26 Nights - Italy, France & Germany

In case you don't already realize it, you are about to have one of the best adventures of your life! I envy first-timers. As to your questions: 1. I'm more a Francophile than a Deutsche-ophile (?) so I'd switch the 12 days to France. Subjective call. 2. To me it's not enough time. If you're a WWII history buff, you'll be disappointed with 1.5 days in Normandy. If you want to see chateaux, same problem. Plus, the traveling time will eat up a bunch of that 3 days. What do you want to see/do in Normandy and the Loire valley? 4. (What happened to 3?) That seems like a good first taste. You'll leave wanting to stay. 5 The Romantic Road can be done in 5 nights with no problem, and you'll love it. Try and get lost along the way. 6 No idea. 7. See 6, except Florence for 2 nights. One night for the day you arrive, and then a full day in town, then the 2nd night. If you are driving, try and get away from the places where the trains go, regardless of the country you're in. Stop and visit places with no name recognition.

The Romantic Road is no more interesting a drive than any other secondary road in Germany. Don't go out of your way to drive it. Whatever route you choose to get to Italy will be just as scenic.

Daniel, As this is your first trip to Europe, my first suggestion would be to read Europe Through The Back Door (if you can find it in your area). That will provide you with a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. Regarding your questions: 1.) The ratio seems reasonable, especially as you the number of places you want to see in Italy is greater than the other countries. 2.) I'm not sure if it's enough for both Normandy and the Loire, but it depends on what you want to see? 3.) What happened to question 3? 4.) Yes, IMO that's a good time frame for a first trip to Paris. Plan your touring well so that you don't waste any time. 5.) Again, depends on what you want to see? Are there any areas that specifically interest you? I agree with the others, that the "Romantic Road" doesn't require much time. 6.) See next answer. 7.) This is an area with a few potential problems. You're proposing to visit six locations (including CT) across a fairly wide area in a 12-day period, or an average of two days each with no allowances for travel times between them. Each change of location will require at least half a day. With that in mind, reducing the number of stops would be prudent. I'd suggest leaving Amalfi / Sorrento / Pompeii for another visit. Plan the route to travel from Germany to the north of Italy (Venice or ?) and progress to Rome. You might find it helpful to have a look at country-specific Guidebooks for each of the countries you'll be visiting, in order to narrow down the places that are most important to see on this trip. When will this trip be taking place? Good luck with your planning!

Daniel: I can only speak to Italy, but with 12 nights, I'd reinforce what Ken said but specifically suggest the following: Venice - 3 nights
Tuscany - 4 nights Rome - 5 nights "Tuscany" is a big decision. Florence is in Tuscany, but it is not representative of the Tuscan hilltown experience. You will be moving so much on your trip, it might be nice to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n in Italy and stay only 3 places. If you stay in Siena, you get more of the "Tuscan experience" and you can daytrip to Florence instead of doing 1 night there. Much more efficient use of time. From Siena you can also daytrip to some other Tuscan highlights ike Volterra, San Gimignano, or Cortona. Are you dropping your car in Germany? Venice and Rome are "no car" locations, IMHO. It would be nice to have a car in Tuscany, but not imperative. You could drive to Siena, drop the car after a day or two of Tuscan touring, then train to Venice and train to Rome. It's a little bit back-tracking but not really much of a time impact. If you really want to see Pompeii, do a long daytrip out of Rome, but stay the 5 nights in Rome to enjoy that great city. And I think 5 nights is perfect number for Rome. You'll leave wishing you had more time there. As they say in Italian, Rome, non basta una vita: Rome, a lifetime is not enough! Great trip! Almost a month! We are doing (another) month in Italy later this year. Can't wait!

@Lee: Thanks for the reply! Your first sentence got both of us very excited!! Yes we have decided Italy, then France, and then Germany in order of priority. I wish we could go for 6 weeks, and have a fortnight in all 3! The Normandy and Loire Valley wasn't particularly of interest for WWII history as such - well not just just. We wanted to pick a nice rural part of France to drive around. Initially we wanted to fly into Munich, and drive/train to Paris, and then drive South from there into Italy - so we had thought Lyon/St.Etienne. But we got a great deal on tickets if we flew into Paris, and out of Rome - so this made us change the rural part of France to somewhere else, and we both read about that region being beautiful. If there is a more beautiful region of rural France to drive around, little towns, buildings, cobbelled roads etc. then we are both interested! But it has to be within distance from Paris to make it worthwhile - we would love to go North France, South France, and East France but thought Normandy + Loire would be nice. So in saying this, do you think 3 nights would do us in that region? Are there any other regions you would suggest to us - bearing in mind we will make our way to Germany from France? Haha I'm not sure about number 3, I must have deleted it accidentally! Oops!! I like the thought of getting lost on the romantic road, the countryside and towns look amazing! More time in Florence, taken on board :) Visiting places of no name recognition sounds wonderful! More advice taken on board :)

