My husband and I would like to take a trip Octuber 20th - 28th, 2017. We would like to start out in Florence for a couple days, go to Cinque Terre for a couple days, and then go to Barcelona Spain and then fly back to the United States. Is it all doable, and enjoyable as well, in eight days? Would like ideas on best restaurants, sites, and 'don't miss' kind of places. No hiking pls
Thank you!!
Gloria
I think you would be seriously shortchanging Florence if you give it less than four nights (three full days).
It's "doable", but I don't think it would be all that enjoyable. If I didn't want to hike I wouldn't waste my time in the Cinque Terre. There's not much else to it, unless you want to ride the train or take the ferry between the towns.
With 8 days I would stick to Florence and Tuscany. You can fly non-stop from Florence to Barcelona, which might work for you if you really want to do Florence and Barcelona in the same trip.
If you're traveling from the States, you won't be able to fly direct to Florence, getting to Florence will take up most of your first day.
This is doable. I am not a naysayer. People sometimes advise like you will not ever have the opportunity to go back again or you have the same temperament as they do or that you will like a place to the same degree as they do. Start the trip in Florence. Take the train to Monterosso or whatever town you prefer after you do research on the Cinque Terre. Then, the logical thing to do is either go to Pisa airport by train from Cinque Terre and catch the direct flight to BCN Barcelona. Or you can go back to Florence Airport FLR as they have currently two daily direct flights to BCN Barcelona. The latter option is the longer way, And you need a guide book that has been vetted to research and see for yourself what the don't miss kind of places are so you do not go somewhere someone recommended spending your own money and ending up not enjoying it. Get a guidebook to see what you think you may miss in 8 days.
8 days. From home to home? Or 8 days ( and nights) actually IN Europe?
Is it possible? Sure.
Would I recommend it to someone who really wants to experience Florence and Barcelona? Never.
Let's suppose you've got 8 full days and nights actually in Europe. Let's hope you arrive early in the morning. 2 days in Florence isn't very much.
Then almost half a day to check out of your hotel, train to CT and check into your hotel. Now you've only got 1. 5 days to explore CT. Half your trip is gone.
Getting to Barcelona will mean early morning trains to Pisa or Florence to catch a flight. It will be dinner time before you've checked into your hotel. A whole day shot.
That leaves 3 days in Barcelona.
If you leave out CT, at least you'd have more time in the 2 cities to actually enjoy them.
I've done both Florence and Barcelona in several trips since my family is in Florence and my brother in law lived in Barcelona. The two cities are connected by a daily non stop flight (one each direction with Vueling).
The two of them are doable in one trip, but I would consider it an acceptable trip only provided you have at least 3 or 4 nights on the ground for Florence and 3 or 4 also for Barcelona. So you could take an open jaw with arrival in Florence (via some European hub, since FLR has no direct flights to North America) and return to America from BCN. I've done exactly that from SFO, with Lufthansa (via Frankfurt both ways).
Ditch the Cinque Terre. They don't fit in the time available and besides the end of October is likely to be rainy. It's the raniest time of the year in the Mediterranean region, and that would be a waste.
Do not attempt to go from Florence (or even Cinque Terre) to Barcelona via land (or vice versa). The train will take forever and a week. Flying is the only reasonable option, from either FLR or PSA.
If you haven't been to Florence its a pretty dense area with so much to enjoy. Our first trip we stayed for over a week and that gave us time to get our sense of direction back and see Florence. We just got back in May from our second trip, this time spending 6 nights in Siena and 2 day trips to Florence as well as Pienza, etc. We are just now talking about visiting Barcelona next year and Provence and if I can I may try to include Italy again. I have 2 weeks to work with. I think counting nights is a revealing tool to let you see actual time to see a place, and .5 day -1 full day to change locations. So the 8 days you have can quickly get chopped down just by the logistics of travel, hotel check in and out, the unanticipated such as flight delays and weather. I think less pressure can help make a trip memorable. Try to anticipate what its like to arrive in a strange place, find a cab, train or bus, check in, get meals and recover from jet lag. I would definitely fly open jaw for something like this. Its a lot of money, some might say seeing more is better, some might say fewer transitions is better at getting value for the cost.
Its a personal experience and only you know your tolerance levels and your travel style.
the cost benefit ratio is way off here. You have time for 2 places max or you are spending a lot of money on getting there and then having nowhere near enough time 'being there'
By 8 days, do you mean ...
Departing USA in 20 Oct, and arriving back home on 28 Oct?
That means 7 nights away, with one of those nights spent on the plane, meaning just six nights in Europe.
I would think even 2 destinations maximum in the one country would be squeezing it.
Barcelona + Madrid
Rome + Florence
To follow up on David's post, if you leave home on an evening flight on the 20th, you'll arrive sometime in the morning - or maybe afternoon of the 21st, depending on where you start and where you connect. You probably won't be much sleep on the plane, even on an 8 hour flight, you'll have little more than 4 hours of quiet time, between take-off, drinks and meal services, and landing. So you'll be jetlagged and sleep-deprived on arrival. Expect your flight home to leave in the morning on the 28th. That leaves you 6 full days. If you fly from one city to another, by the time you get from your hotel to the airport, maybe have to check luggage, allow time for security and boarding procedures, then maybe have to wait for luggage, and get to your hotel, you've used up 1/2 day. That gives you 2 full days to see one city and 3 for one more. If you stick to Florence/Rome, you'll have a little more time, since you'll probably be a 10-15 minute walk in Florence to the train, and a 10-15 minute taxi ride in Rome to your hotel. So it's about 3 hours "door-to-door" not including time to check in/out and pack/unpack. If you choose the Cinque Terre instead of Rome, allow a lot more travel time from Florence and then to wherever you'll be flying home from.
