My husband and I have never been to Europe but are planning on a London, Paris, Rome trip next year. We can only do 9 days (3 in each city) as that is all the time we can get off. Given our limited time, what are the absolute must sees in each city? We won't be renting a car so it needs to be things we can get to either by walking or by public transit.
Thanks,
Janet
Janet,
A couple of detail questions first, please....
You say you have 9 days, 3 in each city. Do you mean 9 nights in Europe? Or 8?
Are you counting your flight day as one of those 9? Or your arrival day? What about the departure day?
Fitting a meaningful trip to 3 world capitals so far apart in such a short time is a real shoehorn job, especially for a first trip when everything from how to use the toilet to how to order a meal will be a new experience and therefore time consuming.
What time next year, Janet, please? Summer, winter? July, August?
Is it just the two of you? Can you give us an age range (college age, elderly, young at heart but a bit creaky, 20 somethings, 30 somethings, etc), and do either of you have any mobility problems?
How are you intending to travel between the cities? Train? Plane?
Have you already bought your tickets from wherever you are coming from to Europe? Are they round trip so that you have to return to your first city to go back home (bad idea, wasteful of time and money) or open-jaw (also called multi-city) (good idea, saves so much time)?
There are all sorts of folk on this Forum with all sorts of specialised knowledge who will be more than happy to help.... just please give us a little bit to hang our hat on. We're not being nosey but without the answers to such questions our ability to help is really curtailed.
We'll get help you set up a wonderful trip....
First, any good guide book will cover the absolute must sees in each city. Since they have been around for a few hundred years they don't change. Hit you local library and check out travel logs, guide books, to see what appeals to you. You cannot cover it all in two days in each city so you must pick and choose. Second, book an open jaw ticket - into one city, home from another. Third, drop a city. You need a tighter travel schedule. Paris to Rome is a long jump. You will lose a whole day traveling. London, Paris, Amsterdam would make more sense. But as mentioned earlier, give us more information as to what you really want to do.
Yes, the first thing you need to do is draw out the days - it should look something like this (total hypothetical)
Day 1 - leave the US, overnight flight to London (almost all flights from the US are overnight)
Day 2 - arrive at 10AM (again, hypothetical!), this will be a very jet-lagged day, don't count on seeing much. Sleep in London
Day 3 - visit London. Sleep in London
Day 4 - visit London. Sleep in London
Day 5 - take morning train to Paris, arrive at 11AM (hypothetical!). Sleep in Paris
Day 6 - Paris, sleep in Paris
Day 7 - Paris, sleep in Paris
Day 8 - fly Rome, arrive in the afternoon. Paris to Rome is a very long train (12 hours maybe?) so you will need to fly
Day 9 - fly home. Obviously this won't work - you will have no time in Rome. Need to cut somewhere.
As you can see, 9 days, if it counts your flying days, is not really much time for 3 major cities. SO - first see how much time you actually have on the ground. Time seems to magically get lost when you are flying overseas and transferring between cities.
IF you really only have 9 days as outlined above, I'd pick 2 of the 3 cities. They are all wonderful, which 2 will depend on your interests. 9 days as outlined above really is 7 (Day 1 and Day 9 are both totally eaten up by flying). Add to that jet lag and the time it takes to get between these places and you're looking at less than 2 days actually visiting each place.
Must sees, overall (if you have specific interests these may vary), in my opinion
London: Tower of London, London Eye, Westminister Abbey, eat at a genuine pub, British Museum.
Paris: Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Seine Boat tour, Notre Dame, wander the Latin Quarter, Louve, Orsay
Rome: Colliseum, Forum, Pantheon, Vatican - museum and St. Peters
All 3 have plenty of other sites that could easily be must-sees, this is off the top of my head. Get a guidebook and see what your favorites are.
No car will be needed. In fact, it would be way more trouble than it's worth. These cities all have excellent public transit and you should stay in the center so you can walk to plenty of places anyway. ALL the major sites will be easily accessed by foot, bus, or subway.