@Tom
Hi Tom, thanks for the reply! We would love some suggestions if you think there would be better/equal drives in Germany! The reason we thought the Romantic drive would suit us is because we would possibly be entering Germany from Strasbourg, and head down to Heidelberg. Initially, I wanted to go to Berlin - but it is further out of the way, if we are going France->Germany->Italy so we thought we would make our way to Munich instead. Also the Neuschwanstein Castle is something we would both love to see - I can remember learning Deutsch as a child in Elementary School, and there was a poster of the castle on the wall. Is there another section of Germany you could recommend, on the way from Strasbourg to Venice?

@Ken Hi Ken, thanks for the reply!! I will loook for that book. We bought a book on each country detailing rural drives in each, but we are researching like crazy at the moment, so the more the better!! Regarding Normandy and Loire, we essentially want to visit a nice rural part of France to drive around, lots of quaint towns, buildings and scenery. It isn't specifically for the WWII history, although if we head there of course that would become part of it. Haha damn this elusive question 3!! :-) Glad 5 nights seems about right for Rome and Paris. Do you think 4 nights would be too rushed in Paris? In Germany, there aren't any specific rural areas within Germany - basically it has to be a nice drive from Strasbourg to Munich, where we will get a train to Venice. We looked at the romantic road as it seemed quite nice, and the Neuschwanstein castle also. Basically, a lot of Germany looks beautiful, so any nice drive that could include Neuschwanstein on the way to Munich would be lovely. Yes, it has lots of problems! I have a headache thinking about it to be honest! Way too much of interest to cram in! Naples/Amalfi/Pompeii do interest us both, it would be a shame to cut them out of the trip, but I see the logic in what you are saying. It has taken us this long to be able to go to Europe, I kinda have the mentality that I would love to see most of Italy in one go, but you are right it is too rushed. Do you think Cinque Terra would give us enough of a taste of the Amalfi Coast? CT is something we could easily cut, but Amalfi was one of the first places we thought about... decisions! Your advice is fantastic though, and we have to cut something out it seems. We are planning to go in October/November this year! Cannot wait!!!

@Laurel Hi Laurel - thanks for the reply! I am happy I managed to get an answer on each of our countries of choice!! 5 nights in Rome, I am glad you said this would suffice on this trip for us. To be honest, Italy is the most troublesome to work out an itinery, I think because of the shape of the country, and also how it is spread. We have a friend who stayed a night in a Monestary in Florence, this is why we thought we might do the same. But if you say it is day-trippable, then that is worth considering. I also have a cousin who drove around Tuscany for 2 weeks, so I do know it would be a beautiful region. Your suggestions there are great - how long would it take to drive from say Siena to Florence? I will make sure to see those parts of Tuscany you mentioned :-) We would catch a train from Munich to Venice - I believe there is now a good train ride, which can be taken during daylight through some beautiful scenery for 6 hourse or so? Can you get around to all the parts of Venice with no car? I'm not excited about driving in Rome (or Paris) so would like to avoid this if possible. Your suggestions of mixing car and train are very logical, and will take that advice for sure. Great, another trip for you - I would love to think I could return in the future, everywhere is so far from where I live, so it is usually expensive!

your itinerary looks fine- you set your own priorities. Only exception is that it is tough to cover both Normandy and Loire valley in only three days. If you want to cover both, I would add two days, but dont know where to take them from. Paris deserves 4 or 5 days and i wouldnt skip Germany

