If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, consider flying into Paris, but flying home from Rome. That would give you an extra day.

I’m sure you will find a concert or the like in Paris. You can find out what is in season during your stay on internet sites, and even buy a ticket, if you want to commit yourself.

Since you have a friend in France, I suggest you ask her what to see and do. She should know what there is to see, and how to get there, although I meet a surprising number of people who live very near an interesting site, but have never gone there.

I would suggest stopping in Florence for a couple of days on your way to Rome. Great art and history, good food, and a very scenic part of Italy.

I wouldn’t worry about being “too old” for hostels until you’re over 45 or so And even then, most of them have private rooms too…

For southern France, I’d highly recommend a few days in a place like Arles. I stayed there this past summer and thought it was great (even though I’m not too big on Mediterranean destinations!). It has a nice “small town” feel, even though it is packed with really historic stuff, including a Roman amphitheatre smack dab in the middle of town (it’s practically the first thing you see after walking through the remnants of the city wall). Best part is, it is pretty close to lots of other cool places; Nimes is close by with even more Roman stuff (actually the best preserved amphitheatre in the world, I think) and lots of cool cultural things that are on the syllabus for anyone who’s studied any bit of art history in school…. and another place you might want to check out is the Camargue wetlands region south of Arles. I didn’t go because I was by myself and figured I’d rather go when I could enjoy it with someone else… but look it up, it looks amazing. Flocks of flamingoes, wild bulls, horses etc… good stuff

I’ve had my ticket for months and it’s pretty set. My grandfather bought it with his airline miles (I don’t usually get gifts like this, I don’t know why I always feel the need to clarify this point). At the time, I thought I’d just tour France for those three weeks, but the idea of being so close to Italy and not going was breaking my heart.

We spent a couple days in Florence on that tour I did back in 2000 and, while I really liked Florence, Rome is where I’ve dreamed of getting back to. I have considered hitting Florence on the way to Rome, though, so maybe I’ll reconsider.

Do you have any suggestions of websites I might check out to find concerts, etc.?
Thanks!

A week in Rome would be wonderful…there’s SO many things to do. If you did want to add 1-2 days before Rome, however, there’s so many options. You could also spend a day in Assisi, which was wonderful. If you’ve already been to Florence, Siena is another nice place to check out on the way to Rome (I think one night is enough, but others would probably say 2). Or, another great option for an overnight stop is Bologna. It’s a compact city, easily walkable, and the food is FANTASTIC.

Thanks, DreamingOfItaly. I think I’m going to look into those cities and maybe take my stay in Paris down to four days and take your suggestion.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to handle my first day in Paris? I’ll be arriving at about 6:30 in the morning and I know I’ll be a little disoriented but don’t want to waste any precious time by not having a first-day-plan. If I can’t check into my hostel, what will I do with my bag?

Oh, and I have asked Emmanuelle what I should do in her area, but she hasn’t offered much up. I never really know what to tell people when they ask me what they should do in Nashville, either, so I can’t blame her. Has anyone here been to Draguignan?

I haven’t been to Paris before (I’m going the first time this summer!) so I can’t offer specific plans for your first day, but I can offer some general advice.
I would first try to find my way to the hostel. That way you start to get a sense of where it is, things will probably be really overwhelming because of some disorientation and culture shock. So focus on finding your way to the hostel. You probably won’t be able to check in, but you never know. The hostel also might have a safe place to put your stuff in the meantime. Then, I’d recommend just asking for a good place nearby to get breakfast and a coffee or something. Walk around the neighborhood a bit and soak things in. Eat some food (I’m always so hungry after a flight since the food on the plane isn’t great).
Once you can check in, then I’d set out for a site or two in the afternoon, I’m sure someone else has a great suggestion. So your day won’t be a total waste, but you still don’t want to plan to do too much.
The key thing is to stay up all day, and get to bed early, and then when you wake up the next morning you’ll be much fresher and ready to explore.

Hope that helps at all.

Good advice from DreamingofItaly for your first morning in Paris.
Mooma, I looked into visiting Draguignan a couple years ago when we were going to visit southern France. This city had its own version of D-Day (Operation Dragoon, in August of 1944.) It did not quite fit into our itinerary. It looks like an interesting town, not too big, but not teeny-tiny either.
There is even a museum with a sculpture by Camille Claudel.

Yep… just whatever you do, don’t go to sleep once you check in! You probably won’t be able to until around 3pm or so but yeah, if you’re lucky, they’ll be open before then so you can drop off your stuff. Try picking some outdoors stuff to do, if you can, since I know a lot of people get drowsy super quickly if they’re walking through a museum on no sleep

For Paris, you probably won’t get through immigration and out of the airport until around 8am anyway. By then you might be starving but don’t eat until you’ve got into town and found your hostel. First thing though, would be to find an ATM and get euros. There is one in the airport somewhere, I know. Then you can go out and find a nice bakery with fresh french bread, or maybe a crepe stand. You can take the RER (B line I think) to the Gare du Nord train station in the center of town, takes about 20min and is the cheapest option (less than 5 euros for sure). You may want to stop while in this station and buy a “carnet” (pack of 10) metro/bus tickets to use over the several days.

