wilman

Hi ... I'm new to this site and was very encouraged by reading all the travel posts. Many very knowledgeable travelers on this site!! My husband and I are planning our first trip to Europe and have allowed for 21-24 days of travel for June 2016. We enjoy food, culture and history. We like art and appreciate it but both my husband and I prefer being outdoors. I've chosen the following cities to visit and the days/nights are extremely flexible at this point.

Paris (5-6 nights)
London (5-6 nights)
Venice (3 nights)
Rome (5-6 nights)

However, when pricing out airfare ... I've found some awesome rates from SFO to BRU (Brussels) via Icelandair. I'm now rethinking my itinerary and possibly adding a few days in Belgium. Should I do it? or just pay the $600+ difference to fly direct to CDG. Also, flying home I found really good rates flying from FCO (Rome) to SFO with a possible 24 hour layover in Instanbul. Would that be worth a day trip? I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!!

Christina

I wouldn't pay $600 to fly into CDG rather than Brussels, when you can get a fast train from Brussels to Paris that only takes about 1.5 hours and costs less than 50 euro. And you arrive at Gare du Nord in the city rather then CDG, which saves you a lot of time/money probably. My last bus trip into Paris from CDG took 1.5 hours, in fact (bad traffic).

I enjoyed Brussels as a day trip from Paris, I think it would be a good place to get adjusted to time change, spend a day or so. GOod beer and Frites, definitely, even if I did enjoy the art and museums.

Your likes are about everything so doesn't affect anything -- food, art, culture and history.

I would never in a million years fly from Rome to SFO via Istanbul and have a 24 hr layover after a 3 week trip. There are always good rates through Istanbul on Turkish airlines because it's not convenient and takes a long time. I'm not big on 1 day layovers in a city when I must fly in and out, not worth the trouble.

wilman

Thank you so much for your advice Christina ... I'll look for another returning flight and book the SFO to BRU flight.

greg

>>> I'll look for another returning flight and book the SFO to BRU flight.

Whoa, make sure you understand the difference in how carriers price fares. I think the Icelandair prices as if they are point-to-point carrier. The round trip with them is the sum of two one-way trips.

Not all carriers price this way.

If you try to do this with legacy carriers, the one-way fare might be more expensive than a round/open-jaw trip. So you might not find a suitable return flight to achieve your cost management.

Make sure you have a complete solution before hitting that non-refundable "buy" button.

pariswat

Hi
I think it is ok - 5-6 days in Paris London and Rome is ok, pay attention to time lost in transfer.

To go from Bruxelles to Paris, just book Thalys trzain as hinted above. Book 3 months in advance to get best prices.
Price of day of travel is about 90 or 99 €, I have paid as low as 29 when booked far in advance, usually my 'best' deals are about 40-50 e.
Thalys.com or capitainetrain.com (seems favoured by US people - US credit card friendlier than Thalys.com, same price).

In Bruxelles you need several days to see it all, of course, but you can see most of it in 2 evening (after landing and before going back).

La Grand-place is great (close to Central station, 15 min from airport, where I'd recommend to book a hotel) is the best location in town, from there go to Les sablons on foot.
The other day, go to place sainte-Catherine, eat there, visit 'la bourse'.
If you like museums, I recommedn le musée de la BD (cartoon museum) Musée de la guerre (at 'le cinquentenaire, a little far off) and Autoworld, in front of each other.
For a short stay, don't bother with the Atomium.

Eat chez Vincent for a good old Belgia type brasserie, it is in the 'ilot sacré' (old part of town close to grand place, very touristy).

You have a lot of tripreports etc about Paris. With a lot of posters knowleadgeable. Same for Rome and for London of course.

Perso I would go back via Istanbul, which is one of my favourite cities too.
The cistern in itself is grandiose, the city is vibrant and beautiful, you can do Sainte-Sophie and maybe Topkapi, or just walk in the Bazaar, gorgeous. And dine in front of the Bosphorus.
I slept once at the Sozbir Royal, old and in need of repair but with a fabulous view on the river.

Enjoy your trip.

wilman

Thanks Greg and pariswat ... I just realized how expensive one way flights are out of Italy. Turkish Airlines might be my best bet. I have the options of a 2.5 hour layover but I do like what pariswat suggested to at least check out the Bazaar or Topkapi. The flight arrives in Istanbul around 1:30pm and doesn't depart till noon the following day. We'll be exhausted but it's doable.

