I am originally from Germany but live in Boston now.

I,my wife and my three year old son are planning for 16 days (including travel time) trip to France -Italy and Switzerland (My wife is keen)/ Spain (I am Keen), so could you advice what is the best option in your opinion?? I am trying to obtain that balance: go to as many destinations as possible, but spending enough time in each place. I’m glad you found this page as well. Our base for now would be Rome(round trip), * Rome – Florence + Pisa – Cinque Terre (Monterosso only) – Venice – Milan (Lake Como) – (Nice & Cannes / Paris) – Barcelona.

Do you have any thoughts on mixing in a cruise into this trip? From La Spezia to Florence you can take a fast train.

The men in Italy are also known for sometimes giving unwanted attention to females, but most women agree that it’s basically harmless and nothing to worry about.

If you have only two weeks total then the above minimums will also pretty much be your maximums, give or take a day. In 12 days I’d spend 4 nights in Paris, 3 nights in Nice, 1 night in Venice, and the remaining 4 nights in Florence. Trinidad and Tabago

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If you do you might want to stop there for a day or two just to get the feel of it. We read that you recommend purchasing the train tickets in advance instead of getting the rail pass, for 2 week trips like ours.

I’m hoping you can help me plan a very last minute trip to France and Italy. Kathmandu,

We’ve driven ourselves in other countries but have never rented a home there before. If you were thinking of skipping Florence or Rome and adding the remaining day to the other, definitely save Florence for the future and do 2 days in Rome. I think you’ll be able to do all of this by train with the occasional bus ride here and there. – 2 nights From Sorrento we are not sure where to go and are we trying to do/see too much in 20 days.

I don’t personally have experience with this sort of visit, but most travel pros seem to think this is the ideal way to see more rural parts of France as well as Italy.

What are your thoughts in driving knowing it’s for no more than 14 days? His trip : DNP – Did not participate. Actually, the Museum d’Orsay across the river is a MUCH nicer museum and filled with classic art, so if you want to more fully explore one museum I’d choose that one. Budapest Rincón, Thank you and looking forward for your reply. Issue is that the weather may be wet and cold. We want to recreate a little of the 1000 miles race and go to the ducati factory , we leave at the end of september from dublin , staying there maybe 3days before flying out .

Looking at best way to travel, don’t mind the idea of the train, but don’t want to spend too much time on one. Florence(2)- including pisa

Some islands do have impressive ruins and such, but most people go to the islands just to sit on the beach in the day and drink at night, so it’s probably better that you stay on the mainland. As always, let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks a ton Roger, appreciate your help. Just wanted to know if soo much travel is involving trains, then is it advisable for me to buy a europass or should I just buy tickets as and when needed ? The fast trains in Italy are sensational and with a rail pass we were paying about 10 euro compulsory reservation for fares that cost up to 150 euro – big savings potentially.

Malta We found your valuable blog while searching for itinerary This is our first trip in these 2 countries so we would like to do Paris (4 nights), Nice (2 nights), Venice (2 nights, Florence (3 nights), Rome (3 nights) and maybe Milan 1 nights. 6.Barcelona (2 nights leave on 9 Sept). That article explains how to do it with links to the official rail websites of each country. We are planning a trip in mid June, covering 15 nights. It’s small enough that in two hours you’ve seen the whole town and will be ready to go. It’s a wonderful town where most people speak English, and it’s the prime transit hub for the whole area. So I think your plan looks pretty good although you might consider slight changes.

Thanks Roger for your help. This article explains how to buy European train tickets online, with links to all of the official websites. As for the Cinque Terre, I think since you have enough time I’d spend 1 or 2 nights there, probably in the most scenic town, which is Vernazza.