Need help for planning a trip to EUROPE

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Apr 26th, 2001, 01:23 PM

Ming

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Need help for planning a trip to EUROPE

Hi ! My husband and i are planning to tour Italy,Spain, switzerland, Paris and London for 5 weeks in June . My tentative plan is as follow : London - 3 days (then flight to) Spain Malaga(by flight from London)- Ronda(stay 1 night) Ronda - Sevilla (4 nights, plan to tour the small town around sevilla) Sevilla - Granada ( 1 night) Granada - Cordoba (1 night) Cordoba - Toledo(1 night) Toledo - Madrid (2 nights) Madrid - Segovia & El escorial(1 night) Segovia - Madrid ( 2 nights) Madrid(by flight) - Rome ( 3 nights) Rome - Naples, sorrento and Almafi Coast(2 nights) Naples - Orvieto, Civita (for half day) and take a train to Venice (3 nights) Venice - Florence (2 nights) Florence - Assisi(1 night) Assisi - Siena ( 3 nights, any suggestion on which other small towns that worth going ???) Siena - Pisa (half day), then take a train to Cinqu Terre (2 nights) Cinqu Terre - Milan (spend half day, worth it???)and then take a train to interlaken (3 nights) Interlaken - Zurich (spend half day, worth it???) and then take a train to Paris (5 nights) Paris - London (1 night) This is my first visit to Europe and also first time planning, so i would like to request for suggestions or recommendation for my plan, especially the southern part of spain and the tuscany and umbria of italy. ? Is my plan viable ? Especially the southern part of spain and the tuscany and umbria of italy. Thanks in advance. Cheers, Ming ming

Apr 26th, 2001, 02:05 PM

Heather

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Hello, Ming. I tried to email you the Florence hotels article but received an "undeliverable" message. Did it reach you? No comments for the itinerary other than it looks very ambitious and perhaps combining the moving around in Umbria/Tuscany with a one-week villa rental and a car. I'm afraid that so much moving around and 5 weeks of traveling would have its toll on my health and sanity.

Apr 26th, 2001, 02:17 PM

Maira

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Troll Alert! If not, some suggested guidelines: 1) You are doing way too many one-nighters. For a 5-week trip, narrow it down to 6-7 home bases. This will minimize packing, dealing with lodgings arrangements, transportation cost, risks of something going wrong while enroute. 2) Pick home bases from where public transportation is reliable and versatile. No reason to go back and forth from Toledo-Madrid-Segovia three times in five days. Stay in Madrid/Toledo/Segovia (pick one) and day trip from there. 3) Pick some variety on your sightseeing. If all you are seeing are the interiors of trains, and Renaissance architecture (for the sake of conversation), then pretty soon one town is going to blend with the next in your brain. 4) Why are you going from Paris to London at the end for one day? Make it simpler, and fly out of Paris. You are talking June 2002, right? BTW, I hate to be picky, but you said you'll be travelling "five weeks in June" and June has only four weeks.

Apr 26th, 2001, 04:11 PM

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

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Ming, I am worn out just thinking about this itinerary. Way too many one niters. You and Rick Steves need to cut about a third of these destinations.

Apr 26th, 2001, 04:39 PM

scigirl

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Ming, Yes - too many one nighters. Also, if your flights haven't been locked in you may want to consider an open-jaw ticket. You could, for instance, fly to London, then onto Paris (or via. chunnel), train through Spain and Italy and fly home from Rome. This would eliminate some of your flights within Europe - possibly saving money and time. Work your way geographically across each country and on to the next. As it stands now it seems as if you make a big circle in Spain and then another big circle in Italy (Rome, then Venice, then Florence is zig-zagging across the country). So - here is a concrete suggestion (and I haven't been all the places you want to go, nor do I know your specific reasons for wanting to go there): London - 4 nights (its a big city and you'll have jet lag - 4 night minimum) Paris - 5 nights (with a day trip into the Loire valley) train overnight to Madrid 4 nights - make a day trip Toledo train to Sevilla - 4 nights (could do less) Barcelona - 3 nights early train to Granada - take night train out to Pisa - one night train to Cinqe Terra - 3 nights Florence - 2 nights Naples - 3 nights (could do less or spend nights elsewhere - like a smaller town - area around Naples may be more interesting to you (Pompei) than Naples itself) Rome - 4 or 5 nights Venice (by night train?) - 3 nights (skip Milan - it isn't one of the most interesting places in Italy) Interlaken - 3 nights and home from that area (Zurich) Alternatively, head from Granada to Interlaken and do Italy in reverse, ending in Rome and flying home. All of this is pretty rough because I don't have a map or rail schedule in front of me - but I think the general idea comes across. I made a 6 week trip last spring and stayed at least 2 nights, usually longer (5 or so) at each stop and still got pretty worn out. It is always tempting to maximize what you see when you finally get the chance to make a really big trip - and it does looks as if you've made some excellent choices - so it will be hard to cut down. But, do cut down. You will enjoy your trip so much more without the hassle of frequently moving from place to place. Try to eliminate as many of the one nighters as possible. (However, one night in Granada - or early train in and night train out - is reasonable). I hope this is helpful - enjoy your planning!

May 2nd, 2001, 07:34 PM

Ming

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Hi Heather, Maira, Bob and Scigirl : I am really sorry for taking so long to reply, as i did not receive any email informing me there are replies to my question. Luckily i check it out again, then only i notice all of your kind replies. Thank you very very much. Heather, i am sorry , i did not receive the email about florence hotel. Bob, i know that i include too many places in my plan, i will try to cut down the places. Maira and Scigirl, thanks for the detailed advise on my plan, i do agree about too many one night stay, and i have amended my plan to choose Madrid as my home base, and do day trip to Toledo and Segovia. The reason why i choose to fly in and out from London is because i have friends in London and i am going to leave my 3 big luggages(as i fly from Chicago to London and London straight back to Malaysia) with them and pick them up before i fly back. Thanks again for all the advices. Cheers, Ming

May 2nd, 2001, 07:43 PM

xxx

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I think you need more time in Florence and Tuscany, possibly less in Madrid.

May 4th, 2001, 08:32 PM

skip

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Ming: I don't think a trip to Spain is possible (thinkable!) without going to Barcelona. I would cut the escorial and Segovia and do BCN insted. I think you'll find it MUCH more interesting. You could end your Spanish trip in BCN and fly to roma from there! Your other choices sound wonderful!