Hi Guys,
The more I think about it when I do 11 days and 11 nights in Europe, I want to see specific cities than dive into one country in depth. Starting from (and including) Paris, what would be a decent 5-city tour (including at least one Italian city). I want to see a beach once.
You said you're flying into Paris. Where are you flying home from?
Then, get our a map of paris and see how far the cities are apart and learn how long the trains take between cities.
Five cities is too much for 11 days. And remember, you arrive the morning of day 2 jet lagged.
5 cities in 11 nights is insane pacing. You are new to European travel - even if you spent 1 week in France and 1 week in Italy, you will get an extremely limited taste of these countries.
Suggestion 1: 4 Nights Paris, 2 Nights Venice, 2 Nights Rimini (Adriatic beach town), 3 Nights Rome
Suggestion 2: 7 Nights Paris (including two day trips to coastal Northern France and Versailles), 4 Nights Rome
Suggestion 3: 6 Nights Paris (including one day trip to coastal Northern France), 2 Nights Brugges, 3 Nights Amsterdam. Save Italy for a separate trip.
All of the above assume you fly open-jaw into Paris and out of final destination city.
This is not realistic. Period.
Leave Italy out of this trip. Italy is wonderful, but trying to squeeze in "one city in Italy" along with 4 other major cities (inlcuing Paris) in an 11-day trip is a really bad idea.
Listen: Forget the beach.
Assuming you are an American, you will probably be disappointed by most European beaches. They are not like the dream picture we have of nice beaches in our minds (for that, go to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Thailand). If you want a nice beach vacation, don't go looking for it on your 11-day trip to Europe. Trust me.
See the advice that has been given in any of the several threeads you've started :) ...you'll see a pattern there: people are saying you're not being realistic. Take their advice.
The real beauty of Europe is outside of the big cities, in the picturesque small towns, the culture there, the festivals etc. From Paris either only do France (countryside, Loire river valley, Normandy etc.) or if you MUST collect cities add realistic ones such as Brugge, Brussels, Antwerp and Amsterdam. Plenty of beaches in Belgium and the Netherlands available...
You're probably seeing a pattern here. Suggest reading David's advice twice, and the others as well. We're trying to tell you something. Or you can do it your way, the great thing is you then get a chance to prove, on the ground in Europe, whether you're right (for you).
hmmm, didn't you post a bit earlier that you wanted to be "sane"? 5 cities + a beach in 11 days doesn't sound very sane to me. You're still all over the place. I'd suggest to read up on Europe a bit more and discover how diverse this continent is and think about which aspects would appeal most to you.
What would you tell a European who wanted to come to the US for the first time and see 5 major cities in 11 days??????
You'll get many opinions on this one...Eleven nights is not much time to see five cities, considering you will have to spend quite a bit of travel time getting from one to the other if you want to get to Italy too. I'd pick less cities - three maybe. Where are you flying home from? That will certainly impact your itinerary. If you can fly out of somewhere besides Paris, maybe Paris - Nice - Rome.
It seems that you really want to piece together some sort of Grand Tour of Europe. But trust me, if you want a Grand Tour, you need a grand amount of time, and 11 days doesn't fit it. 11 days, however, is probably perfect for two large cities, with a few side-trips.
Just getting from one place to another will take up over a third of your time, maybe more. Remember, in each place you have to allow time to find your accommodation, get settled, repack, wait for the train/bus/plane, and travel to the next city. You'd get a better overview of the cities if you stayed home and watched the Travel Channel.
Here you go...how about 7 countries in 10 days.
http://contiki.com/tours/118-european-horizon
My first trip to Europe was a 23 day bus tour that included 12 different night stops. I got a "glimpse" of Europe and knew where I eventually wanted to go back to and where I didn't.
Although this type of travel is not the type most of us on the board would do, it might be perfect for two young guys who, I'm guessing, are looking to party. Your transportation and your hotels are taken care of.
Hmmm. I had a feeling five was too many (my original post had I think 10).
2-3 seems reasonable. Thanks everyone.
I was looking through Frommer's 1 week and 2 week itineraries and liked what I saw. 11 days devoted to France should be great. What does everyone think about those itineraries?
Personally, I thought an entire day in Versailles (and at Bayeux and Caen) was excessive. Keep in mind we are two guys. When Frommer says we can see Versailles in 3 hours, we believe him.
I liked the idea of sightseeing in Rouen, followed by the night life there (jazz clubs and theatre).
Where else (other then Paris, Rouen, Riviera) can I find such a good blend of day-time sightseeing and night-time theares/clubs/etc.?
I agree two young fellows could whiz through Versailles in 3 hours. Go first thing in am and you could be back in Paris for a late lunch and lots more sightseeing. I love Versailles and could spend three days there, but I am looking at it from your point of view not mine.
I am happy to see you have come down to earth and are concentrating the 11 days in one country, even young and energetic as you may be that intial desire to see 5 countries in 11 days was excessively horrid.
