My wife and I will be traveling to Italy and France with my two children ( 9 and 14) this summer for 16 nites. We are flying into Rome and out of Paris. I am having trouble settling on an itineray since we have to go to Sicily with family for 3 nites, preferably at the beginning of the trip We have already been to Rome, Sorrento and Taormina. I was thinking 3 nites in Sicily, 5 nites Tuscany, 3 nites Venice and 3 nites Paris. This leaves me with 2 nites to fill in. We have already been to Paris, so I only want 3 nites max. We were thinking about going to the Amalfi coast for two days, but this seems to be trying to fit too many things into the schedule. I was thinking of concentrating on Northern Italy this time. The beginning and ending of the trip are causing problems. Any suggestions for itinerary and most expedient way to get to each destination without. Does it make more sense to hit Norhtern Italy first and then fly to Paris from Catania?

The air service between Italy and Paris seems to be in a state of flux, with the collapse of Volare airlines. Right now, you best bet(s) could be Treviso (Venice) to Beauvais (Paris) on Ryanair or take the train to Milan and then fly fly EasyJet from Milan (Linate) to Paris (Orly).

Since you currently have these two options, I think the options are going to more trustworthy from northern Italy than from Catnia - - even though Meridiana currently serves Catania-CDG.

So, I would stay with the Sicily first plan aas you have described it - - and add in two days at Lake Garda between Tuscany and Venice.

Best wishes,

Rex

Thank you, Rex. In light of airline problems, does it make more sense to take train from venice or Milan to Paris, possibly stopping along the way?

Both RyanAir and EasyJet are solid airlines and I don't think you should be worried about them collapsing any time soon.

I agree with JoeTro - - if anything, I predict that new airlines may enter the market(s) in the next year (especially with the Olympics in Torino next February).

If you go to the north...what about something along the Ligurian Sea? Portofino area or Cinque Terre?

You could then continue on to Genoa and perhaps catch a train to Paris from there. Otherwise, you could spend a few days on the French Riviera on the way too.

We stayed in a city called Camogli (next to Portofino) and loved it. Beautiful and not touristy at all....

Thank you for the suggestions. From what I have read Lake Garda is beautiful, but is it easy to access by train or would I be better off driving from Venice? Since Lake garda seems close to Milan and Portofino is close to Genoa, I guess either one makes it easier to get to Paris.