France and Italy: Best 2 to 3 week itinerary for first-time visitors
France and Italy make for a perfect first visit to Europe, but there are so many potential places to visit that planning well is extremely important. Of the two, Italy is a bit more straightforward because it has a “Big 3” of tourist cities consisting of Rome, Florence, and Venice. France, on the other hand, has Paris, but beyond the capital it can be hard to know where you should go.
These two countries contain several of what I consider to be the best cities in Europe to visit for anyone, so it’s just a matter of narrowing down where to go and how much time to spend in each place. In the article below you’ll see the best option to string together a tour of these countries in two or three weeks. There will be options and decisions you’ll have to make based on your own tastes, but no matter how you do it this should be an unforgettable trip.
This article was most recently updated in August, 2022.
How many cities to visit?
This is perhaps the most challenging question when planning an itinerary. Newer travelers always assume that more is better and overly-seasoned travelers always preach that virtually any city anywhere deserves at least a week. As with most things, the best answer probably lies somewhere in between. If you only have two weeks per year it would take a lifetime of trips to explore even half of Europe at the slow pace, so it makes sense for newer travelers to move at a good clip.
There are many reasons why fast travel might be your best option, but only up to a point. With only a few exceptions, 3 nights per city is a good minimum even for those wishing to see as much as possible, or 2 nights in the smaller cities.
If you are going to France and Italy for sure then start with Paris and Rome as the foundation and add cities in between to the degree you’ll have time. France is a deceptively large country so travel will eat up some time unless you are flying or taking the bullet trains.
>>>Going just to Italy?: Here are the best first-time Italy itineraries for 3 days to two weeks
Flying in and out
Unless you are starting from elsewhere in Europe, you’ll want to carefully choose which airport to fly into. It used to be that Paris was one of the cheapest, and it’s still competitive, but it doesn’t rank high on the list of European cities that are cheapest to fly into.
Two one-way tickets is ideal
It used to be that round-trip tickets were always much cheaper than two one-way tickets, but often that is no longer true. Sometimes the one-way flights are exactly half the round-trip fare, sometimes a bit more than half, and other times they are double. It’s hard to predict so it’s worth comparing them yourself.
The first thing to try is this:
- (your city) to Paris one-way
- Rome to (your city) one-way
Compare that to this:
- (your city) to Paris round-trip
- (your city) to Rome round-trip
If the two one-way flights are within US$150 or so of either round-trip, then they are your best option. If the round-trips are much cheaper then your best option is to buy one of those as well as a one-way flight between the cities (for around US$100) for just before you fly home. It would cost more on the train and also take 14 hours, so flying that last part is the way to go unless you are planning on using the last leg of a Eurail Pass on an overnight run.
Getting around once in Europe
Flying around in France and Italy doesn’t make much sense. The flights on low-cost carriers can certainly be cheap, but most major cities are only 2 to 5 hours apart by train, so riding the rails is faster, more pleasant, and far more scenic.
Even on trains, you still have three main options:
- Buying a France-Italy regional Eurail Pass
- Buying individual train tickets in advance
- Buying individual train tickets one at a time when you get there
If you are under 26 you can qualify for the 2nd Class Eurail Pass, which will be ideal for many people. If you are over 25 you have to buy a 1st Class Eurail Pass, and those are probably only best for those with a bit more money to spend.
Best cities in France and Italy for first-time visitors
Paris (minimum 3 nights but even that is rushing it)
Obviously you’ll want to visit Paris, and it makes sense to either start or end your whole journey here. If it’s your first stop you should add at least one extra day to help deal with jet lag, but you should plan on staying as long as possible because the French capital is one of the world’s great (and most beautiful) cities by any definition.
It’s true that you can’t just all of France by just visiting Paris on your first trip, but it’s still not a bad idea because this city is the center of almost everything and even the areas surrounding it are filled with great sights, amazing histories, and plenty of things to do. It’s almost impossible to get a bad meal in the city and most of the food is reasonably priced considering the quality. Be prepared for a small hotel room, even if you pay a lot, so it’s more about paying for the location rather than for a luxurious and large place to sleep.
The sights in Paris are almost all worthwhile, but don’t think you have to spend an entire day in the Louvre in order to enjoy it. In fact, I highly recommend taking the 3-hour double-decker sightseeing tour (run by several companies) on your first day in order to see at least the exteriors of all of the famous landmarks. If you want to go inside at least a few of the big attractions you might consider getting a Paris Pass, which also covers the bus tour and a cruise on the Seine.
