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Planning a trip to Europe. Advice sought (1 Viewer)

T J

T J

Footballguy
Never been. Flying into London on a Saturday - get in at 7:30am their time and out of Rome 2 weeks later. Some time in London, Paris, and Rome are definites and an almost certain stop in Venice. 

Wanna see as much as the touristy stuff as possible. Not really looking to explore given the duration. 

Anyway, looking for suggestions of things to do, mode of transportation (trains?), places to stay, and we could probably do a day or two in Amsterdam, or Monaco, or Milan, or Florence, or where? 

Thanks!

 
I did rental car in France for a couple weeks.  If I did it again, I would just rent for the specific day(s) I really needed it to explore.  In general trains are the best way to get around, especially once you get to a city like Paris. 

Paris also have days passes for 17 euro you can buy for river transportation which is a good way to the the Eiffel Tower and a handful of ther places as well as just enjoying the Seine River.  Basically hop-on and hop-off these ferries for a 24-hr period at any of their 7 or 8 stops. Depending on your love of art, a half-day or full day at the Louvre is a must.  Orsay is also a great museum and probably the best in the world if you like impressionism art  Plus it is a cool building.   If there is a nice sunny day, a lunch picnic in the front of Sacré-Coeur is an awesome place to see a gorgeous building and people watch in a beautiful setting.  Go to the Eiffel Tower at night.  It is much prettier at night, IMO.  You can witness the reconstruction going on at Notre Dame.  You can walk the Champs-Élysées and do some shopping or find a place for coffee.  A half-day morning trip to Versailles would be high on my list.  At least 3-nights in Paris.

Rome would be lower on my list.  Obviously you are flying out but a couple days there is sufficient, IMHO.  I have not done London, but obviously a great place worthy of 3 or 4 nights.  I have not done Venice, but Amalfi Coast is gorgeous.

If you go to the Louvre...Get there a good 15-minutes before it opens.  Use the mall entrance (air-conditioned and shorter line than main-entrance) on same underground level and just around the corner from where you exit the subway.  If you go directly to Mona Lisa you can see it before the crowd gets 20-deep. 

 
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T J said:
Never been. Flying into London on a Saturday - get in at 7:30am their time and out of Rome 2 weeks later. Some time in London, Paris, and Rome are definites and an almost certain stop in Venice. 

Wanna see as much as the touristy stuff as possible. Not really looking to explore given the duration. 

Anyway, looking for suggestions of things to do, mode of transportation (trains?), places to stay, and we could probably do a day or two in Amsterdam, or Monaco, or Milan, or Florence, or where? 
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Not sure how much I can help other than to say that Florence and Edinborough are fighting for my #1 favorite foreign city.  Strolling across the Ponte Vecchio is a life memory, for sure.  And David is worth all the hype - way, way beyond my expectations.

 
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The train system in Europe is fantastic.  Just be sure to check in advance if strikes are happening.  

We did an overnight train from Paris to Venice and it was nice, but spring for the private cabin.  This lets you combine a sleep with transit which would save you a day.  

You should decide if this is going to be a trip where you hit a lot of cities to decide which ones you want to visit later on a future trip.  If so, know that it is very tiring having to pack/unpack/travel every couple days.  If you want something more relaxing, pick a few cities and explore them longer.  

 
Bucky86 said:
True. I've heard good and bad things about Venice. If it's somewhere on his "bucket list" then he should just go, but if not then I wouldn't worry too much about fitting it in. Florence is amazing though.
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Very true.  Florence is way better, but Venice is something everyone should see at least once.  And before it's underwater.  

 
Trains between cities work great, but: On a trip two years ago, we took the train from Paris to the wonderful town of Avignon.  Not a lot to see on that train trip through Lyon, though.  So the thought of flying from Paris to Italy has merit.  I'd suggest London, chunnel to Paris, fly to Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome.

Subway/train systems in the major cities are easy to navigate as well with a bit of planning.  Also - most major cities now have bike rental programs, which is a great way to cover a lot of ground.  

You can maximize time by buying tix in advance for major museums.

 
I love London. Flying in there, you won't need a car. The train system is fantastic and will have stops wherever you have your hotel in the city. We stayed at a place (Hyatt?) right on the Thames across from Big Ben. A little grocery store was right next door, easy walk to the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, etc. Also don't miss the Tower of London but that's across town a bit - at least from the Big Ben/Eye area but that'll give you a chance to hop on a double decker bus which is kind of neat.

