Starting in Bordeaux: Would like to see Barcelona, Cinque Terre, and Switzerland. Any advice on trying to hit all three and the best way to get to each? We could skip either Barcelona or Switzerland and just do the other two but would like to try and make it work. Thanks!
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
I guess the first big question is how much time do you have? Certainly you could do these places in 12-14 days, but not if you only have 5...
Posted by
OP
Little Rock
3 posts
We will leave Bordeaux on Saturday and back to the US on the following Sunday. So not enough time??? Thanks!
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
Well, you could spend the whole time in Switzerland and not see all (We only had 4 days - 1 in Spiez, 1 in Lauterbrunnen/Murren area, 1 Bern and 1/2 day in ZUrich. Switz had to be my fav country - absolutely beautiful...and $$!!) And 2-3 nights in good in CT (I can't speak for Barcelona...not been there, but I'm sure 3-4 would be fine). SO I think you are better off doing either Switzerland, or a Barcelona/CT combo. Trains may be your best bet...again, not having been to Spain at all, I can't talk for flights and train times, but maybe you could find a flight fr Barcelona to Florence then by train to CT if you decide to do that...
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Kathi, where are you flying out from? I would strongly suggest you skip one of three. You have less then a week to visit three places in three different countries,, does that sound reasonable to you? I know we all consider Europe to be quite compact compared to our continent/countries,, but really, you haven't even taken in account that you can't teleport , you need to count the actual travel time. Personally I arrange my trip so it was in a line to my final destination ( city you are flying out of ) .. backtracking wastes time and money.
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Pat's question is right on point. If you are flying home out of Bordeaux, then that restricts the amount of time you have because you have to make the trek back to Bordeaux, probably the day before your flight home. One possibllity is to take a discount airline like Easyjet, which flies Bordeaux to Geneva, or Vueling, which has lots of flights to/from Spain.
If I may offer a suggestion (and you didn't ask for this, so feel free to utterly disregard it), since you are in Bordeaux, you are in easy driving range of the Perigord/Dordogne region with beautiful villages, great food, hiking, and prehistoric caves as well as the Basque country of SW France and NE Spain. You could fill a wonderful week with these and easily circle back to Bordeaux to go home. Just a thought.
Posted by
OP
Little Rock
3 posts
Thanks for all the helpful hints! I guess I should have given all the details in the beginning. We can fly into anywhere on Saturday, June 23. Have to be in Bordeaux on Wed - Fri. Then we have until the following Saturday, July 7 to go anywhere. Flying home out of Milan at this point. We just can't decide where to go. Love the idea about Perigord/Dordogne. We want scenery and history. Not so much into museums. Good food and wine.