london paris switzerland and rome 12 days
 

We want to see these countries and whatever sites they have to offer next year but only have a limited time of 12 days is it possible?We fly into London on a saturday after that I'm stuck on how to get about.

fly into London, take the Eurostar train to Paris after your London sojourn - if you have never been to these cities I'd spend at least 4 full days in each - then the last 4 just head for one place in Switzetrland - the Interlaken area - to me and many the absolute highlight of Switzerland - the dreamy glacier-bound soaring peaks and lush cow-dotted meadows picture you may have etched in your minds' eyes.

Then hop the train to Zurich Airport from Interlaken and fly home from there.

Paris to the Interlaken/Jungffrau region will take about 5 hours all told I think - via French TGV to Bern would be the best option - Bern is about an hour or less from Interlaken.

Try to put a few more days into your trip to make things more leisurely.

Trains are best to get between london and Paris (www.eurostar.com has all the fares and schedules and if you book way in advance some sweet discounts but really you have to book as far as possible in advance as they are sold in limited numbers on each train - full fare can be $100 p.p. higher!

Paris to Bern or other Swiss city that may be cheaper www.voyages-sncf.com; www.capitaetrain.com and www.idTGV.com - again the early bird gets the discounted worm.

Discounted tickets cannot be changed nor refunded I believe so you book in stone so be sure of your times.

For lots of great info on European trains check out these IMO superb sites: www.seat61.com - good info on discounted tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

You can take trains from London to Paris and Rome. Since you haven't specified where in Switzerland I can't say if you should take trains or buses. From Switzerland either fly or take a train to Rome.

Is 12 days possible? Well...it's possible but you won't see much, especially if the 12 days includes travel from/to home. If you have 12 days on the ground, deduct 1.5 days for getting from place to place (assuming you will visit one location in Switzerland). That's 10.5 days to visit 4 locations or about 2.5 days in each place. London, Paris, and Rome deserve 4 to 5 days each for basic sightseeing.

If it were my trip I'd visit London and Paris only. Fly into London and home from Paris.

Thanks for ur responses. It's actually 12 ground days and in Switzerland we r hoping to visit one of the mountain tops so I dont know which area is best. I know 12 days will be tough but if we gotta push it we will.

It's not about you pushing it. Sights are not open 24 hours a day so no matter how much you push you can only see a small amount in 2-3 days.

Four countries, 12 days? I'd eliminate at least one of the destinations for sure.

Much too much even for 12 days on the ground. I would do only 2 stops but if you want to try to fit in 3, do either London, Paris and Rome or London, Paris and someplace in Switzerland. FLy to your first stop and home from your last. Take trains from London to Paris and Paris to Switzerlane. If you decide to visit London, Paris and Rome, fly from Paris to Rome.

Let me guess - are you by any chance from India? I'm not being rude - genuinely curious. Every single week we get someone from the Sub-Continent asking about a VERY similar itinerary. London/Paris/Switzerland/Italy . . . in an insanely short period of time. And EVERY single time we advise that it is tooooooo much in tooooooo little time. You will spend as much time moving from place to place as actually seeing/doing anything.

London and Paris -- good for 12 days. Or London/Rome/Paris -- very rushed but doable in 12 days. London/Switzerland - good for 12 days. Only you know which option ticks more of your 'must do' boxes. But all 4 - in 12 days . . . Nope.

Nope not from India. Just trying to figure things out and obviously from the responses I will consider just two London and Paris or three london Paris Switzerland

There are a buch of things you are not taking into account:

To get from one city to another will take 1/2 to 3/4 of a day each time. Since you want to go to 4 different places that means you will lose 2 to 2.5 of your 12 days just trekking from one place to another. So now you have 10 days at best for 4 places - so 2.5 days each.

You have also not taken into account:

Many sights are closed one day a week - will it be one of the 2 days you are there?

Ascending a mountain only makes sense when the top is clear. You may easily have to spend 3 or 4 days at the foot before you get a day that's clear at the top. (We were in Interlaken 3 days - touring local towns and sites - before the top of the Jungfraujoch was not in the clouds.)

Have you actually looked at train schedules between the cities? What is there's a strike or bad weather or ???

Then your incredibly tight schedule is down the tubes.

For me - I would do 2 major places in 12 days - with a day trip or so in each one. But do you actually want to do/see things - or just cross them off of a list.

London and Paris or three london Paris Switzerland>

Yes at most - Rome is an outlier - takes time even by flying - a whole day to get there. Save Italy for another trip!