Time and money allowance for Italy and France
 

I am going to be touring northern Italy and Western France up through Paris and possibly over to Mont-st-michel. How much time should I allow in order to see these regions? I'm thinking about 14 days. I don't want to see everything throughout, but would like to get a good sampling of what the area consists of. Also how much money should I expect to spend on a fairly tight budget. Any advice on these topics I mentioned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

It will be tough to see it all that quickly, but you can do it.

Bringing it back to the top

Rachel, when I plan my trips, I usually allow 2 1/2 - 3 days in larger cities (more for Paris), and about 1-2 in small cities. For small towns/villages along the way I plan 1/2 day, always depending on the sights to see. <BR> <BR>My advise is to get a map of Italy and France and plot out the areas you want to see. This way you can figure if you want to go by train and/or car. <BR> <BR>Also, when I go to Europe, I only go to one country within a 2 or 3 week period. But that's just me. Others may travel to 1-3 countries in that same time period. It just depends on how much you want to see. Remember: you can always plan for future trips!

Rachel, Monica makes a point. To answer your questions I think you have to consider where you want to go, what you want to see or do and what mode of transportation you will be using. There are so many options and personal prefernces that it makes it difficult, if not impossible to give you more definitive answers. Are you going to fly from point A to point B, drive a rental car or use the trains or a combination of all? What kind of hotels are you planning on staying at? 3-Stars? 4-Stars? 5-Stars? Hostels? Chateaus? How big of an eater are you and what type of food and where do you want to eat? You did mention a fairly tight budget, but that is a relative statement. What I consider a budget, you may consider extravagant? For what it is worth, I usually stay at 3-star hotels, occasionaly better. Prices run from $75 to $150 per night depending on location. For food, I generally budget $100 per day. I allow for a few hundred dollars for small gifts. I don't usually have anything specific in mind to purchase, but my credit cards and ATM cards take care of any sponatneous buys. <BR> <BR>You can see and do a lot in 14 days. It is more than 7 days and less than 21 days or longer. A lot depends on how far you want to range or how close the places are to each other. Paris to Milan is about 600 miles, I think so they are not that close. And you mention western france as well. You have to take into account the time to get from one place to another. I took in large areas on my initial trips driving all over the place to see as much as possible. At the end of my trips I was exhausted. Now, I've slowed down quite a bit and prefer to stay in one place longer to savor what is there and to relax, and enjoy myself. This is just my prefernces and everyone is certainly entitled to their own. <BR> <BR>I would suggest trying to lay out a daily iternary and check on what the hotel options are and cost and take into consideration the transportation costs. You can also find info on general restaurant options and cost as well. Just be as realistic as you can and write everything down and total it all up. Some people would recommend doubling whatever you come up with, but that depends on how realistic you are in your estimates.