29 Nights in April (First Ever Trip) Itinerary Help

You are only 30 years old so do what you want while you can and you will learn from it.

Go for Greece only if you see a direct flight from Naples or Rome airports to Athens and then a direct back to Paris.

Otherwise forget Greece for another time and go to Spain.
You might feel lonely traveling solo dining out (maybe not exactly homesick) occasionally. I can't see getting restless at your pace you will feel you need rest with all the changing hotels unpacking and packing and trains to catch. Use social media post pictures talk to your friends and family while on the go.

I have watched my home sports team games on my tablet while vacationing in Europe.

It doesn't matter what Rick or anyone else says you should do. Do what you want. It's your time and money.

Keep this in mind, May 1 is a holiday throughout much of Europe so you might find transportation options limited. There will probably be more transportation options from Spain to Paris than Greece to Paris but go with the one you want to see more.

As stated earlier, regardless of your age, running for 29 days is tiresome. Plan on a couple of slower days just to recharge the batteries.

If you wanted to focus more on France/Italy....and based on your interests.......you could add a few days in Lyon on your way to Nice. It's the culinary captial of France and has an interesting WWII Resistance museum.

You may also want to add a couple of nights in Bayeux and tour Normandy and the D-Day landing area.

I'll add one thought as a fellow single (I'm assuming you're single), younger/youngish, solo traveler—Connecting with/ engaging in my foreign peers is a valuable part of travel for me, and I maintain contacts I've met through my travels. To up the odds of having a fun night out and maybe meeting people, I try to plan my trips so that I'm in cities on the weekends. I'm perfectly happy to go to bed early in a small town on a Tuesday (and I might go to bed early in a capital city on a Saturday night if I want to), but I at least try to plan for the option.

Also- 2nd the call for Lyon as a foodie town! I like the general vibe on the street there, too.

I agree that you should skip Greece but keep Spain in. I loved Greece but I think it's a country that needs more time. Maybe save it for the future and spend a week or so there. I spent 3 1/2 weeks in Europe many years ago and focused on Greece and Italy, and was glad I did.

With regards to 3 or 4 nights, keep in mind that 3 nights really only gives you 2 full days in a place. With as much times as you've got, it's nice to be able to have that extra day in a city or town. I do think that's a good choice about not using an open jaw ticket. For one thing, it's nice when you leave Paris the first time to know that you will be back for a few more days. You'll have a better acquaintance with the city and it will be fun to find some things to do that you might not have thought earlier.

I also agree with Scudder about meeting people while you're traveling. I've always traveled solo and have met so many people over the years. But I don't think you necessarily need to rely on city weekends to do this, although that is certainly an option. Most of the people I've met have been in restaurants or on trains or even ferries. You will find it easier as a solo traveler to meet others. I've found that many people are reluctant to initiate conversations with 2-3 people traveling together, but not so much with solo travelers. Always be willing to strike up conversations with people sitting next to you in restaurants or cafes or a park bench. I once met a woman traveling solo from Australia on a train going up to Lake Como. We wound up staying in the same hotel and traveled around together for the next four days.

Since you’re traveling solo, I recommend buying Rick Steve’s FR and IT guidebooks and taking his self-guided walking tours in the cities that you’re visiting so this way you’ll see it all. Some people prefer Rick’s podcasts over his books. If you purchase his guidebooks buy his FR 19th and IT 26th editions. I would then add a day per walking tour.
If you go to GR, you’ll need to present a negative COVID test upon arrival taken within 72 hours. If you go to Spain (ES) same thing but this test requires proof that it was taken one day before. Furthermore, is five nights enough for GR or ES, no it is not.
You have an excellent itinerary planned but if you’re not hiking you only need two nights in the Cinque Terre not three. Another idea is to include Provence that’s an easy direct train ride between Paris and Nice.
Also, you're young so assume there'll be a next time when you can spend more time in both GR and ES.

I think your general plan is fine, but I'm not sure trying to squeeze Athens plus an island into 5 nights (only 4 days) is a good idea. Most islands require ferry rides of some length or a flight (a hassle involving trips to airports). Most likely there will be an Athens connection required between Italy and the island or between the island and Paris (it's worth checking for direct flights on skyscanner, though). That's a lot of transportation time for what will be a very short visit to a country with a lot to offer. I think Barcelona + Madrid makes more sense. Five nights is very short for that area, too (for me it's about right for a quick trip to Barcelona alone, but I do like museums and architecture a lot), but at least the two cities are connected by frequent trains that take as little as 2-1/2 hours.

