Vacation to Europe - Anyone done this? (1 Viewer)

[RC94]

It looks like Paris and Italy are the real must go-to places for you on this trip. I agree with the people saying to dial it back a little and only go to France and Italy and leave the UK for a different trip. I love London, and the UK in general, and would definitely recommend going there at some point, but for this trip I think you and your family will have a better time if you took the time you would have spent in the UK and instead give yourselves a little more breathing room in France and Italy.

 

[Judge Smails]

When I first was thinking of booking my Europe trip I was all over the place. Wanted to add the Amalfi coast to Paris, Florence, Venice, Rome, etc. Those on TripAdvisor highly recommended less cities, and said the Amalfi coast would be a great next trip. Too many cities and you'll just be spending all of your time checking in, checking out, getting settled, getting your bearings, etc.

With 10-12 days I personally would scrap London. Easy decision. Go to Paris for 4 days or so. It was the perfect amount of time for us, and we felt we experienced a lot. We caught a VERY cheap flight from Paris to Pisa by booking in advance. I mean cheap. Then went to Florence by airport transfer (bus), then nothing but trains, metros, cabs the rest of the way. Never had a car. I could see renting one for a few days around Tuscany but you can't take the car into Florence proper anyway so it's a hassle. The high speed trains from Rome-Venice-Florence are awesome. Since you have limited time, I would focus on getting to your next destination quickly (fly vs. overnight trains, etc).

Know that planes and trains are much cheaper in advance. Think Southwest Airlines back when Southwest was cheap. Same thing with EasyJet, RyanAir, and the trains in Italy. Huge difference depending on when you book.

 

[higgins]

OK. This is getting closer and more real, and actually a little late now for the planning. I was going to call a travel agent to help me out, but I figured maybe I could come back in here and get some more tips from you guys.

We still want to hit London, Paris, and Rome. We will need to head to Sicily too, because there is a town in Sicily where my grandparents came from that is my last name's namesake. So that would be really cool.

I'm thinking we can do anywhere from 10-14 days, probably starting sometime around July 12th or so. My daughter wants to be in Paris for her 18th birthday which is July 16th, so we will have to plan for that.

Some questions:

1. How do I know where nice parts of town are, and what hotels are good? Should I just use Trip Adviser and check ratings?

2. Is there a cheaper/better day to fly?

3. How do I arrange for train travel? I think it would be really cool to take trains for our longer trips. We can probably just walk when we get to our big city.

4. We will want to rent a car in Italy because I really want to spend some time there and see Venice, Rome, Naples, and Sicily.

Any specific hotel/travel suggestion would be awesome. I am going into this totally blind, so please, fire away,.

Regarding the bolded:

It's generally not a popular option but you may want to consider a touring package. They do this as a business and always pick safe/decent hotels, and arrange all the travel for you. Because they book in groups they sometime pass some savings to you regarding travel, etc..

While they typically have set itineraries, if you want to see something other than site A you can always break away from the gropu and do your own thing. You'll also typically have nights apart from the group to do your own thing.

If you see a tour that includes most of what you want but not Sicily you can always try and find a tour that ends at Rome and go to Sicily afterwards.

Again they may not be popular options but having all the logistics taken care of may be worth something --it doesn't hurt to at least check what options are out there.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

When I first was thinking of booking my Europe trip I was all over the place. Wanted to add the Amalfi coast to Paris, Florence, Venice, Rome, etc. Those on TripAdvisor highly recommended less cities, and said the Amalfi coast would be a great next trip. Too many cities and you'll just be spending all of your time checking in, checking out, getting settled, getting your bearings, etc.

With 10-12 days I personally would scrap London. Easy decision. Go to Paris for 4 days or so. It was the perfect amount of time for us, and we felt we experienced a lot. We caught a VERY cheap flight from Paris to Pisa by booking in advance. I mean cheap. Then went to Florence by airport transfer (bus), then nothing but trains, metros, cabs the rest of the way. Never had a car. I could see renting one for a few days around Tuscany but you can't take the car into Florence proper anyway so it's a hassle. The high speed trains from Rome-Venice-Florence are awesome. Since you have limited time, I would focus on getting to your next destination quickly (fly vs. overnight trains, etc).

Know that planes and trains are much cheaper in advance. Think Southwest Airlines back when Southwest was cheap. Same thing with EasyJet, RyanAir, and the trains in Italy. Huge difference depending on when you book.

just remember those super cheap airlines typically have insane fees if you need to make a change or even sometimes to print a ticket. So plan accordingly if you use them so you dont have to make a last minute change.

 

[kutta]

Well I talked with the fam tonight and everyone is pretty set on London, Paris, Rome. I can push it to two weeks, so maybe we can make that work. I realize now that it will be pretty tight, but we are not really the type to take things really slow and see everything. We are perfectly fine seeing the highlights and moving on to the next thing. Our kids get restless and bored pretty quickly (the are 16, 18, and 20), so maybe that will work out.

A guided tour type thing is out. No one wants to do that. Trains are in. Everyone wants to do that.

Deep breath...

 

[Bucky86]

Well I talked with the fam tonight and everyone is pretty set on London, Paris, Rome. I can push it to two weeks, so maybe we can make that work. I realize now that it will be pretty tight, but we are not really the type to take things really slow and see everything. We are perfectly fine seeing the highlights and moving on to the next thing. Our kids get restless and bored pretty quickly (the are 16, 18, and 20), so maybe that will work out.

A guided tour type thing is out. No one wants to do that. Trains are in. Everyone wants to do that.

Deep breath...

Doable if you stick to these cities and do day trips from there. Flying to Rome from Paris. Otherwise it sounds like a mess.

