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Planning first trip

My uncle is taking me on a two-three week trip across Europe the summer of 2015. I'm finding most itinerary's are for longer trips. My uncle is a seasoned traveler but has asked me to plan my own trip. I feel like a kid in a candy store and could use some help. I'm assuming that I will stay at most places for one-three days. I want to experience each country as best as possible and would love to know how to do this best by where to visit and what to do. I love art and museums along with historical sights.(To Note, these are the places he told me he would want to go and to plan for them)
The proposed places are:
Amsterdam - Rijks Museum, Anne Frank House, Rembrant House, Modern Art Museum, Heiniken Experience
Delft - New Church, Historic Walk Through Delft
Bruges - Coppem Castle, Basilica of Holy Blood, Groeninge Museum
Paris - Lourve, Effiel Tour, Notre Dame, Ourseys, Pompadu Center
Provence - (This is a hard one) Arles, Perched Villages, Pont du Gard, the lavender and sunflower fields, Nimes
Florence - Galileo Musuem, Cupola del Burnelleschi, Accademia Gallery, Uffizi Gallery
Revenna - (Another hard one) Basillica di San Vitale, Piazza del Popolo
Venice - Accademia, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Murano, Torcello, Frari Church, St. Marks Basilica
Milan - Sforza Castle, The Last Supper, Milan Chatherdral
Normandy - Mont St. Michel, Rouen, Honfleur

Posted by
8889 posts

I would recommend a few rules:

  • Never less than 2 nights in any one place. Gives 2½ days at each place (½ day for travelling, then ½+1+1 days in the place) and depart on the 3rd morning. Otherwise you will be travelling all the time.
  • Spend ½ day plus full day in the place, the next day can either be in the place or a day trip.
  • Find a map of Europe and mark these places out. Write down the number of nights against each place. Try to avoid zig-zagging or doubling back. That is a waste of time and money.

Looking at your plan:
Amsterdam - Fly in - 2 nights
Delft - Day trip from Amsterdam
Bruges - 1 night, here I might break my own rule as otherwise you run out of days.
Paris - 3 nights at least. Add day trip to Versailles
Normandy - This fits in here. 3+ nights for all you have listed. Probably needs a car. Pick up a car on the outskirts of Paris.
Provence - 3+ nights. Drive here from Normandy, stop off somewhere en route (your choice)
Now, dump the car and carry on to Italy by train.
Milan - 2 nights
Venice - 3 nights
Ravenna - 2 nights
Florence - 3 nights
Oh no, you've forgotten:
Rome - 3 nights. Fly back from Rome

Oh dear, that makes 25 nights. Sorry, something has to go!
Best wishes on the planning.

Posted by
4105 posts

Fly from Nice-Rome using budget air Easyjet

Can Ravenna

Take 1 night off Venice

Fly out of Milan

This is using Chris' itinerary

Posted by
8889 posts

Gerri - I like it.
I assume you mean reverse the order in Italy.
Dump car at Nice airport and fly to Rome, then: Rome --> Florence --> Venice --> Milan --> Fly out.

Even with no Ravenna (which I think the OP had set their heart on)., and one less night in Venice (Mama Mia!), it is still 22 nights which is more than a "a two-three week trip". The OP is going to have to make some hard decisions (or plead with uncle).

Posted by
7280 posts

In Bruges, plan on doing a canal tour by boat while you're there, to see some of the town from a different vantage point. You can also rent a bike for a ride, and Belgium has one of the world's most bicycle supportive societies.

Of the Paris sights you list, the Orsay museum (Musee d' Orsay) features Impressionist Art (Monet, Renoir, etc.), the Louvre contains mostly art from older eras, and the Pompidou has newer, modern art.

For Provence, you could base yourself in Avignon and drive or take a bus or train (or hired tour) to get around. A car would let you travel on your schedule, going to places you choose. Or, you could base in Arles to the south or in one of the villages in the central Luberon.

In Milan, seeing Leonardo's Last Supper is by limited-access, reserved entry, which I understand may be harder to get for individuals now than when we were there in 2004. Get the details well ahead of time to avoid disappointment.

