kmov33

Hi everyone,

I've been to Europe before for business but this is my first time traveling as a tourist. I did some research and have quite settled on the following plan:

I will arrive in Rome in 27 Jan 2017 midnight. I will then spend 5 days exploring the city and 1 day on a Tuscany tour (1 day Tuscany tour from Rome seems popular and I am mainly interested in scenery and maybe some wine tasting). I will fly from Rome to Barcelona on 3 Feb, do the sightseeing from 3 Feb - 6 Feb and watch a Barca football match on the 5th. I will take the flight out of Rome on the 6th Feb night.

Do you think the time allocation is right for each places, or am I giving Barcelona too little time? Is 10 days about right for these 3 places?

Thanks!

RonZ

The optimum arrangement for a short trip like this would be to fly into Barcelona and out of Rome, assuming flights/dates would work out. But looks like it is what it is. Look for a Tuscany tour in the southern area, like this:

https://darkrome.com/rome-tours/tusc...w&gclsrc=aw.ds

janisj

Not bad -- but Have you booked your flights already? If not, you should fly in to Rome and home from Barcelona. If you have booked - What time is your flight from Barcelona to Rome?

>>do the sightseeing from 3 Feb - 6 Feb <<

you won't be doing any sightseeing on 6 Feb. You will be flying from Barcelona to Rome and from Rome home.

Nelson

<i>>optimum arrangement for a short trip like this would be to fly into Barcelona and out of Rome</i>

<i>>If not, you should fly in to Rome and home from Barcelona</i>

Right, either one. The point is you don't have to use the same city for your international arrival and departure flights. Book an "open-jaw" or "multi-city" flight to save the time of having to backtrack.

RonZ

You may wish to name your home airport for further suggestions.

kmov33

Thank you all! I haven't booked the flight yet. I have a public holiday starting 27 Jan so I plan to leave home on that day to combine the holiday with my own vacation which I have to request from my company as days off. As such I should fix the arrival date in Europe, but can change the day I leave if an alternative plan works better.

@RonZ Thank you for the link to the Tuscany tour. Initially I chose to arrive in Barcelona and out of Rome, but then I found out there would be a football match on the 5 Feb in Barcelona that I wanted to watch so I switched. Anyway can you explain to me why flying into BCN/out of FCO would be better than into FCO/out of BCN?

@janisj I haven't booked the flight. I personally prefer flying out from BCN too (less moving around), and initially planed the same, that's why I kept thinking I would have nearly a fully day of 6 Feb in Barcelona when I wrote the post. But my airfare agent said it's easier to find cheap flights if I get in and out of the same airport. I'll see about that with them once I get the visa but most probably I will fly home from BCN instead of Rome.

StuDudley

>>my airfare agent said it's easier to find cheap flights if I get in and out of the same airport. <<

Really? Check the flights, costs, and especially wasted/lost time in transit yourself.

Agent's plan:
- home to Rome, Rome to Barcelona, Barcelona to Rome, Rome to home

"Our" plan:
- Home to Rome, Rome to Barcelona, Barcelona to Rome

Stu Dudley

kmov33

Thanks @Nelson, now I understood RonZ's point. Yes I actually planed on multi-city flights, arriving at Rome & out of BCN.

My home airport is DAD, Vietnam. I using Google Flight for finding flights.

RonZ

I should have said out of BCN:

https://www.skyscanner.com/transport...f=home#results

kmov33

@StuDudley yes exactly my plan initially. I just don't know yet how much money would be saved in the case of agent's plan. My guess is it will not be worth it (counting airfare & waiting time for backtracking from BCN to Rome) but I will check with them.

hetismij2

You need to check if you can get tickets for the Barca match before you tie yourself into that routing, and be sure it will actually take place the day it is currently scheduled - TV can often move match days to suit. The time and date are still to be confirmed for your chosen match.

janisj

>>But my airfare agent said it's easier to find cheap flights if I get in and out of the same airport.<<

The R-T Rome Fare <i>might</i> be a little cheaper. But usually not when you factor in the cost of getting back to Rome plus a totally lost day.

>>You need to check if you can get tickets for the Barca match before you tie yourself into that routing,<<

This is very important - match tickets are not always easy to come by.

kmov33

Thanks all for the tips about the Barca match, I will check their website (https://www.fcbarcelona.com/tickets/...otball-tickets) regularly and buy the ticket as soon as the game is confirmed. But the football thing is just a highlight for the trip, not a must. So even if I fail to buy the Barca ticket, the itinerary is still the same (basically Barcelona, Rome & Tuscany). My main interests in Barcelona is architecture scene, the vibe, and the food.

The airfare agent didn't tell me an estimated cost for their flight plan (I only talked to them for 15 minutes at their office though). But they did/will help me get the booking (without buying) that I will use for the visa application. So I will try to buy through them (if they can provide a price on par with those on Google Flight, Skyscanner and Kayak). When I looked at flights Rome-Barcelona or Barcelona-Rome it's about 1.5 - 2 hours (20 - 40 euros Ryan Air) so I didn't think it would cost me a full day for backtracking. Still prefer not to backtrack though. I meant to write "I will take the flight out of Barcelona on the 6th Feb night."

jamikins

Don't forget about getting to the airport, waiting a couple hours in the airport, then transit on the other side. A 1.5 -2 hour flight will eat up about 5-6 hours of vacation time.

kja

Re: your allocation of time -- it really depends on your interests and preferences! I could not have seen any pair of these 3 destinations in the time you have, but that's just me. If all you want to see / do in Tuscany can be covered in a day trip, go for it! I think your time in Rome quite reasonable. Your time in Barcelona seems on the short side to me, but at least it has an international airport and so will be easy to revisit. Really, it's all your call. Enjoy!

kmov33

@jamikins thanks, yes, and 5-6 hours is too much. Also, more flights to catch means more stress to me so no backtracking it will be.
@kja Thank you so much for offering your perspective. So basically it's all good for me now.

Thanks everyone again.
Cheers.

jamikins

Glad to help! Enjoy your planning!