Sorry we are both 30 and without children so it is just the two of us. The schedule would probably look something like this although again hasn't been officially booked yet. It will be in either April or May of 2016.
Friday April 29th 3:45pm Leave
Sat April 30th 6:35 am Arrive in London
Sunday May 1 London
Monday May 2 London
Tuesday May 3 Euro star to Paris
Wednesday May 4 Paris
Thursday May 5 Paris
Friday May 6 Flight to Rome (arriving at 10:40pm at night)
Saturday May 7 Rome
Sunday May 8 Rome
Monday May 9 Return home
It's your trip, and you can do just as you like, but if you want another opinion, here is mine: given that this is your first trip to Europe and you don't have much time (do consider if you can manage even one more day, as airfare is a big cost and doesn't change whether you stay for three days or three weeks), only do one or two cities, not three. Three cities adds lots of travel time and travel expense, to your overall trip. How much of your vacation do you want to spend sightseeing, and how much of it do you want to spend in trains, planes, airports, train stations, and getting to and from them?
To make the most of your time, I suggest London and Paris, in that order. Fly into London and fly out of Paris and take the Eurostar (booked as soon as you can to get the best prices) between them.
Don't rent a car; use public transit. Even if you spent your entire trip in London or Paris and wanted to take day trips, you can use the train and public transit.
I can't tell you what your absolute must-sees in each city are. Only you can know that. Why do you want to go to London, Paris, and Rome? There must be a reason you chose those destinations.
I suggest you get a big pile of guidebooks (free from your local library) and read up on your destinations and decide where you want to go. Maybe you'll add a fourth city. Maybe you'll spend all your time in the countryside of Germany. Maybe you'll go to Hawai'i instead!
Good luck with your travel planning.
OK, your 9 days do not count travel days. That's good. What you have, then is 2 full days in each city - the days in which you are traveling between them are mostly eaten up by logistics like getting to the airport, getting to your new hotel and getting settled. 2 full days is not enough to see all the highlights of each city. However, you can get an overall sense of each and see your personal top choices. Cutting one city would let you go more in-depth in the remaining 2. However, I think you can enjoy all 3 in the time you have - if you are content to just see your personal picks for the highlights. Get a book, a google search, and any other resources you can. Narrowing down what YOU really want will be crucial given the short time in each. Don't forget to budget time for just enjoying the atmosphere - sitting at a cafe in Paris or walking Rome at night with a gelato are both important experiences. Don't get so tied up in seeing this church and that museum that you miss the sense of the place you are in. Basically, you have a very limited time so planning will be more important so as not to waste time. Buy tickets ahead of time so you don't waste time in lines, stay in hotels that are close to where you want to be so you don't waste time in transit. Etc. Rick Steves books are great for this kind of logistical help.
I must agree with others. I would pick 2 cities only as you will be spending a lot of time traveling, checking in and out of hotels, waiting for trains, thereby wasting a day. Or pick one country, e.g. Italy, where you can take shorter train rides to the next city, and it will still be a totally different culture and experience.
Janet,
While only visiting two cities would provide a more relaxing trip, if you want a sampler of "the big three", the last Itinerary you posted should work fine. However, a few thoughts.....
Good luck with your planning!
Hello Janet Lynn. In the total number of days that you said you will be over there, I think your trip would be more enjoyable if you will go to two cities, not three cities. I recommend going to London and Paris, only. At London, I liked the Museum of London, and the British National Gallery (of Art) at Trafalgar Square. If you will be at London more than two days, you could walk through Windsor Castle (a palace of the royal family of Great Britain). I think seeing Paris requires three whole days. If you can be at Paris more than three days, you could visit two or three Royal (pleasure) palaces in the Loir Valley area. That could be a day trip from Paris, or one night at Amboise
I agree that with the time you have on the ground, you are loosing a lot by changing cities so much. I'd personally just do one and plan several day trips. But that's me. London and Paris are an easy combo mostly due to the Eurostar. However, in case you decide to consider just one city, I LOVE London. We've been so many, many times and I'd go back tomorrow if I could.
