Italy/France Itinerary

In Italy, you should spend a day in Verona.

As for France, it seems that you have done Provence and the French Riveria. However, if you haven't been to St. Paul de Vence, I recommend it. Did you visit Arles and Les Baux and see Pont Du Gard?

Did you visit Strasbourg, when you were at Colmar?

You could take in the Carcassonne region in southern France, or the Loire Valley. We stayed in Blois.

Loved our time in the Loire Valley area and Provence......stayed in Gordes, St. Remy, Amboise........lovely areas!

In Italy, you should spend a day in Verona.

Agree completely. Easy train ride from Venice.

The two biggest factors I see for your planning are International Airfare (which cities do you fly in and out of) and travel between France and Italy which is always problematic. If you start in Venice you could take a train from Milan to France along several routes. My choice was through Lausanne and on to Burgundy which I really enjoyed. The other option is to fly which is cheap and about the same amount of time and would allow you many options so you don't have to backtrack to Paris where you should probably fly home from. You could also reverse the order and Start in Paris.

For France, look at Alsace and Burgandy, lots of options.

I really appreciate all of your replies!

Last time I combined those two countries my husband & I stayed in Venice, Vicenza, Torino, Annecy, Lyon and ended in Paris.

Yes, love Verona! I timed one stay to be able to attend the opera in the Roman arena - wonderful experience!

I’ll share all of your posts with my daughter as we begin to think towards 2021 and any modifications to the original itinerary where we would have been in Italy for the entire 21 day trip.

If you are in the north of italy why not spend a few days on Lake Como, we spent 3 days in Bellagio, you can take a ride on the little passenger ferries that go from town to town on the lake , you can stop at various towns and get back on to visit the next place., you can also visit a beautiful villa I believe it was called Villa Carlotta on one of the stops, the area is very beautiful and is a nice addition to an Italian vacation, love that you are positive and planning your trip, Im hoping we all are travelling next year!

If it's your daughter's first visit to Europe, then I think it would be a shame to deprive her of Paris. While it has its detractors, it's a world class city. Not to be missed, even if you've seen it before. I would assign 4 days, at least, to Paris.

Not knowing anything about your interests (Beach or museum? Roman history or Belle Époque? Mediterranean beaches or vineyards? Alps glaciers or quaint villages? Historic sites or night clubs? WW1 sites or WW2 sites or neither? High class shopping or flea markets?), it's hard to recommend anything in particular.

As a general comment, I would suggest renting a car in western Italy and driving through France from Turin to Lyon to Paris, stopping where you find places that are interesting to you. There is a lot to see, and if you care to describe more about your interests, you will undoubtedly receive more specific and pertinent suggestions.

I wouldn't do Nice. I would recommend going to the Loire and Normandy and then flying out of Paris. Of course spend some time there too.

Here’s a few answers, Sammy:

Not knowing anything about your interests (Beach or museum?) Either, but more focus on what’s not available in a US or Mexico destination vacation.
Roman history or Belle Époque? Either
Mediterranean beaches or vineyards? Either, but the architecture of town or scenery not available in the US.
Alps glaciers or quaint villages? Quaint villages
Historic sites or night clubs? Historic sites
WW1 sites or WW2 sites or neither? Neither (but my husband & I go to them)
High class shopping or flea markets? Neither

We definitely won’t be renting a car - love traveling the trains & local transportation in Europe.

We’re both not interested in American-type hotels or luxury options. I stay in the center of small piazzas in Italy or near the cathedrals in the old sections of mid-size towns in France, enjoying the ambiance of what makes each country unique. I plan a mix of locations on a typical 3-week trip - some smaller towns, several days in a big city, either time near the water or mountains. So some days, I’m taking a cooking class or city bike tour, other days in beautiful museums, and others outdoors exploring nature. My daughter has similar tastes.

hey hey jean
since you're in the "neighborhood" how about lake garda. many villages around the lake, ferries, boats and buses, basilica madonna della corona, church built into the hillside near monte baldo, we stayed in bardolino for annual wine festival, loved the small town, peschiera del garda is transportation hub. walked around the piazza and had lunch at an outdoor cafe.
tripsavvy.com/get to know lake garda
handluggageonly.com (blog)
visitgarda.com
train to milan then to nice along the coast.
before or after venice, treviso to conegliano (prosecco road and vineyards) did a private prosecco tour in this area, was so great, darling villages, private tasting at wineries, lunch on the hillside. to pordenone, down to coast (adriatic sea), train towards milan.
more option to check out for you and your daughter, have fun and enjoy
aloha