Itinerary help! First time in Europe for 16 days
 

So...I posted my rough itinerary and got a lot of responses saying it's too many places in too short of time. I've talked with traveling buddies and trimmed down some.

Paris 4 days
Rome 3 Days
Florence 3 days
Barcelona 4 days
Paris 2 days

Our tickets were a steal but we have to fly in and out of Paris. A lot of people suggested that we skip Barcelona but we can't give up that one.
How feasible is this itinerary?

Thanks for your input!! :)

I wouldnt split your time in Paris. Fly on to your first location right away and then put all the Paris time together at the end of your trip.

I agree with jamikins. You will already be at the airport, and tired from traveling anyway, so you may as well just go all-out and continue on to Rome. It will save you a travel day later in the trip. Also be sure you are including travel time when counting your days in each city. For example, flying between Florence and Barcelona will eat up most of a day.

I agree with starting with Rome and putting all of your Paris days together at the end. I would have skipped Barcelona for this trip but since it is apparently a must do, move a day from there to Rome - you have far too little time in Italy.

Good advice above.

Some questions:

When are you going?

Are you flying to Barcelona and then back to Paris? Have you checked out flights?

What are you interested in seeing in Europe?

Not sure if you have 16 total or 16 not including your arrival and departure days. You have a LOT of ground to travel with all this,and you don't say how you will. It will eat up time. too bad not to be able to skip Barcelona. Then maybe skip Rome.

So we are traveling late June to early July.
We are also flying with buddy passes which means we'll be flying on stand by.. Which makes it difficult for us to fly out of paris right when we get there.

ok that makes it a bit more difficult.

Just keep in mind this is what I think you will actually have when you consider your travel times:

Day 1 - 1/2 day in Paris
Day 2 - Paris
Day 3 - Paris
Day 4 - Paris
Day 5 - Paris to Rome
Day 6 - Rome
Day 7 - Rome
Day 8 - Rome to Florence
Day 9 - Florence
Day 10 - Florence
Day 11 - Florence to Barcelona
Day 12 - Barcelona
Day 13 - Barcelona
Day 14 - Barcelona
Day 15 - Barcelona to Paris
Day 16 - Fly home from Paris

Travel days you will lose about 1/2 a day to logistics of travelling.

Its not too bad, I would personally drop Rome and give more time to the others, but if you are ok with a fast paced trip it will work.

Meant to say I would drop Rome or Florence.

marking foer later comment

Good luck with the Delta buddy passes. They're great - when you can use them. The last 2 times I tried (in late September, not even during the summer high season) I was "stranded" - 2 nights in Madrid once and another time in Barcelona. Given there are more flights from Paris to the US vs Madrid/Barcelona perhaps you'll have better luck.

With 6 nights between Rome and Florence I'd probably spend 4 in Rome and 2 in Florence. Given the short amount of time in each place I'd fly between Paris and Rome, Florence and Barcelona, and Barcelona and Paris.

Paris 4 days
Rome 3 Days
Florence 3 days
Barcelona 4 days
Paris 2 days>

Yes IMO it is feasible and about what most would do but only if you fly or hop overnight trains between some cities like between Italy and Paris and Paris to Barcelona and there is an overnight ferry between Livorno (near Pisa) and Barcelona - same the cost of a hotel on each and save valuable travel/sightseeing time.

If you have 4 or 6 people you can often book up a whole compartment on a night train or boat and make it a nice party - anyway always can bring your food/drink along as many European do.

Anyways for lots of great stuff on European trains I always spotlight these super informative IMO sites - www.seat61.com - good info on discounted tickets that however lock your itinerary in stone weeks before - typically non-changeable non-refundable and sold in very limited numbers so you must book far in advance; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

So we are traveling late June to early July.>

I would start in Italy first then as by July tourist meccas like Rome, Florence and Venice can become inundated by tourists - Venice they say sinks under the weight of tourists in July and August with the main walking routes IME elbow to elbow often.

Paris is busy too in July but it is really a much more spread out city and is not nearly as mobbed by tourists as those Italian towns - June however should be much more relaxed in Italy.

Since you are using buddy passes - you probably should get back to Paris as early as possible.

I'd head from CDG straight on to Rome, then Florence and back to Paris (or if Barcelona is a must go there after Florence) but leave about 7 days in Paris at the end so you have a better chance for flights home.

I would still cut one more city myself. When you say "2 days" or "3 days" you need to subtract the time that it takes to move from city to city (so "2 days" or more like 1 day and a half at most).

I agree w/ suze - I was mainly suggesting Rome/Florence/Paris

Flying buddy passes. YOU NEED to have back up plans, and it better not be that you HAVE to be back ANYwhere on a certain date.
Of course your tickets were a "steal"==IF you can use them. You do know that don't you? Reality check!! We have flown one layer above. WHEN!!

ttt

Gretchen,
We don't have to be back on that exact date we have "bought" our tickets for but was expecting it won't be more than 1 or 2 days of waiting if we can't get on the initial flgiht.

Did you have a horrible experience with using buddy passes? How long did you have to wait?

The use of buddy passes throws your whole trip into doubt. No sense quibbling over how many days to spend where as you may spend totally different amounts of time waiting for the next available flight to your destination. This is especially true of your flights to and from Paris. This is a "play it by ear" trip.