Day trips by train you could consider-
Windsor (1/2 or full), Canterbury, Dover (could be combined with Canterbury), Stratford-upon-Avon, Winchester, Brighton, Cardiff Wales, Bath, York, Oxford or Cambridge, (this is just a sampling, there are many more).
If you are really interested in London, send me a private message with your email, and I'll be glad to share an article I originally wrote for Carolina AAA's Go! magazine, then published on Trip Advisor (since aged out). It covers my favorite places in London and my favorite day trips.
London- Victoria and Albert Museum( its my one of my favorites)
-Imperial War Museum , my other favorite.. loved the sections on how people lived through the
wars,, and the Holocaust section.. very moving.
- Tower of London.. this is a "must see" to me.. it includes a free tour by the Beefeaters guards..
informative and funny at same time.
Paris- Eiffel Tower ( you don't have to go up) but if you do , the line for stairs is faster and cheaper .
- Notre Dame
- Louvre or Orsay Museum.. I like both .. but you don't have enough time
- River cruise.. see all the monuments lit up at night.. cheap and you can just walk up , no prepurchase
Rome- Coliseum and Forum
- Vatican Musuem
- St Pauls.. its pretty impressive.. no matter how many other churches you have ever seen
Of course there is TONS more sites in each place.. but those are some basics most folks like to see.
Whatever you do.. make some time to sit in a café in Paris and Rome and enjoy people watching an over priced café or glass of wine.. and in London, visit a pub.
It's only a small thing, but if you travel east to west (Rome to London) then you have a 2 hour time advantage as you gain an hour instead of losing an hour when you cross the channel.
Also, being spring, the weather will be warming from south to north - you may be negligibly luckier.
Day 1 Arrive Rome
Day 2 Rome - Colosseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo
Day 3 Rome - St Peters, Vatican Museums (Sistine Chapel), Pantheon, Piazza Navona
Day 4 Morning - Flight from Rome to Paris
Day 4 Afternoon - Sacre Coeur and Montmartre
Day 5 Paris - Notre Dame, Tuileries Gardens, Orangerie, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre (closes late Wed)
Day 6 Paris - Eiffel Tower, Luxembourg Gardens, Rodin Museum, Invalides, Musee d'Orsay (closes late Thu)
Day 7 Morning - Eurostar from Paris to London (gain one hour)
Day 7 Afternoon - Trafalgar Square and National Gallery
Day 8 London - Buckingham Palace, Horseguards, Whitehall, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, London Eye
Day 9 London - Tower of London, St Pauls, British Museum
Day 10 Fly home from London
I think your 3-city trip is a great idea for first-timers who are young, energetic, and enthusiastic. David's idea of starting in Rome to gain the hour instead of losing it should be considered. It also gives you more time on the flight - and more opportunity to sleep, provided you don't have to change planes in Europe. On the other hand, London is the easiest place to start, just because everything is in English.
Landing in Rome at 10.40 pm means you won't make the 10.50 pm Leonardo Express (last train of the day) from the airport (FCO) to the city. To avoid pitfalls, post your complete transportation plans here before you buy any tickets. There are several people here who can help you to choose the flights that will make the best use of your time and money.
I would start in Rome as well. One other reason for doing so is that there are more cheap flights from Rome to either Paris or London (check prices). Also airfare to Rome as been priced quite competitively lately.
You should also consider scheduling your trip leaving home a Thursday and flying back a Sunday, instead of leaving a Friday and returning a Monday. Generally, you are likely to get a cheaper airfare using those travel days.
Monday is also a day when many museums close, so that makes it an ideal travel day. With only 2 full days in each city, I would skip doing any daytrips at all (except for maybe Versailles in Paris).