Spend at least three nights in Paris itself and if you have extra days you might do a day trip (tour buses are a great choice) of the nearby Loire Valley. It’s filled with famous castles and palaces where the rich used to live outside of the city, and many are available for tours.
Paris to Nice by train: About 6 hours
Provence region (optional 2 or 3 nights)
Probably the most efficient first trip to France along with Italy is to spend a few days in Paris and then head to Nice (see below) to explore the French Riviera, but if the beach scene doesn’t interest you, or if you are coming in the cool months (the beach areas are pretty dead from November through March) you might instead stop in the Provence region. This area is famously where Van Gogh was based and got his inspiration, and also home to a Papal Palace where 7 popes lived during the 1300s.
The main city is Arles and that is probably the best base, although Avignon (where the Popes lived) is also very tourist friendly and could be a good choice. In fact, Avignon is the beginning of the famous Côtes du Rhone wine road, which connects a series of hill towns with amazing scenery and of course wine tasting. Something like this might be better for a second or third trip to France unless you’ve got weeks to spend here. Provence is also known for its cuisine, as it stands out even within a country where the food is amazing virtually everywhere you go.
Paris to Avignon by train: About 3.5 hours
Avignon to Nice by train: About 3 hours
Nice, France (minimum 2 nights)
Nice is the largest (and cheapest) city on the Côte d’Azur (AKA French Riviera) so it’s the perfect base to explore this stunning part of the world for a few days. It can still be quite expensive during July and August, when most French are filling their own beaches, but in other months it’s not too bad.
Nice has a famous beach (made of pebbles rather than sand), but it’s also an important cultural capital with great museums and a thriving food scene. You could easily spend 2 or 3 quick days in Nice alone, but you might also consider spending a few hours in Cannes and/or Monaco, which are both only about 30 minutes away by train in either direction. The cheaper hotels in Nice are near the train station anyway, so that’s something to consider if you want to visit all 3 places in one short trip.
Nice to Milan by train: About 5 hours
Nice to Venice by train: About 7.5 hours
Milan (1 night or just skip it)
Milan is famous, though that alone is not enough of a reason to stop there. If you skip it you won’t be missing much, or you might stop for one night just to break up the journey a bit. On the plus side, Milan has one of Europe’s most photogenic gothic domes at its heart, and it’s the home to Da Vinci’s Last Supper (if you make reservations well in advance).
The down side, however, is that Milan is mostly a business/financial city that isn’t as charming as the rest on this list. It’s one of Europe’s fashion capitals as well, but the casual visitor wouldn’t notice. Worst of all, accommodation in Milan can be insanely expensive if there is a trade fair or event in town. If you are coming through in between fairs and events, hotels can actually be unusually cheap, so it’s worth checking rates if you are considering stopping. Generally speaking, I recommend skipping Milan at least on your first trip.
Milan to Venice by train: About 2.5 hours
Venice (1 night minimum, 2 nights maximum)
Certainly one of the most beautiful and unusual cities on the planet, Venice is something that everyone should see, though it can be a bit tricky. The thing is, between about 10am and 5pm every day of the year, the main walkways in Venice are a slow-moving parade of more tourists than seem possible or even safe. Many of them stay in hotels nearby on the mainland, while many others just come in for the day on part of a bus tour. The point is, Venice is very frustrating during those hours, so to appreciate the city it’s important to work around them at least a bit.
The trick is to stay at least one night, if not two, on the main island itself. Perhaps surprisingly, Venice shuts down early, with most restaurants and bars closed by around 10pm. But in those evening hours as well as the morning hours on the following day, the place can feel magical and like a fairy tale destination. Venice is also quite compact so seeing the main highlights in 24 hours isn’t difficult. Depending on your budget, spend one or two nights on the main island and you’ll be quite satisfied by the time you leave. You’ll be sick of the crowds by then anyway.
Venice to Florence by train: About 2 hours
Florence (2 nights minimum, plus side trips)
With fewer than 400,000 residents, Florence feels more like a small town than the others, even though it’s much larger than Venice. As the largest and most central city in Tuscany, Florence is a cultural capital filled with famous museums, cathedrals, and other sights, but it’s also the ideal jumping off point for day or overnight trips into some of the nearby hill towns.
Whether you are coming from Venice or from Rome, this is the point on your trip that you’ll be able to catch your breath a bit. It’s also the cheapest city on this list so lingering here will be more affordable in addition to relaxing. The cuisine here is, of course, world famous, and it can get even better and cheaper if you spend a day or two in one of the many scenic villages in this part of Italy.
From Florence to Rome it’s only around 90 minutes by train, so another easy and pleasant travel day.
