Italy hills, coast and Rome

Frankly, the easiest way to get overwhelmed is to post a really broad question like this on a travel board. The responses you get will depend completely on who reads the question. Much better to get a good travel guide book. The Rick Steves Italy book in particular is great for first time travelers. He does an amazing job demystifying the process, and includes all the information you'll need to figure out what itinerary would work best for YOUR interests, not the interests of strangers. (No offense, everybody.) His books are not intended to be comprehensive guides to Italy (you won't find Bologna, for example) but are instead based on his experience of what will most appeal to the first time traveler. That said, it can be fun just to solicit input from people who love traveling to one of the destinations you're considering. But if you're wanting to avoid feeling overwhelmed, start with the RS Italy book. Happy travels.

Thanks Micheal. Yes I know it is a very board question. I have some tour books coming which I hope will help.

I echo the previous comment. It's best to get a book and ask for more specific advice once you have an idea of what you want to see. My only suggestion for now relates to the trip from Paris to Tuscany. My recommendation is to fly. It's faster and almost certainly cheaper. The train that connects Paris to Florence (non stop) is a night train, therefore you wouldn't get to enjoy any of the views on the way to Florence. By the time sunlight starts you're already past Turin, therefore after the Alps. I've done that one twice, but that was a long time ago before they invented the low cost airlines. Not worth the time and money nowadays. Flying is the way to go. AirFrance has 7 non stop flights from Paris CDG to Florence FLR and 3 non stops from Paris CDG to Pisa PSA. There are also a daily from Paris Orly ORY to Pisa PSA with Easyjet and 3 weekly flights from ORY to FLR with Vueling. If you are willing to go to Paris Bouvais BVA airport (about 80 km) there is also a daily to Pisa PSA with superlow cost Ryanair. Flight time to either Tuscan airport is about 90 min.

Thank you Roberto the information regarding the train and flight is very helpful. Regards,
Tiffany

IMHO, you don't have enough time for Tuscany, the coast AND Rome in 5-6 days (you will lose a day traveling from Paris to Italy). After Paris I would fly into Rome, spend 3 days at a MINIMUM, and then stay in Florence for 3 days (with a day trip or 2 into the countryside) and then fly home from Florence. If you want to rent a car, then you could stay out in the countryside instead of Florence (but read carefully about the perils of driving in Italy with ZTL's, etc.).

Paris for 4 nights, fly to Florence for 2 or 3 and (train) spend the rest in Rome. Even though you think your husband is more interested than you I bet you will love Rome equally or more than the other cities. Use the RS guides for restaurants, self guided tours and tourist attractions. Don't just stop in whatever is close because you are tired and hungry, I had a lot of forgettable meals that way. Watch the HBO mini series Rome before you go. Do the "Nightime walk" in Rome.

Thank you. So trying to do cinque terre, Florence and Rome in 6 days is pushing to much in it seems. If I added a day or two maybe it would be doable. We for sure want to experience Florence and a hill town perhaps Siena. It is hard to balance between seeing several things and not doing too much. I will read up on my books and watching ticks stuff on you tube.

You have a big wish list for such a short time. I will assume you have 10 nights. I'd suggest flying into Paris, then spend your 4 nights there. You will be jet-lagged and there is much to see. To save time fly from Paris to Florence. Spend 3 nights there, which is really only 2 days. Spend one day IN Florence and do a hill town tour the other day. That will allow you to see the countryside. Spend the last 3 nights in Rome. Fly home from there. If you have 12 nights I would add one to Florence and one to Rome. You don't really have time to add CT or another coastal location without really rushing things. Don't underestimate how much time it takes to change locations or just to get your bearings in a strange and foreign place.

Or maybe this trip we just focus on France and try to see Italy on a different trip. I hope I will not go just once.

With a relatively short trip you might enjoy it more limiting it to one country. There is so much to see in France. I have spent a total of 3 weeks in Paris alone and there is more I want to see. My husband, who has not been to France outside of Paris, is eager to explore Normandy. I am thinking about our future trip and all the places I want to go in France, and am having trouble making it shorter than a month! My point is to decide what is really important to you and don't try to cram in too much. Assume you will return. Take time to actually enjoy where you are. In Paris I suggest you look into the Paris Greeter program. Volunteers provide private tours. About a month before your trip you complete the online application, stating your available dates and what you are interested in. They will then try to match you up with a someone. I did a tour of the Marais area last year and it was very interesting. Although I had been in that area before I learned a lot.

