I like it….

I like it too. Open jaw is a nice way to travel.

Does anyone have suggestions in regards to where I should stay? Hostels? Areas? Anywhere you have liked?

I’ve been to the Cote d’Azur a couple times, and prefer to stay in Antibes rather than Nice.
I think Oldlady has another coastal spot that she prefers, as well.
We can talk about lodging in the Hostels forum.

Good call about the hostels section. Headed there now…

I will look into Antibes, thanks for the suggestion.

I like the the itinerary. Are you traveling in the evening or at night. Traveling at night might save you few hotels/hostel costs. Sleeping on trains is not that bad, I think.

just got an iphone, so this is the first post on ET from a phone.

Looking forward to making this interface better. Anyone have any good info regarding prepaid sim cards 4 all (or most) of Europe that will work with the 3G?

I’m with Cil on staying somewhere other than Nice. I’d stay in St. Laurent du Var, or Cagnes sur Mer. Both are “on the coast” and minutes form Nice on the train. They should be cheaper than Nice, Monte Carlo or Cannes. I love La Gaude, Vence and other “mountain villages” above the Riviera, but for a short stay, it’s much more convenient to be on the rail line.

You’ll be able to buy a prepaid Sim card while you’re there. Not sure on computability with Iphone, though….

personally i would not have send 3 days in Venice, 1 day for me was too much there, Its unique and worth seeing but not a particularly exciting city. But then other people love it, so each to there own.

A couple of people have said that. If I cut down my stay there, where should I use the difference?

Maybe you could spend the difference in Florence and take a day trip out into a smaller town in the country. Or add a day to Paris and take a day trip to Versailles.

When I done the reverse and went from Paris to Barcelona , we stopped for a day and a night in Bordeaux, which i quite liked as although it is quite an important and sizeable city it was very relaxed. Although an extra day in Paris as said above would be great , as would extra time in Barcelona just for the simple reason that its a fantastic city and lots to see and do.

I like either of Vinko’s or Davy’s ideas.
I think it would be nice to visit a smaller town in Tuscany, such as Cortona or Siena.

The trek from Barcelona to Paris does seem like it would be a bit intense after a while on the train. It may be nice to stop somewhere on the way to stretch my legs and spend an afternoon in another city.

What I am thinking of doing right now is cutting Venice to 2 days and just keep a ‘free day’ available if something comes up. If I don’t use it, then the time will be spent in Paris (or Barcelona) at the end of the trip. I have extra days on my rail pass that I will not be using, so I could do a day trip or something with that day as well. I figure it is probably good to have an extra unplanned day in my itinerary because this is my first trip and who know what will happen.

I love Venice, but agree that 2 days is adequate. I’d make the decision based on my hostel in Venice. If it’s someplace comfortable, convenient and reasonably priced, I’d stay the extra day and do a day trip, or a little island hopping in Venice. Otherwise, I’d head to Florence a day early and do the day trip from there.

This was really good advice. I tried to find a hostel before I got there, but everything was like 40-45 euro. I could not book online anyway because it was the day before and I only wanted one night. As it turns out, I didn’t end up staying a night there. I did an overnight train from Munich to Venice and got there at about 6:45am. In about 5 hours I had walked the majority of the city and had seen what I wanted to see, so I jumped on a train and headed to Florence.

To me it seemed overpriced, busy and a little, ummm, stuffy I guess. It may have partially been that I had been walking for 5 hours with all my stuff including my camera gear and my back was starting to feel it a bit. Either way, I am in Florence now and I am LOVING IT… Thanks again for the help…

Good to hear. Enjoy the rest of the trip.

If you guys want to follow my trip, you can check out my travelogue…