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.

What mamalice said. We flew "family" level, and buddy is below that--completely at the mercy of how full the flights are. And you still don't say "when". If it is high season it is even more iffy.
Flights these days are flying full--and fewer in number. Do you know how to search for availability for your passes on the internet for your departure--and for that matter for your departure from the US.
I do see when you are travelling. I think this is going to be really really hard.

Sound like air planes are up in the air?

We are only using buddy pass to land in paris and comign back home. To fly between counties we will be using cheap europeon airlines.

We will be at trying to fly out in mid June and flying back home in 1st weekend of July.

Ummm, yes. That IS the problem. Going to and coming home to get seats on crowded airplanes in high season. You are going to have to stay ready to leave at a moment's notice--and also coming home. I hope it works out. I don't know how many of you there are, but DH and I have had to at least entertain the idea of one leaving and the other coming the next available time out--and this was in the US.

Have you ever flown standby/buddy previously? Do you know how it works?

we haven't flown standby before but we understand how it works. There are 2 of us flying and we are prepared to fly separately if a spot opens up. We booked earlier flights so if we can't get on the first flight, at least we have another flights later in the day to hop on if possible.

hopefully it will work out.

Gretchen - that's exactly what I was trying to explain when I relayed my 2 situations flying on a buddy pass when I was "stranded" and this was in late September, not even high season. I've had success on 2 trips using the buddy pass for Europe, once in March and another time in September. But after the 2 situations when I ended up having to pay for additional hotels, taxi to get to the airport multiple times, an unplanned flight to get me to London where a flight had good availability, not to mention the time and energy spend worrying I concluded it's just not worth it. They're great - when they work out.

You have to have a good, happy go lucky attitude about using the passes and always have a back up plan. You can't get upset with the airline if they don't have space for you. Personally, I wouldn't suggest for people who haven't previously traveled to Europe.

I got your point exactly. In high season, I am very pessismistic, but of course, always hope these things work out for whoever.
We flew first class the times we went!! Definitely worth waiting a day for!!
"understanding how it works" means checking the flight for its fullness. Has your source of the buddy pass explained to you how to do this? Putting your name on the list? And realizing you can be bumped off at the last minute?

I've been checking on delta website and checking available seats for the flights that we are "scheduled" for.
I was told to print out my receipt email thing to go through the security check point.and you talk to the people at the gate to put my name on the list(with awesome happy attitude)

Am I not understanding how this is going to work? :(

Well..we are taking our chances since we probably can't get close to europe if we had to pay full price tickets. We are up for the adventure! good one or not.. hopefully a good one

this is the current plan you posted up-thread:

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

are you agreed to put all your Paris time at the end?

therefore you get this:

Day 1 - arrive Paris. fly to Rome.
Day 2 - 4 - Rome
Day 5 - train to Florence
Day 8 - fly to Barcelona 4 days
Day 12 - fly to Paris
Day 18 - fly home.

in fact, i've counted days as nights - is that right?

this way you get 3 full days in Rome, 2 & 1/2 in Florence, 3 1/2 in Barcelona and 5 1/2 in Paris.

not great but still quite a nice trip, so long as your flight plans work out.

given those potential problems, dropping one of your destinations would make it less liable to be thrown off track if one of the flights doesn't work out.

That is one way to do it. If you were able to get to the actual airline website and check flight seating you would be able to see what may be available, AND all the other non-rev people who outrank buddy passes. So you might not have to go to the airport because you can see you don't have a prayer of getting on that plane.
SO, I would make a list of places you'd like to get to and how to get there and then play it by ear (as another has said) once you are on the ground.

That is one way to do it. If you were able to get to the actual airline website and check flight seating you would be able to see what may be available, AND all the other non-rev people who outrank buddy passes. So you might not have to go to the airport because you can see you don't have a prayer of getting on that plane.
SO, I would make a list of places you'd like to get to and how to get there and then play it by ear (as another has said) once you are on the ground.

So your flights to and from the US are 'buddy' passes, which may or may not get you where you want, when you want. But it also sounds like you have a great attitude about it and are flexible. The odds of having a flight delayed on a normal day are pretty high anyway, so good for you for getting a deal and planning an amazing trip to Europe.
My main suggestion is to pack ONLY carry-on. I travel for 3 weeks with just a carry-on and a shoulder bag. You wont lose your luggage, you wont have to wait around for baggage to be unloaded from the plane, and if you can't get on a flight and have to go to a hotel and try again the next day, your bags wont be held hostage by the airline.
Pack light. Take half the clothes and twice the money :)

Packing light ofcourse. I've been informed that I have to run for the gate at the last minute if a seat is available so I wasn't even thinking about checking in a bag.
Since we are not sure when we will arrive in Paris, How easy is it to find a place to stay or booking a flight in between cities in Europe when we get there? Is it going to be impossible in June/early july? Should we risk booking things?
We planned to stay in paris for 3 days so if we can't make it the first or 2nd day of trying to get on a plane..we can still follow our plan for the other destinations but won't be able to see much of Paris..which I knew that comes with the price

glimee - if there are just two of you, I'm sure that you will find somewhere to stay. it may not be exactly where you would have wanted or cost what you'd like, but even in Paris you should be able to find a double room somewhere.

Don't Be Greedy ... because ... Understand, why I'm saying is, it's more trouble than it's worth, don't worry about visiting all the cities at one go. You will end up spending 3 times more than you think have saved on airlines tickets.
As an experienced traveler I would suggest the following,
***forget about flying after arriving in Paris, since specific dates are not available. Need to book in advance with easy jet or ebookers.
***trains are the best options in France (sncf) and Italy (trenitalia). Easily available, even last minute.
***Stay in paris for consecutive 5 days with a day trip to Versailles.
***hotels in France have flexible cancellation policy. Check out cancellation policy in booking.com and a decent hotel preferably Best Western or Holiday Inn.
***forget about barcelona, Spain
*** you can get more out in Italy for your travel and expenses.
***take train from Paris to Nice (3 days).
***@Nice ( pebble beach) from there you can be in Cannes (sandy beach, villefranche, Eze, and Monaco.
***From Nice take a train to ventimiglia (Italy) to Florence (3 days). Train to Rome.
**** 3 days in Rome.
You will know 3-5 days in advance, your flight itinerary, no one books that much later. Try to find out priority listing of the person who gave you the tickets. The longer he/she working, more likely you get a flight on desired date.
If you live in USA, Atlanta airport has 11 pm flight to Paris, reaching 2 p.m. I assume I read delta airlines.
I have to eat my words, try to book a flight from Rome to Paris as soon as you check your departure date before you leave for your trip.
At least tell us your departure city/month.
***Rule of thumb***when traveling less (cities) has greater functionality than more.

She told us JULY.
For buddy passes it doesn't matter the donor/seller' priority--they are on the bottom of the list.
AND a list can change up to the last minute (unlike the advice above that 3-5 days is enough), JUST for the reason that these people might want to get on a flight.
IF the person who is the airline employee is travelling WITH them, it can help some.
They really need to sit down with the employee and understand the pecking order--and how to get out of it--alter plan--go somewhere else.

Hi
I have used buddy pass and I exactly know what I am talking about. You might be in the bottom of the list. But airlines employees do have buddy pass seniority rules. Older the employee, the higher you are on priority list. For international flights lists doesn't that that dramatically as compared to domestic flights. One just have to be flexible with available flights, and within 3-5 days before the flight you would know your flight status.