justme
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Post by justme on Nov 17, 2016 12:31:48 GMT -5
It's time for the annual - where is justme taking her vacation?? I have a feeling my friends are going to bail on the cruise - being teachers they can only go on spring break and for some reason this year a huge chunk of Florida schools and several of the Florida universities all have the same spring break so prices are so far on the higher side and holding steady. (The week before is currently $300 cheaper!)
I saw in my email the other day about RT flights to Paris from my home airport for $530 (and there's several flight options) so that's my backup plan. I think I'd have to be back by early April before prices go up.
I have 7.2 days that expire in May and I probably currently have another 7 from this year in the bank.
I'm thinking if I did like a Thursday flight out and a Monday flight home that'd give me 10 days in Europe. I'm thinking I don't want more than that if I'm going solo because the hotel stays add up fast and I haven't exactly saved for this.
I don't think I want to spend it all in Paris - and if I only go one other country it'd have to be Italy.
Questions for YM:
1) With 10 days - how many European cities would you visit? 2) With 10 days - how would you travel between them? Do you know what's cheapest? 3) I checked with the same airline flying into Paris and out of Rome and it's $932 to do that. At what point would you chose that vs flying back out of Paris? 4) Which cities in Italy would you suggest? 5) How many days in Paris/any other France cities to visit?
If you want to know more about me to make suggestions...I really like (not spicy) food and love wine. While I appreciate museums I often go through them pretty fast unless I really like the stuff so I wouldn't be someone that spends all day in one (in DC I usually hit up 3 or so Smithsonians in a day). I do like seeing the sites and outdoors stuff. I love photography. Love activities near/on water. My travel style usually has me picking a couple must-see/do and several things that could be cool and then I wing a lot of it (though that's often with help of my handy-dandy phone GPS so I'm not sure how well that'd work in Europe).
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naughtybear
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Post by naughtybear on Nov 17, 2016 12:45:43 GMT -5
Train to London or to Brussels, those are close.
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rob base
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Post by rob base on Nov 17, 2016 13:01:08 GMT -5
Are you a go-go-go person or do you like to take leisurely breaks?
For example if I only had 10 days I would want to max my site seeing experience and do quick breakfasts and lunches but then a "normal" dinner. But some peeps really like their meals and need their breaks.....
Do you think you'll get a chance to go back again in your life?
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Nov 17, 2016 13:06:38 GMT -5
If I was going to Paris, the other city I would go to is London. You can easily take the Eurostar there (and back, depending on flight cost).
I am biased toward London though, as I studied abroad there for a semester.
I love Rome, too, but London has my heart.
I also feel London would be better because there is no language barrier, for the most part, and I feel that it is a safer city.
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justme
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Post by justme on Nov 17, 2016 13:06:52 GMT -5
Train to London or to Brussels, those are close. I'd like to visit London. I'm meh on Brussels. But both are the opposite direction of Italy.
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Nov 17, 2016 13:08:17 GMT -5
That said, I did Europe with my brother in 2012 and in two weeks, we did Rome, Pisa, Venice, Prague, Krakow, Paris.
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justme
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Post by justme on Nov 17, 2016 13:11:00 GMT -5
Are you a go-go-go person or do you like to take leisurely breaks?
For example if I only had 10 days I would want to max my site seeing experience and do quick breakfasts and lunches but then a "normal" dinner. But some peeps really like their meals and need their breaks.....
Do you think you'll get a chance to go back again in your life?
I'm in between. Sometimes the latter, sometimes the former. And sometimes the former when I'm bored of where I am and just want to go somewhere else. I'd probably switch it up. Mostly quick breakfasts, but probably a good brunch style thing once. Or sometimes a long lunch instead of long dinner. I'd like to and hope to back, but if wishes were fishes...you never really know. Paris was #1 from my childhood, Italy became #1 in my adulthood. I'd like to knock out both in the first trip in case I never do make it back.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Nov 17, 2016 13:11:04 GMT -5
Side trip Mont Saint-Michel.
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justme
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Post by justme on Nov 17, 2016 13:12:19 GMT -5
That said, I did Europe with my brother in 2012 and in two weeks, we did Rome, Pisa, Venice, Prague, Krakow, Paris. Did you travel by train? Which was your favorite in Italy? Part of me thinks Venice would be the best.
