Need help with Italy and Spain Trip!

8-10 days? Start in Rome and end in Venice. Save Milan for another trip. Rome alone is worthy of 4 days, Florence 3 days and Venice 3 days.
Spain? Also save it for another trip. Distances in Europe can be a little deceiving and Spain is a very large country. I like the London-Paris-Barcelona-Madrid trip sequence--all by very fast city to city trains.
I suggest you read some of Rick Steves' books or go to Wikipedia and check out each of these cities' for travel sights.

Tania,
If you only have" 8-10 days" for your trip, I'd recommend traveling to either Italy or Spain
but not both. If you've not booked your flight tickets, it would be a good idea to choose the
'multi-city' option so you can fly into one city then depart from another city as this will avoid backtracking.

If you choose to visit Italy, you could fly into Venice then travel to Florence & fly out of Rome.
You can easily travel to above destinations via trains which are fairly inexpensive.
You can book train tickets in advance & save money here: http://www.trenitalia.com

If you choose to travel to Spain, you could fly into Madrid & out of Barcelona or visa- versa.
Check here for train tickets for Spain: http://www.renfe.com

There are wonderful travel books for you to read, or videos to watch here on this website, which will help you figure out where you may want to travel to.

When is your trip taking place?

Happy planning!

Okay thank you guys. I have no booked anything yet---so what would you guys suggest if I do want to go to both countries??

jThen tell us what you max time on the ground is??? Don't know where the 8 - 10 came from. For your question you should plan closer to three weeks. All must see and do are well covered in any good guide book. Pull some books from your public library.

1. which city to start and end in

There is no particular advantage to anyone city so it just becomes a matter of scheduleing.

2-best places to look for transportation within the two cities

Don't understand the question. What two cities? The best source of information for local, city transportation is the TI when you hit the city. They will have have the schedules and pricing options.

Firstly ...
1) How long do you intend to be on the ground in Europe ? Number of nights ??
2) Where are you flying in from, and out to ?
3) What time of year is this ?

As an impression I would suggest ...
Fly in to Rome - 4 nights
Train to Florence - 3 nights
Train to Venice - 3 nights
Fly to Madrid - 4 nights
Train to Barcelona - 7 nights (enjoy the beach here while in the city)
Fly out of Barcelona

You've backpacked Greece and Thailand? Is that what you'd like to do again? Because were I to backpack Italy, Rome, Florance, and Venice is precisely where I wouldn't go. They are all three great cities easily seen on foot, but they aren't walking destinations, they are urban train. Were I to backpack Italy, I'd do Tuscany hill towns and the Cinque Terre. And it would be a fantastic trip, I'm sure.

Can't help with Spain because I haven't been, but I doubt Barcelona is a great backpack destination either.

jen, i think tania means live out of a back pack rather than spend time walking with a backpack.

Yes, I just meant live out of a backpack.

I am planning on April for the time of year.

Thank you everyone for your responses and advice. How nice it is to get feedback, so I appreciate it
It seems like I either need to up my days of travel---or only visit one country.

Also, I meant transportation between countries not cities. But I actually have found some good air travel.

I will keep reading and researching before booking!

tania,

As the others have mentioned, it would help to have more information on your plans, such as the duration of this trip and where you're flying from. A few thoughts on your questions.....

1. The cities you start and end can be arranged in any order, however again it would help to know where you're flying from. For travel in April, I'd suggest starting in Spain as it will likely be a bit warmer than Italy.
2. Transportation within the cities is very easy, as cities have good Metro and Bus systems. Travel between cities is usually easiest by train.
3. "Must See & Do" in each cities is difficult to plan for someone else. Some people like art, some like museums, some like historic sites. Again, you haven't provided any information on what you're looking for.
4. One thing that I'd like to suggest is that you have a look at guidebooks for the places you're planning on visiting. The Rick Steves guidebooks are excellent and will provide a lot of answers in terms of "must see" sights, transportation, hotels / hostels, etc. You should be able to find copies at your local Library, at larger book stores or you can order from this website. Many are available in E-book format as well.

One route you could use is.....

• Flight inbound Madrid
• High speed train to Barcelona (day trips to nearby sights - details in the guidebook)
• Flight to Venice
• Train to Florence (day trip to Siena, Cinque Terre or Lucca)
• Train to Rome
• Flight home

Good luck with your planning!

3 weeks would be my preferred length of time to explore those 5 cities. You could manage a fast paced trip in 2 weeks, but that would be the bare minimum, and you would need to be super organized.
April is really too early for the beach anywhere.

I would fly to Madrid.
2 nights Madrid
train to Barcelona 2-3 nights Barcelona
fly or train through France (its farther than you think) to Italy. train within Italy. Leave from the city with the most desirable flight home.