Daniel, Wow, you've received LOTS of great suggestions since I last posted! To begin with, something I forgot to mention. Someone else suggested that you might enjoy staying in Colmar rather than Strasbourg. That's the recommendation in the Guidebook, and having been to both cities last year, I definitely agree! Strasbourg and especially the Cathedral are beautiful, but Colmar has more of the "quaint" feel that you mentioned. Four nights would be adequate for Paris, but plan your touring carefully! Depending on which Museums you plan on visiting, you might consider a Paris Museum Pass. Check their website for details. For the Germany portion, if you're only interested in a brief look at the Romantic Road, Munich and Neuschwantein you could also consider travel by train from Strasbourg to Rothenburg. The shortest trip is 5H, with 3 changes. From there, the trip to Munich is 2 - 3 H. by train. You don't need a car to visit Neuschwanstein, although that's certainly an option. You'll need to book an appointment for the "official" Castle tour. You could also take a day trip with Radius Tours, and they take care of all the details. The quickest trip from Munich to Venice is ~7H, with one change at Verona Porta Nuova (depending on which train you choose). That trip goes through the Brenner Pass, which I always enjoy. Note that your destination station is Venezia Santa Lucia (there are two stations in Venice). If you need assistance with rail tickets or whatever while in Munich, you might stop by the Euraide office in the Munich station. The agents speak English, and I've found them to be enormously helpful! Continued.....

Daniel - Part 2.... For the Normandy portion, you could train to Bayeux, rent a car and tour Mt. St. Michel, Giverney or other "quaint" locations in that area. Bayeux makes a great "home base", and of course you could see the famous Tapestry. Do you think Cinque Terra would give us enough of a taste of the Amalfi Coast? The Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast are quite "different" in character so I'm not sure whether visiting the C.T. would provide the "taste" you're looking for? The C.T. consists of five villages on the Ligurian coast (where Pesto was invented), and the atmosphere is somewhat "informal". Only Monterosso has "conventional" Hotels, while the others have small B&B's and Pensiones. There is a somewhat "posh" resort in that area, Portofino, but it's not part of the C.T. Substituting the C.T. for the Amalfi Coast would fit better with your overall travel route. The Amalfi Coast tends to be more "upscale" with ritzy Hotels, expensive stores, etc. One of the most expensive places in that area is Capri, and the stores and Hotels there are probably above the range I could afford (ie: Prada, Giorgio Armani, D&G, etc.). It's absolutely a beautiful area and well worth seeing, but it doesn't fit as well with your travel route or the time you have available. Regarding Guidebooks, you mentioned that you have some. I imagine that the RS Guidebooks won't be readily available there, but if you have an E-book Reader ( Kindle, iPad) it will be much easier and less expensive to obtain them. The RS books have excellent information on Hotels, transportation, sightseeing, etc. I can't recall if you plan on driving in Italy, but that comes with some "issues". If you need further details, post another note. Cheers!

I would just take the most direct routes through Germany, because your itinerary looks tight enough that you won't have much time to linger. From what I gathered, you plan to come from Strassbourg, and you want to see Neuschwanstein and Munich before heading to Italy. Just cut straight through the Black Forest and take whatever secondary routes get you to A7 or A8 the quickest. You may want to consider a brief detour to Hechingen to check out Burg Hohenzolleren, as it isn't too far off your line of travel. Drive by Ulm to catch a glimpse of the world's tallest church spire. At Memmingen, you can either shoot east on A96 to Munich, or continue south on A7 in the direction of Kempten to Füssen and Neuschwastein. If you have a clear day, the Alps will eventually appear on the horizon in all their majestic glory. The view of the Alps from A7 is just as good as from the Romantic Road.

Daniel, I can "hear" your lovely Aussie accent in your written replies, along with your obvious excitement! Ran into many of your compatriots last year in Italy, and enjoyed the encounters very much. Anyone who meets you on your trip is bound to be caught up in your enthusiasm, too! Can you get around to all the parts of Venice with no car? In fact, no cars are allowed on the islands. You can have one on the Lido, I believe, but the main city of Venice, Murano, Burano, Torcello are all lovely and car-free. Arriving by train, you walk out of the station and voila! there is Venice. Be aure to read up on trnasportaito there via vaporetti (waterbusses), adn buy a Vaporetto Pass, which will save you a lot of money versus a single trip. (One trip 6.50 euro, 72 hour pass about 33 euros, unlimited rides.) In fact you can buy at an even greater discount before you travel at http://www.veniceconnected.com/. Since you are in full research mode, here are a few more Italy resources I love: http://www.italylogue.com/ http://www.revealedrome.com/ http://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/ http://www.roninrome.com/ Buon viaggio!

