Italy & the French Riviera

I think it is far too much with transfer from one place you are only allowing three days at most in each place and don't count arrival and departure days. I would just concentrate on Rome,Florence and Venice. Also you said cost is a factor so if you even attempt to go to all the places mentioned, that can cost a pretty penny. Just my opinion.

I suggest flying into Rome, taking the train to Florence and on to Venice. From Venice catch a flight to Nice. Four places in two weeks sounds about right to me. If you have lots of energy, you could take a daytrip from Rome to Pompeii as discussed on this helpline. There are lots of daytrips possible from Florence, also. From Nice, side trips to Monte Carlo and Cannes are easy by bus or train, although neither is a great tourist stop. Try to get a flight home from Nice. According to your interests spend 3-4 nights in each of the four places. It saves money to reserve train and plane tix in advance. Look for lodging soon; check hostel sites, etc to lower your costs. You might look at venere.com, eurocheapo.com, booking.com, .......

Janice, IMHO, it's not going to be possible to visit all the places you've listed in a two week time frame, especially as "cost is a factor". Each time you travel or change location, there's a "cost" in both time and money. Which four or five locations are most important for you? Also, I'd suggest skipping Cannes, as it's not worth the effort (again, IMO). In that area, focusing on Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Villefranche, Eze and other nearby locations is a good strategy. Using open-jaw flights would be a really good idea. One other thing to keep in mind is that travel at that time of year will be BUSY as that's peak travel season in Europe. Pre-booking hotels would be highly advisable. It's great that you've posted on the HelpLine, as I'm sure the helpful group here will be able to make it less "daunting". If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. Use the country-specific Guidebooks to plan the detail such as hotels, transportation, sightseeing, etc. Good luck with your planning!

I think that you are trying to visit too many places in too short of a time span. You will barely even scratch the surface of each place that you visit and you will also lose time traveling. You have to calculate time spent checking out of a hotel or apartment then getting to train station or airport and then getting to the next destination and checking in etc.. You will lose a couple of days on your 2 week travel just moving from one place to the next. I would consider visiting a few less places. Also if you are looking to fly from Italy to France you can always look at low cost airlines such as Easyjet or Ryanair. You can also look on Skyscanner.net for a comparison of prices with all of the airlines.

Hi Janice. I agree with the others that you're trying to visit too many places. You need to cut out a few places. I would definitely cut Nice, Monte Carlo & Cannes & save them for another trip. Personally I would also cut Pompeii & save it for a future trip to include the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, etc. I would concentrate on Rome, Venice & Florence for this trip and if you find that you're in each place too long (which I doubt), then you could also take some day trips. I would propose flying open-jaw as Ken suggested & fly into Venice and out of Rome or vice versa.

I tend to like to visit more than one country on lots of my trips so I agree with Swan that it is totally doable. I think the mix of Italy and France will give you a very wonderful trip, especially if this is your first time. I would also mix it up a bit and possibly stay in Tuscany and day trip into Florence, unless you are really into the museums. If not, you have a trip of big cities (which can be great, but does not give much variety) If you pack light and have a plan, while moving can take up time, it can be part of the fun. If taking the train you get to relax and see the scenery, write in your journal, meet new people, etc. as well as looking forward to the next part of your adventure. Its not like you are changing locations every day. I would opt for end of June, as it just gets hotter. Which is another reason I would try to stay in a village for part of the trip. The cities will be hot and crowded.

I did something similar several years ago. We flew into Nice and stayed in Monaco for 3 nights. The French Riviera will be crowded and pricey in June/July, so you may have to search for hotels in your price range (start now). You can travel between Monaco and Nice and Cannes by train...fairly cheap and convenient. We took an overnight train from Monaco to Venice. You will need to reserve a couchette for sleeping accommodations. This saved us a night in a hotel and a wasted day travelling. We then spent a few days in each of Venice, Florence and Rome. We flew home from Rome. If you want to see ruins, Rome is full of them and Ostia Antica is only a half-day trip from Rome, whereas Pompeii is a full day from Rome. If you know when you want to travel between cities, I suggest buying train tickets in advance. You can save a lot of money but you will be locked into a specific date/time. I bought tix between Venice-Florence as well as Florence-Rome for 9 euros each leg per person. There are at least two train options: Trrenitalia:
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD ItaloTreno http://www.italotreno.it/EN/Pages/default.aspx Good luck!