As a part of a two month trip to Europe next year, I am considering booking a series of week long vacation rentals in a number of larger cities. All of these cities have excellent public transportation connections to other places we want to see. They are also interesting places on their own. My SO and I are a classic "tortoise and hare" couple. I am the tortoise, and can happily spend 12 hours sightseeing if I get an occasional break in a cafe. SO goes at a faster pace when he is out, but he needs more downtime, and is cranky when he doesn't get it. I thought a home base approach, with day trips to nearby places if we (or I) feel like taking them, would be a good way to deal with this difference. We are city people, so living in the middle of a town will be very much like our life at home. The downside is that we will be in the smaller towns along with the rest of the tourists, and won't have the opportunity to explore early in the morning, or in the evening. Will I regret this approach? A number of the rentals I'm looking at have four or five day minimums, so I could book the shorter minimum, and plan to stay in hotels in a few smaller places for two days at a time. Would appreciate your thoughts.
Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
Personally, this is my favorite way to travel. My husband is more of a "tortoise." A benefit of this approach is giving both of you opportunities to do as much or as little sightseeing as would make each of you happy, another benefit is being a temporary local, and sometimes meeting locals. I still have my favorite little lunch place in Florence and favorite Pasta shop, all because I rented an apartment there. Paris, Florence, Rome, Nerja, Spain, and Taormina in Sicily are places where we've rented apartments for a week or more and really enjoyed our time and got to know each place pretty well.
This works well, also if you have two couples with different interests. It's a lot less expensive to rent a two bedroom place and share the rent than to pay for hotels where you're forced to eat out all the time.
Even the husband and I enjoy having some "space" from each other, with a nice little outdoor terrace or garden, living room, etc., rather than a cramped hotel room (where we can get on each others nerves lol!)
The "mix" of spending an entire week with day trips, then to a hotel in a smaller town for a day or two is something that we've always done for trips lasting 2 -3 weeks.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10605 posts
That's what we do also, stay in one city for at least a week and take day trips. We can still get to places by 8 a.m. or stay as late as 10 p.m. This works well with long summer daylight hours. We tend to spread the day trips out every other day, with a down day in between to recuperate and visit locally.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Don't limit yourselves to cities.
I think a small-town base works really well, for instance, in Provence.
Cites will have the best rail connections, but if you limit yourself to rail you will miss a lot of great stuff. And over the course of 2 months (Wow, that is fabulous!), I urge you to get out into the countryside.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7897 posts
Having 2 months is great, but with less time (or even if we had more time), compromising on some middle ground has worked for us. We got such a great deal on a week-long apartment in Madrid last fall that, although we did a day trip to Toledo (missing that town in at night and not having additional days there), we could justify spending a night in Segovia during that week. The second week of our trip involved 1- and 2-night stands elsewhere in spain. It probably depends on the locations, but a mix of longer- and shorter-term stays, and larger urban and smaller rural areas gives some variety.
If one of us needs more downtime on a given day, we decide on a time and place to meet up again, which eliminates (some of the) stress.
Posted by
OP
Oregon
121 posts
Just to be clear, we will also have a week (with a car) in a very small village in southern Tuscany, a week in Positano on the Amalfi coast, and 10 days (with a car) in the mountains and foothills of Northern Italy, so it's not like I'm planning to book 8 straight weeks of big cities. The big(ish) cities I'm looking at are Bologna, Florence and Rome.
Posted by
Lake Oswego, Oregon
1327 posts
It sounds wonderful - can I come along?
Posted by
roswell, ga, usa
1501 posts
You've picked the right three big cities! Envy here!!! Why don't you spend a week in Sicily? Taormina makes a great base, as you can see lots on that side, Mt. Etna, Syracusa, Catania....and it's SOOO beautiful! You can rent a nice apartment from:
legendofsicily.com As pretty as Amalfi Coast, but the driving isn't as perilous! You sure you want to drive the A.F., or just take boat trips? I met someone (young) who said he felt he had his life in his hands the whole drive LOL!
Posted by
OP
Oregon
121 posts
Donna, I tried and failed to talk SO into Sicily. It sounds like a fascinating place to me, but it just didn't appeal to him. If we end up liking Italy as much as I think we will, we will go back in the future, and I will insist! We will rely on buses and ferries on the Amalfi coast. I have read all about the roads there, and they sound scary.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8312 posts
Mary Sue:
With eight weeks, you could take a rather leisurely trip--and still cover vast distances if you mix in travel by budget air travel. I get a little bored in one country after 10 to 14 days.
We now stay in B&B's, apartments or agriturismos outside the big cities--commuting into the city for day trips. There are often as many great travel sights in the suburbs as there are in the city--as we found out in Rome.
Our last trip was to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Our previous trip was to London, Florence, Venice (day trip) and Rome. We've also traveled to Munich, Western Austria and Venice many, many times.
We now like to travel to cities that complement each other and are geographically close. Like Munich, Innsbruck, Venice. Or, London, Paris and Barcelona via the new fast train. Or, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna. Or, Berlin, Dresden, Prague. Or, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki via ferry. Or, Ireland and Scotland. Or, London, Brussels, Amsterdam. Or, Rome, Amalfi Coast and Sicily.
