We are at our initial stages of planning a trip to the Mediterranean. We want to see Italy (Florence, Venice, etc.), Greece and maybe parts of Spain and Southern France if time permits. There are two of us and we will fly in from Canada. Here are some of my questions:

To see the above areas, is it better to book a two week Mediterranean cruise or use another mode of transportation like train or car rental?

What are the better alternative modes of transportation?

What time of the year is best to go see these locations?

What are the must see areas in the Mediterranean or places that we should skip (for instance I have heard Barcelona is a great place to visit and Rome is not)?

What countries are worth spending the most time in (I have been to Paris, but other than that never visited these countries)?

We are both in our thirties and are interested in architecture, art, scenery, history and maybe a little shopping.

Thanks.

I hope you are planning 2 months for this--it would take that. Seriously, you really should concentrate on a smaller area. Greece take 2 weeks, Italy six weeks, Spain a month, etc. Get a good guide book and narrow your focus. A cruise will give you a sound bite of each, but you will not see Europe that way.

Many questions come to mind:

How long will you have?
Are you usually an independent traveler or like to be guided?
What's your budget?
Do you want an all-city trip or mix it with some countryside?
Are you wanting to zip through each place or will dedicate an adequate amount of time to each?

To see everything you mentioned you would need months. Rome is amazing, as long as you like cities.

You need to narrow down your focus and ask specific questions, unless you really will have months to do this.

I wouldn't book a cruise for your trip. I think you'll see much more if you book an open-jaw plane ticket into one city, and out of another, but before anyone can really help you, you definitely need to whittle down what cities/places are most important.

With two weeks, I would recommend narrowing your trip down to one or two countries at most. Spring and early Fall ( Sept-October) are probably the best times for visiting most European countries, and there will be fewer crowds than in the summer months.

By the way, Rome completely matches what you say you're interested in " architecture, art, scenery, history, and maybe a little shopping." I would definitely put it on your short list of places to visit!

It'll be very difficult to book a cruise that will make a stop in Florence.

Several of the places that you mention are really not that near the Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand, you don't seem to be considering any of the places along the southern or eastern shores of the Mediterranean. so it's not at all clear what you are thinking of doing. If you have only two weeks, I think you should just focus on parts of one single country, e.g., Italy or Turkey. But I don't really understand your plans.

Thanks for your feedback, I will give you more details.

I was initially investigating the 12 day Mediterranean cruises. There are some that do stop at Florence and Venice as well as including Barcelona (this is the starting point for most) and Turkey and Greece. The drawback to me is that you only have one day at most ports and your evenings are back on the ship. There are usually a few "at sea" days which are a total waste to me.

I can take up to 3 weeks, but may limit it to two weeks.

I would want to be economical, but not too cheap either. When I did an England, Scotland, France tour two years ago, we did alot of B & B's and I got good deals on hotels in London and Paris off of the internet.

I love the cities as well as the country side. With my trip two years ago we rented a car and travelled all over England and Scotland for the first week and stayed in London and Paris for the next week.

My preference isn't really for a guided tour. Planning the Europe trip ourselves was alot of fun and allowed for some spontaneity. That leads me to the question of whether it is better to rent a car in Italy (to see the countryside as well as the main cities) or to take the train.

If I had to narrow down this trip to two countries I would say definitely Italy. After that it is either Greece or Southern France. Although I have also heard such great things about Spain. Any suggestions here would be great as I am a little torn.

I hope that gives you more specifics. Thanks for your help.

I think Italy and southern France would be an excellent choice for your itinerary, and pretty easy to figure out. Why don't you do some preliminary research and decide what areas you'd most like to visit, then post again.

Good advice from Weadles.

Cruise ships to Florence actually stop at Livorno.

The port for Rome is Civitevecchia.