Trip in July to Italy and spain by rail
 

Hi,

I am planning for a trip to Italy and spain

am planning for:
1day venice
2 days florence with one day tour to piza
2 days rome
2 days barcelona
2 days cordoba with one day tour to granada
3 days marbella with one day tour to seville

Please give me advice on best places to c in barcelona?

regarding trains may I ask u if I shall buy seperate tickets or a two country pass? as I cannot decide on this, I need six train tickets and the renfe website is not very clear to buy tickets (I can't even find explanation for the fares: estrella, Nino, etc..) so what's the experts advice on this:)

Thanks in advance

You need to drop a country because your schedule is much too hectic and you will be spending all your time on trains.

A pass is almost never cost effective for Italy.

You just have enouh time for your 3 Italy destinations---or your 3 Spain destinations--certainly not both.

A train from Rome to Barcelona will take a long long time--do you have a map?

thanks both,


actually I am removing the travel days from the scedule I gave u and am flying from rome to Barcelona..the trip is a total of 13 days. To tell u the truthI know that it is hectic but this is the first time me and my husband r travelling to europe and we r enthusiastic about going around many places by train.

I think time is short in barcelona and rome, that's why I need to know what must be seen there as am going to skip many things.

it's true the seperate tickets are more cost effective but I cannot buy spain tickets through the renfe website because I don't understand!!so shall I buy tickets for italy and a pass for spain..

If I must delete from the destinations which shall I remove.

You must be talking about the Italy-Spain pass and you are flying between Italy and Spain and not going by land via France.

for lots on train travel in these countries and passes: www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com; http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id35.html

And with passes in Spain and Italy you still must pay for reservation fees for most long-distance trains and factor that into the pass prices.

Plan 3 trips in advance--you will return.
We have had more time than you, but we have done 5 trips to Spain and still have not seen it, and are going back for our 15th trip to Italy in Sep. You will learn to plan geographically--Spain and Italy do not mix.

Hello Guys,

So 3 votes for not going to italy and spain together in 15 days.. any votes for doing that?:) I already booked internal flights tickets:(

In that case, just do a two-city trip, Rome and Barcelona, and forget about the train altogether, at least in Italy. Honestly, that would make a much more enjoyable trip. Rome is definitely worth half your total time; I haven't been to Barcelona so I can't advise on that half but if it were my trip I'd probably stay there or possibly somewhere else in Catalonia as a base.

Do Venice, Tuscany, and southern Spain some other time (and separately).

Thanks guys for the great help.. I think i'll spend most time in rome and barcelona 4 nights each, and i'll spend 2 nights in venice.

can u advice regarding places that have to be seen in barcelona?

Please check Maribel's guides for Barcelona:
http://maribelsguides.com/#barcelona

There's certainly enough to see and do in Barcelona to take up 4 full days.