1. I think the split is fine and presumably reflects your own priorities, which is great. I wonder, though if you've taken account of travel time. 2. I'd say covering that much turf in 3 days is not great. My advice would be to save the Loire for another trip. There are some great Ancient Regime chateaux that you can see as day trips from Paris, if that is a priority (Versailles, Fontainbleu, Chantilly). I don't have specific comments in response to your other questions, but would suggest a smaller town in Alsace in place of Strasbourg (Rick recommends Colmar, a lovely town with lots to see, do, and eat). About your travel logistics. Typically there are substantial fees for dropping off a rental car in a different country than first rented. Maybe you have a way around that, but if not, consider renting serially. In that case I'd drive directly to Normandy from the airport, if you think you will be in shape to do that, but take the train from there to Paris and on to Alsace and then into Germany, where you can rent a second car. Return that when you are ready to leave that country and take the train to Venice. Your Italian itinerary actually does not require a car, but if you want one for instance for Tuscany you could rent a third vehicle the day you leave Venice. In any case it's going to take a good bit of time to get from Germany to Venice over the Alps. Also expect travel in Italy generally to be slow. There may be strikes, things will be closed, etc. You have clearly given this some thought already and are very much on the right track. Have a blast!

I was going to make the same point that Adam did regarding the car. You DO NOT want a car in Paris. I would suggest the same thing Adam did...pick up the car when you arrive and drop it before returning to Paris by train. Use trains until you arrive in Germany, where you can pick up another car. Use a car for the German portion of the trip, then train to Italy. You won't need or want a car there, except in Tuscany. Rent a car for only the days in Tuscany. The trains in Europe are easy and relatively inexpensive. Considering your limited time, I would not go to the Cinque Terre AND Amalfi. The Amalfi coast is more out of the way, so it may save time to go to the Cinque Terre. Going all the way to Amalfi for 2 nights would take too long in my opinion. Two nights in CT is okay. I am so excited for you. I love Europe and am going next fall for the 5th time in 5 years. I have enjoyed every trip, but there is nothing like the first time!!

I still don't really have a feel for what your interests are, except 'quaint' in Germany...Food? Art - sculpture/paintings/architecture? History? Nature? Sampling every beer that crosses your path? If you gave a time of year, I missed it... I'm going to reiterate the concern about the rental car drop-off fee; I'm sure that would sting quite a bit. There is one train b/n Munich and Venice that's (1) less than 8+ hours long, and (2)direct, and it's the 11:31-18:00 train. Book it ASAP, because you can get a discount fare of as little as €39,00 (2nd class)! That's less than half price... The CT and Amalfi Coast are both 'worth visiting', but you don't have enough time to see what you're already listed - the pains of itinerary planning! You'll have to pick one... (cont.)

(cont.) I strongly second, or third, purchasing "ETBD" - it's not cheap there, but you'll probably never need to buy it ever again. It's not a guidebook that depends on timely info, but instead more of a how-to travel guide. It covers things like how to plan an itinerary, buy train tickets, how to exchange money, how to find sleeping accommodations, how to arrange car rentals, cars vs trains, what to pack - clothes, and other things, etc. Maybe try a library first...get a recent copy! You don't want the 1998 copy explaining how to find a good money exchange place!!! I personally think you need to scale your locations way back. You can do a day trip or two in 'Tuscany', but without knowing why those places appealed to you in the first place, I can't recommend Florence over Venice or Lucca. Same thing for the 'coast areas' - do you want to lounge on sandy beaches, hike the coastline, or see Pompeii? I also wouldn't get a car for any of this, with the possible exception of Normandy/Loire, although I would recommend Alsace (Colmar) or something similar for the 'country France', since it sounds like you have no particular reason for being in Normandy or the Loire Valley except it sounded like a nice country drive. You have ALOT of moving around...We've all had Our First Trip and the pains that came with planning it - we wanted to go EVERYWHERE LOL!!! Actually, many of us also had the pains that came if we planned too ambitiously :-( I know you don't want to hear 'slow down/cut back', but I'm going to say it. Assume you will return; save some for later ;-)

Also, have you seen Rick Steves' TV travel programs? They're available on his YouTube channel. Be sure to look for his Travel Skills programs...