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justme
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Post by justme on Nov 17, 2016 13:14:23 GMT -5
Side trip Mont Saint-Michel. Ahhh...yes. That'd be a bit of a side trip though.
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rob base
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Post by rob base on Nov 17, 2016 13:16:01 GMT -5
well I could easily see 4-5 days in Paris, depending on your interests... I mean the Louvre alone is WOW and I am not really that into museums and I spent a day in there easy....if you are a really a museum person then....yeah.....I'm probably confusing you more.....
Do you have a list of your "must see" things in Paris? if so what are they?
If you ALSO go to Italy, how would you get there?
I recommend you stick to places that are clustered together to maximize the time & experience
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steph08
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Post by steph08 on Nov 17, 2016 13:28:43 GMT -5
That said, I did Europe with my brother in 2012 and in two weeks, we did Rome, Pisa, Venice, Prague, Krakow, Paris. Did you travel by train? Which was your favorite in Italy? Part of me thinks Venice would be the best. Yes, we traveled by train. Flew into Rome and out of Paris. Rome and Venice are both amazing, but I'll give the edge to Rome because of the Colosseum, Roman Forums, Vatican Museums, etc. If you do Venice, be sure to take the water taxi to Murano. The San Michele Cemetery Island is also really interesting. If you do Italy - the best solution time-wise and probably price-wise will be to do an easyjet or RyanAir flight there. However, baggage restriction is going to be your issue there. Also, they usually fly into/out of smaller airports, so transportation might not be as easy.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 17, 2016 13:42:40 GMT -5
You could spend all 10 days in Paris, and not see everything. If you like to stop and smell the roses, then I would spend all my time here. Realize, each city you see is going to take time away, almost a full additional day of travel.
What I'd do is base myself in Paris, see this and then take side trips. Rouen is a fantastic little city to wander through (and it has got some fantastic, very reasonable restaurants too). There are day trips out of Paris to see WWII battle fields and museums. A trip out to Versailles will take pretty much a full day too.
You can spend a day in the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay each.
Mont St. Michel is a haul. We went last Dec., spent 2 weeks in France. We rented a car when we landed in France and drove to Rouen for 2 days. Left Rouen for Cabourg, which is where we stayed as we toured all the WWII places. Did this for 4 days. We drove to Mont St Michel and stayed overnight. I think it was about a 3 hour drive back to Paris, where we dumped the car. Then we were in Paris a week. We lost a couple days because TD got sick, so didn't get a chance to do everything we wanted. We had to leave Notre Dame because he nearly passed out. He slept the night away, felt better the next morning and went out to see Napoleon's Tomb and Armory Museum. We had to leave there too early, so he could crash.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Nov 17, 2016 14:12:21 GMT -5
My mother's favorite place in Italy was Milan. I thought it was kind of weird for an older woman who never cared about clothes to fall in love with the fashion capital, but she said it was clean and modern and the people were super nice.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Nov 17, 2016 14:20:30 GMT -5
I don't know if she is around right now but imanangel lived in Italy for a while.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Nov 17, 2016 14:53:36 GMT -5
I was in London for 10 days last year. We stayed in an airBnB in West Hampstead and took our time doing things. We also have friends there so spent time with them as well.
I would say stay within one country and if you've never been to Italy....go there. We were there and did Rome, Florence, Venice and Sienna over 10 days. Used the trains between cities and it was great.