Pisa (a few hours on a day trip at most)
If you are spending several weeks exploring Italy then perhaps you’d want to spend a night or even two in Pisa. But for a quick trip where you are trying to include as much as possible, Pisa is best for a day trip. It’s about an hour by train or bus from Florence, so you can literally do it in half a day there and back. And being honest, the Field of Miracles (which includes the Leaning Tower) is definitely worth a look, but the rest of Pisa doesn’t really stand out.
Regardless of your starting point, you can go to the Pisa Centrale train station and walk about 25 minutes to the Leaning Tower area, or take a train to the Pisa San Rossore train station and 7 minutes to the Field of Miracles. There are also bus tours from Florence that take you all the way there, but those come with the slowness of large-group travel.
Cinque Terre (1 night, optional)
If you were to be spending all 2 or 3 weeks in Italy and saving France for another trip, then you’d want to considering spending at least a day and perhaps a night in this stunning little group of 5 towns perched on rocky cliffs overlooking the sea. They are on the west coast a bit north of Florence, so they are a bit out of the way if you are headed to Rome. Of the 5 towns, Vernazza is probably best for a short visit and it’s definitely the most scenic.
When you see a photo of these villages it’s hard not to be drawn in so if you are in that group you could add a day or two in this area either before or after Florence. Note that the scenic footpaths connecting the towns are partly closed down at times due to instability, so a quick tour by train or even by boat might be a better option.
Florence to Rome by train: About 90 minutes
Rome (minimum 3 nights)
Again, it makes the most sense to start and end your visit in Paris and Rome, and if you are starting in Rome you should add an extra day just to get your footing. Similar to Paris, Rome is crammed with amazing sights too numerous to mention, but unlike Paris, Rome can be a frustrating place to visit. No one regrets their first visit to Rome, but many swear that it’ll also be their last. It’s the traffic and general sense of chaos (multiplied by the summer heat) that wear on visitors.
All of that said, Rome is absolutely a must-visit, although you won’t be blamed for hustling through the city quickly and efficiently so you can spend more time in the relative serenity of anywhere else. The Eternal City is also quite expensive, especially by Italian standards, which is another reason to save only a few days there rather than a full week.
Naples/Pompeii/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast (optional up to 4 nights)
The “big 3” in Italy are Rome, Florence, and Venice, and if you have time for only 3 cities those are the obvious ones to choose. But if you want to dig deeper into Italy and you have enough time, your next best choice will be to base yourself in Sorrento and use it to explore Naples, the ruins of Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, and the island of Capri.
Naples is a large and gritty city that has an unfortunate reputation for pickpockets and other street crime. In reality, any daytime visitor who uses the typical precautions will be fine. Naples is also famously the birthplace of pizza and home to one of the world’s best archaeology museums so it’s worth a day trip for sure. The great news is that Naples is very easy to visit from nearby Sorrento, which is a lovely and friendly place where most people know English.
Stay in Sorrento
To reach Sorrento you’ll take a train to Naples and then change for a one-hour local train (known as the Circumvesuviana) to its final stop. Once you are checked into a hotel there, you can take the same train back to Naples, or an even faster boat. Halfway back on the Circumvesuviana you can jump off in front of the stunning Pompeii Ruins. Those in a hurry can spend half a day in Naples and a couple hours seeing Pompeii and be safely back in Sorrento for an unforgettable dinner.
Amalfi Coast and the Island of Capri
Not only is Sorrento the perfect base for a visit to Naples and Pompeii, but it’s also the gateway to the Amalfi Coast and a short ferry ride from the touristy island of Capri. On a quick visit you can hop on the local bus in Sorrento that takes you through Positano and Amalfi to Salerno. You’ll see all the famous and amazing Amalfi Coast views, and you can return either by bus or boat for an ideal day out.
The other main nearby attraction is the famous tourist island of Capri, which is best known for its Blue Grotto attraction. The ferry from Sorrento only takes 20 minutes each way and leaves hourly most of the day. This is another easy and ideal day trip where you can have breakfast and dinner in Sorrento and a wonderful time in Capri in between.
Filling in the rest of your itinerary
If you have only two weeks total then the above minimums will also pretty much be your maximums, give or take a day. But if you have three weeks you will be adding days to these cities or adding new cities altogether. Honestly, if this is your first trip to these countries, you’ll really get the most bang for your buck by adding extra days in Paris or Florence or both.
Rushing around for two weeks can be exhilarating, but rushing around for three weeks can really start to get exhausting. It’s better to plan to go slower and if you are getting bored you can do a day or overnight trip to something nearby. But you won’t get bored, and if you do you are probably doing it wrong.