 

[Judge Smails]

When I first was thinking of booking my Europe trip I was all over the place. Wanted to add the Amalfi coast to Paris, Florence, Venice, Rome, etc. Those on TripAdvisor highly recommended less cities, and said the Amalfi coast would be a great next trip. Too many cities and you'll just be spending all of your time checking in, checking out, getting settled, getting your bearings, etc.

With 10-12 days I personally would scrap London. Easy decision. Go to Paris for 4 days or so. It was the perfect amount of time for us, and we felt we experienced a lot. We caught a VERY cheap flight from Paris to Pisa by booking in advance. I mean cheap. Then went to Florence by airport transfer (bus), then nothing but trains, metros, cabs the rest of the way. Never had a car. I could see renting one for a few days around Tuscany but you can't take the car into Florence proper anyway so it's a hassle. The high speed trains from Rome-Venice-Florence are awesome. Since you have limited time, I would focus on getting to your next destination quickly (fly vs. overnight trains, etc).

Know that planes and trains are much cheaper in advance. Think Southwest Airlines back when Southwest was cheap. Same thing with EasyJet, RyanAir, and the trains in Italy. Huge difference depending on when you book.

just remember those super cheap airlines typically have insane fees if you need to make a change or even sometimes to print a ticket. So plan accordingly if you use them so you dont have to make a last minute change.

no doubt. It's cheaper to pay for your luggage at time of booking. At the airport it's way more expensive. I mean by a LOT. If nobody else has said it - pack as light as you can. I wish somebody would have told me while I was toting luggage up 100 stairs to our apartments in Florence and Rome. But cheap flights are his only option. Taking 10 hour train rides to Sicily would really cramp his time IMO.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Oooof. Beuna seurte!

That is a lot of travel for 5 ppl in 2 weeks. As mentioned pack as light as humanly possible. There will people in France that smell as if they've been dead for 4 years. It's ok to wear the same clothes from day to day. Hotel to hotel London/Paris will be 6 hours minimum. Minimum!

Anything other than a flight from Paris to Rome, god help you.

If you're thinking of a romantic overnight train ride from Paris to Rome, forget about it. One bonus you do have is 5 ppl, you will at least dominate your sleeping car. But that 6th berth, which is an old Red Cross field cot from world war 2, held up by knobby metal bars will be wide open for that mystery guest. Do you get the whip thin scrawny dude that gets up to smoke every 18 minutes and smells like that 4 year old corpse? or maybe you get the patchouli bathed bohemian guy from Tunisia that will blatantly try to bed your females right in front you? Or the rigid, sullen, glaring Muslim, who also smells like a corpse, albeit a sweeter version, that has to pray at dawn and seemingly at every other 4 hour increment.

You'll have to change trains in the south of France and sometimes again at the border to Italy.

Don't get robbed on the overnight train either. I did. :( . Our car got gassed, all cash, passports and euro passes stolen. And one guys sweet camera. This was on the Monaco/Rome leg. Oh and I had all my valuables at the bottom of my sleeping bag. But since I was knocked out, that didn't matter. Good times.

I don't mean to scare you, I'm just STRONGLY encouraging flying from Paris to Rome.

Leave Venice for another time. Pisa is totally doable as a day trip from Rome. Skip Naples and have a magnificent lunch on the amalfi coast on your way to Sicily. Or even better, train from Rome to amalfi coast for dinner and overnight somewhere awesome, then on to Sicily in the morning. But if you need to save time, fly to Sicily.

Sounds like a great trip, I'm totally envious, have a blast!!!!!!

 

[Ilov80s]

Just got back from a 10 day whirlwind and my best advice is don't cram too much stuff or too many places in. Then it becomes a hassle and a rush, not a vacation. Take your time and take the places in. You could spend your whole trip on Paris or Prague and be happy. If you put too much in, you will feel like you saw nothing and we're always just traveling without ever really arriving somewhere.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Oooof. Beuna seurte!

That is a lot of travel for 5 ppl in 2 weeks. As mentioned pack as light as humanly possible. There will people in France that smell as if they've been dead for 4 years. It's ok to wear the same clothes from day to day. Hotel to hotel London/Paris will be 6 hours minimum. Minimum!

Anything other than a flight to Paris from Rome, god help you.

If you're thinking of a romantic overnight train ride from Paris to Rome, forget about it. One bonus you do have is 5 ppl, you will at least dominate your sleeping car. But that 6th berth, which is an old Red Cross field cot from world war 2, held up by knobby metal bars will be wide open for that mystery guest. Do you get the whip thin scrawny dude that gets up to smoke every 18 minutes and smells like that 4 year old corpse? or maybe you get the patchouli bathed bohemian guy from Tunisia that will blatantly try to bed your females right in front you? Or the rigid, sullen, glaring Muslim, who also smells like a corpse, albeit a sweeter version, that has to pray at dawn and seemingly at every other 4 hour increment.

You'll have to change trains in the south of France and sometimes again at the border to Italy.

Don't get robbed on the overnight train either. I did. :( . Our car got gassed, all cash, passports and euro passes stolen. And one guys sweet camera. This was on the Monaco/Rome leg. Oh and I had all my valuables at the bottom of my sleeping bag. But since I was knocked out, that didn't matter. Good times.

I don't mean to scare you, I'm just STRONGLY encouraging flying from Paris to Rome.

Leave Venice for another time. Pisa is totally doable as a day trip from Rome. Skip Naples and have a magnificent lunch on the amalfi coast on your way to Sicily. Or even better, train from Rome to amalfi coast for dinner and overnight somewhere awesome, then on to Sicily in the morning. But if you need to save time, fly to Sicily.

