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how does this itinerary sound?

I'm doing a trip to Europe with my sister who has never been to Europe. How does this sound? the trip will be in June.

Paris -3d
French Riviera/Monaco - 3/4d
Milan - 2d
Florence -3d

I've already been to Paris, Milan, and Florence (twice) before.
I personally want to try somewhere new but my sister has never been and she likes museums/art and I know she would love . I would definitely love to go back to Paris though. I couldn't think of other destinations that would be an easy trip to/from France. I'm open to other recs as well. hank you!

Posted by
717 posts

A few questions on your itinerary. Do the days in each location include travel days? Are you planning to go by train? Flying into Paris and out of where?

Posted by
557 posts

It's an aggressive itinerary. You're going to be spending A LOT of your time traveling on trains, driving or, going to/from airports, hope your sister enjoys that part of travel.

You have Paris as three days, does that mean three ENTIRE days with travel days being separate?

Posted by
1077 posts

You will spend more time traveling and changing locations than you will enJOYing Europe.

Choose either France OR Italy, not both. They both deserve and require that amount of time.

Posted by
1321 posts

I could get behind Paris, French Riveria and Florence and skip Milan but it is a lot to add Italy to France, but I'd check flights from Nice to Florence and fly home from Florence. Maybe Start in Florence then fly to Paric fly to Nice and fly home from there.

Posted by
1077 posts

I posted above, but just re-read your post. This June, 2 months away? Have you booked air and hotels?

Posted by
28247 posts

There are at least six art museums in Nice alone. Then there's the Picasso Museum in Antibes, the Galerie Maeght in St-Paul-de-Vence, the Jean Cocteau Museum in Menton, the Leger Museum in Biot and the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer. (I haven't been to the last two.)

I'd do less moving around and allow more time at each destination. If you don't want to overdose on art to the same degree as your sister, there are other things to see in each area you've identified.

Posted by
7312 posts

I am not sure Milan would make it to my 'list' for a first European trip, and that's said as someone who likes Milan. Plus, it does not flow very well in terms of route planning.

Without changing the whole "spirit" of your trip, I would rather add a day to Paris, and a day to Tuscany, or to somewhere between Nice and Florence, or to somewhere between Paris and Nice.

As a guideline:
- Paris, 4 to 5 nights
- Lyon, 0 (i.e. "skip") to 2 nights
- Nice, 3 to 4 nights
- Cinque Terre, 0 to 1 night
- Florence, 3 to 4 nights

making sure to keep 3 or 4 stays, not 5.

Posted by
8322 posts

balso nailed it, reduce traveling. I have been to Paris 6 times for a total of about 3.5 weeks and still haven't seen everything.

Posted by
304 posts

Hmm, somewhere relatively close to Paris, where you haven't been (at least according to your message), that would appeal to the museum and art lover?
London
Amsterdam
Belgium (Brussels/Bruges/Antwerp)

Any of these would be great for the first-time traveler to Europe.

Posted by
20 posts

Thank you for the amazing suggestions and agree with above.
I have a follow-up question. What is the best way to get from Paris -> French Riviera -> Florence?

Also, would you recommend renting a car in South France?

Posted by
1035 posts

Dani,

You can see the Riveria and Monaco without renting a vehicle. I have visited several times and I love staying in Antibes and going to some of the smaller towns and having a vehicle is handy. Driving is not the problem for me, parking is always a challenge.

To get from Nice to Florence, you can drive, but taking a rental from France to Italy with drop off fees can be expensive and it is about 6 hours. Train will take you about 6.5 to 7 hours. Flying is 3.5 hours + depending upon your layover.