Wow, thanks so much to everybody for the thoughtful responses! Very much appreciated!! :-) I should have made clear our knowledge of the countries, and our priorities. Knowledge: France - my wife Chris learned French in school, my knowledge has only come from watching lots of films (Godard, Truffaut, Renoir etc.) so I have picked up some of the language through pop culture, but only really know about Paris. We know of Nice, Cannes and the Riviera, but we don't know much of the country outside of Paris. Germany - I learned Deutsch in Elementary and High School, Chris has little knowledge of the language. And apart from pop culture again, we know little about the places to see apart from what we have read in books/internet. Italy - we both have minor knowledge of the language, but a decent knowledge of the country and various regions. We both could make this trip solely Italy, with the intention of returning to Europe several times again when we get the chance, to visit the other countries. Priorities & interests: France - we want the big city experience (Paris) and a small country town experience (anywhere), with interest in historical architecture, galleries, museums, cathedrals etc. Any rural towns with ancient buildings, medieval castles & chateaus etc. As well as soaking up the culture, so we don't want to be rushing around too much. A drive in the countryside has us very interested though. Italy - the number one destination for my wife, in this entire trip is the Amalfi Coast. So that is a must-see as far as we are concerned. Of course Rome, Venice and Tuscany also are the priorities. We want to soak up the culture and enjoy everything the country has to offer. History, architecture, cathedrals, ruins, museums, we want the works from Italy. CONTINUED

Priorities & interests: Germany – to be honest, there are no priorities this time around - as Berlin seems too far out of our way this time around, there are no major cities that are essential for this trip. So we thought it might be nice to drive through Bavaria on our way from France to Italy. The more we have thought about our itinerary, and the more we have read the great responses on here – we are beginning to think about eliminating Germany completely from our itinerary this time around, and concentrate more on Italy, and also a couple more nights in France. As the Amalfi Coast has always been a place my wife wants to see, so we cannot eliminate that from this trip. Prior to finding Rick Steves' forum, we had already eliminated Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic, so we do have to return to Europe again, and would prefer to do Germany justice rather than a fleeting visit. But we don't want to discount Germany completely for now – we have a few months to fine tune this all, and we don't want to be tied down to anything specific. We booked our flights last night (!!!) and the only 2 certainties on this trip are we fly into Paris and out of Rome. If we were to concentrate on just France and Italy, this would completely change the direction we travel. So we could then travel South of Paris down to Italy, and stop at Cinque Terra on the way to Venice. So I guess, the next piece of advice we would be after would be an alternative to Loire/Normandy, that we could make a destination on our way from Paris to Italy? And also, we would be interested in day trips from Paris - could Normandy and Loire be done this way?

To Laurel: Thanks for the kind comments on us Aussies - I am happy to hear you have enjoyed your encounters with Aussies being memorable! :-) Your advice on Venice is fantastic, thanks so much we have a greater understanding now. And we will be sure to read through all those websites you proved links to. To Adam: Thanks for the reply!! Yes the travel time is an issue, we are new to this but are learning fast it's not so good to cram too much in, we really want to soak up the cultures rather than just see the attractions. For the hypothetical choice to eliminate Germany from this trip, we are after more suggestions like you made, as alternative parts of France to visit. Both as day trips, and as a destination south on the way to Italy. I will look up those places you suggested, thanks.
Yes we are aware there would be fees driving across borders, but unaware of how much. Advice taken on board though. The travel from Munich to Venice seemed troublesome from the beginning, your post is helpful in making us see that too much travel within Europe might not be a great idea. We also are not used to covering so much ground, so we would probably find it very exhausting to stick to that initial plan.

To Andrea: Thanks for the post!! Wow, 5th time that would be a dream!! We would ideally like to see Amalfi AND CT, so you think 4 nights would be better in Amalfi/Naples/Pompeii? If we did concentrate on the 2 countries, we might make it something like: France 9 nights, Italy 16 nights (we realised after booking the flights it is actually 25 nights, not 26). But if we did this, perhaps something like: Paris 5 nights Countryside 4 nights CT 2 nights Venice 4 nights Tuscany 4 nights Amalfi 4 nights Rome 5 nights How does that sound to you? Would that be doing each region better justice? Is it too much/too little for anywhere? Would love to hear more advice on another hypothetical itinerary! :-) To Ken: Yes, I know! I love this forum!! :-) Your advice on France is noted, and I will look up those areas. As I have since mentioned, we may look at cutting Germany out of the equation, so any other suggestions of rural France would be appreciated greatly! I really don't want to cut Germany, but it does seem 4 weeks isn't enough for such a grand scale. I will look for the RS Guidebooks, haven't seen them so far. So you suggest Amalfi is expensive to stay? Are there any other places nearby we could spend 4 nights, and make our way to Amalfi/Pompeii/Naples? Would it be better to stay in Naples and daytrip from the there? One night on the coast would be nice, but we don't want to spend extravagant amounts on accommodation, so that is an interesting point, duly noted. And yes, can you please elaborate on the issues in regards to driving in Italy? We had thought about driving as much as possible, but if other means suffice, then that would of course do.