Cinque Terre photo by World Walk About on Flickr
Roger,
We are planning a trip in mid June, covering 15 nights. We were trying to determine whether to incorporate a 7 night cruise, to make it like a vacation within a vacation and possibly see some sites we might not normally be able to. The cruise is in the middle, with approximately 4 nights before and 4 nights after. Cruise starts and ends in Rome, with stops in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cannes, Livorno and Naples. We would like to see the main attractions in Paris, Florence, Venice and Rome, but the cruise time may make that difficult. Three more nights would be great, but unfortunately we have time constraints. Do you have any thoughts on mixing in a cruise into this trip? Thank you!
Jason,
I think the idea of a cruise in the middle of a trip like this is excellent. Many people seem anxious to see as many cities as humanly possible on these trips, and a cruise is one civilized way of actually pulling that off.
Barcelona is a huge and wonderful city, and a 10-hour stop there on a cruise isn’t nearly enough, but it will be a good taste. But for those other cities, I think a one-day cruise stop is pretty much ideal. Palma de Mallorca (I haven’t been there yet) is small enough to appreciate in a day. Cannes is even smaller, although it is interesting and worth a day there. Naples is quite a large city, but it’s also a place where many tourists don’t want to go at night, so I recommend doing it as a day trip from Sorrento anyway. If you can take a little tour and see the archeology museum, and perhaps make it to Pompeii as well, it will be a great day.
Rome is ideal for 3 days and Paris is best for 3 or 4 days. You can actually see Venice in about 24 hours, and Florence is best in 2 or 3 days. It might be hard to do all of those, of course, with the cruise in the middle. But still I think the idea sounds really good and you can get back to whichever ones you pass up this time. Let me know if you have any other questions I might help with. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks so much for your reply. We decided against incorporating a cruise this time, and will save that for a future time when we include Greece. This time we are doing 4 nights in Paris, 1 night in Venice, 3-4 nights in Florence, 3-4 nights in Sorrento and 3 nights in Rome. I had two more questions…first, we have 7 nights to split between Florence and Amalfi coast. Do you recommend 4 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Sorrento? Or the reverse? Second, do you have any hotel recommendations in Sorrento? Two we have seriously considered are Hilton Sorrento Palace and Parco die Pricipi. I welcome your thoughts. thanks!
Jason,
It’s great that you’ll have so much time for Italy. Florence itself is worth two solid days. Pisa is a great half-day trip from there, and you can see a hill town in the other half a day. If you want to see the Cinque Terre, that will be another day, though it’s so crowded I really wouldn’t recommend it.
Sorrento is mainly best as just a base city to see Pompeii, Naples, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast. If all of those things interest you (which they really should), then 4 nights in Sorrento would be ideal. Another nice thing is that Sorrento gets far fewer visitors at any given time, so it’s more relaxing than Florence (and FAR more relaxing than Rome).
Both of those hotels look like fine places, but neither is particularly near the Sorrento town center or the main train station. The bus for the Amalfi Coast leaves from in front of the train station, and of course the trains to Pompeii and Naples leave from the train station, so staying in that area is easiest. The main town center is about 500 meters west of the train station, so if you stay in that area you’ll have the most restaurants and shops to choose from. That said, I’m sure there are restaurants in and near the other hotels, so if you prefer a larger chain hotel like that you should have a great time as well. -Roger
Hi Roger. thank you for such a detailed article about Italy and Paris. We will be travelling by ourselves in Mid May til June, Whats the weather be like by then? and what would you suggest, our in/out will be in paris then do you advice to travel from Venice to Roam or vice versa? thank you so much
Rachelle,
If you are going Rome to Florence to Venice then you’ll definitely want to go by train. From Venice it’s probably best to fly to Paris because the train takes a long time and is more expensive than flying. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Very informative page, thank you fr all the suggestions, we will be in Europe for 2weeks, from mid May until July, our in/out will be in Paris. Planning to fly to Italy to see the big 3, which do you suggest that we do first, rome to venice or vice versa? thanks Roger
Rachelle,
The weather in mid May in Europe should be glorious. By July it will be quite warm in Italy, but Paris usually has mild summers, although they do get heat waves. You can see the temperature and rain averages on the main Paris page on this site. -Roger
From a weather standpoint it would be best to start in the south, so Rome first, and then head north as June and July approach.
