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24 Days in Europe - Itinerary Tweak/Help needed

We are a group of four planning to visit Europe for 24Days in July - August. We are planning to visit - France, Switzerland and Italy. Here is the plan we currently have in mind - 1. Fly in July 19th : Paris. 2. 19th July to 21st July - Disneyland. Checkout on 22nd. - Only 2 people until this day. 3. 3 days in Paris. (22nd July - 24th July) - 4 People all the way form this day onwards. 4. 3 Days in Nice/MonteCarlo. (25th July - 27th July ) - Need help in planning on this part of South France 5. Fly to Switzwerland, We check easyjet.com, looks like we have cheap Flights till Geneva. - 28th July. 6. Train or Rent car from Geneva to Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen. We have 5 nights/6days planned here. 28th July till 2nd Aug. 7. We will be making Lauterbrunnen/Interlaken as "Base" and plan to visit these areas. - Need help in planning on this part of Switzerland 8. Leave on 2nd August, Reach Venice. Venice - 2 days 9. Leave on 5th August, Reach Florence. Pisa/Tuscony etc. - 3 Days 10. Leave on 8th, Reach Rome. 4 Days. Rome Sightseeing, Vatican.
11. 12th Aug - Fly out of Rome. Is this Itinerary doable or is it too ambitious. If it gets too hectic, we dont mind dropping off a few places.

Posted by
1633 posts

Sounds like you have a good itinerary. It's well thought through and planned. Never been to Nice, so can't help you on that leg. Are you going to have the car all the way to Rome?

Posted by
11507 posts

I'd skip Disneyland... but to each his own. My kids who were 11 and 14 thought one day there was more then enough. You are giving it two? I would spend the extra day in Paris,, three days will barely allow you to scratch the surface,, perhaps go to Paris a day earlier and maybe take a daytrip to Versailles instead.

Posted by
12040 posts

Before Italy, looks OK to me (never been to Italy, so can't comment). If you end up tweaking the schedule, I would try to keep as many days as possible in the Lauterbrunnen area. Weather will dictate your schedule here more than in any other location, so keeping the most days possible will allow you to remain flexible.

Posted by
1436 posts

Your Itinerary sounds great to me. Very Doable. It's nice you have the week in Switzerland in the middle to give you a break from the cities. You probably would not use a car much in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and taking a train from Geneva would be very easy. I agree you should spend at least 5/6 days there as you never know what the weather will be.

Posted by
1633 posts

For your base in the Berner Oberland, I would consider Lauterbrunnen, not Interlaken. Interlaken is very touristy. I prefer to stay up in Muerren. It would also be a good base. Lots of places to stay, restaurants and a small grocery store. Gimmelwald is also a nice town to stay at. Check out Rick Steves' tour book to see what accommodations are available. In ref to a rental car, you could use one for 3 days in the Florence/Tuscany area to see hilltowns and the countryside. You could rent it at the Florence airport after visiting the city. Then return it at the Orvieto train station and take the train into Rome. Check AutoEurope online or call them.

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions guys! 1. We are really not sure if Nice/South France needs 3 days, most of people we talked to were under the opinion that Nice/SF is too crowded and the 3 days is best spent elsewhere. Would you suggest dropping Nice/SF and adding up 1 day each in Paris, Switzerland and 1 day in Florence? 2. As for Disneyland, i am travelling with my 20+ year old kid (my wife), no arguing with her! 3. We are planning to go by Train/flight wherever possible France (Paris/Nice) till Geneva (Easyjet showed up cheap flights) Lauterbrunnen/Interlanen to Venice - Train. This way we avoid renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another, heard its a pain. 4. Would 4 days be ok in Florence considering we are visiting Pisa + Tuscany.
5. We are considering Lauterbrunnen, but most of the apartments are booked, busy season :(

Posted by
1633 posts

Nikolai, I think your idea about dropping Nice and adding the days to Paris, Lauterbrunnen and Florence/Tuscany would be a good idea. For myself, you could never have enough days in Tuscany. Actually, it would also be a good idea to spend one night in Orvieto (accessible by train) on the way to Rome. It's a lovely quaint, small hilltown. Maybe take a day from Lauterbrunnen, just a thought. For Lauterbrunnen, I would suggest posting a new question specifically asking about apartments/lodging in Lauterbrunnen. You can also try vrbo for apartments.

Posted by
4 posts

@Denise: Thanks a lot for your help.
I will probably add another day in Tuscany or in Orvieto. I will tweak and post the plan :)

Posted by
4 posts

Also, August 1st is a Switzerland National Day. Is it worth extending a day (and leave Switzerland on Aug 2nd) for the parade/fireworks etc?