12 Days in Italy and France

We liked Torino, Italy & Annecy & Lyon, France between those two points. But for the amount of time it would take to travel by train between them, I would stay longer in Florence and do some day trips from there. Then just take a quick flight between Florence & Paris.

Or, I like your idea of going to Venice and taking a flight from there to Paris.

How many nights will you sleep in Europe?
Don’t expect to do much on arrival day if flying from N. America. After a night of no sleep, you want to stay on your feet as much as possible but not inside a museum. You need to be wide awake when visiting museums so you can absorb it all. With that said Rome and Vatican City deserves a total of four nights.
You need three nights in Florence and if you take a day trip to Siena make it four. There are cheap flights from Florence to Paris on Vueling and Air France. If you choose Vueling you’ll need to pay to check luggage that can be costly.
Paris alone deserves five nights if you want to see it all. You do not need to add another stop to this already too busy itinerary.

I recommend more time in Rome. Three days is way not enough. Plan your days by using TripAdvisor.com under "things to do in Rome."

Venice is a very special city with lots of history and in my view way ahead of Cinque Terre.

Also, three days in Paris is not enough, consider adding Venice, more time in Rome and Paris.

I'm from Singapore (GMT +8), so will probably jet lag. Agree that I should put my first day as a slow day to rest and get used to the time zone. I'll add another day to Rome.

From the replies so far, I think there's not enough time to actually explore the other cities.

For Day 7/8, I'll probably get to Venice or shift it to have a day trip from Florence or Rome.

There is a fast train from Rome to Florence and then on to Venice. However, I don't advise doing day trips to see those cities.
Consider visiting the Academia Museum in Florence, it is special. You can see Florence on your own. Venice, be sure to visit St. Mark's Basilica.

Sorry, what I meant was either:

• Spend my Day 7 and Day 8 in Venice (2 nights). Travel to Paris on Day 9 morning.

Or

• Have a day trip to Pompeii/Naples instead of going to Venice. Reallocate more time to existing plan.

Is there any airline that I should avoid? Or I can choose the cheapest flight since it'll only be a short 1 hour flight to paris. I'll need to check in my luggage as it's quite big.

Just a tip about sightseeing: Tickets for the Colosseum are tough to get, even if you are online the moment they go on sale, and the Vatican Museums (which include the Sistine Chapel) also tend to sell out very early. Once you pin down your dates, take care of those two tickets. There are other sights for which you need to get tickets ahead of time, but I believe those two are the most extreme cases.

Yes! I have read for tips online on how to get it. I'll try to camp for it. May I know what are the options if I am not able to get it online?
Can I get it on that day or go through a 3rd party reseller?

If you've never been to Venice, go to Venice. Pompeii and Naples in a day is not a day trip from Rome. Pompeii is a day trip from Naples. You do not have time to add two more sights. Pompeii and Naples are lesser sites compared to Venice.
The problem with adding too many places on an itinerary is you short change yourself and feel the need to return so you can finish seeing it. The places I like the least are the ones that I didn't spend enough time in. It would be different if you were going to small towns, but you are going to blockbuster sites with lots to do. Furthermore, getting from one place to the next can be cumbersome.

I would suggest a couple of things:

1. Swap days 2 and 3, you will still be recovering from the journey and your current day three will be slower-paced than the forum area day.
2. Add a day each to Rome and Paris. Both cities are full of interesting things to do and see.
   
3. Or add the days to Florence. Pisa, Lucca and Siena are all within easy reach of Florence and make pleasant day trips.

Have you looked at the Rick Steves’ website, not just the forum? There is a wealth of useful information there with suggested walks, his TV programs, travel blogs etc.

You

Have to agree with the PPs who have said you are shortchanging your existing cities if you try to cram in another. Use day 7 for a day trip to Pisa, Lucca or Siena, and consider flying to Paris that evening.

As much as I disagree with the whole "X days is not enough" narrative, I have to agree that more time allocated to Rome seems like a great idea. Florence, too, for that matter.

There is an on-site ticket booth at the Colosseum, new this year. The entire party has to show up at the booth--one person cannot buy tickets for multiple people who aren't present. I assume (based on no actual experience) that this would be practical only if you were willing to show up and get in line before the booth opens. It seems to me the line would just get longer as the day progresses, and at some point, all the tickets set aside for onsite sale would be gone. I haven't seen any information about how many tickets are available at that booth each day.

The Vatican Museums have separate lines for people with and without pre-purchased entries. The line for people needing to buy tickets moves very slowly. Again, if you need to do that (which you really shouldn't at the Vatican Museums), I'd want to be in that line early. The Museums open at 8 AM, I believe, and a fair percentage of tourists (like me) are just not willing to drag themselves out of bed that early. You'd also have a marginally less crowded experience if you were able to get in the Museums shortly after they open. You will not believe how crowded they are, though I know they are worse later in the year. (My visit was in March 2023.)

Remember that there's no way around the long security line at St. Peter's itself, unless you pay for a commercial tour covering both the Museums and St. Peter's. I took one look at the line around 4 PM in March 2023 and gave up. I'll go back on a future trip to Rome and somehow try to get in line early. I will probably opt for a hotel in that part of Rome, to make the visit to St. Peter's a bit easier for me.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I have already finalized my itinerary. It seems a bit rushed but that's the sacrifice that we are willing to make in order to see more places.

Day 1 - 4: Rome
Day 4 - 6: Florence
Day 6 - 8: Venice
Day 8 - 12: Paris

Now I'm just going to book all the tickets. Whatever that I can find online because I'm not a guy who likes to queue. Seems like only Colosseum (Full Experience Underground) is the hardest to get.

Hi there! Looks like you're making good use of the Forum to plan your trip. One way to maximize your limited time, is to do as much planning ahead as possible. Ideas - Look for places to eat near monuments, pack super light for train travel, consider how you're getting from point A to point B - Taxis or buses? Read up on taxi Q's in Rome, for example. Are you staying close to the sights? Any and all pre-planning, watching RS videos, looking at guidebooks, downloading train & taxi apps, etc.will make your trip easier.

Just a note based upon your latest update - Day 1 is pretty much wandering in a daze after your flight, so really you only have 2.5 days in Rome. Florence one full & 2 half days, Venice 1.5 days, and day 8 is flying to Paris, so you have 4 days in Paris.

What we like: Italian/French cuisine and food, guided tours to understand more about the place, admire beautiful nature in Europe. I would consider a food tour in Rome, Florence & Paris. We like 'Eating Europe', it's really a walking food tour with lots of history & local culture. In Rome, Testaccio & sunset Trastevere are both great. I hope you have a great trip!!