Dear Roger,
Just been through your articles and found them very very helpfulI need your help as i plan to make a trip to Poland Krakow from Mumbai.I would be travelling with my wife and 8 year old child..Needed your expertise and guidance if possible for this tour of mine..Would plan to travel to Krakow for a week.
Looking forward for your assistance for my travel..
Regards,
Bento Dsouza
Bento,
I’m glad to hear that this information is helpful. This is an odd article to get a question about a trip to Krakow, but I can help at least a bit. A week would be quite a long time to stay in Krakow. I’d say 3 to 4 days is enough for most people, even if you spend half a day visiting Auschwitz and half a day visiting the fun salt mine just outside of town. There is a new high-speed train connecting Krakow and Warsaw that takes only 2 hours and 20 minutes. You might head to Warsaw for 2 or 3 nights as part of your week. The historic part of Warsaw is beautiful and very worthwhile.
If you are thinking about booking a package with a hotel and your activities and tours, I won’t be of much help. I almost always travel independently and most of the advice on this website is to help those who plan their trips themselves. With a good guidebook you can have a wonderful time in Poland and save quite a bit of money. Let me know if you have other questions I might help with. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks a lot for sharing the itinerary This really helped us build our itinerary. Me and my wife are planning for a trip to France and Italy. This will be our first trip to Europe. I was looking at some options and would like your suggestions.
First option
June 9 New Jersey to Paris
June 10,11,12,13,14 paris
June 15,16 nice
June 17,18 venice
June 19, 20,21 florence, pisa
June 22,23,24,25 rome
June 25 Rome to New Jersey
or
May 26 fly into Rome
May 27-30 Rome
May 31 – June 1,2 Florence
June 3,4 Venice
June 5,6 Nice
June 7,8,9,10,11 Paris
June 11 fly back to New Jersey
Which one would you recommend? Also, if you can add few more cities based on our itinerary which one would those be?
I have heard that May end would be good in Italy and not too crowded. Thanks in advance.
Sameer,
From a weather perspective I think you’d be better off starting in Rome and ending in Paris. Rome can get extremely hot in summer, while Paris tends to be more mild. Also, shifting the whole trip a bit earlier like that will mean crowds are a bit smaller and hotel prices should be a bit lower as well.
If you are looking for some smaller towns in France to make a stop in you might consider Avignon or Bourges, which are both in between Nice and Paris. In Italy you are covering the Big 3 with enough time in each. If you have at least 3 additional days I would recommend Sorrento in order to visit Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast, as mentioned in the article above. I really wouldn’t recommend Cinque Terre in summer, as it’s so insanely crowded that its charm is hard to appreciate that time of year. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My wife and I are planning a trip of about 16 days, end of March to early April, to Paris, Switzerland and Italy. We have found the info you have given here along with many other links that we have checked out as well, extremely useful! We have also read some of the comments here as well.
This is our tentative itinerary (very much like your suggestion). We hope to get your opinion, like if we should adjust the length of stay in any of these place etc.
Paris – 3 nights
Switzerland – Interlaken 2 nights, Lucerne 2 nights
Milan – 1 night
Venice – 2 nights
Florence – 2 nights (with a day trip to Pisa)
Rome – 3 nights (KIV last night in Sorrento instead)
We read that you recommend purchasing the train tickets in advance instead of getting the rail pass, for 2 week trips like ours. These tickets are for travelling between the cities only though? Is walking the only way for us to get around within the city? Are cabs expensive?
We really appreciate your help! Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Collin,
I’m happy to hear that this information is helpful, as I enjoy researching and preparing it. I think your itinerary looks excellent.
If you are going to spend half a day visiting Pisa from Florence then that doesn’t give you much time in Florence. You might consider only spending one night in Venice and 3 nights in Florence, but two and two will also be great. As I’ve written elsewhere, Venice is quite small, expensive, and crowded. But it’s also probably the most amazing looking city in Europe, so you won’t get bored on that second day.
As for getting around within the cities, in Paris you’ll want to take the Metro (subway), which has stops every few blocks all over the city. It’s cheap and quite easy to use once you get there. You should also think about doing the hop-on, hop-off bus and even the Paris Pass. That bus is an excellent look at Paris and it stops near just about every major attraction.
You can walk everywhere in Interlaken, and if you want to go into the nearby mountains you’ll take a train to Lauterbrunnen and then a bus and then a cable car up the mountain, all in one ticket. It sounds a bit confusing but it’s easy once you are there.
Lucerne is small enough to walk everywhere, and you should also take a boat tour on the lake, which allows you to hop off and on at any of the stops.
Milan has a Metro as well, but you can walk from the train station to the area around the cathedral, which is where the sights are all located. If you get a hotel somewhere within those areas you’ll be fine on foot.
