travel advice & savings
 
RAIL PASSES GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES at RAILPASS.COM Click Here
2 replies
15 Nights in Europe
hschuerer
hschuerer's profile picture
New Member
New Member
Eurotrip Points: 12
Member: 32803
Joined: 01/15/2011
User offline. Last seen 14 years 6 weeks ago.

I am in the process of planning a trip to Europe. I will arrive in Rome on May 27th at 10am and my return flight leaves on June 11th from Rome. I have a rough idea of where I want to go.
Night 1: Stay in Rome
Night 2-4: Cinque Terre
Night 5-6: Southern coast of France
Night 7-8: Possibly Lyon or somewhere nearby
Night 9: Switzerland
Night 10-11: Munich
Night 12-13: Austria
Night 14: Bologna, Venice or Tuscany
Night 15: Back to Rome

Is this too much? I will travel by train, will I have enough time to get from place to place? . I’ll be traveling with my girlfriend and we’re just looking to relax and have fun, I don’t want to be running all over Europe.

I am looking for suggestions on where to go after Cinque Terre. I’m not into museums and all that. I’m looking to drink wine, eat good food, see beautiful landscapes, go on hikes, experience culture. As you can see I have a rough idea of the countries I would like to see, but I have no idea which cities are the best to check out based on what I want to do.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cil
Cil's profile picture
Moderator
ModeratorModeratorModeratorModeratorModerator
Eurotrip Points: 3065
Member: 220
Joined: 01/03/2007
User offline. Last seen 9 years 5 weeks ago.

Yes, it is too much.
One night stands are occasionally necessary, but not recommended. You are correct to be concerned about factoring in getting from place to place. Logistics can really take up time.
Night trains can help. (BTW, is your girlfriend’s agenda for the trip the same as yours?)

You need to allow half a day or so to take the train from Rome to Cinque Terre. (You might think about going first to the town of your choice in Tuscany, and heading up to the Cinque Terre from there.)
Cinque Terre Tips
From Cinque Terre, you would have a scenic train ride into either Switzerland or France.
You can, I believe, take a train from one of the Cinque Terre towns to Interlaken, Switzerland.
Depending on which train you get, some are faster than others. I think La Spezia (sp?) is the main hub.
For France, you can stay around the Cote d’Azur or maybe go further inland to Provence.
I actually preferred the far southeast coast of France (Vermilion coast) but that might be too far for you.
Circling back to Rome, you can go by way of Venice, Bologna, or the region of Tuscany (which includes Florence, but I know you said you’re not into museums). A little culture won’t kill you. Cortona is a beautiful, low key way to see both medieval and Renaissance culture in one small, picturesque town.
I’ve not been to Turin, but have actually heard good things about it.

I am sure other people can offer other points of view. One thing you might consider is inter-European flights, to save time.

WhichBudget

blakemma
blakemma's profile picture
New Member
New Member
Eurotrip Points: 23
Member: 34028
Joined: 02/22/2011
User offline. Last seen 14 years 9 weeks ago.

Once you factor in travel time you will not have much time to spend in each place. I had a similar itinerary in terms of staying in places for a night or two and after a week we were so sick of it. I would suggest 2 nights at a very minimum but 3 or 4 nights will make it much more enjoyable. If you are looking to relax I would suggest cutting your itinerary in half so you spend less time on trains and more time seeing places.

I am traveling for 245 days
Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Cork, Lisbon, Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Venice, Prague, Pilsen, Bruges, Split, Dubrovnik, Rome, Sorrento, Warsaw