Sounds like a great trip, I'm totally envious, have a blast!!!!!!

a buddy of mine had this happen to him as well.

 

[jamny]

Well I talked with the fam tonight and everyone is pretty set on London, Paris, Rome. I can push it to two weeks, so maybe we can make that work. I realize now that it will be pretty tight, but we are not really the type to take things really slow and see everything. We are perfectly fine seeing the highlights and moving on to the next thing. Our kids get restless and bored pretty quickly (the are 16, 18, and 20), so maybe that will work out.

A guided tour type thing is out. No one wants to do that. Trains are in. Everyone wants to do that.

Deep breath...

That's rough.

You're going to be so drained and "city-ed out" by time you get to Rome that you'll just be doing it to do it. We don't linger too much either on trips but squeezing in London and Paris into one trip was a bit much for us when we did it. I couldn't imagine then heading to Rome. Sure, timewise it's doable.

Good luck

Poor Great Uncle Luigi

 

[Ilov80s]

Charles de Gaulle airport is a ####show, make sure you give yourself plenty of time if you end up going through there. You have to up to go down and right to get left, it's crazy.

 

[thecatch]

Charles de Gaulle airport is a ####show, make sure you give yourself plenty of time if you end up going through there. You have to up to go down and right to get left, it's crazy.

It's also pretty a long drive from the touristy areas where many people stay.

On that front, I'd recommend looking at the Rue Cler neighborhood for lodging. Right next to the Eiffel Tower and public transportation, walking distance to the major sites, and a ton of great food, both in terms of restaurants but also bakeries, local vendors, etc.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Charles de Gaulle airport is a ####show, make sure you give yourself plenty of time if you end up going through there. You have to up to go down and right to get left, it's crazy.

It's also pretty a long drive from the touristy areas where many people stay.

On that front, I'd recommend looking at the Rue Cler neighborhood for lodging. Right next to the Eiffel Tower and public transportation, walking distance to the major sites, and a ton of great food, both in terms of restaurants but also bakeries, local vendors, etc.

both true.

i usually stay in the 7th A, which is where the eiffel tower is. you can walk anywhere and there are lots of metro options at hand. if i remember correctly the metor from the airport is about an hour.

 

[RUSF18]

We're planning a trip to Europe in early October. Had originally planned on last June for our honeymoon, but it was too stressful after getting married in Mexico. Planned on doing it this June for our anniversary, but we couldn't find a time to make the trip more than a week. Here's what I have for the basic itinerary:

-6pmish flight from NYC to Rome. Arrive in Rome 8:30am, 2:30am our time (Let's call all this Day 1 for simplicity purpose). My wife will likely sleep like a rock on the plane no matter the time, I might get some sleep but generally I can handle travel/jet lag fine and be good to go.

Day 1 (continued): Hopefully get into our hotel early, if not, catch a nap later, have the night in Rome.

Day 2 and 3 - Rome. Many might feel this isn't enough time but my wife spent a semester there so she's covered and I'm not much of a sightseer. I just want to experience the city, walk around, have some good meals, etc.

Day 4 - Early train from Rome to Naples. Car service from Naples to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This is where we originally intended on having our honeymoon so its the meat of the trip. Haven't looked at schedules but assuming we'd arrive by noon or so at the latest and get the majority of the day.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Day 9 - Morning in Positano. Car back to Naples. Afternoon flight to Barcelona. Have the night there.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Full days in Barcelona.

Day 13 - Morning flight back to NYC.

Thinking maybe an extra day in Positano, possibly pushing the flight home back to Day 14.

Any thoughts on the plan, positive or negative?

 

[jamny]

Although I like Madrid more than Barcelona, that sounds like a great trip. For us it might be a little too long in Amalfi but its a minor criticism. To each his own. Have fun!

 

[DA RAIDERS]

We're planning a trip to Europe in early October. Had originally planned on last June for our honeymoon, but it was too stressful after getting married in Mexico. Planned on doing it this June for our anniversary, but we couldn't find a time to make the trip more than a week. Here's what I have for the basic itinerary:

-6pmish flight from NYC to Rome. Arrive in Rome 8:30am, 2:30am our time (Let's call all this Day 1 for simplicity purpose). My wife will likely sleep like a rock on the plane no matter the time, I might get some sleep but generally I can handle travel/jet lag fine and be good to go.

Day 1 (continued): Hopefully get into our hotel early, if not, catch a nap later, have the night in Rome.

Day 2 and 3 - Rome. Many might feel this isn't enough time but my wife spent a semester there so she's covered and I'm not much of a sightseer. I just want to experience the city, walk around, have some good meals, etc.

Day 4 - Early train from Rome to Naples. Car service from Naples to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This is where we originally intended on having our honeymoon so its the meat of the trip. Haven't looked at schedules but assuming we'd arrive by noon or so at the latest and get the majority of the day.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Day 9 - Morning in Positano. Car back to Naples. Afternoon flight to Barcelona. Have the night there.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Full days in Barcelona.

Day 13 - Morning flight back to NYC.

Thinking maybe an extra day in Positano, possibly pushing the flight home back to Day 14.

Any thoughts on the plan, positive or negative?

Sounds awesome

 

[RC94]

We're planning a trip to Europe in early October. Had originally planned on last June for our honeymoon, but it was too stressful after getting married in Mexico. Planned on doing it this June for our anniversary, but we couldn't find a time to make the trip more than a week. Here's what I have for the basic itinerary:

-6pmish flight from NYC to Rome. Arrive in Rome 8:30am, 2:30am our time (Let's call all this Day 1 for simplicity purpose). My wife will likely sleep like a rock on the plane no matter the time, I might get some sleep but generally I can handle travel/jet lag fine and be good to go.

