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Burano vs Cinque Terre

Hi all , this is my first time planning a trip to Europe . Below is my itinerary and I was wondering if I should cut my trip shorter in Florence so that I can go to venice and visit Burano. If I cut it shorter then I will have to skip Cinque Terra. Please give feedback to my itinerary. I am traveling in early June (14 days) with my family of 5 ( 3 teenage daughters and my husband) and we have already booked a return ticket from spore to London

Day 1 sat arrive london (night)
Day 2 sun London
Day3 mon london
Day 4 tue leave London for Paris
Day 5 wed Paris
Day 6 Thur Paris
Day 7 fri leave Paris for Florence ( not sure how the scenery is if take train) - maybe take plane to save time
Day 8 sat Florence (visit sienna)
Day 9 sun Florence ( shd I go to cinque Terre) ? Or shd I spent a day in Florence ?
Day 10 mon leave for venice ( later part of day )
Day 11 Tues day trip to burano
Day 12 wed leave to london/fareham (visit relative )
Day 13 Thur fareham
Day 14 catch night flight back home

Appreciate any advice I can have :)

Posted by
16240 posts

You plan to go toFlorence and Venice but plan to spend zero time visiting those places. Personally with the number of days you have I wouldn't bother with Italy at all. I would stay in Paris and London at least four nights each and devote the rest of the time to some more of England (Bath, Stonehenge, Cambridge, or what have you) and/or a bit more of France (Loire Valley? Lyon?or what have you). Italy is a major detour and certainly you can't afford to go by train, that's a full day going and a full day coming back.

Posted by
7209 posts

Why travel to a city that you never plan to visit? Why go to Venice to visit Burano. That doesn't make sense.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank u so much for your input!! Haha , maybe I was trying to please everyone in the family . I forgot to mention that one of my girls will be in Italy then .She will be there earlier than us and we kind of plan that we meet her in Florence and go back together . Will it be doable ? Shd I do away with cinque Terre and still go venice ( to get a flavor). None of my children have not been in Europe . This will be like a 'introductory' tour .

Posted by
11852 posts

we meet her in Florence and go back together . Will it be doable ? Shd I do away with cinque Terre and still go venice ( to get a flavor).

Doable? Not as you have laid it out. If you must meet her in Italy, do away with the CT and Venice and spend your time in-and-around Florence. Day 7 - fly to Florence; Days 8-11 Florence, Siena, rent a car and tour some Tuscan hill towns or take a guided tour thru Chianti.

Burano is cute but not for a whole day. The CT is magnificent, but requires more than a day.

Posted by
10744 posts

I agree with the others. If you have to go to Florence, stay there to see it. If I follow your itinerary correctly you have 5 nights in Italy. You have 2 full days (3 nights) in both London and Paris. You can barely scratch the surface of those cities in 2 days. I would add a night/day to Paris, since you will be returning London later in your trip. Spend 4 nights in Florence and do a day trip or two from there.

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It's a long train ride from Paris to Florence, and your time is limited. I suggest you fly.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks so much everyone for your kind advice and time going thru my itinerary . Really wish I have another week for this hols . I will discuss this with my daughters and most likely will skip Venice and Burano altogether . In fact I may go back to the original itinerary which is what Laura has mapped out . Thank u so much !

Posted by
11613 posts

If your daughter is in Florence already, it might be nice to fly in and out for a few days - she will probably have places she wants to show you, and that experience as a family can be priceless.

Posted by
1054 posts

Are you flying in a out of London? can you change that and say fly into Paris or Venice (if you want to go there) and out of London. Put London last on the trip.

Posted by
16895 posts

Agreed, you must cut something, and should fly to Florence (or Pisa) to save 9 hours on the train from Paris. The scenery by rail is standard countryside, with just an hour or two near the mountains. If you go to Venice for only 1 - 2 days, I would not include Burano; it's not the highlight of Venice. Cinque Terre is a great place to relax with an overnight stay, but a daytrip from Florence is too rushed, especially in a plan that's already rushed.