Prague vs. Florence vs. Provence
 

I tried to ask this question in my last topic ... but didn't get any responses on the matter, so I hope no one minds me starting a new topic.

Here is the run down:
We are a family of four: me (almost 16), my brother (14), and my mum and dad who are in their late 50s. We are quite fit and love hiking, biking, skiing, etc. My dad has been almost everywhere in Europe and my mum has been most places, although she has yet to go to Prague, Budapest, etc. We love history and are interested in seeing a few art museums. We will have about 3 weeks in June with a budget between 20,000 and 25,000 USD, not including the flights to and out of Europe. I would definitely like to including Rome (5-7 days) and Paris (8 days) in our itinerary, however I am not sure where we should go in our last week. For our interests, should we go to Prague, Tuscany, or Provence (Luberon area)?

Many thanks!

Since you already have 2 big cities, I would do The Luberon area for its more laid back easy way and beautiful greenery and quaint villages.

Either fly into Paris, then train to Avignon or fly to Marseille for the Luberon and then fly from Marseille to Rome. Or reverse the order; just as long as you fly into one city and out of another.

Actually -- I'd probably start in Rome so you get their before it really heats up and end in Paris where it might not be as hot later in June as Rome would be.

I agree with that, change it up a bit and do Provence. Besides, while you could add in Prague, that makes it even more time-consuming and expensive to get to or from there, these 3 cities are far apart. At least Provence is in the middle of Paris and Italy. But I haven't done Tuscany so that could work for the same reasons, of course.

No hiking, biking or skiing in Florence.

Well I love Prague and would do that. But I don;t ski - and you can;t in any of those places - nor can you hike or bike in Prague. So if you want to do some outdoor stuff you might want to do Provence - which also allows you to have some history and art museums.

BUT - if your mom really wants Prague - why not give it to her and spend a couple of days in the Czech countryside for hiking/biking?

On the topic of hiking, biking, and skiing- I just put that there for an idea of our activity level, probably wasn't clear on that! We have that stuff at home and don't need to do it on vacation.

I'm sort of bouncing off between Prague and Provence. Provence seems lovely and we could even do Dordogne with it for a few days (is this realistic?). However, mum and I have always wanted to go to Prague.

I was absolutely enchanted by Prague, so that would be my suggestion. All three cities are totally different from each other.

From Prague you might take an overnight trip to Cesky Krumlov.

Since you like history, you could take a day tour to Theresienstadt, I think it's about 60k from Prague. I wanted very much to go, but ran out of time.

Besides, the beer is cheap and wonderful, at least it was when I was there 9 years ago, and if you're a Mission Impossible fan, you can easily recognize where scenes were filmed by the embassies.

It's certainly further and more expensive to travel to, but if that wasn't a real consideration, I think you'd have a dynamite trio of cities.

Not entirely what you're considering, but if your mom really wants to see Prague and Budapest, why not take a couple of days from Rome and Paris and create the Habsburg Empire Triptych of Prague, Vienna and Budapest for the last 9 or 10 days? :)

Well skiing is out of the question for these places ;-). I am a little biased but I think Tuscany is a very nice change of pace. If you have a full 7 days you could do something like 3-4 days in Firenze with a couple of day trips OR a 3-day stay in a completely different place in Tuscany, or perhaps two separate Tuscan villas. You can definitely do bike tours through Tuscany and I have heard a couple of good reviews.

I lived in Florence and I can't express how much charm the city has! June will be tourist central and it was the last of the 6 months I lived there. However, you can still find more remote areas of Tuscany. You could even do 4-5 days in Florence with an overnight to the Cinque Terre for a focus on hiking. There is definitely mountains to hike from Florence if you don't mind spending 1/2 a day traveling.

Also just to through more possibilities out there, you can easily day trip to somewhere in Emiglia-Romagna from Florence. For instance Bologna is an easy overnight to get a nice look and it is vastly different than Florence...not to mention Parma or Modena or elsewhere in Tuscany like Lucca, Siena, Montalcino, the Maremman coast, the list goes on. I hate to push you in a certain way. I have no experience with Provence but I know it is super picturesque and has some opportunities for biking. It will be tourist filled like Tuscany but whatever. I spent time in Prague and thought it was a great city with a decent value point. I would suggest planning another small destination near Prague. I think a full week there would be more than enough. There are quite a few cool places easily accessible by a reasonable train ride (Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Cseky Krumlov)

I certainly have a lot to think about! My only problem with Tuscany is the food (weird, I know!). Both my mum and I are gluten intolerant. We can eat a little gluten and such every now and then, but I'm worried between Tuscany and Rome that will be too much!