Traveling to Europe for the First Time

Well congrats on so many things. Getting married, first trip to Europe, planning multi-city entry and exit points, and realizing that you need to think about time on location vs travel time carefully. You are off to a great start in your planning.

That said you are about to get a lot of advice, some of it conflicting. Don’t be discouraged. Think about what you and your fiancé really want from the trip. Focus on your priorities and travel styles.

My very general advice is think about 3 nights at each location with a travel day in between each location. That really means about 3 major stops in two weeks. Of course you can add more locations, but the trade off will be time on site.
You may like a faster pace , and if that is your preference, go for it.

The hardest challenge for anyone on a trip to Europe is to edit their itinerary when there are so many interesting places to see. Wishing you the very best of trips!

Here's a good place to start:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/itinerary-tips

Congratulations on both your first trip to Europe, and your upcoming nuptials. My first question is when are you going? This may greatly affect answers. You already know that you will need to contact the Italian Consulate for info on legal requirements that you will need to fulfill. And there's the matter of reserving a date and time at the city hall of which ever Lake Como town you will be in. That may affect the timing of the whole trip.

2 weeks is not a lot of time to visit all these places, given the travel time required between each place. You would want to fly from Paris to Milan, and then take a train to whatever town on Lake Como. That will take you half a day. Same for moving to wherever you choose for your Tuscany stay, and then to Rome. For that reason, if the trip is 14 nights total, including your transatlantic flights, i think you would be looking at only 3 nights in each place. That will only give you 2 1/2 days in each place to sightsee and get married, so no time really to squeeze in more stops along the way.

cfowler7395,
Congrats on your upcoming wedding and trip!
We have friends who married in Italy. Just so you know, there are some rules and regulations about getting married in a foreign country. Our friends had some hoops to jump through to ensure the legitimacy of the marriage. I recall that it involved some weeks to arrange. I suggest you check with the state dept. here and the Italian govt. to ensure the documentation you need is in order. It isn't like Vegas, or even many states, where you get the license at city hall and have the ceremony. I would hate to see you disappointed in your plans.

Re what to see.....Paris is the world's most romantic city in my opinion. A honeymoon there would create great memories. Please consider giving Paris a week. And perhaps 2-3 days around Lake Como, plus a few days in Rome. Paris and Rome are unlike the big cities in the US. They each have an ambience that you have to be there in person to appreciate. Romance is in the air!

Have a wonderful trip!

You will want to do a lot of research on getting married in Italy. (Or anywhere internationally.) It is very complicated. There is a lot of hoop jumping. We have family members who wanted to get married in Italy and another in Greece. Both ended up going to Vegas right before their trips; but had the ceremonies they wanted internationally, but the legality of it being in the US. Not trying to be discouraging, but realistic. A quick run to your local US courthouse for legal purposes and you can have the dreamy Lake Como ceremony with all the trimmings your heart desires that can be the anniversary date you celebrate. Especially with you never having been to Europe, just taking a trip to Europe the first time is a big thing. Enjoy, congratulations and all the best on your life adventures!

When will the trip & wedding happen? Assuming you have the date "locked in" for the wedding, and are building around that date, a lot of logistics come into play for the other bits. Seemingly, you are planning to drive some/all legs of the trip. I think I would drop Paris or Rome (or both) and fly into Milan. Maybe make a northern Italy itinerary instead. Car or train or car & train become much more doable with that more focused area.

I love Rome and Paris, so putting one or the other in for half the trip would be nice, but having both plus all that other traveling seems like it would end up being very rushed, and neither Rome nor Paris would get the attention they deserve.

I would go to more cities and get more out of your trip.

I like Paris myself and have been there many times, but I was dismayed to take other people who were not impressed at all. Indeed I had to admit that the whole area from the Eiffel up the hill, you have to step over all the junk trinkets being sold on blankets. The city can be a little dirty in places. I would not even bother with the Louvre - been there twice and did not enjoy it - but the smaller museums are nice. And Rome even worse. Crowded, somewhat dirty. More overt criminals, but both places are pickpocket magnets.

So my suggestion is - this which involves a train ride of 2-4 hours each change.
Paris 2-3 nights.
Strasbourg/Colmar 2 nights
Interlaken/Lauterbrunen 1-2 nights
Stresa 1 night (on the train toward Milan)
Bellagio/Varenna 2 nights
Milan - a few nights then return from Milan direct to Boston

2 weeks is not a lot of time to visit all these places. I totally agree.

I suggest that you pare down your places and not waste a lot of time traveling between places.

