Visit to Europe
 

Iam planning to visit Europe in October from 5th to 12th. travel from London to Paris by Eurostar and then by train (Eurail) From Paris to Geneva,Montreux,Innsbruck, Milan, Venice,Florence,Nice and back to paris. I need some help to plan this vacation.

You're joking, of course.

The "all trains, all train stations" tour?

Eloise,
Maybe shepe means 5th October to the 12th <b> November</b>. Otherwise that would be a place per day and...well...I mean...I can't even compute that mentally.

I just answered another post with info relevant to you. You will have to scale down your itinerary a bit - this from a person who loves to travel fast but your itinerary is way way too much for one week. Consider crossing off Innsbruck and Nice to start and take the overnight train from Florence or Venice back to Paris. the best fare for you on the Eurostar to Paris is the $75 passholder fare, but these can be hard to book so do it far in advance (this fare can be changed once in Europe up until the time of the train without charge) - I always recommend BETS (800-441-2387 for passes and especially Eurostar bookings. If you wait to London to buy the passholder fare may or may not be available (if it is it's about $100 there) and you could pay much much more. CDan reserve Eurostars up to six months in advance.

Author: PalQ
Date: 06/14/2006, 02:20 pm
Definitely your itinerary warrants a railpass if you do all that by train - it's a no-brainer and the five-country Eurail Select pass is probably your best bet but i would also look at consecutive day Eurailpass, especially if you're under 26 and can get a youth pass. Even though railsaver.com uses RailEurope fares i believe and these are not correspond to those on sale at ticket windows in Europe you are traveling so much that there is no doubt in my mind a pass of some type would be warranted. Three good sources of info on European trains, passes and fares: www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com (on the site ask for their excellent free European Planning &amp; Rail Guide with loads of rail info and itineraries, etc. and they'll answer any questions, unlike other agents, without obligation (800-441-2387) and www.euraide.com. The RailEurope site - www.raileurope.com has railpass prices but little else - they also apparently charge $25 to talk to someone.



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You do not need help planning this vacation.

You need to get a map, a train schedule, and start over.

In 7 days - and is that on the ground or does it include the days you arrive and depart? - you can do one large city - two if you stretch it and do only the most major highlights.

Pick two. Otherwise you will simply not have time to get off the train.

Thanks for your replies . I shall arrive in Paris on 4th October stay one night and then travel by TGV to Geneva and to Montreux where I shall spend 3 nights. Afterwards to Innsbruck and stay 2 nights and from there to Venice for 2 nights and then to Milan for 2 nights. Take the plane from Milan and then back to London. Can you suggest some hotels (3 * ). Do you advise to book all the trips and hotels online.

You should look into a Eurail Select Pass good in four countries (France, Austria, Italy and Switzerland) and the 5-day minimum out of a two month period seems to be enough - this pass comes only in first class if over 25 and first class definitely has its benefits. Try booking trains online and see prices - sometimes like in France and Italy PREM fares provide deep discounts but at a non-refundable non-changeable condition - for any flexibility opt for the pass, which still may be your best deal. I would reserve all your hotels online or by e-mail so you don't waste time upon arrival, laden with luggage looking for a place to stay. And you never can tell when a special event in one town books everything up - I arrived in Interlaken two years ago and all hotels were booked up for the Jungfrau Marathon - where they run 26 miles mainly uphill to Kleine Scheidegg and beyond a bit. I had reserved a hotel thru the Interlaken tourist office thank God or it would have been back on the train.
Google the tourist office in each town for a comprehensive listing and ask on Fodors about each town as there is a wealth of good recommendations from Fodorites.

Now you say Oct 4 - but in the OP it is Oct 5. Do you already have your flights or are you just starting to plan?

Anyway - that extra day doesn't help much. The way you spelled it out it looks like you have 2 or 3 days in all those places. Not so. Every travel day is pretty much just a travel day. By the time you check out, get to the station, travel, get to the next hotel and check in you have lost most of a day. So you are doing a LOT of train travel to have barely a day free in each city.

And what is the point of about 1/2 a day in Paris? Just not that sensible an itinerary. And all the rail passes in the world aren't that much a help -- unless you really mainly want to see train stations/rail cars. I suggest you pick three cities at most and stick to them.

Well - it appears that you will actually be traveling from the 4th to the 14th - not the 5th to the 12th.

And you have removed Florence, Nice and back to Paris from the itinerary.

But IMHO you are still trying to cover way too much territory. You have listed 2 nights for several places, but since you arrive on the first one and depart immediately after the second one you actually have only one day in each place. It hardly seems worth all this trekking for one day in each place - and that you will have little chance to see much or get a feel for any of these places.

You are aware that the train from Geneva to Innsbruck is like 7 hours - and that from Innsbruck to Venice around 6? Essentially days lost to nothing but sitting on a train.

to save travel time consider taking some night trains which run between most European cities far enough apart.

Thank you very much for the advice Palq. These will be indeed very helpful to me.

To janisj, I have already visited Paris last year and stayed at Hilton Arc de Triomphe for 6 days and then went to Chamonix and stayed 3 days there. It was lovely . I have also visited Geneva the year before and stayed one week and visted Gruyere, Lausanne etc. This time I would like to stay in Montreux and do the scenic rail tour.

Do I interpret correctly that you live in (or will originate from) London?

If so, then I don't think I would bother to pack and unpack in Paris, when where you really intend to go is Montreux.

And why not fly back home, at the end of the trip?

Perhaps this itinerary is a mystry game for all of us to solve?

Best wishes,

Rex

Then if Paris isn't imporatnt to you, what stop there at all? Add the day/night somewhere else you neede more time . . . . . .

May I ask the purpose of the trip? Are you wanting to appreciate the following cities or just say that you've been there? My head spins thinking of your schedule.

I agree with the others. You are only going to see your destinations via the train window. I would continue reducing your destinations.



Now, for what you want to hear --
If you wish to book hotels in advance, I recommend looking at www.venere.com and www.tripadvisor.com for hotel reservations/commentary.

I just love it when Fodor's does this to a post. God alone knows who said what, what was dropped and what else dupicated how many times.

Anyway, I hope this poor soul has straightened this all out.

And I did like the &quot;all trains, all train staions tour&quot; comment.

For Milano, check out the 3* Palazzo Delle Stelline.

I don't think anything got deleted or dropped. Who knows why moldy... topped it again. Perhaps because &quot;shepe&quot; has some posts back in play again today.

Author: rex ([email protected])
Date: 08/06/2006, 11:19 pm
I don't think anything got deleted or dropped. Who knows why moldy... topped it again. Perhaps because &quot;shepe&quot; has some posts back in play again today.

<font color="blue"> Yup, I was careless and didn't pay attention to the date. I did see shepe had a really vague post yesterday on the US board, noticed a repost on the Europe board and I posted on this thread without noticing the date. It shold have been the other. C'est la vie. </font>