Yes, especially if you’re going by train. This gives each town, on average, 1.5 days. And much of that time is diminished by commuting from one place to the next. I would cut out some of these destinations, like Lyon and Genoa, and organize the rest into a “base city” format. For example, you can make Arles your base city while visiting the Provence region. Stay there for a few days, and make daytrips out to Marseille, Aix, Avignon, or Nîmes. You can also make a daytrip of the Côte d’Azur if you have a car. This is easier on you, since you’re not packing and moving every day.

Renting a car does give you freedom, and it would benefit you for part of the itinerary, but it would be a burden in other areas, like Paris and Rome, where you absolutely don’t need a car, and looking for parking will be a pain. Let alone traffic [at times] and the cost of gasoline. If you plan on renting a car, I recommend to rent a car for portions of your trip. For example, take the train from Paris to Arles, and then in Arles rent a car for a few days to explore the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, then return the car, and hop on a train to Venice. Also, if you’re coming from North America and you cannot drive manual trasmission, you may want to reserve an automatic transmission car in advance. Otherwise, sometimes you can find an automatic transmission car on the spot, but a lot of times you can’t.

here’s an itinerary I suggest:

• Paris 2-4 days
• Train to Antibes, spend 3-6 days, rent a car, and explore the region. Great daytrips to chose from are: Arles, Nîmes, Aix, Cannes, Nice, Menton, Eze, Grasse, and/or Roquebrune.
• Train to Florence, 3-6 days and explore the region. Daytrips to choose from: San Gimignano, Siena, Pistoia, Lucca; Pitigliano, Perugia, and the Cinque Terre towns are closer if you have a car, or you can make Cinque Terre a 3-day sidetrip from Florence by train.
• Train to Rome, 2-4 days, possible sidetrip to Pompeii (would have to be an all-day daytrip)

great alternatives:

You can reduce your time in Rome, and allocate 2-3 days to Dijon and Beaune, or even allocate 3 days for a 3-day diversion trip from Paris to Mont-Saint-Michel and Saint Malo.

here’s another suggested itinerary:

• Paris 2-3 days
• Train to Dijon, 2 days, includes a visit to nearby Beaune.
• Train to Antibes, spend 3-5 days, rent a car, and explore the region. (daytrips: Arles, Nîmes, Aix, Cannes, Nice, Menton, Eze, Grasse, and/or Roquebrune)
• Train to Florence, 3-5 days and explore the region. (daytrips and sidetrips as discussed above: San Gimignano, Siena, Pistoia, Lucca, Pitigliano, Perugia, and the Cinque Terre towns)
• Train to Rome, 2-4 days, daytrip to Pompeii if you have the time.

If you really really must visit Venice, then just spend 2-4 days in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Florence/Tuscany, cut out Bourgogne region (Dijon, Beaune), and allocate those 2 days to Venice.

Basically keep it simple. I suggest about 4 maybe 5 stops. At some stops, you’ll be spending maybe a couple days to explore the town. At other stops, you’ll be spending more time (up to 6 days if you want), and will be taking daytrips from the base city.

Is it cheaper to buy tickets in advance or directly at the train station? For exemple I’m leaving from Venice and wanna go to Florence, and then to Rome. I’ll have a youth global pass for 5 boundering countries. Should I use it, or buy point to point tickets at the rail station?
thank’s

oups, bordering countries…sorry for the mistake!

I’ve never thought about that. I’m assuming that by “in advance” you mean online. I can’t imagine why there would be a price difference. The conventional wisdom here at Eurotrip is just buy your tickets at the train station, and really that’s the way I’ve almost always done it. Some countries make it easy to purchase tickets online, others make it hard. I would say, just be aware that certain trains during certain times of the year might be booked…like if you specifically want a TGV train from Paris to the Med coast in August, then I’d say, yeah reserve your tickets online. And if you don’t, you can always buy a last-minute ticket on a night train; I don’t think those ever get completely booked. But for the vast majority of the time, most especially for shorter distances and regional trains, you don’t need to buy in advance.

I’m not sure what this pass is (there’s a million different Eurail, Interrail, and national passes), but if you have such a pass, then why not use it? If you’ve already paid for it, then this is your ticket for all trains. Makes no sense to buy point-to-point tickets after you already bought a rail pass. Just keep in mind that some trains (like high-speed and overnight trains) may require a supplemental fee (which you pay at the ticket booth, and they give you a ticket as proof that you paid the fee). Did your pass come with a booklet that lists timetables for [pretty much] all the major and longer-distance routes in Europe?

With the itinerary that luv_the_beach suggested: you could quite easily hire a car for the middle part of the journey and that would be good. It would mean less time on the train and more time to explore by yourself and see the countryside.

But those itenerary’s are good, I’d definitely try to stick to one of them.

For such a short trip – keep it to 4-5 stops and do day trips. Otherwise you will be forever on the move and that wont be enjoyable.

If you can buy the tickets from the national railway companies (sncf.com for France, trenitalia.com for Italy) that will be cheapest. You’ll get the “normal” price and you may find some advance purchase specials. If you can’t buy the tickets from those sites, or you don’t want to commit to exact dates and times several weeks in advance, wait until you get there. Buy the tickets at any major train station and ask if there are any specials available.

Do not buy tickets in advance from any of the travel agency sites that sell railpasses and train tickets. You’ll pay “global” prices (usually 30% higher) plus shipping and handling and you won’t see any of the specials that are available.

Luv gives great advice for this trip. I loved the two weeks we spent i(with car, although it’s all doable by train and bus) n Provence, Alpes Maritime and the Riviera.