Sassafrass

First. Why are you doing one way flights? You should be looking at "multi-city" flights that let you land in one city and depart from another. People often call these open jaw and so might travel agents, but they are not listed that way on line.

Once in a while there may be a crazy instance when two one ways are cheaper, but rarely. Also, when you get a cheap round trip, you have to see how much time and money it will take to return to your arrival city.

Second. I love Istanbul and Turkish Air is a great airline. However, I would not do the flight to Istanbul with not even a 24 hour layover. You will need to stay someplace that night, either near the airport or in the city center. If your flight from Rome is on time, it will still take you about an hour to get into Istanbul and check into your hotel, even longer to get to an airport hotel and then a taxi into the city, so 2:30 to 3:00. Roughly three hours for sightseeing, then dinner. The next day your flight departs at noon. You will probably need to be there by 10:00, so maybe a couple of hours walking around. That is a lot of lay-over time and another night in a hotel for five hours of sightseeing.

I would consider going to Brussels and taking the train to Paris. If I did that, I would definitely spend a day and night in Bruges.

Since you are not yet locked in, look at different itineraries.

look at
flying into London
train to Paris
fly to Venice
Train to Rome
Home from Rome

Another option
Land in Rome
Train to Venice
Fly to Paris
Train to London
Home from London
The only issue with this might be extra departure fees from London. Be sure to check total flight cost

Land in Venice
Train to Rome
Fly to London
Train to Paris
Home from Paris

Arrive Paris
Train to London
Fly to Venice (or Rome)
Train to Rome (or Venice)
Home from on or the other

wilman

Hi Sassafrass ... I appreciate the different itineraries. They are very helpful!!! I love to travel but this part of the planning could get very stressful. My family and I normally arrive and depart from the same airport when we travel. I will begin searching for flights using the "multi-city" option. I don't normally post on forums but I'm glad that I did before I confirmed my trip. Thanks!!!

kybourbon

I believe you would need a visa to do the stopover in Turkey.

The most efficient route for your trip is fly into London and home from either Rome or Venice (more choices of nonstop flights to the US will be from Rome).

Fly to London, train to Paris, fly Easy Jet from Paris Orly to either Venice or Rome (take train between Venice/Rome).

Use the multi-city to search flights. Book the Paris/Italy flight on Easy Jet website (schedules probably aren't loaded yet for June though).

isabel

Iceland Air often has much cheaper rates than the 'main' carriers. I've flown Iceland Air quite a bit and like them (although I'm going from Boston not the west coast so much shorter flights). Anyway, look into putting together an itinerary using them both ways. As stated above, from Brussels you'd take the train to Paris (fast and pretty cheap), from there you'd fly to Italy (easyjet.com flies to both Venice and Rome), then fly to London (again, easyjet flies from both Venice and Rome to London), then Iceland Air home from there. The amount of time you have allotted to your major destinations (London, Paris, Venice and Rome) is fine so just either add a couple nights for Belgium or shave one or two nights from the others. I personally would rather see Brugges than Brussels but do both if you can.

Easyjet is usually very inexpensive if you book far enough in advance. Just be aware of their luggage limits and charges if you go over them, but they will still be cheaper and faster than other alternatives (eg taking a train to Italy from France, and or flying home through Istanbul). I have been to Istanbul and it's a great city, but I wouldn't fly all that way, check in and out of a hotel, etc. just for a few hours there.

Loacker

You've gotten great advice.

I just wanted to add that while I like your itinerary, I think it's a bit heavy on cities. I would make sure to include a trip to the countryside for a change.

Orvieto is short train ride from Rome and a great introduction to Umbria. Can be done as a day trip.

globe_traveller

I think your itinerary looks very reasonable. It won't be rushed. In fact, in Italy, you could add another city. There is lots to see in Florence (midway between Rome and Venice). Alternatively, since you said you like the outdoors, I'll recommend Cinque Terre as an option. It is a series of 5 towns along the coast in northern Italy that you can hike between (or take the train). Very picturesque, with some towns more touristy than others. The hikes vary in range of difficulty but you're never stuck thanks to the train. You can hike the whole thing in one day or break it up. It would eat up 2 or 3 days total.
End of tangent!

Regarding the stopover in Istanbul, if you're not planning on another trip to the region in the near future, why not do the stopover? Sure it'll be tiring, but you get a little taste of Turkey! And even if you only end up with 6-8 hours of sightseeing time, that's not insignificant - you can see quite a bit in that time. Just my opinion, but I'd GO FOR IT!

Hope that helps!