Solo Travel - Paris or Rome? Or...?

Alexis, All of the other cities would definitely be great places to visit, so it's difficult to recommend one over the other. Paris would fit well into the route between London and Amsterdam, and Berlin would be fit well on the way to Budapest. Rome would be a bit more challenging to fit in, but it's absolutely a great place to visit. At my age, I can't offer any advice on "clubbing", so I'll leave that to the others. One question though - is this your first trip to Europe? Happy travels!

Hi Ken, I would like to take a train sometime when I am in Europe but it seems air is much cheaper in most cases, so Paris and Berlin both have that going for them. I do not mind the hop down to Italy even if it makes things a little pricier. I have been to Europe once before, when I was 16. I spent three weeks as an "exchange student" in a small town outside of Cologne and of course had a blast. I visited Aachen, Bonn and Frankfurt while I was there, as well as a few other smaller cities to the south.

Hey Alexis, Sounds like your going to have a great time!
My family and i travelled to both Paris and Rome last year. Both are very cool. However, i preferred Rome. You will get your fill of the Art/architecture your looking for, plus the food is awesome. We stopped into a pub one night and met people from Amsterdam, Scotland and Norway and just hungout. If you can manage a stop on the way to Rome i would recommend anywhere in Tuscany the hilltop towns are great, pictures dont compare. Paris on the other hand seemed a little stuffy and crowded. Choosing between the two i would do ROME! If you have any recommendations on solo travel let me know, my son is travelling to Berlin for about a week before we arrive in June, he's 18. I'm hoping he can stay in a hostel and meet other solo travelors. I havnt been to Budapest what will you do there? Erich

Tough call - you may have to flip a coin! My personal preference is Paris because to me it's the most beautiful major city I've seen. But you can't go wrong either way.

I vote for Paris. My favorite place anywhere. It has everything you could possibly want. You will love every minute there and won't want to leave!

To add to my earlier post, I really like both Paris and Rome but each city is somewhat different in terms of not only "character" but also history. Ideally, it would be great to spend even a short time in both cities.

Could you change your itinerary a little? If you went to Paris from London, you could take the Eurostar under the channel. I am doing that next month and can't wait and it is a faster trip than flying. Then you could either fly or take a train to Amsterdam. I, too love both Paris and Rome, but agree Paris fits in better with the rest of your plans. Paris has great public transportation and fabulous art, architecture and history.

If you are already in Scotland, why not go ahead and visit Edinburgh too? Great, fun city. I think you would also really like Berlin. Tons of things to do and see, great nightlife, easy on the budget, good public transportation, and of course history galore.

Haven't been to Paris yet (we'll be there next month), but I can tell you one major point in Rome's favor for you is that all the major sites are within walking distance of the historic center. It's a very concentrated city (and one of my favorites on the planet). But seriously, what a wonderful dilemma to be in. You really can't go wrong. Pick one, and don't second guess it.

Paris seems to fit better, especially if you can go from London to Paris (Eurostar) to Amsterdam (TGV), then fly to Budapest. The art and architecture are quite different. Paris is THE city for impressionists, Rome for Greek and Roman antiquities. I think Paris has more "atmosphere" and is more interesting to just walk around.

I would choose Paris, my favorite city in the world (so far)! It fits well into your itinerary and there is no shortage of all the things you want to do. In addition to many things being walkable, you have the metro, buses, and my personal favorite, the batobus. It is a boat-bus that has multiple stops on both sides of the river. It will take you to within walking distance just about anywhere you would want to go, with the exception of Montmartre. Rome would be a bigger challenge to get to logistically. I have been to Paris 2 times (soon to be 3) and to Rome only once. My impression of Rome is that while it has a lot going for it artistically and historically, it is not an "easy" city to enjoy. It was stressful and noisy, and I am not easily stressed. It was our arrival point in Europe, so maybe if I had been more rested I might have enjoyed it more.

Thank you all for your replies, everyone helped me gain a little insight into how I want to approach this burdensome question (haha). I have decided on Paris... there is simply so much to see there, and the temptation of Versailles in full summer is impossible to resist! I hope everything is in bloom! Also I would like to ease into travel a bit, and everyone seems to say Paris is a little easier than Rome... I have not traveled very much before, to Germany when I was 16 and solo to St. Croix USVI in October. But I do love it so much! I think I will follow some of your kind advice and change my itinerary to travel from London, to Paris, to Amsterdam. This will also give me a break between visiting friends/family... something I will probably welcome. Erich, I am sorry, I do not have much advice about solo travel... I would encourage him to stay in a hostel as well, I think the common experience would be encouraging, especially to an 18 year old. I hope I can go to Berlin while I am in Europe, it seems like a fantastic, exciting city. I am going to try to take a day trip to Edinburgh, but I have family in Glasgow so that is the primary purpose of my visit there. I will follow up with my itinerary for the curious... I need to buy my tickets soon but I just had a little wrench thrown into my plans. It may be August... either way, I'll be happy to leave the Texas summer a little early this year. Happy travels, and thank you all again.

If you want romance go to Italy, the young Italian me are right out of GQ. Or maybe you could do 3 days in Amsterdam and split Rome and Paris with the extra two days say 4 and 3 or 3 and 4? Rome has a lot of History going back over 3,000 years, Paris has great museums packed into a small area. Gee you have it tough kiddo, a lot of people would like to be in your shows. Buon Viaggio!

Since you mention in your original post you are trying to stay within budget, I think it's wiser to stick with your Paris plan and not go out of your way trying to squeeze in both Rome and Paris as suggested by Jerry. Every time you switch locations it eats up money and time. Italy deserves a separate trip on its own when you have the time to mix in its cities and some of the countryside or coastline as well. Besides, the men of Paris are no schlubs when it comes to romance and looking good - they can certainly hold their own against the Romans. They are definitely better at getting flirty without being quite as "hands on" as the Italians (which can be a little unnerving if you are traveling as a solo female). Paris has some excellent clubbing opportunities, and I think their public transportation is vastly superior to Rome if you want to cover a lot of ground easily and you aren't hesitant to use the Metro (easy to figure out, even if you don't speak French) or RER lines. Although there is plenty to see that is concentrated enough in the center of Paris that you can cover lots of ground on foot, too. Since your main interest is art, be sure to check online before your trip what days certain museums in Paris are closed to the public (and also what days they may have extended evening hours, or monthly "free admission" days). This can help ensure you don't miss out on seeing something you really have your heart set on, and how to best avoid the big crowds and long lines that come out in force on free admission days.