Need advice on our current plans
 

My wife and I are trying to plan our trip to Europe for this September (9/4 - 9/19). The countries and cities we plan to see are:

9/5 - arrive into Rome AM

9/6 - 9/10 Italy (Rome 1 day, Florence 2days, Venice 2 days)

9/11 Austria (Viena 2 days)

9/13 Czech Republic (Prague 2 days) Prague to Paris is the tough part because I think it takes about 10hrs by train.

9/15 France (Paris 2 days)

9/16 Netherlands (Amsterdam 2 days)

9/19 Leave

I know this is pretty aggressive schedule and it might change because none of it has been booked as of today (6/17/09). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Places to stay 30 -60 euros a day, Euro rail, etc...

Help

Someone out there can help.

You're going to be in Europe for 14 days and according to your current plans you'll be spending two or three of them in trains and taxis. You'll have to check into 7 hotels, with all that implies in terms of packing and unpacking, and you'll have to find your way around 7 cities. I think this is a big mistake. If it were up to me, I'd limit my trip to Rome + Florence + Venice or to Paris + Amsterdam + somewhere close (e.g. Bruges or Antwerp) or to Vienna + Prague + somewhere close (e.g. Dresden or Budapest). If it were up to my wife, she'd have you spend the entire two weeks in one major city, say Rome or Paris, with a few day trips. We've made trips like the one you outlined above, and we felt later that it was a mistake. I'm sure you'll have a good time no matter what you decide, but I think you'll have a better one if you minimize your travelling as much as possible.

This is a very aggressive schedule. Doing one day in Rome, 2 days in Florence and 2 days in Venice means a lot of sitting in trains, and minimal time anywhere.
I'd suggest that if you have 15 days, then one country and three or maybe four places might work better.

You need time to wander around, and have some days with nothing planned. 30 to 60 Euro per day would meam hostels - I don't think you'd find hotels at that price.

If you just visiting Italy, then a rail pass does not save money, I believe.

Thank you. This is her first time to Europe and I asked her where she wanted to go and as you can see she wants to see alot for limited time. I am still working on it but I think her main focus is Italy...

Yes, you need to cut way back on the number of places you want to see. Your budget, based on the lodging prices you're looking for, sounds very limited, and to travel around so much will really cut into your budget.

To help narrow it down, get a bunch of guidebooks from your local library (the kind with pictures, like Eyewitness, are the best for the initial decision-making), and page through - see what really interests you the most.

Think about what you like to do; it sounds right now that you be visiting only cities. Do you want to visit small towns and the countryside? For the time of year you're planning to go, there will still be quite a few other tourists, but fewer than in the middle of the summer.

This year, because of the economy, is a bit different than other years, but start thinking about booking hotels soon (after you decide where you want to go).

Your itinerary sounds horrific to me. When do you expect to be able to take a deep breath and do something besides being in transit and packing and unpacking? And one day in Rome? Really, why bother?

At 30-60 Euros a day, you will have todo a good bit of work to just find places to stay and your train tickets could set you back that much.

Italy by itself could easily take 2 weeks and that would barely scratch the surface. Cities will be even more expensive than the smaller towns. And Austria will certainly be a better value.

I would eliminate everything after Vienna on your agenda, fly open jaw into Rome and out of Vienna. And how did you come up with this itinerary? Perhaps you need to go back to square one, decide what it is you would like to get out of this trip, settle on 4 cities and make daytrips from there instead of moving every other day.

You need to stick with just Italy unless you want to spend all your time on trains or in train stations.

Your budget is very low and you will have to look at hostels or possibly convents although you won't find many in the major cities that cheap.

your plan will give you:

• less than 1 full day in Rome (and that will be jet lagged),
• 1.5 days in Florence
• 1.5 days in Venice
• less than 1 full day in Vienna
• 1.5 days in Prague
• 1.5 days in ParisFrance
• 1.5 days in Amsterdam

ALL the rest of your time will be in trains, train stations, taxies, buses, checking in/out, packing/unpacking.