Regarding transportation, again, a car lets you decide where and when to go, but isn't necessarily the fastest way. Flying can be fast and surprisingly cheap to get from Point A to Point B, but you might miss some of the points in between that you 'd see if you were on the ground. Trains and buses can work well, but check schedules, possible ticket requirements for reservations, and if the station is convenient to the city center. You may wind up taking a taxi after arriving at a station or airport. If renting a car, you may be restricted from driving to another country, and/or could face a large additional fee if you pick up a car in one place and drop it off in another, so check all the details - you may want to look at renting a separate car in several different places. Gas or diesel are more expensive than in the US, and parking can be expensive and/or a headache finding a parking spot. Italy requires an International Driver's Permit (available at your AAA at home) and comes with restricted zones that some drivers apparently still drive through, incurring big fines. At least the countries you list all drive in the right side of the road :-)

Rick Steves' guidebooks offer great suggestions for identifiying sights you might want to see, prioritizing them, and learning about details like costs, disount passes, reservation procedures, etc. If you don't want to make the investment yet for every guidebook (or his Europe Through The Backdoor, which doesn't include every location in his individual country, regional, or city guides), see if you r library has copies that will let you do some research and narrow down your must-see list.

Posted by
922 posts

On a general note, 14 days is really only 12 days on the ground. Day 1 is travel to Europe and day 14 is the return flight home.

It looks like you have enough here for two, two-week trips. I would recommend that you decide between a northern and southern trip. For the north, hit Amsterdam, Delft, Brugges, Normandy and Paris. For the Southern trip, include Provence, Florence, Ravenna, Milan and Venice. And as Chris said - what about Rome?

North: Start in Amsterdam (4 nights) and do a day trip to Delft. If you want to skimp, you might be able to hit Brugges in a day (or spend 1 night) as you travel to Normandy (2 nights). You will probably need a car to get to Normandy and see the sites. You can then take the train from Normandy to finish up in Paris (4 nights), including a day trip to Versailles.

South: Start in Provence (3 nights) and then head to Milan (2 nights). Next stop is Florence (3 nights) followed by Ravenna (1 night) and then Venice (3 nights).

These are very different itineraries so I guess you need to answer: Netherlands/Belgium/France OR France/Italy? Either way, I'm jealous!

Posted by
8889 posts

To clarify what Cyn said. Driving a rented car in a different country is normally no problem, so long as you tell the car hire company when you book the car. Dropping off in another location is also usually no problem (e.g. Paris to Nice).
But, dropping a car off in a different country can be hugely expensive. That is why I originally suggested dropping the car somewhere in Provence and taking a train or plane onward to Italy.
This is because it is usually only legal to rent out a car registered in the country. Foreign registered cars have to be driven (by a paid employee) back to their own country.

Posted by
5 posts

I know it's not a lot of time and I expect my uncle to either extend the trip or cut back on places. I'm mostly looking for places to go and things to do in each place, which might help on deciding what to cut if that point comes.
But thanks for all your replies!

Posted by
11613 posts

Cut one night from Milano and one night from Normandy and/or Venice. You are now at three weeks.
I will address only the Italy portion of your trip:

In addition to what you've listed:

Florence: Add Baptistry since you are already at the Duomo for the Cupola; Baptistry is small and packs a punch in artwork. Also stop at Museo di San Marco, just a couple of blocks north on the same street as the Accademia; both museums are small enough to see in one part of a morning or afternoon (allow one hour each).

Ravenna: Stay overnight. Add Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and Sant'Apollinare in Classe (10-15 minute bus ride outside of town).

Venice: Glad to see Torcello on your list. I would replace Murano with Burano (more charm, lots of glass but no factories, only artists' studios). If you can swing a stop in Padova, you might enjoy the Scrovegni Chapel (needs advance reservation) and the area right around it.

Milano: Reserve tickets for Leonardo's Last Supper (there are some tours or you can buy tickets online through a broker if the official site doesn't show availability); Take the elevator to the roof of the Cathedral and get face time with the gargoyles.

No Rome? :-( Maybe on your next trip, or steal a few days along the way.

Oh, about Pont du Gard: you can drift down the river under the Pont, many companies offer drop-off, pick-up and return to starting point service. Wish I had done it.