In Venice you’ll take a vaporetto (canal ferry) from the train station to the main island, and after that everything is easily reachable on foot.
Florence is a larger, but all of the main sights are within walking distance of the train station, and most of the hotels are as well.
Rome is much larger. There is a Metro that takes you to the Vatican and a few other places, but it’s not as useful as the one in Paris. Still, you can walk from the train station to many hotels and sights. Taxis are not too expensive there, and may come in handy. Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful trip. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Wow you have listed down each city that we have mentioned in our itinerary and described how to get around them respectively! That’s just amazing. We had no clue. Thank you so much!
After considering your recommendation for extending our Florence stay, we’re now thinking if maybe we should skip Milan and stay 3 nights in Florence instead. Initially though we thought of skipping Milan and spending 4 nights in Paris. Which option should we go for you reckon?
With only 3 nights allocated for Rome, is it advisable to spend the last one at Sorrento instead to explore Naples/Pompeii/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast, as recommended? Would a daytrip from Rome instead, suffice? Or should we perhaps skip those places altogether and just explore Rome?
Thanks so much for your help Roger!
Collin
Collin,
I’m happy to help. If you’ve got 3 nights in Paris and 2 nights in Florence, and you can add one night to one of those by skipping Milan, you can’t go wrong either way. I’d say adding the night to Paris might be the slightly better choice, but only if you’ve got a pretty long list of things you want to see and do there. Most people can see the main highlights of Paris in two busy days and three memorable evenings. Still, Paris is absolutely stunning and the food is amazing, so you’ll have a wonderful time on that extra day if you spend it there.
You can see the main highlights of Florence in one full day and two evenings, but it’s also a great town with plenty to see, great food, and many very worthwhile day trips you can do, including Pisa and Cinque Terre, plus some Tuscan hill towns. I don’t know if I’m making this choice any easier.
Maybe you can add a day to both because I really wouldn’t recommend Sorrento for 1 day. To get there you take a high-speed train to Naples and then a slow, suburban train for another 70 minutes or so. For stays of 2 to 4 nights it’s worthwhile because Sorrento is the best base to visit Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, and Capri. But to go in one day and back out the next wouldn’t allow enough time to do any of those, except for perhaps a stop at Pompeii. I’d save all of those for a future trip. So you could spend that extra day in Rome, but frankly I’d use that extra day in Florence and just do 3 nights in Rome. You can’t lose with any of these options. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My husband , me and my son, 13 of age, are palnning to travel Europe from Japan from Dec 23 to Jan 8 for 16 days. I am very excited about our 1st trip to Europe….and really lucky to know your website qw well!!
Dec 24 arrive in London in morning , since it is winter time and plus the christmas holiday. I am not sure about the stops due to weather condition in London & paris. Please help me take a look at it , thank you in advance!
London (3 days, 25th is the x-mas)
Paris (3 days,Eurostar train to Paris(2.5 hrs))
Nice ( 2 days, stop by Cannes)
Milan (1 day)
Venice ( 2 days)
Florence (2 days, stop by Pisa)
Rome ( 3 days, fly back to London in morning)
Should we add one more day in Paris , just do 2 days in London since it is expensive and cold? I am thinking to take the train to transport between each city and fly back from rome to London at last. Do you think this is a good plan, or we should take a plan between Paris to Rome, then going up to Venice? .I am trying to pucharse the train tickets once it nailed down. Really appreiciate your help!
Thanks and regards
Jennifer,
I think your itinerary looks very good as it is. The winter weather in London and Paris will be chilly, but it’s rarely below freezing or snowy, and most of the attractions are indoors anyway. I encourage you to keep the 3 days in London and Paris, as that is really the minimum stay to really be able to hit the main highlights of each.
Nice, France is a slightly different story. It is a fairly large city with hundreds of thousands of residents, but it’s also a famous beach town so many of the best things will be hard to enjoy when it’s cold. In other words, I’m sure you’d enjoy it in winter, but you’d enjoy it MUCH more any other time of year. So you might consider saving it for another trip and flying from Paris to Milan. The train rides are pretty long from Paris to Nice and then to Milan, and the scenery won’t be great that time of year.
The weather should be more pleasant in Italy, of course, so you could even extend your stay there. That is part of the flooding season in Venice, so it might not be ideal. Still, Venice is amazing (and fairly crowded) any time of year, so I definitely recommend you keep it on the list. You just might want to cut it to one day, depending on what you think about the flooding situation.