Amsterdam is also a very walkable place. Shliptsojoijiwefpol (sp) airport has train access taking you right to the downtown area. Lots of cool shops, stoned tourists, good food. Make sure to go on a boat tour of the city. It's pretty inexpensive, and depending, you can get a meal or some beer /wine during the ride too. You can get out of the city by bus and visit places where they make clogs and all that stuff too. That's fun.

ETA: The Dutch speak better English than I do. So no worries whatsoever on the language thing.

 
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Can't go wrong in any of those cities. No expert but have been to the big cities a couple of times each. I would stay in each city for a couple days minimum but that's up to personal preference.

Things that come to mind that I enjoyed:

London: Tower of London - Beefeater, Churchill War Rooms,  Pub Tour

Amsterdam: Ride bikes all around the city and take ride through Vondelpark, Van Gogh Museum, Winkel 43 - the best apple pie/whip cream you will ever eat, find a cool "Brown cafe" and chill. Kind of have to see Anne Frank house if you are there. 

Paris: Just walking around. The whole city is a museum. Did a walking tour with a place called "Paris by Mouth" that was great.

Rick Steves is corny but his guide books and advice are really good, easy to follow, and not overkill on the information.

 
Bucky86 said:
Trains eat up a lot of your day jus an FYI. With only two weeks you might want to consider catching a flight from Paris to Italy.

I'd plan:

4 days London

4 days Paris

catch a flight  to Venice 2 days

Train from there for Florence 2 days

train to Rome

2 days

(You can pull 1 London day and add somewhere else, but if you've never been on a long flight the jet lag might knock you out for a day early on)
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Good advice here. London and Paris are 4 day trips. If it were me I’d go from Paris to Florence. for at least 3 days and Rome for 3 to finish. Skip Venice this trip. If you had 3-4 more days I’d say stay in Florence 5-6 days and do a day or day and a half trip to Venice. Do all high speed trains in Italy. Check other threads for recommendations 

 
T J said:
Never been. Flying into London on a Saturday - get in at 7:30am their time and out of Rome 2 weeks later. Some time in London, Paris, and Rome are definites and an almost certain stop in Venice. 

Wanna see as much as the touristy stuff as possible. Not really looking to explore given the duration. 

Anyway, looking for suggestions of things to do, mode of transportation (trains?), places to stay, and we could probably do a day or two in Amsterdam, or Monaco, or Milan, or Florence, or where? 

Thanks!
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Heavy tourist areas are overrun with tour groups from boats now, and on packages.  Venice especially is really hit hard and the other places you list are hit to a degree. 

It can be really off putting and they are just obliterating the more mainstream museums and sites.  

 
I am the type that would rather take it slow and do less than do more at a fast pace. I think London, Paris and Rome in 2 weeks is a good pace. A stop in Florence is never a bad idea though.

 
Skip Venice.  You don’t have much time and it is overrated to begin with.  Never mind in the winter.   Just stick with the three main cities.  
 

edit:   I assumed this was winter.  Not sure why.  If not my advice still doesn’t change but if you’re dead set on going to Venice, it is good in the summer.   You have to hunt for good food though (Unlike Florence and Rome).  
 

if you want to add a fourth city I would go with Florence   And take the days from Paris.   

 
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Judge Smails said:
Good advice here. London and Paris are 4 day trips. If it were me I’d go from Paris to Florence. for at least 3 days and Rome for 3 to finish. Skip Venice this trip. If you had 3-4 more days I’d say stay in Florence 5-6 days and do a day or day and a half trip to Venice. Do all high speed trains in Italy. Check other threads for recommendations 
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I disagree.  2 days in any of those cities is not nearly enough.  You’ll leave without having a real taste of any of them.  Especially Rome.  

And why spend so much time travelling?  those are basically wasted days.  

I would do London, Paris and Rome.  And I would train to Paris and then fly to Rome.  

going to all these places sounds good in theory (except for Venice in the winter) and Florence is my favourite city in the world outside of NYC, but if the plan is three countries in two weeks, three cities is plenty.  Immerse yourself in each of those cities for four days.  Even then you are only scratching the surface.   

 
zoonation said:
I disagree.  2 days in any of those cities is not nearly enough.  You’ll leave without having a real taste of any of them.  Especially Rome.  

And why spend so much time travelling?  those are basically wasted days.  

I would do London, Paris and Rome.  And I would train to Paris and then fly to Rome.  

going to all these places sounds good in theory (except for Venice in the winter) and Florence is my favourite city in the world outside of NYC, but if the plan is three countries in two weeks, three cities is plenty.  Immerse yourself in each of those cities for four days.  Even then you are only scratching the surface.   
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Not quite sure where I recommended 2 days in any location.  And I don’t consider a 2 hour high speed train from Florence to Rome a wasted day.

