I have been planning my trip from ~ Dec 17th - Jan 4th, in Europe. I started with planning for Italy only, and drive/train from city to city and have a relaxing vacation. However, I thought I may get bored being in Italy the whole time, although different areas.
My second thought was to fly back to US from Barcelona so it would "force" me visiting another country, though only for 2-3 days.
I am a solo traveler, by the way.
I will appreciate any suggestion/comments.
Thank you
Personally I would not get bored with a month in Italy but you will need to work around some dead time - Dec 25 and Jan 1. I would not go to Barcelona if only 2-3 days. It is not worth the extra travel effort and cost. If you go, plan at least five nights, perhaps over the 1st.
I can't imagine being bored in Italy. There's tremendous variety there. And I also agree that there's so much to do in Barcelona that it doesn't really make much sense to fly there for just 2 or 3 days. Dealing with airports takes a huge chunk out of your day. And then you'd have to turn around and go back to the airport to fly home just a few days later. Not a plan I'd like to adopt.
Where are you going in Italy?
Limiting yourself to 3 destinations in Italy and with 18 nights all up ...
Dec 17. Arrive Rome (4 nights)
Dec 21. Train to Florence (5 nights)
Dec 26. Train to Venice (4 nights)
Dec 30. Fly to Barcelona (5 nights)
Jan 04. Depart Barcelona
I agree with the guys, you shall definitely add some days to your Barcelona stay. if you change the arrangements, mind everything will be closed in Bcn for 25,26 December and January 1st. There will be some small grocery shops open and a couple of cafes, but pretty much everything will be dead.
There is a lot of diversity in Italy, though you can find pizza and gelato everywhere. A lot depends on what you want to see and do. If you are mainly interested in food, drink and nightlife, it's quite possible that adding time in Barcelona would be good. I do agree that you should plan on at 5 nights there to make it worthwhile.
Thank you for the suggestions;
My plan could be: landing in Milan (3 nights), train/drive to some Alpine towns (2 nights), drive to Manarola (3 nights), Drive to Pisa => Florance (3 nights), drive to Rome (3 nights), train to Naples (3 nights), Back to Rome (2 nights).
I am sure I need to tweak a little bit.
I'm not sure there will be much happening in the Cinque Terre over the holidays, and Manarola is not the liveliest of the five towns, even in summer. The weather may be rather disappointing and possibly not suitable for hiking.
I hope we have some folks on the forum who've been to Liguria at that time of year; I have not.
Milan (3 nights), train/drive to some Alpine towns (2 nights), drive to Manarola (3 nights), Drive to Pisa => Florance (3 nights), drive to Rome (3 nights), train to Naples (3 nights), Back to Rome (2 nights).
Personally, I wouldn't allot 3N to Milan (maybe not any), I wouldn't plan on driving in the Alps in winter (snow, ice, long delays, difficult conditions), I wouldn't visit the Cinque Terre in winter (much is closed, and long, dark evenings), I wouldn't drive around Tuscany in winter (short days, long dark evenings), and I wouldn't split my time in Rome (wasted time changing locations). Driving in Europe is not especially relaxing, and driving in and out of cities can be miserable - traffic, one-way streets, hard-to-find street signs, the dreaded ZTL (zones you will get hit with huge fines if you inadvertently drive into them) and parking can be nightmarish and is usually expensive. Trains are comfortable and fast.
My plan could be: landing in Milan (3 nights), train/drive to some Alpine towns (2 nights), drive to Manarola (3 nights), Drive to Pisa => Florence (3 nights), drive to Rome (3 nights), train to Naples (3 nights), Back to Rome (2 nights).
I would do Venice, not Milan.
CT likely to be quiet and restful at that time of year, if that is what you are looking for.
Might be better to skip CT and do Milan , if you really want to see Milan
From Florence, go to Naples and then end in Rome
This maintains most of your itinerary, but doing all your Rome days at the end is more efficient.