Florence is really pleasant (as opposed to Rome, which is beautiful but kind of stressful), so it would be a good place to add a day or two. There are several other good day trips from Florence as well.
So I think your plan works fairly well as it is. Think about my comments and you might change things just a bit. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger, really thank you for your expertise. OK, I will cancel the 2 days at Nice, France. My husband mentioned about stopping by somewhere Switzerland. Do you suggest to visit geneva Switzerland since we have total 16 days? I don’t know about transportation between Paris – Geneva – Italy (Milan or Rome) , can we take scenery train between 2 countries ? which article I should read to learn more about travel between countries in Europe?
Great thanks & Happy Holidays!
Jennifer
Jennifer,
I’m happy to help. Switzerland could be a wonderful addition to your trip, but I would not recommend Geneva or any other larger city other than perhaps Bern. I get this question a lot so I wrote a detailed article about where to go in Switzerland on a short visit. The short version is, head to the Interlaken area and also Lucerne if you have more than 2 or 3 days. But the weather in the Alps above Interlaken can be unpredictable in winter, so make sure you keep that in mind.
If you do decide to include Switzerland then a train from Paris to Interlaken will be great, and the part once you reach Switzerland is very scenic. Then a train from Interlaken (or Lucerne) to Italy (Milan is the main transport hub in the north) is one of the most scenic train rides on earth.
You won’t benefit from or need a rail pass of any kind. The further in advance you book your tickets, the cheaper they will be. The domestic trains in Switzerland only go on sale 30 days in advance and prices don’t change. But the international trains start off with cheap fares and get more expensive as more seats are sold. Here is an article about buying European train tickets in advance, with links to the official country rail sites that offer the best fares. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Dear Roger, I am so grateful that being helped from your website! I still wanna to take your suggestion go up to interlaken area by train. not sure if the winter time will be so foggy up there? and please help me take a look at my train schedule see if it make sense to you or not. On Jan1st morning, we are planning to take train fromBergamo to Milan to Switzerlan. I am not sure if we can take train from bergamo to milan than change to another train to Spiez ?? here is the time & table& link. 6:00am–6:50 bergamo-milano-centrale, https://loco2.com/journey/bergamo-milano-centrale-mlllz1?outbound=d40620-140a99. 7:23am – 9:50am milan-spiez https://loco2.com/journey/milan-spiez-cziwkr?leg=outbound&time_shifted_search=milan-spiez-1og464m&outbound=09ca79-aeef8e&inbound=7528ff-235e09 . So the half hour inside the milan central train station will allow us to catch the one to Spiez, correct? Please help! Thanks …Jennifer
Jennifer,
The weather can definitely be foggy near the peaks above Interlaken at any time during winter, but not all the time. So unfortunately it’s a bit of a gamble and it could go either way. Generally speaking, even if it’s foggy up top you can still appreciate the area and you’ll be blown away by most of what you see. But for trips like the Schilthorn cable car or the Jungfraujoch railway, it’s best to check the visibility right before you are ready to go. If it’s foggy up there it’s really not worth the considerable sums to go.
As for the train schedule, that’s a mixed bag as well. The Italian trains have a deserved reputation for being late on a regular basis. A couple years ago I was sitting on a train in the Milan station about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. It departed about 20 minutes late, even though it was just sitting in the station the whole time. On the other hand, Switzerland deserves its reputation for the most punctual train system in Europe.
It looks like there is another Milan to Spiez train scheduled at 8:23am, requiring a change in Brig for the last segment, and then another direct train at 11:23am. All of them require reservations, but if the first one is late and you bought your tickets through the official Italy rail company, you should be able to get on the later ones. On a bright note, those early-morning trains tend to be more on time, so I’d say a 90% chance that you make it no problem. It’s the later trains that are late and cause delays on other lines that become a problem. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Me and my niece, 23 of age, are palnning to travel Europe from Japan from Dec 27 to Jan 7
Dec 27 arrive Rome at around midnight but we plan to start the tour at
Naples (2 days)
Pompei (1 day)
Rome ( 3 days)
Floence (2 days)
Milan (1 day)
Nice ( 1 day)
France (1 day)
Paris (2 days)
Planning to purchase Eurail, do you think it will be cheaper with it? How much do you think it will cost us?!
Thanks and regards
Cecilia Famador
Cecilia,
Train tickets in Italy are surprisingly cheap, especially if you buy them at least a month in advance. And since you have a tight schedule it makes sense to buy all of your tickets as soon as you are sure of your itinerary. The tickets into France and then within France will be a bit more expensive, but still they will be cheaper online than buying a Eurail Pass. Buy ASAP from the official rail websites of each country for the lowest prices.