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simser
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Post by simser on Nov 17, 2016 14:56:45 GMT -5
It's time for the annual - where is justme taking her vacation?? I have a feeling my friends are going to bail on the cruise - being teachers they can only go on spring break and for some reason this year a huge chunk of Florida schools and several of the Florida universities all have the same spring break so prices are so far on the higher side and holding steady. (The week before is currently $300 cheaper!) I saw in my email the other day about RT flights to Paris from my home airport for $530 (and there's several flight options) so that's my backup plan. I think I'd have to be back by early April before prices go up. I have 7.2 days that expire in May and I probably currently have another 7 from this year in the bank. I'm thinking if I did like a Thursday flight out and a Monday flight home that'd give me 10 days in Europe. I'm thinking I don't want more than that if I'm going solo because the hotel stays add up fast and I haven't exactly saved for this. I don't think I want to spend it all in Paris - and if I only go one other country it'd have to be Italy. Questions for YM: 1) With 10 days - how many European cities would you visit? 2 close together ones 2) With 10 days - how would you travel between them? Do you know what's cheapest? Train. Probably bus is cheapest but train is totally doable. 3) I checked with the same airline flying into Paris and out of Rome and it's $932 to do that. At what point would you chose that vs flying back out of Paris? At that point. I *hate* backtracking because you would lose almost a day. 4) Which cities in Italy would you suggest? Rome. 5) How many days in Paris/any other France cities to visit? I'd split it 5 and 5 with an overnight train between them if you really wanted those two. Travel and getting bearings and jet lag will make that feel shorter than it sounds. If you want to know more about me to make suggestions...I really like (not spicy) food and love wine. While I appreciate museums I often go through them pretty fast unless I really like the stuff so I wouldn't be someone that spends all day in one (in DC I usually hit up 3 or so Smithsonians in a day). I do like seeing the sites and outdoors stuff. I love photography. Love activities near/on water. My travel style usually has me picking a couple must-see/do and several things that could be cool and then I wing a lot of it (though that's often with help of my handy-dandy phone GPS so I'm not sure how well that'd work in Europe).
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Nov 17, 2016 15:24:29 GMT -5
My mother's favorite place in Italy was Milan. I thought it was kind of weird for an older woman who never cared about clothes to fall in love with the fashion capital, but she said it was clean and modern and the people were super nice. I agree with your mother. I was in Italy for a training for around 4 months and every weekend we would visit Milan since it was a great city to spend the day - just relaxing, window shopping or sitting at the cafes and watching people. Rome and Venice were too crowded , but Milan was great.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Nov 17, 2016 15:58:24 GMT -5
Did you travel by train? Which was your favorite in Italy? Part of me thinks Venice would be the best. Yes, we traveled by train. Flew into Rome and out of Paris. Rome and Venice are both amazing, but I'll give the edge to Rome because of the Colosseum, Roman Forums, Vatican Museums, etc. If you do Venice, be sure to take the water taxi to Murano. The San Michele Cemetery Island is also really interesting. If you do Italy - the best solution time-wise and probably price-wise will be to do an easyjet or RyanAir flight there. However, baggage restriction is going to be your issue there. Also, they usually fly into/out of smaller airports, so transportation might not be as easy. Don't forget Florence!
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Nov 17, 2016 16:47:25 GMT -5
Train to London or to Brussels, those are close. The TGV from Paris to London is about an hour and a half ride. Kind of fun to take a high speed train and go through the channel tunnel. Cost was about 100E round trip when I did a day trip, Paris-London-Paris, a few years ago. Booked the tickets before we left home to be sure we could get economy seats. Economy was very comfortable. More like flying business class than coach. I think both Paris and London would be good choices. Great cities. Great museums. Lots of sights to take in near the city on day tours. Versailles, Giverney, Chartres, even Normandy, from Paris. Not as familiar with London, but expect Stonehenge and many other sights are available as day tours. and, $500 is a great airfare! We found that high season airfares to many European destinations kick in for departures after May 14 (doesn't matter when you return). Best airfares seem to be between Thanksgiving and New Years.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 17, 2016 17:10:25 GMT -5
We found that high season airfares to many European destinations kick in for departures after May 14 (doesn't matter when you return). Best airfares seem to be between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Last year, I found a $650 fare, direct from Vancouver to Paris. We left 12/12, returned 12/28. i kind of regret we didn't stay through the New Year.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Nov 17, 2016 17:11:38 GMT -5
