Top 10 things to do....
 

We have nearly finalized our itinerary for our Trip to Europe in September. Time is limited, so we want to make the most of seeing the main attractions in each place. We are both keen photographers and would like suggestions on the main places to go to get stunning photos.

London 4 nights
Santorini 4 nights
Rome 4 nights
La Spezia 3 nights
Bologna 2 nights
Tuscany 4 nights
Venice 3 nights
Paris 4 nights

London- atop the London Eye-vistas in all directions, on a boat on the Thames-great shot of the London Bridge from the river, the escalators in the tube (some of these are many stories high), at the base of Big Ben looking up on a clear/slightly cloudy day,

Rome- Colosseum at night, up close pics of the fountains around Rome, lots of detail, bridge over by Vatican is lovely, up close of the cobblestone streets,

Venice-take the vaporetto up and down the Grand Canal at night to get great shots of the buildings lit up, the Rialto market is a feast for the photographer, any area away from the tourist spots-just wander around, the store windows-the food shops are especially fun to photograph

La Spezia- I assume you are going to the CT from there? If so, the views from the boat of the colorful villages can't be beat

Tuscany- everything! Love it there.

Paris- Luxembourg gardens are lovely, the gargoyles atop Notre Dame, store windows with cakes/cookies in them, street markets, all the beautiful bridges, tower lit up at night, view from atop the Arc looking towards the Eiffel Tower are great

These are just off the top of my head...I'll be back with more

Thanks for that. I will look at all those places

My friend took some amazing photos in Paris, she has them framed and in her home and people always comment on them, they came from a day wandering in the Marais and just taking shots of doors, doorways and unique door knockers.. every one has shots of the Eiffel Tower, find your special shots..

I gather you are traveling by public transportation (plane and train). At any rate, if the order given is the one to be followed, it makes little sense to go to Bologna and then to Tuscany. The latter should be placed between Rome and La Spezia unless you mean the northern part of Tuscany (Lucca, Florence), at which point it could be between La Spezia and Bologna.

On second thought, I am not sure that you really took into account the amount of time that will be lost traveling between the various destinations. I would drop Santorini and La Spezia and then go London-Paris-Venice-Bologna-Tuscany-Rome and fly home from Rome.

We are only staying in Bologna so my husband can go to the Ferrari factory tour. We have factored in travelling times. Flying London to Santorini and Venice to Paris. Other travelling will be train apart from Tuscany area when we hire a car.

Your travel times are not undoable.

It is a pretty fast trip but not impossible. For the top 10 sights, Fodors has travel guides called "Top 10 in (city). Also, check the "destination" tab on this site. Everyone's Top 10 will be different but you can get an idea.

My tops are in Paris - the Musee D'Orsay, Ste. Chapelle, Notre Dame, a Seine River cruise, Luxembourg Gardens, Musee Rodin. In Tuscany - Florence, Siena, countryside and hill towns. In La Spezia - hiking in Cinque Terre and so on. We have been to all of the places you list except Santorini and have lots of favorites in all but it is hard to advise someone you don't know.

IMO top sites for newbies:

LONDON - Tower of London
ROME - Forum
PARIS - Seine River Cruise

Personal "not on the usual lists" favorites:

LONDON - British Library (Amazing collection of stuff)
ROME - Santa Prassede Church (Best mosaics in the city)
PARIS - Carnavalet Museum (History of Paris)

SS

Santorini--Oia, Akrotiri
Paris-Musee se l'Orangerie with it's display of Monet water lilies, Musee Rodin
Rome-Church of San Clemente, Forum
London-Westminster Abbey, British Museum
Tuscany-Siena and it's Duomo, Florence-Michelangelo's David at L'Accademia, a hilltown or two
We loved Bologna, it's porticos, Piazza Maggiore, and it's FOOD!

justineparis...some of my favorite shots are of doors and doorknockers...forgot about those. In some of the little Italian villages they have small metal poles sticking out of buildings. They are adorned on the end with figures and metal carvings. Still don't know what they are for but I love photographing them. Hope your tooth is doing good today.

There's a publisher of travel guides that has a series of top 10 books for major cities. We used their book for Barcelona. It's not Fodors and I won't mention the names of other publisher on this forum but you can get a clue from this: D------ K---------.

Are you really staying in La Spezia for 3 nights? 'Twer me, I'd stay in La Cinque Terre or Portovenere, or some town further north on the way to Genoa.

I'm not sure I understand your question. Best places to get stunning photographs or top 10 things to do? I'm guessing that you picked these destinations because there were things there you wanted to do. So stunning photographs:

London: the Tower of London provides some great photo opportunities.

Santorini I don't know.

Rome: some of my favorite photos are from the Terme de Caracalla, and everybody doesnt have them.

La Spezis (still pondering this): closest and best photo points are from Portovenere to the rocks and cliffs. Actually stunning, IMO.

Bologna: dont know.

Tuscany: too big. Where?

Thanks for your suggestions. I started plotting the route on Everlater (A great free trip journal site) and realised that we might have to think the order a bit.

What about this;
Rome/Montepulciano/Siena/Florence/La Spezia/Bologna/Venice.....