Thoughts on 12 day itinerary to France + Venice in August?

Amy - With this itinerary you'll spend more time going to, coming from and dealing with airports, train stations and conncetions than you'll spend on vacation - too ambitious for me. Slow down, smell the roses, live the local life. It's not a sprint. That is just my humble opinion - in any event, have a great time!

Thanks for the feedback Jon. Is there anything in particular you would cut? I'm heading into a PhD program and will be stuck there vacationless for the next 6 years, so it's hard not to want to see everything now while I can :)

Congratulations on your doctoral program! You need some rest and calm before the rigors of that Ph.D. If you haven't booked all that transportation, I'd suggest re-arranging some of your travel. By the time you arrive in Paris early in the morning, you probably can't check into your hotel, and you'll be too tired to make the trip out to Versailles. Since you're already at the airport, why not fly to Venice and stay there for several nights. Then make your next flight to Marseilles. A rental car would make all your side trips in southern France very easy and convenient. A hotel for several nights in Nice, and then another hotel in Arles would make sense. Then drop the car back at Marseilles Airport and fly back to Paris. Public transportation there is easy. You can arrange your car rental on the internet. Watch our for age restrictions and be sure to specify if you need an automatic transmission. Good luck in school!

I actually quite like Nice. It’s one of my favorite cities. I wouldn't cut Nice entirely, maybe just trim down the amount of time you're in Arles. You should spend at least two nights in Nice to enjoy it completely.

The free public beaches are very rocky, but there are a few private beaches that are sandy- but expect to pay and expect them to be packed in august. If you want to lie on the beach I would suggest taking a short train ride to another Mediterranean town like
Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Hope this helps.

I concur with other posters, your itinerary is too ambitious, especially the first day- you will be too tired by mid-day to do anything else if you go to Versailles. I would cut down on your destinations to 3, at most 4. Consider which destinations you want to see most, and trim from there.

Venice is one of my fav. cities in the world. so spend more time there taking in the museums, music n do a hop to murano and burano.
dont forget to walk as many bridges as possible and take in the architecture.
Paris itself needs 1-2 weeks. I would suggest sacre couer area and people watch instead of versailles. or hang around the eiffel tower and the rue cler area.
If u have not done paris, I would suggest that u cut out s, france and just do paris and venice.
dont do it the american or japanese way where u just take pics and get into your mode of transportation. slow down, take in the culture, the cafe scene and yeah, smell the roses.
good luck on your dr. program

write me if u need suggestions doing europe. i used to work in s. germany and its one of my fav, places to vacation. cheap and friendly and great. I just got back from picking up my german car in munich and did a drving tour of bavarian alps. the best.

oh. if u have not done italy before, I would suggest that u do Venice and tuscany. ie florence, pisa and sienna. the food and arts and architecture is unsurpassed. and if adventurous enough, do rome.
My personal favorite is the whole swatch of sw germany, s. germany and se. germany and their surrounding neighbors of france, switzerland and austria. maybe next trip for you. lol
have fun and planning and meeting people is frosting on the cake. lol

Thanks all. I've been thinking about cutting Nice from the list. My reasons for having Nice on there were 1) for the nightlife, and 2) for the beach since I wanted to see the Mediterranean. Are Aix and Arles at all comparable to Nice in terms of nightlife? And is there any city close by Arles where I'd be able to get a nice beach on the Mediterranean that might be comparable to how pretty Nice's beaches are (I know the sandy/rocky part might differ)? Thanks!

No nice beaches near Arles, unfortunately. There are beaches in the Camargue, which is interesting, but I suspect you would be disappointed. Nightlife not the main attraction there either, though you might be pleasantly surprised.

If Nice is still on the agenda, see if it's practical to fly there rather than to Marseilles, or consider a night train. Then your day in Aix can be as a stopover enroute to Arles. You can take the TGV to Paris.

Venice is a nice place to begin, but you could reverse the whole thing (Paris-Arles-Aix-Nice-Venice) if that works better for some reason

Yours is still a very busy itinerary, but you should be able to catch your breath with 3 consecutive nights in Arles--and you want to cover a lot of ground. A car would really help you do that in Provence.

Have a great trip!

We have to have a recovery day when arriving in Europe. Taking the plane on to another place is a good idea as someone else suggested that you won't be able to get in your hotel. I have talked to many flight attendants and they take a two hour nap after checking in and then get up for dinner.
Italy will be very hot as will Paris. August is when the Italians vacation and the beaches will be full. You will probably enjoy that. Just get a map and mark where you have to go and see the logical route. That is what we did for our trip and that changed the order of things. Have a great time. We did a trip like yours once and I don't regret it, but wouldn't do it again.
MJ
Doctoral drop out!