seeksocean

Six of us will be flying to Paris late next April. We will stay in Paris about 4 nights and then take the hi-speed train to Amsterdam and stay there a few nights. Then, we plan to fly Transavia Airlines to Treviso and take a bus to Venice.

The next part is what we need help with. We want to spend a few days in Venice, Cinque Terre, Tuscany and Rome and then fly to Barcelona...not necessarily in that order. What would be the best order to do this, without backtracking too much? And, what would be the easiest and most economic...also not necessarily in that order...way to do it? Thanks!!!

BigAleinstein

How long will you be Europe?

Robert2533

All I can offer at this point is good luck in your adventure!

seeksocean

Three weeks total...or maybe a few more days if we can. We will be in Paris for probably three or four nights and Amsterdam for about the same. So maybe two weeks to do the rest. I know it sounds like a lot in a short amount of time. I have been to Europe before and know, but not tried this route. My motto? It takes guts to have fun! Thanks!!

seeksocean

Specifically I am interested in the order in which I do the trip from Amsterdam and the means of travel...train, plane or bus getting from one place to the other.

Aramis

How very kind Robert!

From Venice you should head to the CT, then Florence, then Rome. Air fare from Rome to Barcelona is usually very inexpensive so this routing is a money saver as well as being the most efficient.

It is not a lot longer to go; Venice - Florence - CT - Rome either.

seeksocean

Thanks Aramis, just the advice I wanted! If I had two weeks to break this up in, how would you recommend dividing it up and what means of transportation in Italy from point to point? Would rather spend the $$ to save on the time. Probably train? Thanks again and again!

seeksocean

Breaking it up, including a little time in Barcelona. If you recommend extra days, that's okay too. There will either be six of us, or four of us. Thanks again!

bilboburgler

Italian Trains do for most of this. Though for Tuscany I'd either hire a car or just put up with only seeing a few cities, there are buses and the roads can be very wiggle/slow up in the hills.

so I think you are saying that you have 2 weeks to see
Venice 2 nights
CT 2 nights (actually you could just do a day trip as the place is just a bunch of cliff villages, but some people love them)
Tuscany maybe 4 nights (I'd stay near Sienna which is probably just out of Tuscany but hey)
Rome 3 nights
Barcelona 4 nights

Is that about right guys?

seeksocean

Exactly! Any suggestions for hired cars? Website links for trains? Recommended acomodations? Of course I am doing my own research as well. But, it's great to have help from those who have the knowledge. Thanks again and again!

bilboburgler

trenitalia.com is the main train site but you have to get the names of the stations correct (really correct) so you may also find bahn.de as a back up

Hired car, generally we all seem to use an intermediary to access the market as the price is better.

Accom, surf this site for each town or use tripadvisor.com

seeksocean

Thanks! And I realize I need a few more days in Spain. It's a math problem

Aramis

I love driving in Europe and where there is the right combination of efiiciency with respect to time and cost, and where it opens up access, and is fun, I alway choose to drive. Tuscany hits the mark on all criteria but you will have a problem driving with 6 people. Even with 4 you would need a full size station wagon at a minimum. With the time you have, Tuscany (outside of Florence) is not really an option, unless you want to stay somewhere besides Florence and perhaps day trip in by train? Obviously you know a car is impossible in Venice and it is a hazard in Florence, Rome or any large European city.

If it was my trip and I wanted to see all the places you mentioned, I would probably do this (based on 14 days and presuming you won't drive the short CT portion and want to stay in Florence);

Venice 3 days - Train to Florence
Florence 3 days - train to CT (La Spezia - about 2:20 direct)
CT 2 days – train to Rome (about 3:20 direct)
Rome 3 days - fly to Barcelona
Barcelona 3 days


Travelling to CT from Venice is about a 6:10 journey requiring a change in Milan so it makes more sense to go to Florence first if not driving.

I am no CT expert so you should get some specific advice about where to go from la Spezia and how to get around if in the are without a car.

It would be nice to have some days in the Tuscan countryside, but something would have to give or you would need to add some of those “maybe” days to which you refer.

seeksocean

Thanks so so so much!

seeksocean

Well....It's all changed. We are flying to Paris and staying 2 or 3 nights and then going by train south. We'll spend time stopping on our way to Venice. Then hopefully a couple nights in Venice...on to Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Rome and then fly from Rome to Barcelona and eventually work our way to Madrid, where we fly home from. Essentially...a week in each country and most travel by train. What do you think about that? What stops on our way south in France would you suggest? One of our group housed a foreign exchange student from Grenoble, France. We thought about stopping there. Thanks again for all the help!