It's time for the annual - where is justme taking her vacation?? I have a feeling my friends are going to bail on the cruise - being teachers they can only go on spring break and for some reason this year a huge chunk of Florida schools and several of the Florida universities all have the same spring break so prices are so far on the higher side and holding steady. (The week before is currently $300 cheaper!) I saw in my email the other day about RT flights to Paris from my home airport for $530 (and there's several flight options) so that's my backup plan. I think I'd have to be back by early April before prices go up. I have 7.2 days that expire in May and I probably currently have another 7 from this year in the bank. I'm thinking if I did like a Thursday flight out and a Monday flight home that'd give me 10 days in Europe. I'm thinking I don't want more than that if I'm going solo because the hotel stays add up fast and I haven't exactly saved for this. I don't think I want to spend it all in Paris - and if I only go one other country it'd have to be Italy. Questions for YM: 1) With 10 days - how many European cities would you visit? 2) With 10 days - how would you travel between them? Do you know what's cheapest? 3) I checked with the same airline flying into Paris and out of Rome and it's $932 to do that. At what point would you chose that vs flying back out of Paris? 4) Which cities in Italy would you suggest? 5) How many days in Paris/any other France cities to visit? If you want to know more about me to make suggestions...I really like (not spicy) food and love wine. While I appreciate museums I often go through them pretty fast unless I really like the stuff so I wouldn't be someone that spends all day in one (in DC I usually hit up 3 or so Smithsonians in a day). I do like seeing the sites and outdoors stuff. I love photography. Love activities near/on water. My travel style usually has me picking a couple must-see/do and several things that could be cool and then I wing a lot of it (though that's often with help of my handy-dandy phone GPS so I'm not sure how well that'd work in Europe). I think it would be really easy to spend a couple of weeks in France. Paris and surrounds, chateaus in the Loire valley, wine tasting pretty much all over, Roman ruins and prehistoric cave paintings in southern France (ruins at the Cluny, in Paris, too), WWII sites in Normandy. If you're interested in the Normandy sights, Stuart Robinson is a spectacular guide. Our group got so much more out of our visit to the area than we would have on our own. Not only is Stuart a witty, university trained historian, but he has met and interviewed many D-Day survivors and has escorted them through the areas they passed through during the invasion. The stories he can tell!
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Nov 17, 2016 17:46:32 GMT -5
Visiting Paris and going to Italy while you're there seems sort of like flying into DC and stopping over in Florida while you're in the area, KWIM? Not completely crazy, but wasting a lot of time traveling between.
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dee27
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Post by dee27 on Nov 17, 2016 17:56:37 GMT -5
I loved Florence, and the train station and bus station is only a short walk from the center of town, and you have access to surrounding towns. We used the high speed train to travel between cities. We used a travel agent, but she was able to get advance notice about sale prices that saved us money.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Nov 17, 2016 19:38:33 GMT -5
I agree that with only 10 days I would pick one country or the other. Between jet lack transport to and from the airport on each end it's going to feel more like a week of vacation.
I like The Walk of the Penguin Mich's France itinerary. Other options include heading to Avignon on the TGV or Marseille. Both are very walkable towns so no need to rent a car. For Normandy, Take a train to Rouen and rent a car or take a tour. Rouen is a delightful town and well worth staying a full day or to there. Driving in France outside of Paris is really easy. Just be prepared that there are a lot of toll roads.
When we lived in Germany we took a two week "Foodie" trip to Italy for DH's birthday. We spent a week in a guest house just outside of Florence touring several towns in Tuscany. The second week we were 4 days in Bologna with side trips to Parma and another small town. We then spent the last three days in Borolo because DH loves that wine.
I'll warn you that driving in Italy is um...exciting. They drive really, really fast. You're not likely to get in an accident but it takes some getting used to. DH and I finally settled on me driving to our destination in the morning and after splitting a bottle of wine at lunch he was calm enough to drive home later in the afternoon.
The nice thing is that no matter which country you pick, you'll have a great time!
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 17, 2016 19:49:40 GMT -5
It's really late here so here are some random thoughts:
- I'd do Paris and London. - But, if you're dying to go to Italy, there are night trains, which would save you a night in a hotel. - The sooner you book ANY train (Eurostar or night train), the cheaper they are. The Eurostar website has an English option, I think the SNCF (French train site) does too. - Hotels in London are crazy expensive. I'd try to find an AirBnB. We used to use LondonTown for hotels (last minute deals) but I'm not sure it still exists. - If you're a woman alone you'll want to stay in a safe neighborhood. I'd find hotels / accommodations near Tube / Metro stops. Parts of Paris (or any major city) can be pretty dicey. - If you have a Uber account, know that it works internationally. - The Eurostar takes 2h20m to 2h40m. But it's still much faster than flying because both the Paris and London airports are a ways out of the cities, especially if you're flying with checked-in luggage. Also check the airport ... if you opt for a cheap (European) flight, know that Beauvais is considered a Paris airport, even though it's 1.5h-2h from Paris (there's a good bus connection but at least be aware).