Day 1 (continued): Hopefully get into our hotel early, if not, catch a nap later, have the night in Rome.

Day 2 and 3 - Rome. Many might feel this isn't enough time but my wife spent a semester there so she's covered and I'm not much of a sightseer. I just want to experience the city, walk around, have some good meals, etc.

Day 4 - Early train from Rome to Naples. Car service from Naples to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This is where we originally intended on having our honeymoon so its the meat of the trip. Haven't looked at schedules but assuming we'd arrive by noon or so at the latest and get the majority of the day.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Day 9 - Morning in Positano. Car back to Naples. Afternoon flight to Barcelona. Have the night there.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Full days in Barcelona.

Day 13 - Morning flight back to NYC.

Thinking maybe an extra day in Positano, possibly pushing the flight home back to Day 14.

Any thoughts on the plan, positive or negative?

Sounds great. If you can add a day to it I definitely would.

What class at RU were you? I was 1994.

 

[RC94]

Well I talked with the fam tonight and everyone is pretty set on London, Paris, Rome. I can push it to two weeks, so maybe we can make that work. I realize now that it will be pretty tight, but we are not really the type to take things really slow and see everything. We are perfectly fine seeing the highlights and moving on to the next thing. Our kids get restless and bored pretty quickly (the are 16, 18, and 20), so maybe that will work out.

A guided tour type thing is out. No one wants to do that. Trains are in. Everyone wants to do that.

Deep breath...

Where are you flying out of to go back home? I was in Rome about 5 years ago and Leonardo Da Vinci airport was one of the craziest I have ever been thru. You will want to give yourself some extra time than you normally would. The computer systems they had then was really outdated. It took a long time to check in. They also don't believe in lines there. Getting onto the airplane was just a giant mass of people all trying to go thru the door at the same time. Maybe it's improved in the past 5 or so years, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[The General]

Tons of great stuff already.

This may sound ridiculous but the Rick Steve's books are actually really good. If you have specific things you want to do he lays them out well and has concise info.

Took his book along with Fodors and some other book and his was consistently better on laying out the best way to see the main things to see in a city.

 

[RUSF18]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

RC...I graduated Rutgers in 2005.

 

[kutta]

Well, we finally have this thing planned out. It's going to be hectic, as I did not heed the advice in this thread to scale things back. I was over ruled by the clan as they wanted to see as much as possible. So, here's what we have.

We going in early July. We are doing Rome/Italy, London, and Paris. We are flying business class with our own pods/beds/tvs. Should be pretty awesome.

We arrive in Rome and stay there for three nights. Our first day we have a tour of the Vatican scheduled. The second day we have a tour of the Coliseum scheduled. We have nothing else scheduled in Rome so our plan is to just wander around and check things out. Any advice here would be awesome.

We then hop on a train and go to Positano for two nights. This is a really short stay but we have heard it's awesome and wanted to check it out.

We then hop on a train again and go to Taormina, Sicily. This is relatively close to the town in Sicily that has my namesake. We have a half day car tour booked so the guy can take us to the town and show us around a bit. We are only here for two nights also.

We then fly to London and we are there for three nights. The only thing we have planned there is to see The Lion King.

We then take the train from London to Paris and spend four nights in Paris. We have dinner in the Eiffel Tower scheduled for my daughter's 18th birthday.

I'm thinking of trying to get over to Normandy for one of the Paris days. Any feedback on that?

So that's our trip. It sure is a lot of $$$$, but it should be pretty awesome.

 

[Bucky86]

Well, we finally have this thing planned out. It's going to be hectic, as I did not heed the advice in this thread to scale things back. I was over ruled by the clan as they wanted to see as much as possible. So, here's what we have.

We going in early July. We are doing Rome/Italy, London, and Paris. We are flying business class with our own pods/beds/tvs. Should be pretty awesome.

We arrive in Rome and stay there for three nights. Our first day we have a tour of the Vatican scheduled. The second day we have a tour of the Coliseum scheduled. We have nothing else scheduled in Rome so our plan is to just wander around and check things out. Any advice here would be awesome.

We then hop on a train and go to Positano for two nights. This is a really short stay but we have heard it's awesome and wanted to check it out.

We then hop on a train again and go to Taormina, Sicily. This is relatively close to the town in Sicily that has my namesake. We have a half day car tour booked so the guy can take us to the town and show us around a bit. We are only here for two nights also.

We then fly to London and we are there for three nights. The only thing we have planned there is to see The Lion King.

We then take the train from London to Paris and spend four nights in Paris. We have dinner in the Eiffel Tower scheduled for my daughter's 18th birthday.

I'm thinking of trying to get over to Normandy for one of the Paris days. Any feedback on that?

So that's our trip. It sure is a lot of $$$$, but it should be pretty awesome.

You're going to need a vacation after your vacation.

Normandy is awesome. Takes all day, but I loved it when I went.

 

[Don Quixote]

We arrive in Rome and stay there for three nights. Our first day we have a tour of the Vatican scheduled. The second day we have a tour of the Coliseum scheduled. We have nothing else scheduled in Rome so our plan is to just wander around and check things out. Any advice here would be awesome.

For other things to do in Rome, I'd add the Forum (may want to consider a tour), the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Piazza Navona. Those are the major places.

 

[jamny]

That sounds insane but I wish you luck. Personally, I don't think a Coliseum tour is needed but good call on the Vatican tour. It'll get you past the massive line. When you leave the Vatican, try and head northeast and hit Piazza del Popolo before heading down towards the Spanish Steps. Walk up the Spanish Steps through the park and come down Via Vittorio Veneto. It's the real high-end hotel/restaurant stretch. Also, Piazza Navona is a must, imo. Take a few minutes (if possible) and have a drink or cappuccino there.

