Frankfurt, Rome, Florence, Paris - 1st Trip to Europe

You're going to get lots of feedback on this one.

You really expect to visit four cities in 6 days? How?

How are you traveling between cities? Do you arrive on the 28th or leave Florida on the 28th?

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to the way people travel..but....this is not a good idea.

Your itinerary needs to allow for the travel time to get from Bacharach to Rome, from Florence to Paris, and to do that you need to think about by plane, by train, by car--go here to read up on Europe Itinerary Planning 101 Europe Itinerary Planning 101

Brad,

Frank is absolutely right, you'll likely get lots of feedback on this post.

To begin with, would it be possible to cancel or amend your airline tickets? If you're the one booking your flights then you do have control. In this case it would be a good idea to avoid Frankfurt (and especially the 10-hour layover!), as most of your focus seems to be on other cities (Rome, Florence, Paris). Using open jaw flights (into Rome and home from Paris, or vice versa) would have been the best idea.

Could you confirm how long your trip will be? That will have a bearing on which cities to choose as you'll need to minimize travel times between cities.

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd strongly recommend not trying to fit too many stops into a limited time frame. You'll need to get used to the way things work in Europe and hopefully have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday, rather than seeing the world flash by from the windows of a train or budget flight. Limiting your trip to a smaller geographic area would be a really good idea.

In additon to the "Itinerary Planning 101" that Kent suggested, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door, as it provides an enormous amount of good information on how to travel efficiently in Europe.

Good luck and happy travels!

To start, no, you do not have time to go to Bacharach. Secondly, there is plenty to see in Frankfurt with your layover, it is a world class great city (it tied with Munich for 7th place, on best cities in the world to live). Thirdly, you are trying to see way too much. I would cancel Florence to spend more time in Rome and Paris.

Fly to Frankfurt, see the city,
Fly to Rome for 3 days,
Fly to Paris for 3 days.

Are you flying out of Paris? Also, there are cheap flights out of Frankfurt to Rome all time, why is someone booking you a 10 hour layover here?

My train tickets are booked and when I looked up flight originally, it was about 3 times more money than the train.

I am really looking for the best suggestions regarding the sites. Maybe times of day, where to get tickets if necessary, etc...

All my travel arrangements are booked, the only question is if I can catch an earlier flight from Frankfurt to Rome.

A little more background. My daughter signed us up for a tour through her school to London. It was only 4 days long and I decided to come before and add 6 days to the trip. All our flights are booked by the tour company and I have no say in the matter. They originally told me I would not get my flight information until 2 weeks before we left on March 27th. So getting some other feedback, I figured we would arrive sometime in the morning of the 28th in Rome. That would give us almost 2 full days in Rome, we have a morning train ride to Florence on the 30th. 2 full days in Florence and then the overnight train to Paris, arriving in the morning of the 1st. We have 2 full days in Paris, then we have a train on the 3rd to London. The Frankfurt stop was not planned. We get in at 5am from Chicago into Frankfurt and our flight to Rome is not until 3:50pm. The airlines does have 4 other flights to Rome before ours, it is a Saturday, so maybe we leave earlier. But in the meantime, I am trying to make the best of it. If I new we were going to loose a day, I would have booked 3 days in Rome or Paris and 2 in the other. Hopefully that explains our itinerary a little better.

Jo, ff we cannot get an earlier flight, what would you suggest we visit, or a nice relaxing area to walk around? What about Romerberg and the market at Schaumainkai?

Thanks for the suggestions!

Based on your schedule...I agree that you do not have time to venture out of Frankfurt. At best, go into Frankfurt and Jo can fill you with info on what to do there. If it were me, as soon as I landed, I would be attempting to get on an earlier flight into Rome. Everything you listed for Rome is great and fitting for a full day in Rome. If you get in early, I would add Piazza Novana mid day for lunch. And if at all possible - get over to St. Peters Church (talk about photo ops!!)

Florence: David, Medecci chapels, Uffizi Gallery, Dumomo and Baptistry.

Paris: pastry shops and cafes, river cruise on the seine, picnic on Eiffel tower lawn, Notre Dame - really I could go on and on. Any guidebook will lead you thru. Paris is amazing! Eat a crossaint every day and don't miss a opportunity for a Nutella Crepe.

If I had to skip things for time purposes, I would put these things lower on the list. Rome: Spanish Steps and Pallantine Hill. Paris: the museums are world class, but personally with limited time, I would rather be out on the streets. Also I would pass on Monte Matre, Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elleses (all spelled horribly wrong -sorry).

Amy, thank you very much for your reply, that is the information I am looking for... I will definitely try to get an earlier flight, hopefully they will be slow on Saturday...

In Florence, both the Accademia and the Uffizi are closed on Mondays. So, if you want to see David it will have to wait until Tuesday.

Instead of taking the night train from Florence to Paris, which some people have trouble sleeping on, how about looking into a discount flight instead from either Florence or Pisa?

For Rome, I would go to the Colosseum, the Forum, St. Peters (climb up in the dome) and the Sistine Chapel and the Pantheon. Those were my favorites, though there are many other things to see and just walking around is fun.

For Paris, the Eiffel Tower, St.Chapelle, Sacre Cour (climb up in the dome) and the Arc de Triumph. I can't spell French either!

For Frankfurt, the Römerplatz, Alt Nikolai church, the Kaiserdom, the Holocaust Memorial Wall, Medieval Jewish cemetery, go up in the Main Tower, the Alte Oper, ride the Apfelwine Express around the city.

Send me a message if you want more detailed information on how to get into town. It is really easy.