Barcelona-Paris-Florence-CT-Rome - Too Much?

I'm sure it's doable but it seems like such a short time in each area. I am a bigger fan of having a homebase and being/living there for the duration. I was in Rome for a week and still didn't think it was enough. I don't even see how you will be able to see anything in Rome in just a day.
I'll be in Paris in September for four full days with a travel day on either end of that and I feel like THAT is not enough.

I think you're right to be concerned. That's a lot of travelling for 12 days on the ground (not counting arrival day or departure day.) I'd also be concerned about alloting only 2 days each to Paris and Rome, two of the great cities of Europe, while alloting 3+ days each to Barcelona and Florence.
Much as I love Spain, I would suggest you, at the least, cut out Barcelona. Fly into Paris and start from there, allotting the extra days to Paris and Rome.

It’s ambitious, but I’d do it. Sounds like a great way to spend a couple weeks! The night trains help a lot.

You mention “enjoying the country” Do you mean that in a “countryside” sense? To me, this is an“urban” trip to some great European cities and I wouldn’t expect too much time exploring the rural areas. I’d drop CT and spend more time in Paris/Rome. Leave rural Europe for another time. Assume you’ll be back.

Don't train--you can fly easyjet(easyjet.com) from Barcelona to Paris, and from Orly in Paris to Pisa which is the flag airport for Florence and the CT. Then, after the CT, train to Rome. To me time is the most important management issue when one tours, and you can probably gain an extra couple of days at prices lower than using the train. One caveat: using Easyjet means you have to pay for checked baggage and I challenge you to strip down to one 22' roller board--that in the EU you will have to check--and, in the EU, one carry-on means one. September is a great month to travel.

Fuggedaboudit.

And I generally move too fast and try to do too much. I think your plans are not reasonable.

You've got 3 "regions" (Barcelona, Paris, Italy), which are about a day apart - moving from one region to another will kill a whole day.

You think you're going to be clever and make up a day by using the "night train gambit." That may work for some people, but for lots of others it a miserable night of no sleep followed by two days of shuffling around like a zombie. Are you sure you'll get a good night's sleep on a train? Unless you've done it before and are confident you'll get a good night's rest, it's a gamble.

Regardless, I just think you've got too many far-flung places. I'd suggest you cut out one region - probably Paris or Barcelona. As much as I love Barcelona, I'd probably skip that. Spend a little more time in/around Paris (you've only budgeted two days for Paris - that seems like you're not giving it enough - you'll spend one day doing Versailles alone). I also think you need to cut down on the number of places you're trying to get to in Italy.

Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself this question: how many FULL days do you have on your trip where you will NOT be traveling? I only see a few. You need to do less zooming and more being in one place.

Looks like you have 12 days (be honest - arrival and departure days do not count). The day after you arrive, you'll probably be all jet-lagged anyway, but we'll let that slide. I would spend your 12 days something like this:

Day 1 to 3- Paris & Versailles
Day 4 - fly to Florence
Day 5 - in Florence
Day 6 - train to Siena
Day 7 - in Siena
Day 8 - train to CT
Day 9 - in CT
Day 10 - train to Rome
Day 11 & 12 - in Rome

That's still pretty tight, but at least you have a handful of days when you are not on the move. To be honest, I'd consider skipping CT and either Florence or Siena, and spend those 2-3 days in Venice, but tastes vary.

Hope that helps.

Maybe I should cut out CT. So it would look like: (excluding 2 travel days) Barcelona 4 Days, Paris 2 Days, Florence (&Sienna Day Trip) 4 Days, Rome 2 Days. We would like to still do the night trains because it does save us daytime travel time. Thanks for all your input - it's much appriciated!

I'd do as Norm suggested and delete Barcelona--add 2 days to Paris (4 total) and 2 days to Rome (4 total.) Plus 4 days for Florence/Siena.

David brings up a good point. I did a night train from Rome to Graz, Austria and I did not sleep well. I did tour around a bit when I got in because my hotel was not ready for me at 8 am. I wandered the town and then went back and slept. I ended up horribly sick and that killed my travel for 2 days.

Regardless of your energy, you will be overwhelmed by the antiquity and the difficulty in finding places. Stay longer in fewer locales. You will have better memories and a reason to return to explore the cities/countries you missed on this trip. You could stay in Paris for two weeks and not see "everything". It's daunting.

I'd actually drop Paris ( as much as I love it ) and possibly Rome. I think that Paris is the furthest away from the others, and you'd be spending a lot of time traveling from there. If you fly into Barcelona ( one of my favorite cities ) you can take a plane to Pisa for cheap ( Vueling Airlines, I believe ) - that's what my wife and I did. Once in Pisa, it's no problem getting to the CT and then Florence. The Cinque Terre is not to be missed - it's unbelievably beautiful, and Florence beats Rome hands down in my opinion.

I might also add that September is the perfect time to go to the Cinque Terre - the crowds are lessened, and the weather is near-perfect.