barcelona, venice, and paris

I would stick to Barcelona and Paris. Flying between those cities will be the best option based on cost, time and logistics. I would look into "Open Jaw" flights and minimize backtracking to Barcelona. Figuring in the cost of the flight back to Barcelona to get your flight home will add to the cost and cut into time and make the travel home an even longer journey. You could do all three cities but you'll spend a lot more time traveling than touring.

Actually, with this plan, you don't have 8 days to tour, you'd actually have 5 days because you lose a day each time you change cities, particularly widely separated cities – packing and unpacking, checking in and out of hotels, getting to and from train stations or airports, getting lost, etc. Add to that the time spent getting oriented in each new city. It doesn't leave much time for actually touring. With 8 days, I would do one city, with day trips from there. However, many people would do two cities, and that would allow you to get a taste of those cities.

Start by getting a guide book and writing down all the things you want to do in each place, even if it is 20 things in each place. Then narrow down the top 10, then top 3...then start plugging in your activities on a calendar for the days you will be there. This will give you a really clear picture of exactly how long you need in each place to really experience the town. I could spend all 10 days in Paris with a day trip to Versailles and other areas in France. In Paris alone there is so much to do. We did Italy (Rome, Cinque Terre and Florence) and Paris in 18 days and felt we could have spent more time in each place. I started our trip with 3 other places but quickly pared it down based on my own wish list (no Pompeii, no Amalfi Coast, no Nice, no day trip into London).

I have to be honest. Pick one city and do it. 10 days sounds like enough time, but it really is not as there is so much to do in each city. I love Paris and could spend 10 days just in Paris and 10 days just in Venice. ( I have not been to Barcelona but heard it is really cool). As others have said, you need to take into account, flight times, train times, getting to and from train stations and hotels, and jet lag. You don't have 10 days when you take traveling time as stated above to take into account. Plus there is so much to see, walk around, have meals and drinks in cafes, visit museums. Take Paris, you have tons of museums, walking tours, boat ride on the seine, day trips outside of Paris to Monet's gardens and Versailles. Going to the to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Versailles can take a full day or at least most of the day. If you have never been to any of these cities, you will be not experiencing all there is to see in each city and quality over quantity is much better and you will feel satisfied that you experienced one of these amazing cities. There is tons of walking and standing, so you must take into consideration resting during your stay. Venice is an amazing city where you can go to an opera, take boat rides, walk all around the city, go to wonderful churches and museums. Take a pub crawl one night and just sit in a cafe and people watch other days. There are also other small islands to visit where they make lace and another island where they make the glass. So what I am saying is get the RS guide books from you local library and see what interests you and plan a stay. Take a look at flickr or the RS scrapbooks and you will see photos of all the places and things there are to see. This will give you a better understanding of what I am trying to explain. Why I think one city is the best way to go. I understand you want to see it all, but the time factor is just not there. I hope this helps and you don't find me too critical. I have traveled to both Paris and Venice and look forward to going back. I have so much more I want to see. Have a great time.

Re: "...then back to Barcelona since the flights seem less expensive that way...." Are they really that much less expensive that you would give up a whole day of your too short vacation, or did you take into account the additional cost of train/plane/car to get you back to Barcelona? These three cities are not that close to one another. If it were me, I'd also pick just one and see it thoroughly, rather than just be in any one place long enough for a taste.

I would fly directly to Paris, even if it means going via Barcelona. Spend a week there and then fly to Barcelona for a couple/few days before flying back. Paris has much more to see and do than Barcelona. I think you'll get more bang for your buck concentrating on a couple of places rather than dispersing your time, energy, and attention trying to see everything in a short amount of time.

3 cities in 10 days? I think you lose too much precious time to travel, and would most likely only get one full day in Venice. Choose just two cities. I'd go with Paris and Barcelona, and consider the train between them to see some countryside.

Day 1 - Depart home
Day 2 - Arrive Europe in the am
Day 3,4,5 - City#1
Day 6 - Transfer from City#1 to City#2
Day 7,8,9 - City#2
Day 10 - Depart Europe / Arrive home

As the others have pointed out, visiting three widely separated cities in only a very short eight days is not realistic. Each change of location will have a cost in both time and money, and in some cases the move from one city to another will require the better part of a day.

Using open jaw flights would absolutely be the best idea with such a short trip. While it may seem cheaper for return tickets to Barcelona, by the time you add the cost of flights and other transportation it likely won't be much (if any) cheaper than open jaw.

My suggestion would be to limit your trip to only two cities, and Barcelona and Paris would be the logical choice (Venice is the outlier). Rather than flying on that segment, you might consider travel by high speed train. For example, there's a direct departure leaving Barcelona Sants at 09:20, arriving Paris Gare de Lyon at 15:53 (time 6H:33M, reservations compulsory). That's a very reasonable travel time, and I doubt that a flight will be much (if any) faster when all is considered (trips to & from the airports, check-in, security, boarding & deplaning, etc.). Travel by train will most definitely be less of a hassle and much more relaxing and pleasant.

I agree with what everyone else has said. Pick two cities and enjoy them. Having been to all 3, I would say Paris is #1 and you could stay there the entire time. I was in Barcelona this summer and Venice about 10 years ago. I'd rather go back to Venice, but check to see how crowded it will be there...Good luck! @abroadabroad2015

Thanks everyone for your input! All your comments are very helpful. Based on your recommendations, we'll spend 2 days in Barcelona and 5 days in Paris. We'll have to check out the train that goes from Barcelona to Paris. Maybe that will be part of our experience as well! : )

You may be able to pre-purchase tickets on the train I suggested earlier by using the www.capitainetrain.com website. You'll have to register on the site first, but it's very user friendly and very easy to buy tickets. You should be able to print the tickets at home and have that part of the trip all arranged before you leave home.

As you may be aware, most cities in Europe have more than one train station (Paris has about six stations). The solution I mentioned earlier departs from Barcelona Sants and arrives at Paris Gare de Lyon. You'll have to use a Taxi or whatever to get to & from the stations to your hotels.