We are planning to travel up to 3 weeks to Italy, France, and Spain along the Mediterranean. Thinking of starting in Florence, traveling to Cinque Terre and then to the Provence region of France, and then Barcelona? Seville (too far)? Interested in food, markets, beaches, day trips into country side or other destinations. Thanks for any suggestions
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1399 posts
The distance between these places may be working against this plan but that's up to you once you lay everything out.
If you want to stay a week on the Mediterranean I would recommend looking at the Ligurian coast just north of CT. There is a whole section of coastline - Porto Fino to Levanto - with towns to explore that could easily fill a week that includes a few days exploring CT as well. Check out Chiavari, Moneglia, Sestri Levante and other towns up and down this section of the coast. I think these towns will give you a good dose or "Mediterranean lifestyle". Also the towns on the south side of the Bay of La Spezia are interesting but aren't connected by train. You can always visit CT but that's less of real life and more of a mini-Amalfi Coast experience.
From there to Nice is probably 5+ hours on the train from coastal Italy and "Provence" is probably another 3-5 hours on the train depending on where you go. The travel to Nice is complicated by crossing several international borders so I don't think there are any direct trains. If you are staying in place for a week maybe spending an entire day on travel to spend another week is okay with you or maybe it's not. You could take a break in Nice and break up all that travel and you also need to settle on a "Provence" plan. It is a large area made up of generally small cities and towns so whether you want to stay put or explore and whether you want to rent a car for that are all decisions you need to make.
From Provence to Barcelona is probably another 5-6 hours on the train depending on where and when but it is doable. Once you decide where you will be coming from in Provence it will be more clear what will be involved. I believe you can go directly despite crossing the border.
Seville is on the opposite coast from Barcelona but there is a fast train that connects them directly in under 6 hours. You can also fly this but I doubt it will be much faster overall given the complications.
Hope that helps,
=Tod
Posted by
Santa Cruz, CA
92 posts
I agree with Tod. Three weeks seems like a lot of time, but what you are proposing is quite a lot of ground to cover (with quite long transit times) in that amount of time. Admittedly, some are happy to move on to another place (or country) every 2-3 days. I find it exhausting to constantly be moving, but I am a "less is more" kind of traveler. Long drives or train rides would eat up a lot of your vacation time.
If it were me, I would not include Spain this trip, and instead focus on Provence and the French and Italian Riviera (Côte d'Azur & Liguria). Starting in Florence makes a lot of sense, and you wouldn't need a car until you get to Provence. You could do open jaw flights to/from the Marseille (or Nice) and Florence airports. Flying into FLR makes the most sense if you'll start the trip in Florence.
Where you want to go and how long you decide to spend in those areas will determine whether you should rent a car and for which portions of the trip. Of course, in many of the places you envision, a car will be a major headache, e.g., Nice, the CT, Florence.