I have a river cruise starting and ending in Paris late-September. The cruise doesn't show much of Paris.
I will have an additional 7 days to divided between Paris and Florence. Any suggestions as to how much time to spend in each city will be appreciated.
Posted by
Dallas, TX, usa
323 posts
We would spend the entire 7 days in one or the other. But we haven't been to Paris yet. Going in September. Going to both, it would seem to us that you would spend part of your sight seeing on a train or in a car.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
360 posts
If you haven't been to Paris before, you can easily fill an entire week with things to do -- we had 4 1/2 days there before moving on, but felt like we needed one more at a minimum and that's without taking any day trips outside the main city. I can't imagine a full week in Florence (unless you fill it with day trips), as we felt like 2 1/2 days was just about right. They're not that close, so you'd spend most of one full day taking the train down there or a good portion of the day flying down there.
Posted by
Chicago
8087 posts
I'd pick one or the other. A week is perfect for either Paris or Florence. If you decide to use it for Florence, florence is a great hub for a couple of day trips -- Siena and Luccas being two easy to reach obvious ones. Both of these cities have a deep artistic heritage and plenty of things to do for a week. If you are set to fly home from Italy then I would arrive in Paris early for the cruise and perhaps spend a couple nights after the cruise ends and then spend the final 5 nights in Florence. Four full days is a decent amount of time to spend there. If your flight is out of Rome, you will need to be there the night before; it is 90 minutes by fast train from Florence. I'd probably stay at the airport Hilton in Rome if that is your departure point. If you are flying back home f rom Paris, then I'd spend the week in Paris; there are dozens of great day trips from Paris within an hour or so by train if you wanted to vary the scene.