Take advantage of their subway system. It's easy to figure out.

Where are you staying in Rome?

 

[Bucky86]

When you go to Rome I highly recommend dinner at this place.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Well, we finally have this thing planned out. It's going to be hectic, as I did not heed the advice in this thread to scale things back. I was over ruled by the clan as they wanted to see as much as possible. So, here's what we have.

We going in early July. We are doing Rome/Italy, London, and Paris. We are flying business class with our own pods/beds/tvs. Should be pretty awesome.

This will be totally worth it. I have flown on them before and its nice to be able to actually sleep. Food should be good as well. You should be able to connect your iDevice to the video console(you will have to buy a special cable) so load up your idevices with movies. Have fun. Sounds like a great trip!!

Oh and when you go to the Eifel tower, dont bring your passports or anything valuable. pickpockets there are ridiculous!!

If you have some free time in Paris, go to Sacré Cœur and get some bread and meats and a bottle of wine and have a picnic on the lawn! Great way to spend an afternoon.

 

[mr. furley]

don't cheat yourself by trying to do lots of cities in 10 days or something

pick 2, tops. Paris and something else. spend time in each place. don't rush it.

gllllllllllllllllll

 

[Ilov80s]

Well, we finally have this thing planned out. It's going to be hectic, as I did not heed the advice in this thread to scale things back. I was over ruled by the clan as they wanted to see as much as possible. So, here's what we have.

We going in early July. We are doing Rome/Italy, London, and Paris. We are flying business class with our own pods/beds/tvs. Should be pretty awesome.

We arrive in Rome and stay there for three nights. Our first day we have a tour of the Vatican scheduled. The second day we have a tour of the Coliseum scheduled. We have nothing else scheduled in Rome so our plan is to just wander around and check things out. Any advice here would be awesome.

We then hop on a train and go to Positano for two nights. This is a really short stay but we have heard it's awesome and wanted to check it out.

We then hop on a train again and go to Taormina, Sicily. This is relatively close to the town in Sicily that has my namesake. We have a half day car tour booked so the guy can take us to the town and show us around a bit. We are only here for two nights also.

We then fly to London and we are there for three nights. The only thing we have planned there is to see The Lion King.

We then take the train from London to Paris and spend four nights in Paris. We have dinner in the Eiffel Tower scheduled for my daughter's 18th birthday.

I'm thinking of trying to get over to Normandy for one of the Paris days. Any feedback on that?

So that's our trip. It sure is a lot of $$$$, but it should be pretty awesome.

You're going to need a vacation after your vacation. Normandy is awesome. Takes all day, but I loved it when I went.

Hectic, but they will have a great time.

 

[Sand]

Don't get robbed on the overnight train either. I did. :( . Our car got gassed, all cash, passports and euro passes stolen. And one guys sweet camera. This was on the Monaco/Rome leg. Oh and I had all my valuables at the bottom of my sleeping bag. But since I was knocked out, that didn't matter. Good times.

Good grief. That's diabolical.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Awesome place. Pompeii is a whole day, or you could take the half day and go to the antiquities museum in Naples (where all the artifacts from Pompeii are).

Amalfi (the town) is awesome. And definitely get up to the Belvedere of Infinity in Ravello.

Capri is also incredible. No surprise this is some of the most expensive real estate in the world. We skipped Capri and went straight up to Anacapri to lose all the people. Was awesome.

 

[Judge Smails]

It will be an awesome trip. I wouldn't have crammed that much in but it's your trip, not ours. Going in business class will be great!

For Rome, I think if you do the Vatican and Colloseum on 2 days and then do Pantheon (get the free 7pm tour from Angel tours) and Trevi Fountain (for sure) along with Piazza Navonna on the other you are good. All walkable once you're in the Pantheon. I think Spanish Steps is overrated but that's just me. Don't miss a chance to walk in the churches - each one is unique and the artwork is amazing. I know one poster mentioned picketpockets in Paris, but trust me it's nothing like the pickpockets in Rome. Be very careful - especially on trains/busses.

In Paris, unless you don't like steak, I highly recommend Le Relais de Entrecote

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d719402-Reviews-Le_Relais_de_l_Entrecote-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

So much to experience in Paris besides the Eiffel Tower. Feel free to PM on anything I put in our itinerary earlier in this thread.

Wish you were going to Florence - I have tons of recommendations there.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

It will be an awesome trip. I wouldn't have crammed that much in but it's your trip, not ours. Going in business class will be great!

For Rome, I think if you do the Vatican and Colloseum on 2 days and then do Pantheon (get the free 7pm tour from Angel tours) and Trevi Fountain (for sure) along with Piazza Navonna on the other you are good. All walkable once you're in the Pantheon. I think Spanish Steps is overrated but that's just me. Don't miss a chance to walk in the churches - each one is unique and the artwork is amazing. I know one poster mentioned picketpockets in Paris, but trust me it's nothing like the pickpockets in Rome. Be very careful - especially on trains/busses.

In Paris, unless you don't like steak, I highly recommend Le Relais de Entrecote

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d719402-Reviews-Le_Relais_de_l_Entrecote-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

So much to experience in Paris besides the Eiffel Tower. Feel free to PM on anything I put in our itinerary earlier in this thread.

Wish you were going to Florence - I have tons of recommendations there.

They have one here in NYC and its excellent!

 

[John Bender]

Others have said it, but you must get the Rick Steve's books. Especially if you aren't doing any guided tours.

