I need to pick up my 17 year old daughter in Barcelona mid August to come back to US. My sister and my mom (80) want to come along and we hope to spend 10 days making it to Spain. Long walks/hikes are too much. Should we enjoy the scenery from a train? Start in Paris..or Amsterdam? River cruise? Or come around from italy...Any ideas would be great. ..sample itinerary better!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23267 posts
Ten days is not that long. But Amsterdam to Paris to Madrid to Barcelona would absorb most of that time. Scenery from trains other than Switzerland is not much to talk about. Often the train is buried in hedge rows limiting the sightseeing and the high speed trains make it difficult to enjoy any available scenery. It goes by to fast. A river cruise would be ideal if you mother has some limited mobility. If she is tired she can stay on the boat and you can go sightseeing. And there are some ocean cruises that end in Barcelona that could work. When do you have to be in Barcelona?
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32206 posts
jean,
Before offering suggestions or sample Itineraries, it would help to have some idea which areas you're most interested in seeing? Paris, Amsterdam, River cruises and Italy are all great ideas, but which to choose will be limited to some extent by your very short time frame. Keep in mind that August is peak tourist season in Europe, and it's going to be HOT and BUSY. It would be a good idea to get some arrangements in place soon.
A few thoughts......
- Amsterdam is good for a few days, but I wouldn't spend longer than that. It's also the farthest place from Spain, so you'd likely have to use a budget flight to reach Barcelona.
- A River cruise would be good but keep in mind that the shortest cruises are about eight days, which would use up most of your time. I'd suggest leaving that for another trip.
- Does your 10 days include your two flight days? Where are you flying from?
- Starting in Paris would be good, as you could spend several days there and perhaps a few days in Nimes or one of the other cities on that route, and then travel via fast train to Barcelona. That should take care of the time.
- If you'd rather spend a few days in Italy, you could start in Florence perhaps with a day trip to Siena or Lucca, and then use a flight from there to Barcelona (try Vueling as they have direct flights). I didn't suggest Rome as that often involves more walking while Florence seems more compact and therefore easier to get around.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
17915 posts
With an 80 year old mom in AUGUST, I would do a river cruise. You have to know that most of Europe is uncomfortably hot in August and air conditioning in Europe, when it does exist, just isn't comparable to US standards. I would fly to Nuremburg and cruise to Budapest. You've seen all those beautiful Viking advertisements on TV. Problem is I just checked the Viking website and they appear to be sold out for August this year; but there are other cruise companies.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
There is also Viking River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. Many beautiful towns to stop on the way.