Trincl

I am planning a trip to Europe (my first) and I would like to visit Venice, Rome, Paris and London for April 2014. Can anyone recommend an itinerary, with hotels (3 &/or 4 star)? I was thinking of 2 nights in Venice, followed by 4 nights in each of the other cities. I would like to see some of the historic sights, some shows, good restaurants (including small family run restaurants), and very importantly - some time to relax.

Thanks.

nytraveler

Seeing 4 major tourist centers within 2 weeks is NOT going to be relaxing.

By the time you deduct the day you arrive and the day you leave and the days it will take to travel from one city to another you
will probably only end up with 1.5 days in Venice and 3.5 in the others - at best.

Also for hotels - we need a specific budget per night - hotels ^ ratings are different in europe and usually mean only that they have certain amenities - not that they are a specific quality.

travelhorizons

I would eliminate Venice from the itinerary, which will let you relax into each city. Just do Rome - Paris - London. I would do 5 nights in Rome (one extra day to get over jet lag), 5 in Paris, and 4 in London (or put the extra night in London, if you prefer). There is so much to do and see in each of these cities...

Take a look at some tour itineraries online - not that you'd want to book a tour but simply to "borrow" their itinerary ideas.

azzure

Everyone here will probably tell you you shouldn't do this, but I think it's do-able. I did the following trip in 2011:

Rome for 3 nights
Florence for 2 nights
Venice for 3 nights
Paris for 4 nights.

Of course, I had been to all of those places before; for a first timer it might be worthwhile to leave out one destination.

We stayed in 4 star hotels on that trip, except for Rome, where we stayed in a decent 3 star near the Vatican. The hotels were all wonderfully located and I can recommend all of them. They were the Starhotels Michelangelo in Rome, the Westin Europa and Regina in Venice, and the Sofitel Arc du Triomphe in Paris.

jamikins

Be sure you fly into your first city and out of your last so you don't waste time and money backtracking.

Trincl

Thanks for the input. We could probably add two or three days, to make it 16 nights.

For hotels, I would like to be close to the major sites, restaurants etc. so we can walk to some, if not most. Most importantly, are clean, comfortable rooms.

The hotel budget is still to be decided, but i would think $150 to $200 per night (preferably with breakfast)