Cities like Paris, in my experience need more than three days to see it well. I suggest you plan on 4 or 5 days there, then move on toward Switzerland, visiting Strasbourg, France or the Alsace region then into Switzerland. Lake Como is nice, but I just love Interlakken (it is in the middle of the country). Also, be sure to visit Lucerne. End your trip in Milan and fly home using an open jaw ticket.

italy is wonderful, in fact my favorite foreign country. Plan another trip later to see Rome, Florence and Venice with possibly the Naples area as well. You need two weeks just for that.

cfowler7395,
I get the feeling that Lake Como speaks to you two as a place you would like to wed. It IS beautiful and romantic, so you should have your wedding there if you want. We all here have our own ideas, and you can follow them or not, but don't drop Lake Como if it is important to you two. As for the rest of your trip, I believe most of us on the forum favor a slower, non-hectic type of travel, with fewer location changes than someone like Railrider prefers. Your traveling style is up to you. Since this is your first trip to Europe, my suggestion is to pick two or three places at most (including Lake Como if that is your wedding venue). Since you are flying in to Paris and out of Rome, those are your logical choices for spending a few days. The big three (London, Paris, Rome) are the big three for a reason....each city is magnificent in its own way!
Whatever you decide, have a wonderful time!

OP, I completely agree with Judy. You selected the places you want to visit for a reason, and there is no reason to change them for other places that some of the previous posters have suggested as substitutes. Their suggestions are well meant, and may provide a basis for future trips. However, the suggestion to eliminate one of your stops has merit- allowing you , especially as first timers who are also having a wedding, to have a little less stress. Given your original plan, omitting Tuscany, and adding those days to your other cities might be worthwhile.l

Standard bit of air travel advice -- fly into one city, fly home from another, both flights on a single ticket. It is called a multi-destination itinerary and must be arranged through a multi-d search function. These are not two separate flights. This routing usually does not cost more than separate flights and maybe less, and it saves a lot of time

"A quick run to your local US courthouse for legal purposes and you can have the dreamy Lake Como ceremony with all the trimmings your heart desires that can be the anniversary date you celebrate. "

As an aside: In most of Europe the church wedding has no legal status. So there is no "I now declare you man and wife" pronounced in a Church. You get married at a local town hall at a convenient date, and then later have, if you wish, a church ceremony and a party at another date.

Everybody I know had the civil ceremony and the church ceremony on different dates, as it is often the only practical way. And everyone I know that married in church uses that indeed as their date for the purpose of wedding anniversaries.

We all here have our own ideas, and you can follow them or not, but
don't drop Lake Como if it is important to you two.

I'm in this camp too but I'm also thinking that 4 locations are one too many and would go with Paris>Lake Como> Rome. Time of year will factor into the plan as L. Como isn't a good choice for the colder months; when are you thinking of taking this trip? Also, as you're "planning on eloping", you're not thinking of a ceremony with friends/family in attendance, right? Advice on the legalities of tying the knot legally in Italy has already been provided; there's a reason many couples do the legal thing at their nearby US courthouse and something merely ceremonial abroad.

3 locations will give you more than enough to research before you go. We're all different but my DH and I enjoyed Paris/Louvre and Rome very much. Bustling cities? Sure, but fascinating places, both of them, and romance is what you make it. 2025 is a Jubilee Year for the Catholic church in Italy, Rome may be busier than usual, and it can be pretty hot from late string to early fall so you'd want a hotel with air conditioning. Same for Paris in summer.

Side note: you wouldn't by chance be a Star Wars fan? Just wondering if that may have influenced the choice of Lake Como for your I dos (see Villa del Balbianello). :O)

If you are thinking of getting married in Europe, you need to check the laws for marriage. My wife and I lived in Germany in 1989 when we were married. Getting married in Europe was not easy. In fact, we found that Denmark was the only place where we could have it done.

Be sure and check with the laws in Switzerland if that is where you plan to marry.

My very general advice is think about 3 nights at each location with a
travel day in between each location. That really means about 3 major
stops in two weeks.

Generally agree with @carol on this planning advice. Lake Como to Florence and Florence to Rome are both half-day train rides, so you will get time for some sightseeing on your travel days.

You may want to consider a Paris to Milan flight for getting to Lake Como.

Congratulations, best wishes and have a wonderfull life together.

Depending when you are planning (later than mid year 2025?) you may need to apply for ETIAS visa waiver. Learn about ETIAS from their official .eu website. Congrats and happy travels!