First Timers: Critique our Plan Please!

Big question - by two weeks, do you mean 14 days, or 17 days? Are you including your arrival and/or departure days? I would suggest that you choose France OR Italy; that way, you can have a less-rushed time within whatever country you choose. With fewer destinations that are (I assume) closer together, you'll also reduce your time and costs for transportation from place to place. Re missing out on the best deals, yes, you might have, but you'll be travelling to Europe, and your time frame is what it is! Which places you choose to travel to depends on your interests. What do the two of you like to do? Art and culture? History? Any particular art style or historic era that you're interested in? Shopping? Outdoor activities? Fine dining, or local cuisine? Also consider whether you want to spend some time in the countryside - other than Provence, you've only mentioned cities.

David, I definitely agree with the others, and believe you'll need to drop some places from the list. One thing that stands out from your proposed Itinerary is that there's no allowance for travel times between locations. This will be at least half a day in most cases, and longer than that with some (eg: Provence to Venice). One night stops are usually not worth the time (IMHO). As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door, as that will provide you with a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. Some of the topics covered include Itinerary planning and Rail skills (both of which are important). Given the very short time frame, some compromises will be necessary. As the others have suggested, using open jaw flights would be a really good idea (inbound Paris, outbound Rome). While these may initially cost more than "return" flights, they also save in that one doesn't have to spend the time and money to return to the starting point. One other thing to keep in mind is that you'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart so your time in Paris will actually be four days. The last day will be spent on the flight home. For "mid range Hotels", check Rick's country-specific books, as there are LOTS of good suggestions for reliable Hotels, as well as lots of sightseeing and transportation info. I'll post one suggested Itinerary in another reply (running into the text limit in this one). continued....

David - Part 2..... Day 1 - Flight to Paris Day 2 - Arrive Paris (get settled, jet lag recovery) Day 3 - Paris Day 4 - Paris Day 5 - Paris Day 6 - Flight from CDG - MXP ( EasyJet - €77, but will vary - BE SURE to read the Terms & Conditions so that you're aware of the "rules" when travelling with European airlines - also, PACK LIGHT so you don't face hefty overweight luggage charges - Usually only ONE carry-on item of the approved size and weight is permitted per passenger!) - train from MXP to Florence - time will vary from 2H:38M to 3H:17M, depending on which train you use - this will be mostly determined by the arrival time of your flight - some trains have one change) Day 7 - Florence (One day here could include a short day trip to Venice - travel time using ES/AV trains is 2H:03M each way - if you purchase the tickets prior to midnight the previous day, you may be able to qualify for the discounted "Mini" fares) Day 8 - Florence Day 9 - Florence Day 10 - Train to Rome (travel time is as short as 1H:35M - you might want to plan your departure from Florence so that you have a short time for sightseeing in Rome - also, if you arrive ~14:00, that will be about the right time for check-in) Day 11 - Rome (I'd recommend having a look at the Italy or Rome Guidebooks and plan your touring carefully so that you don't waste ANY time) Day 12 - Rome Day 13 - Rome Day 14 - Flight home This is only one suggestion. Happy travels!

Hi David, Congratulations on your first trip. All of your destinations are exciting places to visit. My suggestion is that Provence for one night and Venice for one night are NOT a good idea. Options: Skip Provence Skip Venice Take two nights from Paris (a poor option)
Otherwise, you will want to fly open-jaw into Paris and return from Rome (or the other way round). We are also from the Philadelphia area. We usually find that we can make the best travel arrangements using Newark (often Continental). Don't hesitate to leave a city for a future trip. You will return. Mid-May is a great time to travel. Enjoy.

Agree with george on all accounts. If you were to cut Provence, 2 nights in Venice would then be worthwhile, but not for one IMO. I would look at flight options between France and Italy that may be a worthwhile time-saver. My personal limit for the train is 6 hours, anything longer than that and to me it's probably worth it to fly. Should be some good budget options available whether you're flying into Venice or Florence (more likely Pisa) Otherwise I think it looks good. Smart to have given yourself at least 3 nights in the bigger cities, but a city like Venice does need time to be savored, hence why it is better to save it for another time if you can't devote at least a couple days to it. Regarding if it's too late, only you can know that. I'm a crazy OCD style planner so yes to me it's too late but that's my own neuroses. I'm sure people have done a trip like that in even less time. Good that you're getting on it now, though. With airfare especially I would book ASAP because with gas prices so unpredictable, the airfares seem to be increasing by the day. Have an amazing time :)

David: This is not a bad itinerary, and certainly more do-able than some proposed itineraries i have seen. Now you will have to decide for yourself after getting advice, but for what it is worth, here are my suggestions. The first poster mentioned flying "open jaw" or "multi city" into Paris and out of Rome. Yes, absolutely. You don't want to backtrack a 1000 miles.
Now Paris at 5 days is good. Remember to keep the arrival day light, mostly walking around in the sunshine (hopefully!) and soaking in the sights of Paris...the Champs Elysee, the Luxembourg Gardens, the banks of the Seine. Save the museums for later. You mentioned that you will see a friend in Provence. If this is a definite, then you might as well add enough time to really enjoy Provence. Take the TGV to Avignon and pick up a rental car. Spend perhaps three days seeing Avignon, Arles, the Pont du Gard, the hills and little villages around Mt Ventoux. Drive to Nice, drop the car...spend a day or so and fly Easyjet to Rome. Save Venice and Florence for another trip. Really, you could have a wonderful trip just in France, flying home from Nice or Toulouse, but if you are set on Rome, you want to fly thereits a very long train ride from the South of France.

1) Your itinerary includes almost every place we stayed on our first trip to Europe, and in the same order. However, we had 3 weeks. There is a learning curve and you will be spending some of your trip on the steep part of it. If you could possibly add more time to this trip you would not regret it. 2) You should investigate flights to Italy, the rest can be done by rail. If you can organize enough time in Provence to make that part worthwhile (its a great destination), possible air gateways to check for budget flights include Marseilles, Lyon, and Nice. 3) I don't think you should fret about missing deals. 21 weeks is a good amount of time. I do think you should further refine this itinerary, adding more time and/or making some hard choices, resolving that stuff soon. I also would point out that there is a category of lodging between "mid-range hotels" and hostels, namely budget hotels. Especially outside of Paris, one star or even no-star hotels can be adequate and even charming in their own creaky ways. Of course it all depends on your own priorities. Sounds as though you will travel in May - - a really wonderful time for a trip like this.

I would scrap Provence, one day is not enough. Add that night to Venice. If you really want to see your friend in Provence, then take a night out of Florence and add it to Venice. Venice is truly different, see the biggies but also take some time and wander into the city away from the Grand Canal and St. Mark's. Venice in some ways is at its best at night after the day trippers have left. As for Florence, I think it is a victim of its own success and is now greatly overrated. When my wife mentioned having been in Florence in 1970, a store clerk said,"Oh, you were here when it was nice." With the time you have in Paris, please seriously consider a day trip to Normandy. The lower level of the visitor center at the American Cemetery is deeply moving. We as Americans owe it to ourselves and to those who died there to make the visit.