asimm

Planning next summer 2016 vacations starting from May 20 with family of 3 people for about 18days and trying to cover the following destinations

MADRID(2) - PARIS(3) - VENICE(3) - FLORENCE(1) - AMALFI(3) COAST(through Rome) - ROME(3) - MADRID(2)

Arriving at Madrid and leaving through Madrid (As i am getting a low low fare for Madrid)

Note : I understand that an Open Jaw ticket is best, but i am saving USD300/- for 3 tickets to fly back home via Madrid

Could you people advise what would be the most Economical and time saving Route to follow for the above destinations

I guess it should be in the order posted above, but need your suggestions

Also, i checked for train transfers especially MADRID - PARIS and if i buy Air or train tickets in advance i see that the price for Trains is too too high.

Thought for time being i have said AMALFI COAST, but need suggestions on what should be the best beach locations (not much into swimming, but looking for something which is best SCENIC and SOOTHING to the eyes)

Thanks a lot

Michael

<i> but i am saving USD300/- for 3 tickets to fly back home via Madrid</i>

And how much will it cost to get from Rome to Madrid, not counting the time lost (getting to the airport, wait at the airport, flight time + ride to hotel at destination)?

asimm

Tickets from Paris to Spain are about USD40/-

Accouting all this, still i am saving USD300/-

Please concentrate more on the REAL TOPIC

thanks

ribeirasacra

please use the http://www.rome2rio.com/ that way you can do some planning yourself.

Sassafrass

You asked for economical and time saving route for your destinations. Michael was addressing that very thing.

That many destinations in such a short time is never cheap. There also isn't much way to save any time with that itinerary.

Madrid to Paris, fastest time, fly. That will take at least half a day door to door.

Paris to Venice, fly, takes at least a half day.
There may be a night train available, but not sure, might work if you can sleep on the train.

Venice to Florence, best cost and time wise by train, about half a day.

Florence to AC, train is cheapest and best, or train plus bus, depending on where you stay. It will take at least 3/4 day or more.

AC back to Rome, train or bus and train, at least 1/2 day

Rome back to Madrid, fly, at least 1/2 day door to door.

One thing that would save time is as soon as you land in Madrid, fly directly on to Paris. Put all your time in Madrid at the end of the trip.

Double check all possible ways of doing a multi-city with different cities.
Great would be to fly into Venice, do Italy, then Paris, then Madrid,
Or fly into Paris, then Venice, then Rome to Madrid.

BTW, the days you are counting as times in each place do not work. To get an accurate picture of how much time you actually will have, start laying it out with travel time subtracted from time in each place. Florence ends up only half a day. Paris 2&1/2 days, etc. That is very, very rushed in some places.

You have almost a year to plan though and your itinerary will probably go through lots of changes. Planning is part of the fun of a trip. Enjoy it.

bilboburgler

"Please concentrate more on the REAL TOPIC"

Probably best not to shout at people who are giving of their free time to offer assistance. Europe is a big place and while you seem assured that your itin is the right one, over the years I've learnt that, if you feel the need for advice you should listen to it.

I think you need to either do as ribeira suggests, or modify your itinery. Basically you seem to be jumping about all over the place trying to fit a quart into a pint pot.

May is still spring so there will be limited beach activity. For me the most economic would be to drop Paris as the outlier. I'd also drop the Amalfi and look instead at the either the Spainish east coast/ French southern coast (so Barcelona might be a sensible stop for a few days, I could suggest others but perhaps cities are a good place to start) and then the area of Genoa and the Cinque Terra. This latter area is truly beautiful and makes best sense out of you journey. Flying back to Madrid from Rome also works well.

asimm

Thank you all for your time and suggstions.

Please do not take me wrong. I dont know why but there is a difference of USD150/- ticket if i buy an open Jaw ticket rather than a fixed ticket in which i have to fly in & out of Madrid, so i would be sticking to this Plan

Arriving at Madrid and directly flying to Paris or Venice wouldnt be a good idea as we would be arrving Madrid after a 15-17hour night journey. The advantage being that we arrive at around 10:30 am so should be in hotel by 12:30am and then take the first feeling of the city and get used to the surrounding. After spending another Day, will fly to Paris

May 20 & 21 in Madrid

May 22, leave for Paris by Air and reach hotel by 12:30am.
We love the theme Parks and wouldnt like to miss on this opportunity of visiting the DISNEY LAND (our first disney), so i guess Paris is a must

Leave Paris for Venice on May 24 evening, but not sure whether we should take the Night Train Thello express OR the AVE day train. Please suggest,
I just checked and found that by Air i can get a flight for USD55/- for a 2 hours flight, so i guess FLIGHT again. So i guess leave Paris on May 25 morning

Should i skip florence ?

Venice for 3 days (May 25/26/27) and then leave for Rome via train. Right

Regarding Beach, we are not much into SWIMMING, but rather would want a place which is just wonderful and scenic and full of Natural beauty. It can be in either Italy or France. Please suggest

Rest is simple, Beach - Rome and then Madrid

and i must say i love PLANNING A TRIP for my family.

Cheers

nytraveler

Sorry - but you are still bouncing around all over the place and not giving ourself any time to actually enjoy most of these cities.

Also, how may people are we talking about and what are their ages? If your family includes toddlers or small kids this trip would be just SO much worse - since you would have no time for kids to actually be kids just a blue or airports and train stations.

There are quite a few people her who have traveled to europe dozens of times and have a lot of info/advice to offer - but you seem to just want everyone to agree with you.

Remember 2 nights in a city means one day of sightseeing and getting from one to another will take at least half of a day (if there are no delays and transit schedules are convenient).

bilboburgler

Just take care with your flight comparisons. You need to add in
1) Getting to the airport from the city centre
2) costs of food etc at airport (take a sandwich)
3) getting back from an airport to the city centre
4) The time wasted doing all this and the shear nervous exhaustion of pressure, while catching a train is so easy

a train will be city centre to city centre.

Unless you are going long distance trains normally win but you do the calcs

I think your itin now says

Madrid
Paris
Venice you could go and see the beach at the Venice Lido or visit the beach at Rome's http://www.theguardian.com/travel/bl...lla-restaurant

You are certainly jumping about more than I'd do, but hey your holiday.

Disney Paris is about 32km outside Paris, I think there are good deals to stay out at the park, certainly commuting is a bit of a pain.


Rome