progol

I would skip Brugge completely. It's a charming town, but not worth the long day; you're much better off spending it in Paris, or taking a day trip to someplace like Versailles.

I think that the logistics of getting to Cinque Terre are a little challenging, but ending in the Lake District is a good way to end your trip.

A thought -(if you want to see another location- fly from Paris to Venice, spend 2-3 nights there, and go to the Lakes from there. That's where I would go.

Paule

LucieV

Having just returned (October), I can't say enough about both Como & CT. I wouldn't eliminate either one. Your husband knows what he's talking about! Your itinerary looks totally do-able, not even "tight" to me. But I'm a mover-arounder. Others may heartily disagree!

kathypdoe

Thanks for your input everyone! I really appreciate it! I think I am just a little intimidated by the train from Paris to CT... Last year we went from Venice to Sorrento without a problem, but there was only one train change... I'm just a little worried about all the changes from Paris to CT to Lake Como to Milan...

sglass

We had two nights in the CT and it was not enough- you need one day for the 5 village hike and a full day for exploring between the villages, in my opinion, as a minimum, and we missed out on the latter except for the brief opportunities on the hike. One more day would have been perfect to not be so rushed. My husband flew home to the US, from Genoa, from there- Pisa would also work. A caveat with EasyJet or RyanAir is to make sure to check which airport they leave from and fly into- you can lose hours of time getting from more remote airports, etc. Genoa was, if I remember, about 45 minutes on the train from Monterrosso. One more thing: the Italian trains do not always run as scheduled. Another thought is to skip Brugges (which I loved- but works much better with Amsterdam) and spend more time in either Nice or another part of southern France before continuing to Italy. Then you could take the train, more easily, from Nice...

capkirk1

I would agree with several of the other suggestions of flying into either Genova or Pisa when you go to Cinque Terre. The train from Nice would take you five to six hours whereas a train from either of the other locations would be under two hours. To check train schedules look at www.trenitalia.it. There is an English link and it will also let you search for international journeys as well. To search for flights between Paris and either Genova or Pisa look at www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net. Have a great trip.

ira

Hi K,

I would take one day from the CT and add it to Paris.

If you want to see Brugge because it is "the Venice of the North" (along with a dozen other towns) why not go to Venice?

www.myair.com flies Paris ORY to Venice VCE.

You can then visit the Lajes and the CT from there.

>Day 12 leave for Milan because we leave at 11am for home....<

I strongly suggest that you be in Milan, or even closer to the airport the night before you leave.

>Is it too much?<

Yes, but it's doable.

Enjoy your visit.

lovisa

If you want to go to the Cinque Terre, why not fly from Paris ORY to Pisa PSA on Easyjet? Pisa is actually closer to the C.T., Genoa is closer to the Portofino coast. Also if you want to go to the Italian lakes, I would consider going to Lake Maggiore instead of Lake Como, because it's a little closer and just as nice. You could go to Stresa. With a car, it's a pretty easy ride to Milan Malpensa.

westcoaster

We are planning to go from Paris to the CT and checking the train schedules, it looks like you can get there faster by train if you go via Milan and Genoa, rather than going via Nice. Also, you'd get good scenery through the Alpes. But I haven't been there before so would welcome any advice. We are spending five days in Paris, and then have two weeks before we have to get back to Paris for our flight home. We have been to south of France before but have never been to Italy. Hope to see Cinque Terre, Tuscany, including Florence and Siena, and Rome. Don't think we can fit in Venice, but. . . What would be the best way to approach this itinerary. Should we fly and skip the train trip?

kawh

I like Bruge a lot, but it is a town that, I feel, is at its best at night. There are so many of us tourists around that it is a bit crowded. Is there a way you could spend a night there? Or go there on your last day from Paris and then take a midnight sleeper from Brugge to Italy?? That way, you could spend the day, then have dinner, walk around the quiet town a bit, then snuggle in. Either way, I would take a sleeper train to Italy, with such a crowded itinerary. Don't know your age, but I stopped the couchettes at age 40... we now take the first class sleeper and it is wonderful.(Sleeping pills for those who don't like the hummm.) So... sleeper train to near the chosen lake, (too hard to get to Italian Coast on a major sleeper) then to CT, then to Milano. CT is truly wonderful, if you are going in the summer, as we did, it is not at all charming. Swarming with party-hardy 20-somethings and wall to wall travellers. Possibly save CT for a trip that is not during the summer months??
-kimberly