I just got back from Copenhagen, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm and these were a god send.

I did my homework first. Typed all the things I wanted to see out in outline form and I couldn't have done it without the books. They give you a very realistic idea whether or not you can walk to the next "thing" or need transportation.

I had notes for each city that were practically step by step.

 

[Sand]

Others have said it, but you must get the Rick Steve's books. Especially if you aren't doing any guided tours.

I just got back from Copenhagen, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm and these were a god send.

Do tell. Particularly Tallinn.

 

[Otis]

No I doubt anyone has ever vacationed in Europe before.

 

[Vike Me]

.

 

[kutta]

Really good stuff guys. I'm putting together a more detailed agenda and will post it when I'm done.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Wow!!!

What a trip!!

When you do the Eiffel Tower this restaurant is in the area is awesome. I know you're already doing your daughters bday dinner but maybe on another night.

http://www.closdesgourmets.com

 

[cubd8]

Going to Italy (Rome, Venice), etc.

Can I ship wine back? How much will that cost?

 

[kutta]

Glad this got bumped. I realized I never updated it.

We had an AMAZING trip. Rome->Positano->Sicily->London->Paris.

It's late and I'm off to bed so I'll try to post more details later. But I really appreciate the feedback you guys gave me. It was very helpful and helped make our trip something our family will remember forever.

 

[kutta]

Going to Italy (Rome, Venice), etc.

Can I ship wine back? How much will that cost?

Sorry, but I'm not sure about that. I would assume it could be done though.

Enjoy your trip! Any specific plans you can share?

 

[RUSF18]

We're planning a trip to Europe in early October. Had originally planned on last June for our honeymoon, but it was too stressful after getting married in Mexico. Planned on doing it this June for our anniversary, but we couldn't find a time to make the trip more than a week. Here's what I have for the basic itinerary:

-6pmish flight from NYC to Rome. Arrive in Rome 8:30am, 2:30am our time (Let's call all this Day 1 for simplicity purpose). My wife will likely sleep like a rock on the plane no matter the time, I might get some sleep but generally I can handle travel/jet lag fine and be good to go.

Day 1 (continued): Hopefully get into our hotel early, if not, catch a nap later, have the night in Rome.

Day 2 and 3 - Rome. Many might feel this isn't enough time but my wife spent a semester there so she's covered and I'm not much of a sightseer. I just want to experience the city, walk around, have some good meals, etc.

Day 4 - Early train from Rome to Naples. Car service from Naples to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This is where we originally intended on having our honeymoon so its the meat of the trip. Haven't looked at schedules but assuming we'd arrive by noon or so at the latest and get the majority of the day.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Day 9 - Morning in Positano. Car back to Naples. Afternoon flight to Barcelona. Have the night there.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Full days in Barcelona.

Day 13 - Morning flight back to NYC.

Thinking maybe an extra day in Positano, possibly pushing the flight home back to Day 14.

Any thoughts on the plan, positive or negative?

Got back on Saturday and since I have some down time this afternoon, wanted to post my thoughts...

Wow, what an awesome trip. I'll start with a blanket statement that the food in Italy was even better than I expected. Also, we got insanely lucky with the weather. It was anywhere from 75 to 80 every day, with pure sunshine. Literally not even a hint of a gray cloud on the entire trip. Nights were perfectly comfortable.

Rome: We did the Colosseum on our own (awesome) and since we were staying near Piazza Navona, saw the Pantheon countless times including at night when there was barely anyone around which I loved. Did the Vatican/Sistine Chapel...while walking up to the square, we noticed there were massive crowds, and it was because the Pope was driving around in his little Popemobile, I guess he led a mass that day. So we saw the Pope in the flesh (although fairly far away). I'm not Catholic, but that was pretty awesome. Trevi Fountain was under construction which was the only bummer from a sightseeing perspective. Saw too many other things to list but did everything pretty quickly and at our own pace so it didn't feel like it was too much of a production. Asked for restaurant recommendations from locals we met around the city so we could avoid most of the touristy stuff, although my wife's semester over there helped with that too.

Highlights were dinner at Osteria il Sostegno, lunch at La Prosciutteria (literally stumbled on this one, later saw it was ranked #4 of 8600+ on Tripadvisor), dinner at La Scala (in Trastevere). Had gelato at Giolitti probably four times including twice at 1am...

Amalfi Coast: The drive to Positano was amazing of course. Actually, the whole time we were there, whether we were in Positano or another town, it seemed like we were seeing the best view imaginable...and then we'd see another view from somewhere else. Our hotel was great and was right on the beach - we had a great balcony view. First full day we walked around Positano then went on the main beach in the afternoon. Had a full beach day later in the trip when we wanted to just relax, and for that we went to Fornillo which was about a 10 minute walk away and much quieter.

Day trips...first one we did was take a boat to Amalfi, where we walked around town for a bit, and then we took one of those open tour buses up to Ravello. Didn't really want the "tour" part of it, but the city buses were way too packed and having open air and seats were with the extra couple bucks. Toured those Villas and gardens up there which were beautiful. Had a great lunch at something Cosimo which was recommended to us...pretty sure it was the best Buffalo Mozz we had on the entire trip. Forgot to mention...we got a caprese salad with pretty much every meal so we could rank the best cheese and tomatoes.

A couple days later we took the boat to Capri. Opted for the company that gives you 4 hours on the island then does a 2 hour tour around. It was an extra 10EUR a person than the companies that just took you there and back and it was the best decision we made on the trip. More on that in a second. So first thing we did was head up to Anacapri...took the chair lift up. Now I'm terrified of heights and somehow didn't find this to be too bad. Got amazing pictures and video on the way up and down, and the view from up there...my god. Walked around Capri afterwards, went to some garden type place, just beautiful. Had a decent lunch then met up with the boat for the tour around the island.