With 8 weeks in Europe, you could spend time in 3 or 4 of these 2 week circuits. And you will see a lot and still be somewhat rested. I'm just thankful that my wife travels light, and that there are budget airlines with $100 one way tickets all over Europe.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20023 posts
You will find that certain cities have natural matches. Since you didn’t say where you wanted to go I will throw out one as an example. If you have the money in your budget and think out of the box a little these day trips and overnight trips can be more than you would expect.
The idea of an apartment is perfect. You check in you see some of the Hub City, you take a day trip or an overnight trip or a two night trip; then you come “home” and sit in at a sidewalk café and discuss and relive the experience. Another day getting to know your new home, then back on the road again….. Repeat.
Naturally (if you poke around the forum you will understand why I say “naturally”) I will use Budapest but only because I know enough to be accurate. These are some the trips we have taken out of Budapest. They cross half a dozen cultures and range from desert to snow caped mountains.
The same sort of concept can work out of London, Paris, Rome, Vienna or Prague or …….
From Budapest
Excellent overnight trips within about 3 hours by cheap train
Eger, HU (wine country)
Pecs, HU (ancient mosques now buried in a Christian country and ancient Roman Ruins)
Gyor, HU (baroque town and the Archabbey at Pannonhalma)
Kosice, SK (Baroque European Capital of Culture – 2013)
Vienna, AT
Melk Abbey, AT
Tihany, HU (ancient abbey and artist town on the Lake Balaton)
Day trips
Gödöllő, HU (Palace of Empress Maria Theresa of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Szentendre, HU (Artist town on the Danube river. 45 minute train up, 45 minute boat ride down the Danube back)
Vizsegrad (a town and hunting castle on the Danube)
Further afield but under $400RT on a non-stop direct flight of no more than 3 hours
Istanbul
Moscow
Jerusalem (I think more like 3.5 hours)
Paris
Still have some money left in the budget – rent a car or car and driver?
Drive to Slovakia and visit the Banska towns and the High Tatras 4 hours not counting stops to sightsee
Drive to Romania and visit Timișoara 3.5 hours not counting stops to sightsee
Drive to Zagreb, CR 3.5 hours not counting stops to sightsee
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
This is always my big dilemma: base and daytrip, or move every 2, 3 or 4 days (some places longer. like Rome).
In two months, you can mix it up. Some apartments, some hotels, some large cities, some smaller towns. I travel for about three months at a time and build in a few stops that are totally unfamiliar to me and have not much to do - a couple of churches, a museum or two, pretty gardens (out of my comfort zone), waterfront - and do almost nothing that the locals don't do. That might drive your SO nuts, though.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20023 posts
I like to try and book my trips around special events, holidays and festivals.
But I didn’t show how it could be put together. For this you would be renting an apartment for 14 nights at a pretty reduced rate because of the length of the stay (true with most apartments in most locations). Let’s say about $70/night for a nice well located apartment. Of the 14 nights you will not be using it 3 nights but I think the discount will offset that pretty well. You get to travel carrying nothing more than day packs or small pieces of luggage (leaving the bulk in the apartment). We have done a trip very similar to the following and we have done one that took us to Moscow for Orthodox Christmas mass, Slovakia fishing, Bulgaria Fishing, Istanbul carpet buying….. etc. And again before I get beat up for pushing Budapest again; you can come up with this sort of thing from any major city based around countless festivals and holidays.
Saturday, December 13 depart US
December 14/15 in Budapest
December 16 fly to Jerusalem for the first day of Hanukkah. $350 RT
December 17 Jerusalem
December 18 fly back to Budapest
December 19/20 Budapest
Sunday, December 21 MAV Nostalgia train in the Pullman car with dinner on the return trip to Vienna for the markets etc. Return that night. $70 RT
December 22/23 Budapest
December 24 Train to Gyor on Christmas Eve, midnight mass with the monks at the archabbey at Pannonhalma, spend the night in a converted monastery and return on Christmas day. Most of Europe is closed so might as well spend 1.5 hours on a train. $25 RT
December 25 return from Gyor and head for the Bathhouse – hot water surrounded by snow.
December 26/27 Budapest
Sunday, December 28 Return to the US
Of course there are no rules for my trips so sometimes they are conventional, first here, then there, then the next there, then ….. always ending in the same city.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15777 posts
Just to be clear, we will also have a week (with a car) in a very small village in southern Tuscany, a week in Positano on the Amalfi coast, and 10 days (with a car) in the mountains and foothills of Northern Italy, so it's not like I'm planning to book 8 straight weeks of big cities. The big(ish) cities I'm looking at are Bologna, Florence and Rome.
If you have a week with a car in southern Tuscany (will you be visiting Umbria too?), will there be enough around Florence for another week? I loved Bologna, but I was only there for a short stay. There is not a whole lot to see/do in the city. It's good for day trips to Ravenna, Ferrara, Padua, and perhaps others too. I would think about splitting that time 4 ways and adding Venice (you really can't enjoy Venice on a day trip, and it deserves more than 1 day anyway).