Assuming you want to visit Paris, Florence and Rome, I suggest you visit them either in that exact order (Paris, Florence, Rome) or the exact reverse (Rome, Florence, Paris). Do not do Florence as first or last. There are no direct flights from Florence to the US and the only way to the US would be with a connection in any of the following European gateways: FCO, CDG, FRA, MUC, AMS. Flight from FLR from/to the US via the above gateways are always more expensive than from Rome FCO (or paris CDG) and there is always a high chance of missing the connection because the connections in the above gateways somehow are very tight and Florence has an airport with such a short runway that delays or cancellations are frequent when winds are strong. Trust someone who has flown from the USA to Florence and back over 30 times and got stuck in Paris and Frankfurt more than once (of course to be stuck in Paris for an overnight is not as bad as being stuck in some other God foresaken airport).

I completely agree that you should fly from Paris to Florence and then fly home from Rome, or fly into Rome, train to Florence, fly to Paris and fly home from there. The coast between Florence and Rome isn't as interesting as it is further north or further south, but since you really don't have time to go further than Rome, I would suggest leaving the coastal sightseeing for another time. If you can add two days, one to Florence and one to Rome would be great. Friends have taken Air Berlin and loved it, I don't know if it flies between Paris-Florence. The fast train from Florence to Rome less than two hours, and you can buy tickets for as little as 29 euro online (they go fast at this special price), but that fare will lock you into a specific train time. You won't lose a whole day to travel by taking the fast train. Siena would make a great day trip from Florence, or you could base in Siena and day trip to Florence. The RS guidebook recommends tour guides, which might help give you a better orientation to Rome than tackling it on your own.

Thanks All. If we do to France and Italy that sounds like a good plan. Since Florence, Paris and Rome are all so big maybe basing in Siena would be a good idea. I think we are still trying to figure out if we want to go to Italy on this trip on try and do more in the France area. I know France is large so even then it will be narrowing things down.

If you opt for France I would do Paris and then high speed train to Provence. Rent a car there and drive around, train back to Paris for the flight home. Very easy with minimal travel time. For your first trip Paris, Florence, Rome would be a better trip. Paris is beautiful, Rome is amazing.

Florence is not that big. The city has a population of only 370,000 and the entire metro area maybe 1 million. Most importantly the historical center, where most sights are, is very compact (maybe 2km by 2km) and you can walk from end to end in minutes. If you don't have a car Florence is an excellent base to visit Tuscany because it is the transit hub with plenty of bus and train links for day trips (to Siena, Pisa and other smaller towns). PS: There are no Air Berlin non stop flights from Paris to Florence. There are plenty of non stops from Paris to Tuscany (either Florence or Pisa) but Air Berlin is not one (see my previous post for the choice of flight options).

Thank you for the information.

If you decide to do Paris-Florence-Rome, which I suggested in my first post, but would like a smaller town to stay in than Florence, you might consider Siena instead of Florence. My husband and I celebrated a big anniversary at a fantastic Agriturismo just outside of Siena two years ago and we loved the place. If you are interested you can send me a Private Message and I will give you the information.

When searching for flights from Paris to Florence consider also options with the low cost airlines such as Ryanair from Paris BVA to Pisa PSA or Bologna BLQ and also EasyJet from Paris ORY to Pisa PSA. Easyjet also flies to Bologna BLQ from CDG. There is also Vueling flying from Paris ORY to Florence FLR. Low cost airlines may not show up in search engines such as Expedia or Kayak and you may need to go to the individua airlines' websites. Pisa and Bologna airports are only about one hour from Florence. Pisa to Florence costs only 6 euro by train or bus. Bologna a bit more expensive with a fast train (25 Euro)but Only 40 min away. Florence FLR airport is mainly a City airport, much like the Reagan National in Washington DC, used primarily for business and AirFrance has the quasi monopoly of the route from Paris. That means that European flights from/to Florence FLR tend to be expensive.

Wow what great infor. Thanks for all the flight info all. David when you did the tour of CT how long did the train ride take from Florence?