My husband and i are spending 24 days going from France to Spain to Italy in September. We are in our late 50's and looking to take fast trains and the occassional hire car. We think we would like to
My husband and i are spending 24 days going from France to Spain to Italy in September. We are in our late 50's and looking to take fast trains and the occassional hire car. We think we would like to start at paris then down to san sebastian and surrounds and across to Barcelona then up to Cannes/nice/provence then north to Italy -Florence/Tuscany or verona/venice and then Rome. I think 4 days in each area which would give me roughly 24 days which is all we have till home from Rome. Are our choices good for people that want history as well as counrty relaxation and if not how would you do this trip? First time to europe. Its either Forence/Tuscany or verona/venice which would you do? Do we need more time in these countries for a comfortble trip?
I think too much of your trip will be eaten up sitting on trains with your present itinerary. Have you already purchased air tickets that have you flying into Paris and out of Rome?
In general, it is very hard to say if you are moving too fast for first-time visitors. Even some first time visitors really only want to dip their toes into Paris or Rome, they want to pack in some real variety in their trip, and would rather give the bulk of their time to the seaside and train travel instead time spent on doing urban history walks or exploring by-ways with a car. There is no one right way to enjoy a trip to Europe.
But I will point out that the logistics of your present route and your desire to cover the distances mainly by train gives you, in reality, about 3 days per destination and many people would feel they only ended up with a glimpse of many places.
What kind of history interests you? Barcelona, Nice and San Sebastian have fascinating 19th and 20th century art and architecture and literary histories, but only a little remains of their history further back. Florence is the premiere European destination for the Renaissance, but if that is not a major interest for you, then Venice makes more sense, because you will still be seeing plenty of Renaissance art in Rome. Paris or Rome are two cities where most people feel overwhelmed by how much there is to take in from every era of history.
You also should be aware that the Cote d'Azur of France is really not "countryside". It can be relaxing to eat lunch in view of the sea and go window shopping, but the area is quite built up and bustling. If you go to Venice and Verona in instead of Florence and rural Tuscany, your only real experience of unspoiled "countryside" in Europe will be if you get in a car and tour the countryside and seascape just outside San Sebastian -- which I highly recommend you do because it is unbelievably gorgeous.
Deborah, mushroom has given you excellent pointers that really are more a guide for your research than an itinerary--and research is important when planning; arriving somewhere and finding the hotel is different than you thought is one thing; expecting countryside and finding city is another.
A good place to start is the destinations tab above on these pages...the whole range of the Frommer guides is available through it Another key tool is a good map; it will give you a better understanding of the relationships and distances, which I suspect you're not clear on, since you indicated you wanted to go north to Italy from southern France, when the direction is actually south.
The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectation.
Your destinations are spread out enough that you are signing on for a lot of days on the train. You'll need to weigh whether it is a good use of your time to spend 25% of your vacation in transit.
I suggest to take a flight. It will be faster than by train. There is very good low cost company like Easyjet. www.easyjet.com
FLIGHT : Paris = /> Barcelone FLIGHT Barcelone = /> Nice CAR : Nice = /> Pisa => Firenze ( 423 km - 4 h 1/2 drive) CAR Firenze = /> Roma (283 Km - 3 hours drive) FLIGHT : Roma = /> Paris
Alida, you should start your own thread, as you are piggybacking here on a thread on a different topic. Click the red Start New Discussion button to begin. However, you should include some more information:
When are you going?
Will you be driving for any part of the trip, or do you plan to stick to trains?
Europe is full of interesting places. What are you looking for? Cities, villages, countryside, beaches, mountains, wine-tasting, art museums, castles, or?
What do you hope to see and do on this trip?
Please define "moderately priced" in dollars or euros.