For sure, do the Hop on Hop off bus in Paris on arrival - that one is actually quite good (don't bother in Rome or London, IMO, as I feel that you'd be wasting too much of your short time there). Be aware of where you'll encounter the most line-ups and pre-book, if you can: Colosseum, Vatican, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Tower of London (even in early May).
Leave home Thursday
Friday to Monday => Rome
- start your first day by walking around Rome, meandering between the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona (Trevi, Pantheon), maybe do a 'Rome by Night' bus tour
- pre-book Vatican Sat morning, walk Trastevere & the ghetto, plan a 'splurge' dinner
- pre-book Colosseum for Sunday, visit Forum
Monday to Thursday => Paris
- fly midday (noon-1pm) on Monday FCO to Orly or CDG (not Beauvais!)
- pre-book Eiffel Tower visit for Monday night, climb Arc de Triomphe
- Versailles (morning) and Montmartre (late aft & dinner) on Tuesday
- Louvre on Wednesday, plus Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle (open late Wed), boat on the Seine
- fit in one more scheduled visit on Thursday morning (ex: Orsay museum or Père Lachaise cemetery)
Thursday to Sunday => London
- train to London as late in the day as you can manage on Thursday, hit a pub
- go to one of the Saturday markets in the morning, a museum in the afternoon, and a pub crawl in the evening
- Tower of London early in the morning on Sunday, bus to Greenwich, boat back down the Thames to Westminster, and a show in the evening
Sunday you fly home
This would give you a fair amount of time to see the highlights in each of the 3 cities, and it's very doable as you can see from my suggestions... go for it!
As Ken mentioned above, I also recommended taking with you the Rick Steves Pocket Rome / Paris / London / guidebooks. :-)
This is all great advice and it has given us some things to think about. Where would suggest booking a trip like this? We've looked at package deals which seem to be the best value for your money, but my husband would also like to fly "premium economy" since it is a long flight and it would be nice to have the extra leg room. Suggestions?
The problem with package deals is that the hotels themselves may not be centrally located (usually NOT, if the package is price-competitive).
Believe me when I tell you that for these 3 cities, LOCATION is going to be everything!! Making sure that you are going to be walking distance, in one main sightseeing neighbourhood in each city, is the only thing that will make your short visit in each city worthwhile!
You are best booking the airfare, hotels and train separately.
Book the flights your partner wants.
Nail the flights first, including the one-way in Europe. There's nothing worse than finding that your simple flight between two cities is going to cost you an arm and a leg! So all flights should be considered at the same time before any money is put down for any.
For the hotels, make reservations that you can cancel later through booking.com, for each city's stay. Here's how:
Find 2 or 3 in each city that seem to be good deals for you, book them. Come back to this website and ask which would be best of the 3. Then within a day or two, cancel the ones you don't want, and keep the final choice. Whatever you do, don't hold on to multiple bookings for more than a few days... just for enough time to finalize and confirm your final choice.
The Eurostar booking will be the easiest to do next.
Once you have the flights, hotels and train, then the fun really starts!
Come back and post your thoughts and ask for advice for each individual city. Go to the Italy forum to ask about Rome, the France forum to ask about Paris, etc..
It's best if you don't lump the cities in your questions regarding hotels, sightseeing, getting around, attractions tickets, museums, etc..
Have fun!
Although the three city plan is doable, I agree (fwiw) with Kyra and Charlotte about just doing two cities. It seems that it always takes more time from Point A to Point B than anticipated and that is time you can't make up later. If you choose to do just two, then London and Paris are the most sensible.
jane.. where are you flying from. without your home city its hard to suggest which airlines may offer most or best options for you.
I am from Canada and fly on Airtransat.. they suck in economy.. but their prem. econ is ok and dirt cheap.. plus they are easy to book multi destination flights.. in one city out another with no real price difference ...
I am sorry.. I would never book a package hotel and airfare.. I see them all the time and the hotels are almost always out of center areas ( but they always SAY they are well located.. they lie) because you have such short times in each place location does matter more then someone staying a week in a place..
