My wife and I will be leaving for Europe Wed (Jun 22) on our way to a wedding in Germany. After the wedding we are flying into Florence (Sun Jun 26) and then have until July 1st to have fun in Italy before taking a train from Milan to Barcelona. I have a rough idea of what I want to do after reading Rick's book and researching on the web, but I am not sure if it is the most logistically sound plan or if I should add or remove anything. The one kicker to this whole plan is I have to meet with my relatives in Lucca sometime during this timeframe. The other 2 items to keep in mind is we fly into Florence about 4 pm on Sunday the 26th and take a train from Milan to Barcelona at 7 pm on July 1st. Sun (26) – Arrive in Florence, get hotel, and go see the David statue Mon (27)– Florence for the day? Mon Night (27) – Train to Siena Tues (28 ) – Sienna Wed Afternoon (29) train to Pisa / Lucca / La Spezia or Cinque Terre (stay the night) Thursday morning (30) - Boat or train to Genoa through Cinque Terre and grab hotel Thursday Afternoon (30) – Hike down Cinque Terre and take boat back to hotel in Genoa
Friday (1) – Train to Milan and then take 7 pm train to Barcelona Is this a good idea? Instead of staying in Genoa should we try staying somewhere in Cinque Terre? Completely open to suggestions and thank you in advance! -Chris
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32384 posts
Chris, A few comments to mention..... For travel from Florence to Siena, the Bus is a better option than train. The time isn't much different and the Bus drops passengers right in the centre of town. If you take the train, you'll need to use a Taxi or Bus to get from the station (which is at the bottom of the hill) up to the town. IMHO, staying in the Cinque Terre is preferable to staying in Genova, however at this late date it may be difficult to find a vacancy. If you're staying in the C.T., I'm not sure you'll have to return to Milan for the trip to Barcelona. It's late so I didn't check in any detail, but that's going to be a LONG trip by train! A better option would have been a budget flight from MXP to BCN via EasyJet or one of the other budget airlines. Rather than spend ~18 hours travelling, the flight would be about 1.5 hours. I'll have another look at this tomorrow, when I'm focusing more effectively. Happy travels!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34143 posts
What does "grab a hotel" mean? Oh never mind - I just realized this was posted two days before travel so clearly nobody's listening...
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
We "grabbed" a room at the Novotel in Genoa last October for a mere 250 euros a night. I would never stay there again. It's a large shipping harbor similar to Long Beach. If you want to visit the Cinque Terre then I would stay there. As the previous poster said, you might have a hard time at this late date to secure accommodations online. I understand that ladies advertise their rooms at the train station. This may be the only way for you to get a room at the last minute. Like any other city/town, use your good common sense. Check out the room before you agree to stay. Upon your arrival at the hotel in Florence, see if they can make reservations for you at the Accademia to see the David. Often, they can reserve for that day. This will save you from standing in a long line.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
"...grab a hotel..." You know, Nigel - like a souvenir ;-) Chris, come to our Sacto Helpline meetings (usually the 3rd Sat of each month; check the "General Europe" section for details) and tell us about your trip - photos are welcome ;-) Hope you're having a great trip; hope to see you on July 16th!
Posted by
Cary, NC
687 posts
@Ken - the Elipsos Trenhotel runs from Milan to Barcelona. I did it in the other direction - very nice night train. I, too, wonder how the "grab a hotel" thing will work out at this time of year. Hope we get a report back.
Posted by
OP
West Sacramento, CA, United States
2 posts
Hey everyone thanks for your comments so far. We are currently in Germany and flying into Florence tomorrow. We haven't finalized the Italy segment yet (ya I know this should have been done beforehand). Starting to lean towards flying from Pisa to Barcelona instead of taking the train from Milan. This will give us an extra day in italy and is actually cheaper than the 19 hour train ride. This being true we are open to any suggested alternative itenaries than what we have posted above.