To fulfill a decade-old promise, my wife & I are taking our 16 year-old niece on her 1st European trip. We arrive in Rome on morning of June 10th, then plan on also visiting Florence and Venice. From Venice, we are thinking of renting a car and driving either east through lake country, Switzerland and through Burgundy before spending the last two nights in Paris. Or, drive north from Venice over the Brenner Pass into Austria and then Germany to see Bavaria (Ludwig's castles, etc.), Black Forest and cross the border into Alsace before heading to Paris. We depart Paris late afternoon of June 25th. Any suggestions with our itinerary--including lodging suggestions--would be much appreciated. We are completely flexible and typically travel by the seat of our pants, though realize that might not work well with a teenager in Europe in June. (Note: My wife & I are fairly seasoned European travelers.) Thanks!!!
Posted by
8176 posts
Rome, Florence and Venice will eat up the better part of 10-14 days. I recommend Rome 5 days, Florence 3 and Venice 2 at a bare minimum. Better would be a day more at each. If you have time after the Italy part of your trip, it will only be a few days, so I suggest going for what is close. I don't like driving in Italy since there are so many traps that may result in fines. Just read the Italy section of this blog on that subject.
From Venice, you could take in Austria, either go through the Brenner Pass or a more eastern route. Rail connections are good.
You could see the Garmisch/Fussen area then on to Munich or include Salzburg, Austria and Berchtesgaden, Germany, ending up in Munich.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
Two things you need to be careful about:
You may be (probably are) trying to do too much for the time you have. You don't have 15 days, you have 14 (don't count your arrival day). With 14 days, trying to do Italy and France can be a bit rushed. You will need to be careful not to overdo the number of places you try to visit.
If you rent a car in one country (Italy) and return it in a different one (France) you will be hit with a very high fee for that (higher than you think). Investigate this now, before your plans start to firm up, to avoid shock and disappointment.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5398 posts
Honestly don't love either if your choices, given a 2 week vacation period. First, you'll really be shortchanging Paris if you spend so much time getting there. Second_ the drop off fees on your rental car could be astronomical if you rent in Italy and drop off in another country. Since you likely already have your flights booked, I'd recommend spending the bulk of your time in Italy (9_10 days in the 3 cities you've cited), then flying to Paris for the rest of your time. 5-6 days in Paris should be great for any 16 year old girl, especially on her first trip.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
You might be able to do all that's on your list, if
You had another week-10 days.
Consider this as a first time trip for a 16 year old.
Rome 4 nights. She's going to be jet lagged and probably a bit out of sorts her first day.
Train Rome-Florence. 1 1/2 hours. 3 nights.
Train Florence-Venice. 2 hours 5 min. 2-3 nights.
Fly. Venice-Paris Orly 1 1/2 hours. 3-4 nights Paris.
She'll have a much better trip and so will the 2 of you.
ETA: make sure her phone is in airplane mode and she only accesses wifi on the train or in your lodging. She can talk to her friends using whatsap or FaceTime keeping in mind the 7 hour difference in time.