It is very unlikely package deals would be cheaper. Are you good at finding cheap airfares? Don't forget to try the cheaper airlines (Icelandair, Condor, Norwegian) depending upon where you live. They work, and foreign airlines actually start the trip before take off.
As to ground tours, I priced a Rick Steves tour as being about 3x the cost of doing the planning, lodging, food, and transport yourself for a recent trip to Italy. But it may take several hundred hours of pre-planning to end up in the same product as a tour, so you have to be committed.
Janet,
You don't need to book a "package deal" for the type of trip you're considering. With some help from the group here, you can easily do this on your own. Of course, if you'd rather have a more structured Itinerary, you could consider one of the Rick Steves tours (which are excellent). Unfortunately they don't have one that fits the three places you want to visit.
You'll probably find this is easier to arrange than you might think. Taking this one step at a time, here are some thoughts.....
I always tell people considering a first visit to Europe that "it's a different world over there, so you'll need to be flexible and adapt to the place you're visiting". There are a lot of subtle differences and the book I suggested above will provide information on those. A few examples - the way numbers and dates are written or the way the different floors of a hotel are numbered.
Good luck with your planning!
I appreciate everyone's responses. We are from Grand Rapids MI. From what we are seeing the problem we are having is getting from GR to the major city not necessarily the flight to Europe. We could potentially do a flight out of Detroit or Chicago (about the same distance) but we would rather not have to drive to either one of those cities to take the flight and would rather fly to those cities before catching our international flight.
Then you do have the issue of the likelihood of flight delays messing up your plans and making you lose your overseas tickets (and much money).
This would be the case if you bought separate tickets to get you from Grand Rapids to the gateway city.
There's really no point in asking "how much time should I plan for in between the flights?", since no one can guess. If the flight is cancelled or seriously delayed in Grand Rapids, you would simply be out of luck.
The best thing that you can do is to bite the bullet and book your flights ticketed all the way to/from Grand Rapids or simply drive to Detroit (a major hub with a lot more choices). If a snafu happens along the way, then it becomes the airlines' responsibility to finally get you where you need to be.
Booking - I am not one for package deals in general. Often the hotels are big business hotels away from the center. Or hotels that no one wants. This is not always true, but look carefully at them before booking.
I'd suggest searching for flights via kayak.com using the multi-city so you fly into Rome and out of London or vice versa. Compare doing it different days of the week if you have the flexibility - can save a lot. Once you see a good fare and schedule, go to that airline to book. They will offer premium economy on the booking page, you can look at the cost and what's included abd book from there. Always book thru the airline because you get better protection in case of delays etc.
So book flights, then you have your dates set.
Then hotels. trip advisor and guidebooks are places to start. You will REALLY want a good central location to save time. Think about what else you want - B&Bs where you are in a home-like environment? A fancy boutique hotel? Small guesthouse? Airbnb apartment? European hotels have more variety than I'm used to in the U.S. They are also often smaller rooms, and sonetimes don't have things we assume like elevators or air conditioning. Generally they do have bathrooms in the room now except for at the very budget end of the spectrum :) Check for things that are important to you. Compare rates and locations. Then Book hotel through hotels website if possible. Most I've seen have this capability, but obviously not all.
Re flying from Grand Rapids - how big an airport is that? Many airlines use it? If it has frequent flights to Chicago, you should be able to get an AM flight there, then an evening flight to Europe. I did this from Indianapolis a lot when I lived there. But I think Grand Rapids is smaller. On kayak.com enter grand Rapids as your starting. Then do another search with Chicago or Detroit as starting. It might be worth it to drive, or maybe not.
Janet,
I had a brief look at the flights in your area, and one option would be to use a one hour or so regional flight from Grand Rapids to Chicago, and then connect with a direct flight to either Rome or London there. That's the same method I have to use every year, and it's actually not that difficult. I'm not familiar with the airlines in your area, so don't know if it's possible to arrange code share flights. That would allow you to check your luggage in Grand Rapids and not see it again until you arrive at your destination in Europe. Hopefully one of the forum members from your area will be able to offer more specific tips.
Doing it yourself, planning and booking, may seem daunting but just approach it step by step.
1) Book airfare to Europe
2) Book hotels x3
3) Book airfare Rome to Paris
4) Book Eurostar Paris to London
5) Book ahead for any museum entries that may save you time queuing
6) Consider transfers airport/train stations to hotels
7) Study up on the sights and public transport in each city - sketch out your daily plan
8) Consider foreign currency requirements
9) Buy travel insurance
10) Pack and go
Reality check here - sorry to be the skunk at the picnic...
You have about 8 days in Europe.
Subtract 1 day each time you "change cities".
You will spend nearly a day of you life getting there- when you tally up all the time (and stress) of getting yourself ready on the big day, getting yourself to an airport, making connections (keep them to a minimum), getting yourself to your departure city for the long trans-atlantic flight, then you sit for 7-8 hours in an uncomfortable seat, overnight - do you sleep well in cramped airline seats with screaming babies right behind you (they're always there)? Finally you arrive in Europe after what seems like a whole day (and nearly is), you're excited but jetlagged and exhausted, everything's weird and foreign (even if you go to London where the language barrier is minimal), it will take a while to get oriented, get lost once or twice, finally you get to your hotel....and all you want to do is take a nap (which of course you shouldn't do). That first day, you are probably not going to be in great shape. If all goes well (no screaming babies on the plane, you're able to catch a couple hours sleep, etc.) your day may be OK, but you will not be 100%. For many of us the next day is also partially a zombie experience.
Any time you pick yourself up and move to another city (or country) most of that day is lost to logistics. If you are experienced and/or lucky, you may lose just half a day, but moving elsewhere kills your time.
Likewise, on your return day, the whole day is consumed by getting to/through the airport and making it on the plane, no matter what time the flight departs.
Given the above, I would suggest you think of this trip really as "about a week" in Europe. And trying to do 3 cities in that time seems like a bad idea. Honestly, I'd suggest just one location - any of your named cities have more than enough to keep you busy and happy for more than your available 7-8 days. If you have your heart set on doing more than one, then I strongly suggest you do London and Paris. You can connect the two easily and pretty efficiently by fast train - it's the one city-pair on your list that won't eat most of a day. Important note: fly IN to London, and fly home FROM Paris (the UK has some of the highest taxes and fees for departing flights - Paris also has non-trivial fees but you can save some money by arriving in London and departing for back home from Paris - the order you do this matters). It also makes sense to do the cities in that order from the standpoint of ease/difficulty and language barrier. The language barrier is pretty low, but dealing with a foreign language will be less intimidating after having at least spent a few days in Europe, getting used to European ways.
My suggestion would be to fly to London and stay 3 full days (not counting arrival day), take the train to Paris on the morning of your 4th full day in Europe, and stay there for the remainder of your time. Both wonderful places, and you would have enough days to stop and enjoy them without constantly rushing.
Good luck.
The only thing I can say about flying out of Paris (cdg...Charles de Gaulle) is most people recommend not doing that if possible. We flew in a few weeks ago and everything about flying in was super smooth...even passport took about three minutes. But when we left arrivals to go thru departures to get to the rer train, it was total chaos. There seemed to be construction going on, space was tight, people were crammed, luggage in the way everywhere, lines at the airline counters were incredibly long. I know uk may have higher taxes, but things go a lot smoother for us when flying Home From Heathrow. Wayyyy more organized.
Janet's 9 days are actual on-the-ground days. It's 11 days if you count flights. While there is a lot to be said for picking 2 places for that time, I think all 3 can be done. She will have 2 solid days in each city (not counting the days where she travels between them). Obviously, that's not enough to see everything, or even all the highlights, but you can get a feel for each in 2 days. It's a good overview, especially with good planning so time isn't wasted. It's a judgement call, I personally might stay longer, but I have been to all 3 before! Someone who hasn't might want to get a taste of each.