 
Didn’t mean to offend.  The train trip is two hours but it is a half day of travel.  

i wouldn’t do it.  I get that others would.  

edit: also, the three days in Rome is really two days. Airport is way outside the city and an awful experience generally.  That doesn’t count as a day in Rome.  

 
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T J said:
Never been. Flying into London on a Saturday - get in at 7:30am their time and out of Rome 2 weeks later. Some time in London, Paris, and Rome are definites and an almost certain stop in Venice. 

Wanna see as much as the touristy stuff as possible. Not really looking to explore given the duration. 

Anyway, looking for suggestions of things to do, mode of transportation (trains?), places to stay, and we could probably do a day or two in Amsterdam, or Monaco, or Milan, or Florence, or where? 

Thanks!
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If you are doing Paris and want to go to Milan its a fairly quick flight barely 2 hrs, Its literally like flying either way here in PA from Philly to Pitt and vise versa.Train is about 7hrs or more. 

Like someone else said if you do London, Paris and Rome that's literally your trip right there. You have no time besides travel to really spare. You'd have to maybe knock out a few things you may not want to do to even have a chance to do other cities 

 
from my experience in travelling less is more . go slow , take the time to get to know a city 

for 2 weeks I would pick 3 cities , 4 days in each 

 
In Paris stay around the Tuleries Park. Many museums, including The Louvre walking distance. Take a train out to  Versailles (about an hour trip). Most European palaces are modeled somewhat after Versailles.

 
Phil Elliott said:
In Paris stay around the Tuleries Park. Many museums, including The Louvre walking distance. Take a train out to  Versailles (about an hour trip). Most European palaces are modeled somewhat after Versailles.
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These are two sites that are very hard hit with groups now.  I couldn't even get a ticket to the Louvre this summer.  Versailles is same way. They throttle the people now and you better plan ahead and be willing to be herded. 

 
zoonation said:
Didn’t mean to offend.  The train trip is two hours but it is a half day of travel.  

i wouldn’t do it.  I get that others would.  

edit: also, the three days in Rome is really two days. Airport is way outside the city and an awful experience generally.  That doesn’t count as a day in Rome.  
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you sure about this?  it’s 31 minutes on the dedicated leonardo express from FCO to termini.  i’ve had good experiences.

 
I’d skip Venice. If you short a day anywhere for me I’d do a day less in London to do an extra day in Florence or Rome. 

 
I love to travel, but generally 2-4 days is my limit per city. Especially with the tourist hordes running amuck in Europe right now that Culdeus alludes to. I feel like if you do the right combination of wandering/planning you can get a very good sense of a place in 2-4 days. Take trains in Europe at night to maximize time in Cities, but leave free time to wander and follow local advice. Bartenders, pub patrons, and Uber/taxi drivers are generally good sources once you learn to weed out the crackpots and mouthpieces.

 
Ron Swanson said:
I love to travel, but generally 2-4 days is my limit per city. Especially with the tourist hordes running amuck in Europe right now that Culdeus alludes to. I feel like if you do the right combination of wandering/planning you can get a very good sense of a place in 2-4 days. Take trains in Europe at night to maximize time in Cities, but leave free time to wander and follow local advice. Bartenders, pub patrons, and Uber/taxi drivers are generally good sources once you learn to weed out the crackpots and mouthpieces.
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Depends on what you want.  I mean in several situations the local newspaper is invaluable. 

TripAdvisor for what it is seems contaminated with a lot of fake reviews and the way they have tried to monetize that site.

 
Judge Smails said:
Not quite sure where I recommended 2 days in any location.  And I don’t consider a 2 hour high speed train from Florence to Rome a wasted day.
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i’ve done this trip both ways on italo....it’s actually 1.35.  pretty sure trenitalia is just as fast, they use the same lines.

 
Florence is great because all the tourist stuff is within close walking distance. It's also got a tourist trap in the David is in a museum that has zero value otherwise and tends to hold a lot of horde groups for a lot of their day to get that one insta shot which is sweet.  

You also can get a timeslot at the Uffizi and they are anti-horde. 

The most underrated spot in Florence, and perhaps in all of Italy is the San Marco Convent which houses more than a dozen frescoes done by fra angelico and an easy 1-2 hr spot in town.  

 
Check out Bratislava. I hear with a nickel you can open your own hotel. Gotta love that exchange rate!

 
Good stuff. I genuinely appreciate you all taking the time to respond. The trip will be in the summer by the way.

 
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