fuzzbucket

Some people expect to hear English spoken everywhere, but this is not always the case, and can lead to frustration and lost time. For this reason, I would cut down on the number of different cities, cultures and languages you'll have to deal with - unless you are multi-lingual.

Since you're sure that you'll be able to visit Italy in the future, I would consider dropping Rome and Venice and plan to spend a longer period of time there when you can do justice to the country.

You'll be spending much more time waiting in lines than you realize, due to heightened security and crowds at the most popular attractions anywhere you go. Even if you just want to get a glimpse of a city, you need to spend more time than you have allotted.

London is enormous, as was mentioned. There are several different "centers" in this city, so you should do some research and choose the area that most interests you. I would recommend 5 nights there.
Paris is much smaller, and it's easy to walk or take a quick Metro to most of the things you'll want to see. The "cafe-culture" is part of the attraction of Paris, so you would probably enjoy spending more time just sitting and watching the world go by. If you take the early Eurostar to Paris, and take a late flight or train to the next city, 4 nights would probably cover it.
You can always drop your luggage at any hotel, if you arrive before check-in time, and most hotels will hold your luggage after check-out if you have a late departure.

Haven't been to Prague or Amsterdam, but 3 days in either city would probably be enough. There's not much in the way of scenery, so if you can get a cheap flight that suits your timeframe, I would recommend you do that rather than take the train.

Whathello

Prague is fantastic Fuzz, you should get on a plane and visit it !

Amsterdam is dutch, don't expect a Belgian to say it is a must see. (for people lacking the European sensibility, Belgians and Dutch are not supposed to get along - that goes back to 1830 when we kicked them out of our country but it has deeper roots than that )

PalenQ

Do Belgians get along with the French after you kicked them out of your country?

Lexma90

What are your interests, other than Disney? What made you choose the cities that you have on your list? Grab a couple of guidebooks, and make a list of places in each city that appeal to you. Then see if the number of sites/sights seems to fit in with the number of days and nights you have allotted so far.

Also, you are only visiting big cities. Would you or your husband have any interest in seeing the countryside, and seeing more rural locations? If the answer is yes, then consider dropping a city (I agree that Prague is the outlier) and adding time in the countryside. For example, you could visit Venice, pick up a rental car, and spend a couple of nights in rural Tuscany on your way to Rome.

tblb1110

As much as I want to go, it's clear that skipping Prague is probably the best bet :/ you all have such great insights, thank you! Especially on the train info, since I've never traveled that way it's great to learn more about that.

Lexma90 Main interests would be historical sights (ruins, castles, etc) and, as fuzzbucket said, cafe culture, just walking around and enjoying the sights, maybe exploring more of the local areas rather than busy tourist spots. I would love to do a more rural trip, but I know my husband is more comfortable sticking in the big cities for his first time. Truly a lot of the cities we're visiting are because he hasn't seen them yet But while we will be in the bigger, more popular cities, as I mentioned we won't necessarily be doing the super tourist stuff. For instance I know that neither of us care to stand in line for hours to see the Mona Lisa, and are just as happy walking by the Eiffel tower than waiting forever to go up in it. (However there will be some of that stuff, of course. not missing the Anne frank house!!!!)

Kathie, I love that itinerary! Having the 2 extra days for the other cities is certainly attractive. One question, a friend we were talking with last night was stationed in Croatia for a while and did a lot of travel throughout Europe, and he said that Venice is awesome but super tiny, and that we could easily explore the city in one full day and night, rather than 2 or 3 nights. thoughts on this? maybe we could add the extra time to Rome & then do a day trip to Pompeii or something?

Peter_S_Aus

Venice is not that easy for a first time visitor, unless you have a reasonable amount of time. I would suggest that you miss Venice, unless you can spend three nights there.

Getting around is difficult, and you will get lost - often. The crowds can be pretty heavy, especially if cruise liners are in town. The waterbuses are slow - think about an hour from the station to San Marco.

So if you are going, allow three nights. That gives you a chance to fall in love with the place, as we have.

Click on my user name and you will find trip reports I have scribbled about Venice.

fuzzbucket

I agree that Venice is a complicated city to navigate. If you just want to stay overnight in a hotel near Piazza San Marco and maybe take an overpriced gondola ride and find something to eat, that's about all you'd have time for - but that would be a shame.

If you do decide to tackle Venice, make sure to Google "acqua alta" - the periods during the year when the lagoon water rises several feet into the sidewalks and streets and makes everybody miserable. You definitely do not want to be there during those times.

Whathello

'Do Belgians get along with the French after you kicked them out of your country?'

We did, did we ? Nope, we welcomed the French and when we kicked the French out it was not our choice ! We were 'given back' to the Dutch at the time.

That is somehow wtrange : Walloons have ne real problems with French but Flemish and Dutch don't get along - and Walloons side with the Flemish on these occasions.

I'd stay with Venice - being lost in Venice is just great.

suze

<Venice is awesome but super tiny, and that we could easily explore the city in one full day and night, rather than 2 or 3 nights. thoughts on this?>

I've been to Venice twice and spent 4-5 days there each time, and barely scratched the surface. I disagree with your friend's observations.

Whathello

Donna Leon 'Acqua Alta' books takes place in Venice (like so many of her (good) books featuring Commissario Brunetti but most and foremost Venice !