Short wait to get into the blue grotto...amazing. We were in the little canoe with another young couple we had met on the first boat to the island. When we got inside, the canoe guy told my wife and the other girl to jump in...great pics of that. Did the rest of the tour around, we all swam in the green grotto for a while, the boat went through that rock formation in the sea, etc. Just an amazing day.

We ended up skipping Pompei. My wife had been there in the past and while she was willing to go so I could see it, I wasn't 100% in on it so we passed.

Not too much more to say on Positano/Amalfi...just a trip we'll never forget.

Barcelona: Tough to follow up the prior 9 days. We definitely had a good time, but it was a couple levels below Italy. Had a couple good meals including a great lobster/seafood paella down by the beach and a really good dinner at a place recommended to us by a waiter in Positano that had an hour wait at 10:30. Did Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Park Guell (beautiful), and saw countless other churches. Walked the Born and El Gotic a bunch. The whole Catalan/Spanish dynamic was a bit weird for us.

If we could do it again, we probably would have shaved a day off here and stayed an extra day in Rome, or maybe gone to another Spanish city altogether. But overall, no regrets, and an amazing couple of weeks. Thanks to those who made suggestions in here and in a couple other threads.

 

[kutta]

We're planning a trip to Europe in early October. Had originally planned on last June for our honeymoon, but it was too stressful after getting married in Mexico. Planned on doing it this June for our anniversary, but we couldn't find a time to make the trip more than a week. Here's what I have for the basic itinerary:

-6pmish flight from NYC to Rome. Arrive in Rome 8:30am, 2:30am our time (Let's call all this Day 1 for simplicity purpose). My wife will likely sleep like a rock on the plane no matter the time, I might get some sleep but generally I can handle travel/jet lag fine and be good to go.

Day 1 (continued): Hopefully get into our hotel early, if not, catch a nap later, have the night in Rome.

Day 2 and 3 - Rome. Many might feel this isn't enough time but my wife spent a semester there so she's covered and I'm not much of a sightseer. I just want to experience the city, walk around, have some good meals, etc.

Day 4 - Early train from Rome to Naples. Car service from Naples to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This is where we originally intended on having our honeymoon so its the meat of the trip. Haven't looked at schedules but assuming we'd arrive by noon or so at the latest and get the majority of the day.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Day 9 - Morning in Positano. Car back to Naples. Afternoon flight to Barcelona. Have the night there.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Full days in Barcelona.

Day 13 - Morning flight back to NYC.

Thinking maybe an extra day in Positano, possibly pushing the flight home back to Day 14.

Any thoughts on the plan, positive or negative?

Got back on Saturday and since I have some down time this afternoon, wanted to post my thoughts...

Wow, what an awesome trip. I'll start with a blanket statement that the food in Italy was even better than I expected. Also, we got insanely lucky with the weather. It was anywhere from 75 to 80 every day, with pure sunshine. Literally not even a hint of a gray cloud on the entire trip. Nights were perfectly comfortable.

Rome: We did the Colosseum on our own (awesome) and since we were staying near Piazza Navona, saw the Pantheon countless times including at night when there was barely anyone around which I loved. Did the Vatican/Sistine Chapel...while walking up to the square, we noticed there were massive crowds, and it was because the Pope was driving around in his little Popemobile, I guess he led a mass that day. So we saw the Pope in the flesh (although fairly far away). I'm not Catholic, but that was pretty awesome. Trevi Fountain was under construction which was the only bummer from a sightseeing perspective. Saw too many other things to list but did everything pretty quickly and at our own pace so it didn't feel like it was too much of a production. Asked for restaurant recommendations from locals we met around the city so we could avoid most of the touristy stuff, although my wife's semester over there helped with that too.

Highlights were dinner at Osteria il Sostegno, lunch at La Prosciutteria (literally stumbled on this one, later saw it was ranked #4 of 8600+ on Tripadvisor), dinner at La Scala (in Trastevere). Had gelato at Giolitti probably four times including twice at 1am...

Amalfi Coast: The drive to Positano was amazing of course. Actually, the whole time we were there, whether we were in Positano or another town, it seemed like we were seeing the best view imaginable...and then we'd see another view from somewhere else. Our hotel was great and was right on the beach - we had a great balcony view. First full day we walked around Positano then went on the main beach in the afternoon. Had a full beach day later in the trip when we wanted to just relax, and for that we went to Fornillo which was about a 10 minute walk away and much quieter.

Day trips...first one we did was take a boat to Amalfi, where we walked around town for a bit, and then we took one of those open tour buses up to Ravello. Didn't really want the "tour" part of it, but the city buses were way too packed and having open air and seats were with the extra couple bucks. Toured those Villas and gardens up there which were beautiful. Had a great lunch at something Cosimo which was recommended to us...pretty sure it was the best Buffalo Mozz we had on the entire trip. Forgot to mention...we got a caprese salad with pretty much every meal so we could rank the best cheese and tomatoes.

A couple days later we took the boat to Capri. Opted for the company that gives you 4 hours on the island then does a 2 hour tour around. It was an extra 10EUR a person than the companies that just took you there and back and it was the best decision we made on the trip. More on that in a second. So first thing we did was head up to Anacapri...took the chair lift up. Now I'm terrified of heights and somehow didn't find this to be too bad. Got amazing pictures and video on the way up and down, and the view from up there...my god. Walked around Capri afterwards, went to some garden type place, just beautiful. Had a decent lunch then met up with the boat for the tour around the island.