This is beyond nuts.

Either do Italy -- and JUST Italy -- or -- do Rome, Venice, (plus maybe a day trip to Florence) and Paris

As a follow-up to my earlier message, you can stay in an apartment rather than a hotel if you stay more than three days in one city. Apartments are usually cheaper than hotels, and you can save food money by eating breakfasts and occasional lunches and dinners in your apartment. You can get information on apartments by searching for "x apartments" in this forum, where x is the city of your choice. As another suggestion, try to learn as much about the mass transit systems of whatever cities you visit to avoid taxi fares. And finally, learn about free tourist attractions. For example, some of the best art in Rome is in churches, and as a bonus you get to see the churches. Info on Rome churches is also available in this forum.

Hi LFA,

>I am still working on it but I think her main focus is Italy...<

2 weeks in Italy is fine.

The current itinerary is not a vacation, it is an expedition.

((I))

I am very much like your wife and thoroughly enjoy doing as much as I can within whatever constraints I have.

2 years ago, I went to Italy with my family. Our Itinerary was as following
Day 1 and 2 Genoa (had little do do there)
Day 3 drove to Pisa (long journey), stopped at cinque terre and did Pisa
Day 4 - went to Florence from Pisa
Day 5 - went to Rome (long journey) - got to see vatican city and coliseum)
Day 6 - went to another place I can't remember.
Day 7 - came back to england and rested :-)))

I loved it to bits. I don't do sitting around on holidays very well. . . .and yes there were long drives but we have now been to the above listed places and loved it to bits. Going to Rome this summer and just might do Pisa again in a day if possible.

So you need to weigh it all up big time. If it's all about just getting to the places and having a bit of a taste regardless, then just go for it. But I do think as others have suggested that you perhaps look to cut back a tad/lot :-))

janisj's breakdown is quite cool actually and if acurate, isn't bad at all . . as long as you don't plan to unpack your suitcase at every location and as long as you plan to rest when you get back home.

Stick with Italy .

I wouldn't bother spending the money to get to Europe if this were my itinerary. You're going to be spending all your time in transit and no time at all enjoying anything. It's crazy, even worse than the worst packaged tour. You might as well just do a fly-over and call it a day.

I suggest you go to start looking at apartments, B&Bs, convents, and even hostels to get an idea of current prices. Take a look at VRBO for apartments or venere.com for hotels and B & Bs. Accommodations in Europe cost more than here. Be sure to add the cost of food and attractions. Since you want to see many places you might spend a few days in Rome and take a 7 day cruise to avoid packing and unpacking and taking trains all over. However, I agree with others that our favorite places in Europe are those where we have stayed three days or more.

<<Accommodations in Europe cost more than here.>>

I disagree with that as a blanket statement. I can stay in a nice hotel in Paris for less than I can here in DC. And the last time I rented in Europe, I paid 300 euro for a lovely little two-bedroom chalet in Umbria. SOME places in Europe cost more than SOME places here, but I don't think it's correct to say in general Europee is more expensive, even with the current exchange rate.

If your wife wants to see more than one country in those 2 weeks it would be feasible to do Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris. That would make a lovely trip.

If you did that itinerary you would not need a eurail pass and could take trains between places in Italy (point to point tickets are cheap) and then fly from Venice to Paris.

Once you post back with a final itinerary I can give you some accommodation recommendations in your price range for each place.

Good luck!
Amanda

Where are you flying from?

I'm for seeing as much as possible, but at some point you can stretch it a little too thin. You probably should cut it down a little.

I would suggest Rome > Venice (cut out Florence) > Vienna (via overnight sleeper car, eliminate hotel night) > Bratislava (riverboat; cheap lodging/airfare to...) > Paris

Since money is a concern, it might depend on how much extra you have to pay for open-jaw (three-way) overseas flights.

We have not booked anything yet and have read all the post and was wondering about doing Prague, Vienna, Venice, Florence and Rome we will be leaving 9/4 and returning 9/19.