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itinerary - yes no?

hi all,
i want to thank everyone for their help on my other questions but this one is just to see if how im starting to plan my itinerary is on the right track.

we have planned 16 days - but i have planned my itinerary around 14 days. we will be going in late april. i gave each day 2 or 3 days but after we take the TGV from france we are pretty flexible other than what will be our departure date.

so i just wanted to see if you guys have any isights you could share with my about my travel plans. i have read many posts about peoples itineraries and i understand that many of you will say that i should "slow it down" or something but this is really a once in a lifetime trip so for now we are going for the big sights and "hopefully" we will get to go back sometime during our lifetimes :)

thanks for all of your help, here it is:

3 Days in Paris

2 Days in Florence, with day trip to Pisa and Siena

3 Days in Rome

2 Days in Sorrento and Pompeii

2 Days in Venice

2 Days in Bavaria including Munich, Romantic Road and Frankfurt (Frankfurt will be cut out if we fly out of munich perhaps, but we have planned it this way so far)

So Far :)

Edit: i must also say that we have 1 day before and after these 14 days that are our flight days, and although im sure we will be tired in the morning of when we get into paris, we are still able to do stuff then, and depending on that we may have a couple extra days in between. i am just doing a 14 days plan until i figure out our flight details :)

Posted by
636 posts

Here are my thoughts:

  • It looks to me like you haven't factored in travel time between cities.

I hope that helps!

  • You should have at least 4 nights/3 days in Rome and 3 nights/2 days everywhere else.

  • Two days is not have enough time to do everything that you want to do in Tuscany. I would plan on 2 days in Florence alone, then another couple of days for trips for Siena and Pisa. Since they're in opposite directions from Florence, you can't (well, shouldn't) do both in the same day.

  • I would allow 3 days for the Amalfi Coast including Sorrento, Naples and Pompeii.

Posted by
48 posts

hi hellen,
thank for your thoughts, we are still in the planning stages and we still plan to do these but as i said we are pretty flexible and most likely going to see how it goes once were their. i understand that we can sometimes be quite ambitious

however, to maximize our time, we have planned a few night trains, such as between paris and florence, naples and venice, and venice and munich. how have your experiences been with sleeping on trains.

as for seeing tuscany, we plan on doing florence one day since we are not huge museum people, we will do the accademia and then stroll in the piazza della signora and then the next day we planned a day trip starting to pisa in the morning and around 1 we will take a train to siena while eating a picnic lunch on the train and then back to florence at around 8ish. we will leave the next morning for roma and be in there by 9 amand spend three days there.

i am sort of not sure about sorrento, because of the private train you must take from naples therefore it takes much more time however i planned it and we will see how that goes. after that its the night train to venice for 2 days and then night train to munich for the remaining days until our flight

how are your experiences with taking the trains and getting to your hotels, especially in rome?

thanks for the help!

Posted by
12172 posts

Three days in Paris, you will have to see only your top priorities and leave the rest for another trip.

Two days in Florence, fine. A day trip to Pisa and Sienna means one day in Florence. If you haven't factored in travel time between Paris and Florence, it could easily mean no time in Florence. Be careful not to lose your entire trip to travel time.

Florence lodging is expensive. If you're not actually seeing Florence, save money and stay elsewhere

Three days Rome, again see your top priorities and save the rest for next trip.

Two days in Sorrento and Pompeii, this is the furthest South part of your itenerary. If you need to cut back, this is the place to take out.

Two days Venice is good, be sure to stay overnight in Venice. Venice by night is magic.

Two days Bavaria and Munich, Romantic Road and Frankfurt. Not nearly enough time. If you only have two days, spend it in Munich and see the rest on a later trip. Train or Car to Frankfurt to catch your flight.

Posted by
316 posts

At first glance I'd cut out Frankfort. It's a big banking city with nothing special to see. Also, as others have said, there's not enough travel time factored in. Here's how I'd do it: Paris - 3 days;late afternoon train to Munich (either rent a car and drive through Bavaria or train where you can)3-days; night train to Venice for 2 days; Florence 2 days; Siena 1 day; Rome 3 days. If you have extra days, take a day trip from Rome to Pompeii.Fly home from Rome. This will avoid time consuming and expensive backtracking.

Posted by
48 posts

thanks guys for all of your responses. ive been thinking about how to maximize our time and not move around as much, but i am having a hard time with sorrento. i went there with my class trip 4 years ago and it was beautiful. but with all of the little train connections it makes it kind of a hasle. however, i am still pretty firm on going to pompeii or herculaneum, therefore, i wonder if anyone has any great tips as to how to get there from rome? is it better to take a tour group or just take the train there?

also, im wondering if anyone knows if its cheaper to fly out of germany than rome, because this is what someone told me. im thinking that going into germany for 2 days is not enough but we are planning on flying out of there so thats why we planned it that way. also my dad and family are from germany, so i think its a bit of a sin not to see at least some part of germany, or thats what i think my grandmother will say!

if anyone still have any reccomendations for our itinerary, please keep them coming :)

Posted by
72 posts

ok, it really depends on how much you want to see. lots of people absolutely love rome. personally, i have been there twice, and the place gets to you after 2days. i am in no way saying don't go there, because the sights are amazing. BUT here is the kicker, if you are organized, and don't feel the need to read everything in every museum, and don't mind getting up early, you can see a ton in 2 or 3 days. i spent the first 2.5 days of my 3 week trip there last month, and in the first evening i was able to see the colleseum, the forum, trevi fountain, and all the sites along the way. the second day i did the vatican museum and the vatican, the pantheon, a bunch of random sites and the spansish steps at night. like i said you can see alot in 2 days.
as for florence, you can see the main sites in a day if you have reservations for the main museums. pisa is an hour away by train, is worth about 2 hours of touring, and another hour back to florence. for cheap hotel is florence i recomend the hotel aldobrandini. its centrally located, reasonable (40 euro for one night for a single with breakfast) and there is a cool .99 euro cent store around the corner great for snacks.
2 days in venice is good.
i agree that you would have a tough time seeing munich to frankfurt in 2 days.
also there is a night train from paris to rome that would save you some time.
best of luck and enjoy your trip!

Posted by
32 posts

This might help you in spite of all your running around -- take the city tour buses to see all the big things easily. It will save you time & stress from figuring out how to navigate. (Altho for me that's half the fun!) Then try hard to have some long stretches of down time at a cafe just watching everyone around you. Don't sacrifice strolling in the evening -- it's magical. Use taxis to get around to save time also. Stay in hotels that are in the heart of where you want to be, also to save time.

I'd forget about Florence and Pisa and go straight for Siena.

Sorrento & Pompeii might be too much also.

In Germany, stay in Bavaria only.