venice or Rome
 

Hi I am flying from cleveland to paris on 26th march and returning on 3rd april from venice to cleveland.I havent yet bought the ticket thoguh reserved thru a travel agent.
please let me knwo that which is a better place to visit(no kids just me and my hubby)
We will have 7 full days and nights there .
please advise which places to visit beside paris.we plan to take train from paris-rome-venice .I cant decide between rome /venice.should I do both in these days or one.

which place is better ..venice or Rome.also is it better to fly back from Rome or Venice?

Please help me decide itenerary for 7 days in europe( flying into paris for sure).
Thanks

If you are spending time in Paris, then it definitely has to be EITHER Venice OR Rome.

Do you prefer 1. a unique, almost magical city without cars (but with many tourists) or 2. an intense, vibrant city with cars everywhere?

Do you prefer 1. to see a variety of styles of art and architecture or 2. do ancient ruins and the Baroque period appeal to you more?

If you answer 1., go to Venice. If you answer 2., go to Rome.

Rome is perhaps slightly easier to get out of than Venice; many Venice departures are very early in the morning.

And please don't waste time on a train when you have so little total time. Look at www.whichbudget.com for discount airlines that fly from Paris to Venice or Rome.

Very tough call!

If either you or your husband is, above all, looking forward to fine eating in Italy, Rome definitely has the edge.

If either of you is really fascinated by Roman antiquity, the choice is obvious.

If either of you has a strong feeling about the Catholic Church -- positive or negative -- remember that Rome is very much the home of the pople

If either of you has been curious all your life to see Venice, your time from for going is terrific. It's not too crowded in April, the canals will be clean and sparkly, and you are likely to enjoy Venice as many tourists are unable to.

If you like the mysteries of Byzantine art, or the elaborate, sumptuous craftwork of Italian (and Viennese) brocades, glasswork, woodwork, paperwork, music, jewelry, etc., then Venice will fascinate you. If you aren't interested, Venice may seem like too many shops filled with kitschy clutter.

Given the fact that you must fly out of Venice, I think you either want to spend the balance of your time in Rome (leaving at least 2 nights for Venice) or just the opposite.

And if you'd rather just stay put in one place, fine. Personally, I would not do Venice and Rome on the same trip.

Hi!
Thanks for the replies.
I like countryside and tourists more than cars so looks like venice is better.

I still have a choice to either fly back from venice or Rome..
I was thinking of doing both as I do want to experience a train jouney preferably daytime/

So if someone can suggest differently like taking a short daytrain from paris to ???somewhere(maybe florence).. staying there for a day and then train to venice or rome..that will be fine too.

ROME or VENICE ...that is the dilemma..i think veice if its true that rome is full of traffic and venice has more tourist and walking culture...

more advices on this trip welcome.The only thing fixd in stone here is flying on 26th march and coming back on 3rd april so have 7 days not counting the 26th and 3rd.
And that I really want to fly into paris. return is flexible from rome/venice/even zurich...lets see..

Thanks again.

If you MUST have a train journey, then fly Paris to Pisa (Florence airport is closed, but Pisa airport is only about an hour from Florence), spend a day or two there, and train to Venice.

A stay of fewer than 3 days in either Rome or Venice will only leave you with an intense dislike of the city. Both take getting used to: the intensity of Rome, the heavy tourist presence in Venice (although it will be somewhat less heavy at the end of March/beginning of April).

Although I rather wonder why I am bothering to respond seriously to someone who calls him/herself "heehaa"...

You might have the best of all possible worlds if you planned an itinerary that included just one or two of these additions to a stay in Venice:

Verona (no traffic, great wine, and Roman ruins)

Bologna (fabulous food, medieval walled city)

Ravenna (fantastic mosaics, no crowds, no cars)

Milan (fantastic food, Da Vinci, great shopping)

PS: But don't pick more than two and limiting yourself to one excursion from Venice would be best.

I also want to point out that unless my memory is failing me, I don't seem to recall taking many scenic train rides in Italy. Every now and then one glimpses a pretty town on a distant hill, but the train lines (quite logically) follow the flattest routes and go through industrial corridors.

I wouldn't arrange my trip around the notion of a scenic train unless you want to route yourself from Paris through Switzerland to Venice -- which in April doesn't sound like a great bet.

Hi Hee,

You only have a week.

I suggest that you fly into Paris and stay there.

Italy will be there for your next visit.

If you relly have to take a train ride, visit the cathedral at Chartres or the Palace of Versailles.

((I))

To Elsoie..
I just chose heehaa beacuse one--I love to laugh,second- myname is common..takes forever to find a screen name..

well I know u weren't serious..lol..you did reply..
\
Thanks everybody.I really didnt know that train journey wont be scenic in Italy..well maybe in switzerland next time or maybe I should just fly to paris and back from Zurich to Cleveland and skip Italy altogether this time.I really want the scenic train rides...hmmmm choices!!!!!!!

Which place has best weather in end march...Italy/switzerland?

Great...seems that Paris to PISA flight,a day in florence and then train to Venice is a pretty good idea ..

How far is florence to venice.I gues florence to rome is 1.5 hrs..

or maybe I can do paris- pisa( a day in florence and then Rome and back to US..

again the main thing to decide is Venice or Rome...........????????cant seem to decide.maybe shd do both.:-)

Best chance of good weather in Europe in Spring? Spain or Italy.

If you really want scenic train rides, the Swiss never let a little snow stop them -- and or even 15 feet of snow. You still have a high chance of snow in Switzerland in late winter/early Spring, perhaps especially this year, which is the coldest on record I hear. You also have a good chance of fog, I would think, which obscures views.

You should start a new thread with a title that would attract people who have specifically taken scenic train rides in Switzerland end of march/first week of April.

Just so you know: If you have any interest at all in seeing Venice, your mar/april time frame is a perfect window for seeing it at its best. I never push people to go to Venice because it's really a gamble as to whether people will like it, and some downright dislike it. However, when people ask me when is the best time to go to Venice, I tell them last week in March, first in April.



However, if you really want scenic train rides

well... if its going to snow in switzerland..I will skip that this time...i live in cleveland and see more snow than I care:-)That decides dor sure that switzerland and scenic train rides can wait..(my husband hates snow..)

Just bumpin up the line....

VENICE or ROME....in need of more votes to decide one way or other:-);-)

No matter how many people answer, my guess is that the answers will split down the middle...

Why don't you go to a library or bookstore and look at the Eyewitness guides (glossy paper, lots of pictures) to Rome and Venice? Decide on the one that appeals to you more.

hi,
do u know of good websites with pictures of venice /Rome...

Lazy to drive to a bookstore...internet is the easy option..

Sure, here's a couple links to photos from a visitor on this forum:

ROME -
http://www.pbase.com/olegis/rome&page=all

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34698119


VENICE -
http://www.pbase.com/olegis/venezia&page=all

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34703879

Another one of my favorite photographers is Jim Tardio. Again he's posted on this forum. When I went to pull up his site, it appears it's being reorganized .... yes, there are some photos of Italy, but he used to have sections for Rome, Venice, etc.
http://www.jimtardio.com/italy/italy.html

You might google "Jim Tardio" and Venice / Rome and probably can see his work on other sites.

Bump...