You stand to save quite a lot of money in rail fares if you can buy at least some of your long-distance tickets really soon, while there are still some good deals available. I wouldn't be concerned about the side-trips around Sorrento (that's mostly bus and boat, anyway), but most of your travel legs will be on potentially-high-cost express trains. They can be quite pricey if you buy the tickets at the last minute. I haven't done a direct comparison, but I think the French and Spanish rail fares may be higher than the Italian fares, so maybe start with the first two countries and try to pin down your timing so you can buy tickets soon from SNCF and Renfe.

The rail link between Nice and the Cinque Terre is rather slow--over 5 hours. There are quite a few options, some using only regional trains and some using costlier InterCity trains for part of the trip. There seems to be not much difference in the duration of the trip; I guess the layovers are longer on the InterCity routings. So you may be able to save some money on that trip by sticking to regional trains. Just consider both the cost and the total travel time when you make the selection.

I'm not a nightlife person, so my way of occasionally connecting with other people is to take walking tours.

Mondo Tours runs some shared (public, as opposed to private) tours in the Naples/Sorrento area. One or more of them might be useful for you: https://www.sharedtours.com/. When I want to take a tour like those Mondo offers, I email the company ahead of time, expressing my interest and advising of the time period when I'll be in its area. Tours may not run every day if demand is light, and it's helpful to have the company's input before making plans for other activities that could conflict.

If you are fully vaccinated, and have had your booster shot, you no longer need a test to enter Greece. If you are not boosted, then your second vaccine shot can be no more than 270 days prior to the date you enter Greece.

I would drop Greece after Italy and go to Slovenia instead. Ljubljana is a great. You could add in Split in Croatia or Zagreb. Another option would be Ljubljana, Vienna.

Going to research all the French cities mentioned in this thread. Yeah I just checked Spain and Greece’s Embassay site it seems like they removed the testing requirement for vaccinated/boosted Americans. I’m convinced now to drop Greece from this trip if I can’t give it a full 7/8n. I also feel Greece is more work and may not be easiest for 1st time Europe visit.

Now if I decide to add Spain instead is it best to go FRA-ITA-ESP (via Rome most likely) - Paris or swap Spain and Italy?

First of all, your number of nights are significantly to little for places like Paris (you start there and end there, but will lose time coming and going). You need five full days in Paris.

Nice is OK, but the South of France has so many wonderful places to visit in that neighborhood (St. Paul de Vence, Cannes, Monaco, Aix-en-Provence, Arles and Avignon.) You need much more time to do that area, but spending three days only in Nice, is a no.

CT is good, but frankly, compared to Florence, it pales. The big three in Italy are Venice, Florence and Rome. 3 nights in Venice is good, but you would need four in Florence and five in Rome. The Naples area, which you identified is great and visit the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Pompeii and stay in Sorrento. The Amalfi Coast is comparable to CT, but a bit better.

I would skip going to Greece, it adds way more travel, probably another flight. Yes, you can do Athens (a must) in 3-4 days, but not Athens and the islands.

Save Spain and Greece for another trip.

Instead, spend more time in France and Spain. Take the high speed train from Paris to Lyon and go down the Rhone River valley, or head to Strasbourg, and visit the Alsace region before you head to the South of France.

The thread went too long without mentioning Florence. I purposely am avoiding it, based on RS programming it just doesn’t interest me. I don’t expect to cover Paris in this trip but since I’m going back in May for Roland Garros I was ok with shorter number of nights here. Yes I agree Greece would be too rushed I need at least 12 nights for Athens and 3 popular islands.

I prefer German WW2, Cold War history over paintings, churches and architecture

Agree with others, skip Greece ... how about substituting with Munich?

Arrive Paris and go straight to
Nice 4n (add a day trip to Monaco)
Cinque Terre 3n
Rome 4n
Sorrento 5n (Amalfi, Capri, Naples, Vesuvius)
Venice 3n
add Munich 5n ... lots of WWII history, including day trips to Berchtesgaden (Eagle's Nest) and Dachau (be prepared for a very emotional day) ... possible night train to Paris?
Paris 5n ... I like the Normandy idea, you hear all about D-Day but have no idea of until you actually see what they had to do to achieve their goal ... the cemeteries (both Allied and German) are beautiful but quite somber when you think about why they exist.

And Eurail has a 10% off deal through March ... they have a 7 trip in a month pass which fits your trip nicely, but good luck finding a price unless you input your itinerary (I don't like their new site, the only way to get a price on any pass is to input an itinerary and then they tell you what to get)

I have 5 nights planned for Munich in June (warmer weather) my big concern with April and Germany is the cold dreary weather. I’m leaning towards putting nights in France or Spain. So me entire trip will only be those 2 counties and Italy.