To Eileen: Hi and thanks for the informative post!! :-) Yes, we would love to see CT and Amalfi, so the new, d, current, potential (haha) Itinerary is (as mentioned above): Paris 5 nights Countryside 4 nights CT 2 nights Venice 4 nights Tuscany 4 nights Amalfi 4 nights Rome 5 nights What are your thoughts on that? We are still months away from October, so I am glad we have so much time to plan it properly! And so many helpful people to help out!! I will look into ETBD, definitely. Sounds essential.
No, we don't want to lounge on the beaches, we want to see the historical Pompeii and the beautiful scenery of Amalfi. Yes, everywhere haha we have narrowed it down from 5-6 countries, to 3 – and maybe even to 2. It seems the general thoughts from everyone is to narrow it down as much as possible. We would prefer to do this, as we don't want to be on the road/train the whole time. Will look up Alsace, and bearing in mind we might miss Germ any, would be heading South from Paris to Italy, so will look for more towns along the way. Do you have any other appropriate suggestions? We will check out those travel programs also, hadn't thought about watching programs to help, but it makes sense to! Thanks :-)

Daniel, I like your new plan much better. I love Germany, but for the time period you have I feel it would best be left for another trip. Paris is a great place to start your trip. It is my favorite city in the world (at least the cities I have visited!) and there is so much to see there. I suggest you stay in Paris upon your arrival and spend however much time you choose there. From there you might want to go to Provence, on your way to Italy. There are high speed trains that will take you there. You could rent a car for the period of time you are there to see the villages. I would then train to Italy. You could start in the Cinque Terre. Then train to Venice, Tuscany, Amalfi and Rome. You might want to rent a car while you are in Tuscany. I can recommend a fantastic agriturismo in Siena if you are interested. I think you will have a wonderful trip and you won't be sorry that you are going to stay long enough in each place to really get the feel for it. If you change locations every day or so the locations start to blur and you forget what you saw or where you saw it.

For rural France, give your Italian trajectory I'd suggest Provence, which includes some wonderful Roman antiquities. An alternative might be Burgundy, which is quite rural but has many charming small towns. One logistical point in Burgundy's favor (maybe) is that there is a night train from Dijon to Venice, if that interests you. (The night train from Nice has been discontinued.) Given time constraints, I'd take the train (faster than driving) to either of these regions but definitely rent a car while there.

I think your new itinerary is great - except I think 4 nights for Venice is too much. I'd take that 4th night and add it to Amalfi, my favorite part of Italy.

Love your new plan! Nice you can get to your dream location of Amalfi/Sorrento/Pompeii. Sorrento has lodgings in all price ranges. You will find many referred to by searching the board archives, but they are also in Rick Steves' book. Susan thought 4 nights in Venice too much. I "humbly" disagree, but only you can decide. You have flights and a basic outline. Now, before you make your lodging reservations, take the cities of Venice and Rome and make a list of the things you want to do and see, noting days and hours open, giving yourself unscheduled time, too. (A couple of hours "off" in the afternoon are very restorative when traveling.) Once you lay out your city plans, you'll have a better idea of whether you'll be happy with 2 full days/3 nights in Venice, or whether 3 full days/4 nights is better. Same approach with Rome. Have an idea of how you'll spend your time, which days the Vatican is open, whether to make a reservation for the Borghese, etc. What an adventure! BTW, October is fabulous in Italy.

If you want to see small town life, then staying in Bayeux in Normandy would fit the bill. This is a gorgeous, medieval town, with much of it built in the 1500's and not bombed in the war. Normandy is not good as a day trip from Paris, but the train ride is a nice one and you don't really need a car there if you do one of the quality D-Day tours on offer. Doing a tour is highly recommended, even if you believe that you don't like history or it isn't important, this will blow you away and you will be happy that you did it.