Hope this helps, feel free to ask me more as you make your plans.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 17, 2016 19:58:36 GMT -5
And to answer your questions: 1) With 10 days - how many European cities would you visit? Two. 2) With 10 days - how would you travel between them? Do you know what's cheapest? Train, booked well in advance. 3) I checked with the same airline flying into Paris and out of Rome and it's $932 to do that. At what point would you chose that vs flying back out of Paris? Dunno, you need to check prices and compare. 4) Which cities in Italy would you suggest? Rome, Florence, Bergamo (but Bergamo is nowhere near the others) 5) How many days in Paris/any other France cities to visit? Unless you're planning to spend 10 days in France, I'd stick to Paris and do a day trip or two: Versailles and Giverny (Monet's house and garden). Personally I'd do Paris and/or London (or Italy if you prefer) and split my time between the two. FYI I live in the suburbs of Paris, about 15 min from Versailles.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Nov 17, 2016 20:10:02 GMT -5
It's time for the annual - where is justme taking her vacation?? I have a feeling my friends are going to bail on the cruise - being teachers they can only go on spring break and for some reason this year a huge chunk of Florida schools and several of the Florida universities all have the same spring break so prices are so far on the higher side and holding steady. (The week before is currently $300 cheaper!) I saw in my email the other day about RT flights to Paris from my home airport for $530 (and there's several flight options) so that's my backup plan. I think I'd have to be back by early April before prices go up. I have 7.2 days that expire in May and I probably currently have another 7 from this year in the bank. I'm thinking if I did like a Thursday flight out and a Monday flight home that'd give me 10 days in Europe. I'm thinking I don't want more than that if I'm going solo because the hotel stays add up fast and I haven't exactly saved for this. I don't think I want to spend it all in Paris - and if I only go one other country it'd have to be Italy. Questions for YM: 1) With 10 days - how many European cities would you visit? 2) With 10 days - how would you travel between them? Do you know what's cheapest? 3) I checked with the same airline flying into Paris and out of Rome and it's $932 to do that. At what point would you chose that vs flying back out of Paris? 4) Which cities in Italy would you suggest? 5) How many days in Paris/any other France cities to visit? If you want to know more about me to make suggestions...I really like (not spicy) food and love wine. While I appreciate museums I often go through them pretty fast unless I really like the stuff so I wouldn't be someone that spends all day in one (in DC I usually hit up 3 or so Smithsonians in a day). I do like seeing the sites and outdoors stuff. I love photography. Love activities near/on water. My travel style usually has me picking a couple must-see/do and several things that could be cool and then I wing a lot of it (though that's often with help of my handy-dandy phone GPS so I'm not sure how well that'd work in Europe). Paris art museums (partial list) Louvre d'Orsay - modern art. Though not a modern fan, I really enjoyed the d'Orsay. I'm going back. Cluny - Middle Ages. Home of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestrys (6?) and other cool Middle Ages artifacts. Also, Roman ruins. The Cluny was built on the ruins of a Roman bath. Rodin OK guys, know there are more great art museums in Paris. Need some help. Also, lots of wonderful photo ops. A couple of my faves are a snap of the Eiffel Tower against a gold cloudscape. Taken from our hotel window just off rue Cler. A second is of the cannons in front of Les Invalides with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Cityscapes, river shots, architecture, parkscapes, cathedrals, and stained glass windows. I can't imagine a city that is more of a photo op. Photo safari anyone? Then there are things such as concerts at Notre Dame and visits to the organ loft after a service at St Sulpice?
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Nov 17, 2016 21:19:19 GMT -5
Fly into and out of Paris
Spend a couple of days in Paris ...... take Chunnel to London for a couple of days ....... Chunnel back to Paris and check out other things in the area.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Nov 17, 2016 21:43:21 GMT -5
We found that high season airfares to many European destinations kick in for departures after May 14 (doesn't matter when you return). Best airfares seem to be between Thanksgiving and New Years.Last year, I found a $650 fare, direct from Vancouver to Paris. We left 12/12, returned 12/28. i kind of regret we didn't stay through the New Year. I and a couple friends once travelled to Monaco for New Year's Eve celebrations. The champagne flowed..
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