There are many hostels in that area anyway (either Vintage or Village hostel, can’t remember which, is only a block away and has pretty good ratings). Definitely book that part of your stay before you arrive. Usually hostels will let you put your stuff in their storage room if you arrive before check-in time (typically after 2pm). You’ll probably want to change clothes and stuff first though.

Then once you do that, I would just go out and find something fun but sort of lazy to do. Walking around exploring the city is easiest (don’t go to a museum, you will be too tired to absorb what all you are seeing).
Maybe go to Notre Dame and browse around the interior (climbing to the top would probably tire you out too much… it’s like 360 steps!), or head to the Eiffel Tower and have some lunch underneath it in the Champs de Mars grassy area. You could go up it, but standing in line is boring, takes forever, and you will get sleepy.
stop in a Monoprix or Franprix, and browse around for groceries/snacks. There is probably one of those two near your hostel.
Jardin du Luxembourg is a really pretty park in the 6th district, and the Jardin des Tuileries in front of the Louvre is quite nice too. The Arc de triomphe is at the other end of the Champs-Élysées from this park so you might wanna walk down that famous street and look in all the expensive shops, and end up at the Arc. If you want to cross, go in the underground tunnel… do NOT try to run across the traffic circle. MANY people die every year being struck by cars/buses/trucks/etc doing this. That roundabout is a madhouse, always (there are no lanes, so people squeeze their cars in wherever they will go). It’s worth going over there though, they have a great memorial to an unknown French soldier and the architecture is really neat. Again, you could climb the 200 or so steps, but I would just wait for the views until later.

Basically, wait til the 2nd day to do any real museum exploration for sure (I would hit the Louvre 1st over any other museum and spend several hours there… I went FOUR times and still didn’t see everything I wanted to). Anyway, this is just my recommendations.

For Southern France, I have heard good things about daytripping out of Nice to places like Eze village, or maybe even going over to Monaco, but have never been to southern France myself. My France knowledge is pretty limited to Paris and northern France, unfortunately.

For Italy, have you considered stopping in the Cinque Terre for a day or two between Nice and Rome? It’s about half-way (not too far from Florence) and has amazing hiking and scenery. It comes highly recommended in most guidebooks. I’ve never been but I’m dying to go! The photos I’ve seen are incredible. There is a hostel in Manarola village called (surprise) Hostel Cinque Terre. You could also stop for a half-day or so in Pisa if you haven’t been there before (see the leaning tower, etc).

One thing about Europe travel in general: PACK LIGHT. This is especially important in places like Paris where you will take the train from the airport and stuff like that. I would only take a carry-on bag (NOT a rolly bag though, those are useless in Europe on cobblestone and the millions of stairs. go with a backpack.) and a purse/day bag for a short trip like this.

PS If you want anymore recommendations about what to do and see in Paris, feel free to ask me. I studied abroad there in summer 2008, so I know a bit and it’s pretty current knowledge.

ETA: Holy crap, that was a lot longer than I thought it was. lol

Not to hijack this thread, but Kayling- I’m taking my first trip to Paris this summer. We have 4 days (with one of those planned as a trip to Versailles). I’ve done alot of research and talked to a friend who studied in Paris for a year, but any recommendations for what to do/see would be awesome Also, if you could recommend a which district(s) I should look for a hostel, that would be great…we ideally want to be in a central location to the sites. Any idea what we should expect to pay- at a first glance, Paris hostels seem more expensive than other cities I’ve looked at so far…

DreamingOfItaly, I sent you a private msg so as not to invade moomagoo’s thread.

Wow! Thanks! I’ve read some of the stuff you said in other places, but you sort of put it together for me.

Cinque Terre was on my list of must-sees for years, but I hear it’s gotten really touristy and, whereas I used to imagine it as a sort of peaceful place, I now picture it as a 24 hour spring-break-type party town. I’m sure that’s completely off-base, but I’m just not that excited about it anymore.

What were some of your very favorite things to do in Paris? Anything not in the guidebooks that someone might not think to do?