Short wait to get into the blue grotto...amazing. We were in the little canoe with another young couple we had met on the first boat to the island. When we got inside, the canoe guy told my wife and the other girl to jump in...great pics of that. Did the rest of the tour around, we all swam in the green grotto for a while, the boat went through that rock formation in the sea, etc. Just an amazing day.

We ended up skipping Pompei. My wife had been there in the past and while she was willing to go so I could see it, I wasn't 100% in on it so we passed.

Not too much more to say on Positano/Amalfi...just a trip we'll never forget.

Barcelona: Tough to follow up the prior 9 days. We definitely had a good time, but it was a couple levels below Italy. Had a couple good meals including a great lobster/seafood paella down by the beach and a really good dinner at a place recommended to us by a waiter in Positano that had an hour wait at 10:30. Did Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Park Guell (beautiful), and saw countless other churches. Walked the Born and El Gotic a bunch. The whole Catalan/Spanish dynamic was a bit weird for us.

If we could do it again, we probably would have shaved a day off here and stayed an extra day in Rome, or maybe gone to another Spanish city altogether. But overall, no regrets, and an amazing couple of weeks. Thanks to those who made suggestions in here and in a couple other threads.

Sounds like a great trip! Your Rome/Positano experience sounds pretty much like ours. Amazing!Really happy you guys had a good time.

 

[jamny]

We're planning a trip to Europe in early October. Had originally planned on last June for our honeymoon, but it was too stressful after getting married in Mexico. Planned on doing it this June for our anniversary, but we couldn't find a time to make the trip more than a week. Here's what I have for the basic itinerary:

-6pmish flight from NYC to Rome. Arrive in Rome 8:30am, 2:30am our time (Let's call all this Day 1 for simplicity purpose). My wife will likely sleep like a rock on the plane no matter the time, I might get some sleep but generally I can handle travel/jet lag fine and be good to go.

Day 1 (continued): Hopefully get into our hotel early, if not, catch a nap later, have the night in Rome.

Day 2 and 3 - Rome. Many might feel this isn't enough time but my wife spent a semester there so she's covered and I'm not much of a sightseer. I just want to experience the city, walk around, have some good meals, etc.

Day 4 - Early train from Rome to Naples. Car service from Naples to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This is where we originally intended on having our honeymoon so its the meat of the trip. Haven't looked at schedules but assuming we'd arrive by noon or so at the latest and get the majority of the day.

Day 5, 6, 7, 8 - Full days in Positano with a likely day trip to Capri and a half day to Pompeii.

Day 9 - Morning in Positano. Car back to Naples. Afternoon flight to Barcelona. Have the night there.

Day 10, 11, 12 - Full days in Barcelona.

Day 13 - Morning flight back to NYC.

Thinking maybe an extra day in Positano, possibly pushing the flight home back to Day 14.

Any thoughts on the plan, positive or negative?

Also, we got insanely lucky with the weather. It was anywhere from 75 to 80 every day, with pure sunshine. Literally not even a hint of a gray cloud on the entire trip. Nights were perfectly comfortable.

We've been to Italy 4 times and the weather was always like this. My wife has taken to calling similar days here as "Italy weather" and insists, jokingly, that Italy is always like that. Glad to hear you had a great trip. That's the reason I don't recommend too many restaurants, it's hard to find a bad one and stumbling across a great one is a fun part of the trip.

I can see how Barcelona would be a step down. Although it's a cool city, I much preferred Madrid. But neither can compare to Italy, imo.

 

[RUSF18]

Locals in Positano kept telling us that the weather was brutal in June, so this replaced that part of the summer they lost. Considering we were originally trying to do this trip then, it definitely worked out well.

 

[kutta]

Locals in Positano kept telling us that the weather was brutal in June, so this replaced that part of the summer they lost. Considering we were originally trying to do this trip then, it definitely worked out well.

We were there in early July and it was pretty darn hot. We were relieved when we got to London because the weather was so nice.

 

[ex-ghost]

Looking to plan a trip summer 2017, kids will be 14 and 12. 3 weeks.

I see a lot of London - Paris - Rome. Looks like a great trip for three weeks. Would anyone add anything else? A short trip in Switzerland? Is hitting Berlin too crazy if we are looking at London, Paris and Rome?

 

[Bucky86]

Looking to plan a trip summer 2017, kids will be 14 and 12. 3 weeks.

I see a lot of London - Paris - Rome. Looks like a great trip for three weeks. Would anyone add anything else? A short trip in Switzerland? Is hitting Berlin too crazy if we are looking at London, Paris and Rome?

First time? I'd suggest not trying to hit too much.

 

[ex-ghost]

Looking to plan a trip summer 2017, kids will be 14 and 12. 3 weeks.

I see a lot of London - Paris - Rome. Looks like a great trip for three weeks. Would anyone add anything else? A short trip in Switzerland? Is hitting Berlin too crazy if we are looking at London, Paris and Rome?

First time? I'd suggest not trying to hit too much.

Yep, first time. Thinking that three cities in three weeks is the way to go?

 

[jamny]

Looking to plan a trip summer 2017, kids will be 14 and 12. 3 weeks.

I see a lot of London - Paris - Rome. Looks like a great trip for three weeks. Would anyone add anything else? A short trip in Switzerland? Is hitting Berlin too crazy if we are looking at London, Paris and Rome?

First time? I'd suggest not trying to hit too much.

Yep, first time. Thinking that three cities in three weeks is the way to go?

3 weeks is a long time. Yes, London, Paris and Rome is doable. Plenty of people will mention other places to see but one week in each would be fun. If you're a city lover, go for it and have a blast!