Thank you for comments:
I see that you are talking about some "dead dates" in Barcelona (e.g. Dec. 25, 26, Jan 1st), but there was no comment on potential dates in Italy. Does that mean that Italy would not have everything-shut-down dates during Christmas season?
Thank you.
One person noted dead time around the holidays generally. The other one lives in Barcelona and was giving you local information. Any time you are planning to visit during holidays, you need to research what will be open and plan around that.
I'm also going to be in Italy over the holidays. We're spending Christmas in Rome and will be hanging out in the Jewish Ghetto that day. In Florence the Palazzo Strozzi and a few other things will be open NYE and day. I also found restaurants in both cities that will be open over the holidays though we made reservations just to be safe. But any hotel with a restaurant would probably also be reliable though I'm not sure if that's the sort of food you want. I also concur on visiting Venice over Milan. I was in Barcelona last year ... not my favorite city. Wish I'd only spent a couple of days there and then explored the smaller Spanish towns. But that's me. I like medium and small cities best. If you want a list of a few holiday events, here are a few I found while poking around online:
Rome:
• Christmas market at Piazza Navona in Rome: one of the most famous markets, open from December 8th to January 6th from 10 am to 1 am in the morning
• Christmas market at Piazza Re di Roma: Nordic Christmas market, open from December 18th to January 6th from 10 am to 19.00
Venice:
• Ice skating (might still have the market up) at Campo San Polo
• Maybe a Christmas Village/Market in Campo Santo Stefano (near Accademia bridge)
• Food Market Campo San Vio
Florence:
• Ice skating at the Parterre, near Piazza della Libertà
• http://www.flightfirenze.it/en/luoghi/mercato-centrale-di-firenze/
• NYE concerts & events in Piazza del Carmine, Piazza San Lorenzo & the main one in Piazzale Michelangelo
Seriously, you can't get bored in Italy :)
Instead of Cinque Terre, maybe do Pisa and Siena ...
Thank you jenibryan. I had an impression that "most people" are not big fan of Milan. However, to m, visiting Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II would be a must. As I heard about it and was amazed by its structure.
I have already booked my ticket to Barcelona. I am going to stay in BCN for a couple of days and then drive to other cities. Since my total travel time is 20 days, I may find it interesting to visit part of french (small towns), or even fly to Rome, too. But for now, I plan to take my time in Spain.
I may do Italy next year or during summer (I will be on my own for three months, as I am a faculty member).
I really liked Grenada in Spain. It's a bit far from Barcelona. We flew in. But the Alhambra was easily the most impressive sight I've ever seen. Next time I'm in Spain I'm going to do a road trip along the coast then head to Seville.
Thank you;
I plan to do road trip, too. I have planned for Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo and two other close-by sites ( a day trip from Madrid). I am thinking if I should do road trip along the coast and then head to Madrid, or to visit Madrid and then head to the coast line.
My current thought: 4 nights in BCN, then fly to Madrid (4-5 nights) that includes 2 day rips. Then head to Cordoba (one night), Sevilla and or Granada (2 nights), then drive along the coast back to Barcelona.
Any thought?
You need to look at train times and fares as well flight availability and fares. You'll find that the AVE (fast train) gets you from Barcelona to Madrid much, much faster than a flight will, because you won't need to spend time traveling to and from airports. At this point, I don't know which will be cheaper, because the low-priced rail and air fares have been available for a long time, and a lot of the cheapest tickets have ben bought by others. In addition, your trip overlaps the very busy holiday season.
If you see attractive fares available for your travel dates now, do not assume they will still be available a few days from now; that is not necessarily the case.
I checked the train a couple of hours ago; It is really fast.
Since I do not want to be in a dead city on 25-26, I was thinking
BCN: landing 17th (stay till 21th), then:
Madrid and staying for 5 days and do day trip the two dead dates.
Is there any thought on that. I can do Valencia and spend the dead dates on the coast line and then head to Madrid. But, also, I do not like not to see the Xmas market in Madrid.