Here’s a question I’ve been almost afraid to ask (this might not be the place for it, but since I’ve already got this thread going): I’m planning on designating about $300 for “souvenirs.” I knit and would like to pic up some yarn while traveling. I sew and am hoping to find either some fabric or some notions, maybe in the markets. Mmm, maybe a bottle of wine? I don’t know. I obviously won’t be spending the entire trip shopping and that’s not what this trip is about, ultimately, but I just can’t imagine going all the way over there for three weeks and not bringing some lovely little things back. Here’s the question: how do I get my loot back to the States? I definitely don’t want to check a bag on the way over; I am going try to take a normal sized backpack and sort of a large purse/bag as a carry-on. I guess I can find some sort of collapsible bag to take and check a bag on return. Or, should I just take more of a camping-sized backpacker kind of backpack and just not fill it all the way on the way over to leave room for more stuff on my return. Please don’t judge me too harshly.

You could maybe buy a cheap small duffel bag or something the day before you leave to use for souvenirs if you don’t have room in your backpack.

You definitely will be able to find yarn/fabric to sew with in Rome. Last year when I studied abroad in Rome, I went with one of my friends to a couple different places for her to find yarn and stuff because she was also into it. There’s markets in Rome as well you can check out.

I’ve never heard Cinque Terre described as a “24-hour spring break party town” though I do understand it’s gotten pretty touristy; friends have described it very differently to me. I’m sure it’s possible to escape the crowds as well. But, I’ve never been and can’t say for certain either way, so I guess I will find out this summer I’m planning on spending 3 nights.

Kayling05- Im going to move to Paris for a year starting this summer so would love any tips!

Anything helps! Thanks so much!

Well, since I was studying abroad, on my trip I checked a bag on the way over when I went. I kinda needed the stuff I took, but it was still definitely a big mistake since it was pretty much at the weight limit (50lbs) and France doesn’t like elevators at all. I had to haul it up 4 flights of stairs at my dorm! Plus it was a roller bag… even worse! If I had had a travel bag like the one I have now, I probably still would’ve checked a bag but it would’ve been a smaller, non-rolling bag like another bag I have now, which is a soft duffel with a carrying strap. (If I end up going to teach in France this fall, that is what I’m probably going to do… there’s no way I’m hauling all my crap around France in a giant roller bag ever again… some of the girls on my program had TWO bags that size, plus carry-on… I don’t know how they managed it.)

Anyway, my recommendation would be that you get a carry-on sized backpack like the eBags etech weekender convertible (what I have), or the Rick Steves convertible carry-on. Each is $100 or less. These have pretty much the same dimensions as those roll-aboard bags (9×22×14-ish) but they can squish into alot more places, especially if they aren’t real full, and they are alot lighter as well since they don’t have wheels. That and the purse and you should be ready to go. Your trip is short so you don’t need to pack much (I’d say 4-5 days worth and then just wash accordingly, and you can always wear stuff more than once with a little air-out time between).
BTW, the ebags bag is way bigger than it looks and can hold ALOT. Don’t pack it full on the way over and you’ll have room for your yarn and fabric on the way back. keep in mind, unless you buy the wine in the airport duty-free shop, you will have to check it on the way back so it is worth buying one of these sturdy bags that will survive being checked if need be and keep your wine bottle from breaking (wrap it up in a gallon ziplop bag and pack all your dirty clothes all around it… I got a glass bottle of rum back from Fiji this way).

Some people think souvenirs are a waste of space, but I personally love them and I like to buy souvenir clothes in the places I go. Something useful I can wear again at home. Sometimes it is a shirt with the city name on it (sorta cheesy but I love my Paris and Amsterdam t-shirts) but sometimes it is just a purse or a pair of pants I liked. I like that smug feeling that I can say, “Oh I got it in Paris, you like it?” when people tell me it’s cute.
I also collect postcards but those are tiny and fit anywhere, so not a big deal.

Oh and as to what to pack, the weather should be pleasant in France (60’sF maybe?), but might be a bit hot in Italy (probably what you would expect at home in TN at the same time). I would wager maybe 2 tanks, 2-3 short sleeves, one long sleeve or sweater, and one jacket that is also waterproof. One pair of sandals, and one covered shoes that are like nice, but comfy, sneakers. 2-3 pairs of lightweight pants, or substitute one pair for a skirt if you like those (I don’t). No shorts, particularly in Italy (can’t get into churches,etc).
Plus your PJ’s, a multitude of socks and undies (about a week’s worth of each), and maybe 2 bras (1 + what you’re wearing). Also maybe a swimsuit since you will be in the south.

You’re the best! I’ll definitely look into the bags, although I was hoping to not have to spend too much money on things like that. You’re packing list sounds about like what I was thinking. I’m a skirt person, so I’ll probably go that route—just more comfy in skirts. I was thinking of maybe picking up a few items of clothing over there. And I think it will be fun to have yarn, etc. to create with when I return to my workaday life.

Thanks again!

The Camargue is actually a pretty cool place. Our glimpses were rather fleeting, but we really did see pink flamingos, the black bulls, the dark foals and the white horses.