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-14-200496-8

PalenQ

<Venice is awesome but super tiny, and that we could easily explore the city in one full day and night, rather than 2 or 3 nights. thoughts on this?>

I've been to Venice twice and spent 4-5 days there each time, and barely scratched the surface. I disagree with your friend's observations.>

I would agree with both these observations - easy to see the main tourist sights - clustered around St Mark's Square but also Venice is bigger than San Marcos and like suze I have walked all around the main island and other islands and one could spend easily 4-5 days doing that. Pretty much true of any city I thinkbut to me the real delights of Venice are the places off the too well beaten tourist track - the small lanes with only locals around - tghe Via Garibaldi, like any main drag in Italy with all the little shops and kids playing soccer in the street - but no cars and no mopeds running amok - and the eastern tip of the main island is completely untouristed and locals - what few left - are about - wonderful picnic spot there too.

tblb1110

Yeah, you guys make Venice sound like a dream - I'm sold! Any recommendations as far as lodging? Is it better to stay in the more touristy areas, or a little bit off the beaten path?

Peter_S_Aus

Venice is small, you can walk from one ent to the other in an hour and a bit, and the resident population is about 60,000. Venices also punches way above her weight, hosting a major film festival and the Arts Biennale and the Architecture Biennale - and the Biennales are effectively the Olympics for artists and architects. Film, modern art and architecture may not be your thing, but they indicate the status that the town has on the world stage.

Look at any advert for Italy, and you will see three images. The tower at Pisa, the Colluseum in Rome, and a gondola. Or maybe the San Marco campanile in the Piazza.

In terms of attractions, Venice is very dense. You could spend a whole day just at the sites around the Piazza, the Doge Palace, the Basilica and the Correr museum.

Every city is different, Venice is unique. Every single thing in Venice has arrived by boator carried by hand or barrow. There are no cars or scooters, just people getting around on foot, by waterbus (vaporetto) or by water taxi ( if one is wealthy).

A paragraph from a trip report from 2009:

"I remember arriving, and finding our hotel. It was near San Marco, and I'd mapped out in my mind exactly how to find it. Turn right from the Aligaluna ferry stop, past the souvenir vendors, cross the Piazzetta and the Piazza, under the clock tower, first right, 30 yards and we were there. I was so keen to show Venice to Lou, to unroll it like a magic carpet, albeit a carpet supported on wooden piles in the lagoon, a carpet with bumps and lumps and a bit waterlogged, wine stains and not a few blood stains, bare patches and worn threads. I so wanted Venice to deliver on the magic carpet. la Serenissima delivered."


We have spent ten months in Venice since that first trip, and the carpet has lost none of its magic.

Peter_S_Aus

As far as where to stay. We like Dorsoduro, about 25 minutes walk from the Piazza. Look for something around Campo San Barnaba or Campo Margherita, and both those areas are pretty lively in the evening. The student population hangs out in Campo Margherita of an evening, Friday evenings you'll find a bunch of two hundred young people drinking spritzes and eating pizza by the slice. I've never seen anything resembling drunkenness or aggression, even when the line for the best pizza place is 20 yards long.

You might try Al Campianel B&B for a place to stay. http://www.alcampaniel.com/

We have not stayed there, but my daughter stayed there several years ago, and found it good. Easy to find (and that really helps in Venice) from the San Toma vaporetto stop.

Whathello

We've been seveal times to hotel Flora.
Not cheap but nice, excellent breakfast, small garden and 200 m from San Marco. Yet quiet.

suze

<<make Venice sound like a dream - I'm sold! Any recommendations as far as lodging>>

This is where I stayed both times:
http://www.lacalcina.com/

Peter_S_Aus

La Calcina is a good call. Easy to find, location works well, and the Zattere gives great views and space to stroll.

suze

I found it to be an excellent location, a bit outside the main hub-bub but an easy walk into all things in the central area. Plus the beautiful view over the Guidecca canal and easy access to a vaporetto stop. PLUS the hotel is VERY nice.

tblb1110

They all look great! And suze, those views from la calcina, oh my word!!! I'm sure they don't come cheap, though. I'm hoping since we are visiting before the huge summer rush starts, we may be able to still find reasonable rates at hotels such as these!

Peter_s_aus - you spoke of the attractions, which are your favorites, the must sees? (Side note - you are a fantastic writer! I can practically see Venice now!)

Peter_S_Aus

It is so hard to give a list of "attractions", because for us now Venice is the attraction.
If you were thinking of churches, the Frari is special, Pure soaring take your breath away Gothic. The church of San Polo has a great "Stations of the Cross" in the Sacristy, the crucifiction told in fourteen frames like a movie, painted by Tiepolo. Tiepolo is a favourite of mine, and I've trudged all over Venice and to the Armenian monastery to see his work.

The Querini Stampalia Foundation is on our list of places where we would always visit. Maybe there is an art showing there, and the garden is delightful. Upstairs, you are entering a Venetian palazzo, giving you some idea of how wealthy Venetians lived.

See what is on at the Fortuny, if anything. We have loved the displays there every time we have visited.

There are always the big ticket sights, the Doges Palace and Basilica, and the queue can be pretty horrible there. We have visited the Doge palace twice, the second time did not do much for us.

Overall, it the second and third order sites that appeal to us now, the quirky, odd, strange things.

I remember being blown away the first time I saw a garbage boat, and a campo being swept with brooms made of twigs!