Hi everyone! My friends and I are attempting to draft up an itinerary for traveling in Western Europe, and I was hoping you all could give me your opinion on it. Keep in mind that this is a very, very rough itinerary!
We are studying in England beforehand, so we would take the Eurostar from London to Paris. The trip would be from August 16th-September 9th, with us finally heading back home from Rome.
France (August 16th-24th) – Paris, Nice, Cannes, Bourdeaux, Toulouse
Spain (August 25th-31st) – Barcelona, Madrid…anywhere else?
Italy (September 1st-9th) – Milan, Cinqueterre, Pisa, Florence, Rome
We were planning on buying a Eurail pass but flying from Madrid to Milan. We were also considering maybe throwing Switzerland somewhere in there. I know visiting all these cities in a matter of three weeks is unrealistic, so…which places did you like? Would you recommend a eurail pass for this sort of trip? How long would you spend in each country? I apologize for the bombardment of questions! Really though, I am open to any and all suggestions.
Thank you!!!
spend at least 4 days in paris
Cinque Terre is awesome you need at least 2 days. 3 is better. Pisa likely a short stopover. don’t stay more than 3 hours.
Barcelona: 3days.
I’d give yourselves at least 3 days in rome as well.
So, you are planning to travel the biggest countries in Europe in 3 weeks… 1 week for one country…
This plan could work but you will be spending a lot of time going from somewhere to another… I spent 2 weeks in Italy and another 2 weeks in Spain and it was still a fast trip…
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I wonder if you should skip Bordeaux? And is Cannes vitally important?
But I am glad you are including Toulouse.
Maybe you could do something like Paris>Loire Valley (_or_ Paris>Dordgone region), then train it to Toulouse, and head east along the coast from there.
I agree with ersan that there is a lot of moving from place-to-place involved. But it’s doable.
I agree…don’t stretch yourself too thin. I spent a month in Italy, and a month in Spain, and I hardly scratched the surface even though I chose only 5-6 places to visit in each country for that whole month. Slow down and enjoy.
Though your itinerary is definitely doable, you might want to cut out Switzerland just to spend a bit more time in the places you’ve chosen.
Have a great trip.
I agree with Cil’s advice about Bordeaux and Cannes; Bordeaux is OK, but not that interesting. As for Cannes, I think that it’s just a large city on the Riviera—- and nothing special except that it’s famous because of the Film Festival that’s held in May. The Riviera becomes very crowded during July/August, so be sure to reserve accomodations ahead. In my opinion, smaller towns in the area are more fun than Cannes or Nice, but all are expensive! I agree with the advice to consider the Loire Valley/ Dordogne Region (for example) and then Toulouse (don’t forget Carcasonne). On your way to/from Barcelona, consider a stop in Collioure, which is a charming village right on the route Look on a map just south of Perpignan). As others have said, you’re planning a lot of travel within a short time, and you might consider fewer places!