Trying to plan a France/Italy trip. Please help!!
 

Hi Fodorites, any input or tips will be greatly appreciated!
We will be flying into CDG on 4/1 and out on 4/16. We are trying to cover France and Italy in this short time. I know there is a lot to see and the time is not enough but we just want to see as much as we can!
We could like to stay in Paris for 3 or 4 days and then head down (Eurorail pass for 2 countries ??)South to Tours and then into cities such as Florence, Venice and Rome. Lastly, we plan on flying out of Rome straight into CDG to catch our plane back to the States. Is this a good plan? Would we save more time or see more if we flew from CDG into rome, and then head on North to the other italian cities and make our way back into France? Any tips on the itinerary will be greatly appreciated. What would be the best rail pass for us to use?

Hi LLCC,

It would be best to fly from France to Italy since you are SO short on time.

Honestly, you'll have a much better trip if you just stick to one country for your 2 weeks. If you try to do all your destinations in this amount of time, you won't be seeing anything - you'll just be training/driving.

yes, we are short on time. but i dont know when we will get another chance to go to europe so we just want to visit the 2 countries we are most interested in seeing~

<<Any tips on the itinerary will be greatly appreciated.>>

I strongly suggest a round trip budget <b>flight</b> between Paris and Italy. You don't have the time for a land connection. For the Paris to Italy RT legs, you'll fly from Paris out of BVA or ORY airports. Very cheap. Look here for more info: http://www.whichbudget.com/



The best option would have been an &quot;open jaw&quot; flight into Paris and departing for hoome from Rome or Venice.

As for actual itinereries, let me suggest three that will work nicely:

<b>1)</b>Arrive Paris 4/1 - spend seven nights in Paris. Fly Paris to Rome on 4/8. Spend 6 nights in Rome. Fly Rome to Paris on 4/15 stay on one in Paris. Depart Paris 4/16.

<b>2)</b>Arrive Paris 4/1 - spend seven nights in Paris. Fly Paris to Florence (or Pisa) on 4/8. Spend 3 nights in Florence. Take a train from Florence to Venice on 4/11. Spend 3 nights in Venice. Fly Venice to Paris on 4/15 stay on one in Paris. Depart Paris 4/16.

<b>3)</b>Arrive Paris 4/1 - spend seven nights in Paris. Fly Paris to Venice on 4/8. Spend 6 nights in Venice. Fly Venice to Paris on 4/15 stay on one in Paris. Depart Paris 4/16.

This is the general idea. For any one of the 3 itinereries above, you can subtract a day from Paris and add it to one of the Italian destinations.

Correction to all three itinereries above:

...to Paris on 4/15 and stay <b>one night</b> in Paris. Depart Paris 4/16.

Why not open jaw? Fly into Paris and out of Rome? I would also cut down on the cities. Or 4 days Paris, Fly to Florence, 4 days Florence and train to Rome 4 days and fly out of Rome.

i didnt know how to book an open jaw at the time of booking...we booked via internet discount prices via AA and the ticket was $411. Would I be able to call American airlines and ask to get that changed?

Im sure that won't happen but maybe you could ask. I would limit yourself to 3 cities and enjoy yourself instead of always running around and going to the next city. I would then fly to Florence, train to Rome and fly to Paris. Be sure to spend your last night at the airport and take the RER into the city for a great last night.

P.S. you can fly open jaw to Florence and from Rome lv on the 5th and ret on the 15th for $236 on Alitalia. Look on expedia.

You simply can;t cover that much territory in the time that you have. You can do Paris and 2 places in Italy - or Rome and 2 places in France.

And you should definitely do open jaw ticket rather than backt-tracking if it's not too late. If you try to do alla those places you will spend the bulk of your time in ransit and be extremely frusttrated with all the things you are missing.

My beau and I did a similar - but not exactly the same Rome to Paris road trip - but we had 25 days - and had been to many of the places before - so were comfortable missing some of the main sights (that would be must-dos to a first-timer).

Hi llcc,

Since your tickets are booked (good price), I suggest

6 nights in Paris, fly www.myair.com to Venice (3 nights), train to Rome (5 nights), fly back to Paris for one night before flying home.

((I))

PS,

See www.whichbudget.com for Rome/Paris

Since you already have your tickets in/out of CDG, all of the suggestions to do it open jaw are fairly useless. Your chances of getting a change to a discounted ticket will be slim to none.

Many first timers are so excited to be going, they plan trips just like your's &quot;<i>just want to see as much as we can!</i>&quot;

Well, traveling around helterskelter like that means you end up actually seeing <b>less</b>. You'd spend more time in transit, packing, checking in, checking out, and trying to get your bearings in a new city in every couple of days.

Follow everyone's advice and cut back. The 6 days Paris and 2 cities in Italy idea is a great compromise.