We are going to Europe in September 2023. Going to visit London, Paris and Rome. Trying to decide if we should split time equally between cities or if one or two cities deserves more time than the other. Planning on hitting the major sites for our first visit in each city.
Thank You in advance!
A lot of folks will say, stay in one city for the 2 weeks. I think it comes down to what can you handle in that 2 week period. Time will be eaten away with transport between locations (Trains or Flights) and checking in & out of accommodations. Each city offers many sites to see & a majority will require reservations. So what is it you want or need to see in each location and can your realistically see them all and actually enjoy them or will you just be running from site to site just to say, "I've been there" and check off another item on your "Bucket List". In a 2 week block I have done a week in Rome & a week in Paris and another time a week each between Lauterbrunnen Valley (Switzerland) & Paris. I can't get enough of Paris, I make it a point to see something different each visit.
As mentioned on this site multiple times, I go with the mind set that, I will return.
Enjoy you trip.
In only two weeks, I would choose either London & Paris or Rome & Paris. You will lose a vacation day with every move you make. There are so many 5 star sights in each of those cities that will easily fill up a week’s stay.
There is no hard and fast rule, it just depends on what you wanted to see in each place. Make a list, and we can advise on if your day allotment is realistic. Keep in mind you will lose some time with the transit. Are you already booked to fly into London and home from Rome?
Are you thinking of major destinations for daytrips outside of Paris, like Versailles or Giverny?
Split your time evenly between each city, (allowing for transportation between them), but take away time from London and Rome for the time to see any other locations in France that aren’t in Paris.
Thanks so much for all of the advice. We already have our tickets to fly into London and out of Rome. The only day trip we are planning is Versailles. Thinking of doing 3 full days in London, 5 full days in Paris (Versaill
es) and 4 in Rome. That allows us travel time.
That seems like a fairly good division of time to me, although of course the other commenters are quite right that each of them could benefit from more time. But as a way to at least get a good initial feel for these cities and see a good selection of the major sites, it works. Presumably you're not counting your jet-lagged arrival day in London as one of your full days? If you are, I would take a day from Paris and add it to London.
I have been to these cities two times each.
Your decision depends on what you want, of course. Culture? History? Vibe?
All three have munificent offerings in culture, history, cuisine and personality. Paris has a slight edge in culture, Rome has an advantage in history and London is a favorite in regards to energy. Energy can be a plus or minus depending on your disposition.
If it were up to me, I'd spend a bit more time in Rome. In addition to culture, history and energy, I believe Rome has the most distinctive undiscovered neighborhoods. Americans -- if you are one of us -- don't know Rome as well as they do the other two cities. Rome has a great mix of high energy and low-key neighborhoods. Another plus is that Rome has wonderful warm weather. It isn't far from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Most people would say Paris has the best cuisine and wine, but I would vote for Rome in both of those. As mentioned, Rome has munificent offerings in culture, history, cuisine and personality.
Paris and London have all of the above, too.
Disagree with Douglas, so much travel take away from touring.
Better to stick to two countries geographically close together.
All three cites are wonderful, if you insist on these, pick two OR
If you do Rome, why not visit more places in Italy?
Rhondayohn,
Your trip sounds fantastic to me. The only thing I might ask is: do you like gardens and Monet? If so, try to go to Giverny as a day trip from Paris. Versailles is a separate day trip, so Paris would be most of 3 days and 2 days for these side trips.
I don’t want to pick a fight with the more experienced posters on your thread but I wish people would consider more carefully what the OP is saying they want. Let’s not try to convert everyone to our version of travel whether it be slow to soak up the ambiance or fast to hit all the highlights.
Enjoy yourself!!
One helpful thing I did when planning a London/Paris trip was (per RS Paris guidebook advice) look into which days certain museums I wanted to see in Paris were open... I forget which day of the week they are mostly closed but I only had 3 days in Paris and so was glad I adjusted my itinerary to accommodate this.
I especially wanted to go to the Museum d'Orsay and was told by a local to make sure and get my ticket in advance.
I did so the morning of (which is when I got the advice). It was a timed entry ticket. I visited on a weekday in October.
