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First Timers to Europe Need Help with Itinerary

Posted by (Buffalo, NY, USA) on

Hello All!
What a fantastic travel site! I am a bit late to this party, but have enjoyed reading through the great info posted here and now have the need to seek your suggestions/opinions/guidance for our first trip to Europe.

The trip is mainly to take a Mediterranean Cruise out of Barcelona this Fall (2009). As it is our first time overseas, we'd like to add a week on land to make the most of it.

Here's what we'd like to do. Is it feasible to do in 6 days before the cruise?

Fly from NY to Paris on Saturday (overnight).

Arrive Paris on Sunday AM and check in, relax, look around
Monday sightseeing in Paris.

Tuesday take train to DisneyLand Paris and back.

Wednesday same trip to DisneyLand Paris (if needed).

Thursday travel from Paris to Avignon via high-speed train to spend the night.

Friday Sightseeing in Avignon.

Saturday travel (via Train, Plane, Rental Car?) to Barcelona for the cruise.

It all seems so easy on paper, but I still do not know how to get from Avignon to Barcelona the best way. I've read a lot about that on here. Is renting a car and driving to Barcelona a good idea? Looks to be only 4-5 hours?

Another option is to just take the TGV high speed train to Avignon and back on the same day once or twice and just fly to Barcelona from Paris. That way we would get to see the countryside, and still get to Barcelona quickly.

As you can see, DisneyLand and Avignon are the 2 "must-do's" for us, so we want to fit them in no matter what.

Any thoughts, suggestions, words of wisdom, and tips are greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your kind feedback!

Posted by
16278 posts

This is strange....I posted an answer earlier and it disappeared.

I'd suggest you go directly to Avignon the day you arrive in France. Then go direclty to Disneyland for 2-3 nights (stay near the park, why keep going in and out of Paris), and then on Thursday, return to Paris for sightseeing. Fly to Barcelona on Saturday morning. (the fastest train from Paris to Barcelona is 9 1/2 hours.)

Are you traveling with small kids? Otherwise, I don't see why you want to spend so much time at Paris Disneyland. The only difference than either one in the U.S. is that they speak French and sell wine.

But, to each his own.

Posted by
4 posts

Hi Barry,

Skip the second day at Disneyland Paris. This park is far less crowded than the others and you'll get thru everything twice in a day. Take a early train to Avignon and spend two a night or two there. Try a day or two in Arles. It's just an hour south of Avignon with a lot of history. There's an early train from Arles that arrives in Barcelona about noon. We made this trip a couple of years and it was great! Hope this helps.

Regards,

Van

Posted by
9110 posts

Be advised that there are two Disney parks with separate admission. Disneyland Paris and the Movies Studios park. If you want to visit both you will need two days. Whenever I've visited the parks (mid-week and cold temperatures) they have been very crowded with long lines.

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks to all for the quick replies!

This was my first post here and I see it looks pretty sloppy. I tried to use "bullet points" for each day, but I guess they didn't take, and it looks like one long sentence. (Note to self for next time!)

This is just the kind of stuff a first-timer needs to know.

Again, this trip is PRIMARILY for our Mediterranean Cruise. We thought we'd throw in visits to DisneyLand and Avignon to make the most of our long flight over.

Paris was picked only as a "base" to travel from, because we were going to fly in there.

I realize Disney Parks are not for everyone, but it's what WE want to do. We were thinking "2 parks - 2 days" so thats why that was tossed out there.

The trip to Avignon is for personal reasons, and is equally important. I am looking to make it to BOTH destinations as easily as possible and appreciate the suggestions!

I like the idea of going to Avignon upon arrival, and then ending up in Paris to fly to Barcelona. Hadn't thought of that order.

Obviously another (future) trip to Paris will be required to see all there is to see, and I'm sure the cruise will only give us a few hours in each port to see a highlight or two.

But aside from DisneyLand and Avignon, we should at least get a small taste of Europe that will make us eager to return.

Keep the thoughts and suggestions coming and thanks for tolerating our "unusual" plans!

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