Itinerary Advice - Paris, Ghent, Rhine Valley, Venice, Florence, Rome
Jul 4th, 2016, 06:41 PM
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Itinerary Advice - Paris, Ghent, Rhine Valley, Venice, Florence, Rome
I'm planning a trip to Europe from mid-October to early November of next year, and wanted to get advice on squeezing in a visit to Rhine Valley and the Black Forest to my itinerary. Here's my tentative plans so far:
6 nights - Paris (Versailles, Fontainebleu)
2 nights - Ghent
3 nights - Rhine Valley/Black Forest
2 nights - Venice
5 nights - Florence with daytrips (Siena, San Gimignano)
5 nights - Rome
From my research the longest travel times would be Ghent to Rhine Valley, and Rhine Valley to Venice. I don't drive, so will have to rely on trains/buses/flights to get around. Initially my plans were Paris - Munich - Venice - Florence - Rome, but the more I read about Rhine Valley, the more enamoured I am of adding it to my trip! I'm open to suggestions though and started planning ahead so this itinerary it still very flexible.
About me: I live in SE Asia and have mostly traveled just around that region (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam). I love food (especially cheese, chocolate, and coffee) art, and architecture. I'd love suggestions on food and museum tours-- I've read good things about Walks of Italy, Eating Italy, and Paris by Mouth's tours!
Budget is around 8000 Euro including flights. This would be my first trip to Europe, but (hopefully) won't be the only one. Flight duration and expenses from where I live mean I'd usually have to stay for 3-4 weeks to make it worth it though, so saving up for another one will take me a year or two to save up.
6 nights - Paris (Versailles, Fontainebleu)
2 nights - Ghent
3 nights - Rhine Valley/Black Forest
2 nights - Venice
5 nights - Florence with daytrips (Siena, San Gimignano)
5 nights - Rome
From my research the longest travel times would be Ghent to Rhine Valley, and Rhine Valley to Venice. I don't drive, so will have to rely on trains/buses/flights to get around. Initially my plans were Paris - Munich - Venice - Florence - Rome, but the more I read about Rhine Valley, the more enamoured I am of adding it to my trip! I'm open to suggestions though and started planning ahead so this itinerary it still very flexible.
About me: I live in SE Asia and have mostly traveled just around that region (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam). I love food (especially cheese, chocolate, and coffee) art, and architecture. I'd love suggestions on food and museum tours-- I've read good things about Walks of Italy, Eating Italy, and Paris by Mouth's tours!
Budget is around 8000 Euro including flights. This would be my first trip to Europe, but (hopefully) won't be the only one. Flight duration and expenses from where I live mean I'd usually have to stay for 3-4 weeks to make it worth it though, so saving up for another one will take me a year or two to save up.
Jul 4th, 2016, 07:22 PM
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Use the website Rome2Rio to find connections between these places - but you can surely do everything by train if you really want to. Use the German train website bahn.com (even for non-German destinations) to check train schedules specifically. You might look for a cheap budget airline flight from Germany to Venice. Fast trains give you great connections between Venice, Florence, and Rome.
I'm not sure if you were looking for personal opinions on your choice of places or not. Not sure how you chose Ghent, the Black Forrest, and the Rhine Valley - if you really want to see those places plus Paris and Italy in your trip, that's certainly up to you. Personally, I would take that time and use it in Italy. Ghent is a really nice town (so is Bruges) but you are investing a lot of time to get there. The Black Forest is OK (some people love Germany - I didn't especially), and maybe in October you will see some amazing fall colors; that's the only real reason I would try to squeeze that in; otherwise, save Germany for a future trip.
If you wind up with extra nights, I'd add at least one extra night to Venice. Use it for day trips out to say the island of Burano and maybe visits to Padua and/or Verona. Your train from Venice to Florence will stop in Bologna, and if you love food, you really ought to stop there just for a few hours to have a meal. The Emilia-Romagna region (Bologna is part of it) is known for some of the very best food in Italy.
I'm not sure if you were looking for personal opinions on your choice of places or not. Not sure how you chose Ghent, the Black Forrest, and the Rhine Valley - if you really want to see those places plus Paris and Italy in your trip, that's certainly up to you. Personally, I would take that time and use it in Italy. Ghent is a really nice town (so is Bruges) but you are investing a lot of time to get there. The Black Forest is OK (some people love Germany - I didn't especially), and maybe in October you will see some amazing fall colors; that's the only real reason I would try to squeeze that in; otherwise, save Germany for a future trip.
If you wind up with extra nights, I'd add at least one extra night to Venice. Use it for day trips out to say the island of Burano and maybe visits to Padua and/or Verona. Your train from Venice to Florence will stop in Bologna, and if you love food, you really ought to stop there just for a few hours to have a meal. The Emilia-Romagna region (Bologna is part of it) is known for some of the very best food in Italy.
Jul 4th, 2016, 07:34 PM
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P.S. If you do want to keep the Germany part of your trip in but skip Ghent, you could train from Paris up to the Black Forest via the Alsace region of France - a direct path up to the Black Forest (that's how I traveled, actually, through Strasbourg and Colmar) whereas Ghent is a detour. I loved Colmar. I'm not a "foodie" but foodies seem to like the food in this region.
Lufthansa has direct flights from Frankfurt to Venice that are cheaper as round trips than one-ways (discard the return portion).
Lufthansa has direct flights from Frankfurt to Venice that are cheaper as round trips than one-ways (discard the return portion).
Jul 5th, 2016, 06:09 PM
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Thank you for the tips. I hadn't considered Alsace as an option before-- I'll definitely check. I initially chose Ghent as a way to break up the trip between Paris -> Rhine Valley, and also to sample Belgian chocolate. 
Jul 5th, 2016, 06:59 PM
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6 nights in Paris, 12 nights in Italy - and in between just 5 nights split between Gent and Germany? If you proceed as planned for those 5 days, you will waste a lot of that time just traveling around by train. So I suggest also that you fly to Venice on the last of those days. When you leave Paris, take the train straight to Germany for 4 nights. It takes only about 3.5 hours to reach TRIER, Germany's oldest city (Roman history.) After a day or so there, take the short train ride along the pretty Mosel River to the Middle Rhine Valley.
Trier: http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-c...any/trier.html
Mosel train route: http://www.zughalt.de/wp-content/upl...10/DB11321.jpg
2-2.5 days in the MRV is not enough but you will be able to tour some castles and see a few towns, maybe take a river cruise.
Look for cheap flights out of Frankfurt Hahn airport or Frankfurt International for your trip to Venice.
Trier: http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-c...any/trier.html
Mosel train route: http://www.zughalt.de/wp-content/upl...10/DB11321.jpg
2-2.5 days in the MRV is not enough but you will be able to tour some castles and see a few towns, maybe take a river cruise.
Look for cheap flights out of Frankfurt Hahn airport or Frankfurt International for your trip to Venice.
Jul 6th, 2016, 04:30 AM
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You can sample Belgian chocolate all over Europe without setting foot in Belgium. Not dissuading your from visiting Belgium, but just saying you don't have to be in the country to eat Belgian chocolate.