Your itinerary looks like you’ll be moving quickly so you’ll be spending a lot of time on trains. If I were you I think I’d do as few of those 1-day stays as possible because it usually means arriving in the late afternoon and leaving again the following morning, so you have almost no sightseeing time.
I’ll also recommend that you spend those first three nights in the wonderful town of Sorrento. It’s about an hour from Naples by train, and about 30 minutes from the Pompeii ruins on the same train. The main thing is that Naples is kind of a “gritty” city with virtually no green space and more of a pickpocketing problem than almost anywhere else in Europe. Sorrento, on the other hand, is lovely and very tourist friendly, plus it’s close to Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, and Isle of Capri.
The train tickets within Italy will average maybe €20 to €30 if you buy them in advance. Is that what you were wondering about? Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi,
Fantastic itinerary which almost matches ours 🙂 Really appreciate your genuine replies to every comment and question.
We are planning a trip for 14 days to both these countries and the places we plan to visit are:
Paris(4 nights)
Nice(2) – attending the nice carnival & visit to Monte Carlo
Florence(2)- including pisa
Amalfi-positano(2)- including capri tour
Rome (2)
Venice(2)
Milan – half a day and return flight to Mumbai.
Q1. We would be there from Feb 20 – March 6. How would the climate be in both these countries? Considering it is the off season, anything to worry about or any tips to be be prepared for?
Q2. I am fretting that the 14 days would not be enough.. and its our wedding anniversary so want this to be perfect. Should we extend the trip? p.s. the tickets are already booked… n now i m worried!!
Q3. We have planned 2 nights in amalfi? would that suffice?
Q4. What would be your take on the hot water springs in Florence. Is it worth the visit?
Q5. We are both above 26 and will opt for II class train travel all over, should we opt for the eurail pass or just book point to point tickets? (After reading above comments, i m not sure if Eurail would save a lot of money)
Looking forward to your guidance! 🙂
Ushma
Ushma,
I’ll be happy to try to help.
Q1. It’ll be quite cool in these countries in late February and all of the beach places will be partly closed for the season still. Amalfi will be very quiet, although it’s still a nice place to see in the cold months.
Q2. I think 2 weeks is pretty much ideal for this. You’ll be moving pretty quickly and seeing a lot, so after 14 days of that you’ll be tired of sightseeing and such. And you are seeing all the highlights of both countries, so you’ll be fine.
Q3. Instead of staying in Amalfi I’d recommend staying in Sorrento and visiting Amalfi by bus or hiring a car and driver. Amalfi and Positano will be very quiet that time of year, but Sorrento will still be quite lively and it’s a wonderful town on its own. It’s also much easier to reach, so your day trip will be easy.
Q4. I haven’t done the hot springs in Florence so I can’t really say.
Q5. Particularly for the shorter train trips within Italy, they are quite cheap, and especially if you buy in advance. A Eurail Pass is only ideal for longer trips where you want flexibility. Buy your train tickets about 2 months in advance online from the official Trentalia.com and sncf.com (Italy and France, respectively) and you’ll find that tickets are cheap.
Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
First of all Kudos for your wonderful and helpful site. I admire the patience
you put in answer everyone’s queries meticulously. I’m sure you have made thousands of people’s vacation a wholelot better and enjoyable because of your knowledge, experience and expertise 🙂
I will be traveling with my 73yr old mom this dec 12-30. My initial itinerary is as follows:
dec 12-17 paris
dec 17-19 nice ( unsure if i should take train or flight from paris-nice)
dec 19-20 venice
dec 20-22 florence
dec 22-28 rome
dec 28-30 back to paris until departure
please feel free to comment and even omit unecessary stops or add better travel options.
Thanks Roger 🙂
Che
Che,
You’ll see that I answered your previous comment as well. I’ll add a couple more thoughts here. As mentioned, I’m on the fence about visiting Nice in winter. You could take trains to get there and then to Venice afterward, and I think you’d enjoy it. It’s just that Nice is sort of a summer holiday city, and you don’t get the real vibe of the place in the winter months when much of the outdoor part of Nice is shut down. But again, it is a nice place with great food so as long as you keep the above in mind, I still think you’d enjoy it.
And Rome is kind of a hectic city, which will be busy during Christmas with probably high hotel prices. It’s the kind of city that you’ll love while you are there and you’ll never forget, but not the kind of place you want to linger in. So I usually recommend people spend 3 or maybe 4 nights there, and then move on to the more relaxed places such as Florence or Sorrento. Let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger