Paris and Italy Trip Planning

I definitely suggest your #2 itinerary. The less you have to pack up and change lodging, the better. If Vernazza is not a must do, I’d even suggest splitting your time between Paris and Rome, with maybe one day trip from each of those cities. That way, you’ll have time to experience those cities. Sounds like a wonderful trip!

We included Paris and Rome in our first trip- great choices! I would stay with 5 Paris to ease in for sure. I would also not miss Florence- I would save Vernazza and that extra travel hours for a future trip with other coastal towns, northern Italy, and the south of France even!

After going to Italy and Paris/Normandy in October. I would say skip Pisa and Vernazza and add 2 days to Florence and 1 day to Rome or Paris. From Florence they have an all day tour where you can visit Pisa or Cinque Terre from “Walk about Florence” which was really good to us. They went to Pisa, Siena, Winery and San Gimignano for there best of Tuscany tour. Just an idea.

Our favorite museums were:
Paris- Louvre, Orsay, Rodin
Florence- Uffizi, Academia, Bargello
Rome- Borghese, Capitoline

Go with the simplified version this way you won’t be as rushed and miss something you wished you had seen. When you sightsee on your own you need time to figure out how to get there, etc. Furthermore, it’s best not to move around too much so you can get to know a place. For example, you could easily spend five nights in Paris and not take any day trips. You need a minimum of four nights in Rome if you want to visit Vatican City. You need a minimum of four nights in Florence if you want to take a day trip to Siena that I highly recommend. The Cinque Terre requires two nights as well and if you plan on hiking add a night per hike.
Try to get an early flight from ORY to Pisa. Lock you your bags at the train station and check out the Leaning Tower and Field of Miracles and then go to Vernazza and sleep there your first night in IT.

I'm also wondering why you are devoting an entire day to Pisa. The entire Field of Miracles complex only needs a couple of hours. You could easily fly there from Paris, see the leaning tower, etc, and be in Vernazza before dinner.

But I agree that both Pisa and Vernazza could be deleted, with those days given to Paris, Florence, and Rome. You could do a day trip from Florence to Pisa if it's that important to you. With time left over that day for a stop In Lucca.

You list your time as DAYS. What about nights?
Always list nights when planning an itinerary.
Two nights = one day
Pisa for a full day does not make sense. Are you staying overnight?
Five days in Paris does not give you enough time for two day trips. Is it five days or five nights? Five nights = four days. Choose Versailles or stay in Paris all four or five days.
You will deal with jet lag when you arrive so don’t plan much that first day. Take a boat ride on the Seine.

If you don't want to feel rushed / stressed, I would save Paris and focus on Italy.
But if you really want to see Paris I would personally do the following:

• 4 Days in Paris (day trip to Versailles)
• 3 days in Florence (day trip to Pisa)
• 4 Days in Rome

I agree that trying to take in the Cinque Terre might push you too much. The time you've got allotted for Rome is a little short

Try 5 days in Paris
Fly ORY to Pisa and take the 1 hr. train into Florence where you stay 2 days.
Spend the balance of your time in Rome--a very, very important city.

Just got back from Italy and Paris. I like the second itinerary. People told me to cut Cinque Terre from ours because we only had two nights, but it was magical and I'm glad we stayed. There's not a lot to do except hike and eat so we could have gotten bored (or not, who knows?) but with 2 nights, it would only be worth it, in my opinion, if you stay in Vernazza proper or one of the other 4 terre. La Spezia is cute, but sleeping by the ocean in one of the most beautiful villages in the world is a real pinch-yourself moment.

I feel that Florence, in particular, is not great for short visits even though the center is very walkable. There is immediate beauty, but I feel it takes a moment to find the soul and I wouldn't want to try in 2 or 3 days.

I'd only stay in Pisa overnight if I wasn't going to try to "do" Pisa, but just get my sea legs and snap a few tower photos and get a gelato on my way through. (We flew from Pisa to Paris ourselves.)

Rome got my heart and I feel like I could live there. We took a tour we loved in Rome- very out of the ordinary and so much fun. It was our favorite thing we did in the city and it's a pay-what-you-want thing-- and in the evening when it's harder to find things to do since the big sites are closed. ( https://www.guruwalk.com/walks/38348-free-walking-tour-of-ghosts-and-mysteries-of-rome ) We were there for 4.5 days and we were able to do a ton in that time, but I probably should have taken it a little slower for our enjoyment.

We loved staying in the Pantheon area and transportation was easy from there, but we could walk pretty much anywhere. If you have any very specific questions about logistics that I could possibly answer since my memory is fresh, don't hesitate to message.

We only stayed in Paris 2 days and I'm mixed on whether I wish we canceled it and stayed in Italy. I think we probably would have had a more enjoyable trip over all, but it's hard to wish you never saw Paris even though we had a tough go of it there. I think our short stay may have had something to do with our inability to connect, though Paris seems to be a very love/hate thing for people. If you let me go back to Paris or pretty much anywhere in Italy tomorrow, I wouldn't even blink choosing Italy. If you do go to Paris, we enjoyed 59 Rivoli a great deal and I know it doesn't make he cut for many visitors.

I have to agree with taking out Pisa and Vernazza... •4 Days in Paris (day trip to Versailles)• 3 days in Florence - Pisa is not worth a day trip from Florence I'd rather go to Sienna or San Gimignano •4 Days in Rome

You can see Pisa and then move on, that helps a little.