I remember standing in a long line in Versailles also… but I feel like it moved at a solid speed since I don’t remember it being terrible. haha
However long it was, my friend and I definitely thought it was worth it. It’s pretty amazing.
"All I have to offer is this: Our son was robbed in Barcelona. Never, ever put your things down for a minute. They squirted ketchup on him and distracted him, then grabbed the small backpack – you know, the one with the cash, passport, debit card, Europass, camera and memory card, and journal.
He had purchased the Europass insurance, so that was helpful, and he also had Xeroxes of his passport in his other backpack. That made getting a replacement relatively easy.
My suggestion is to keep the really important stuff in a flat pouch-y thing under your clothes."
Such good advice. They will distract and rob you, grab your bags, anything in your pockets, and you’ll never know. Make the important stuff so hard to get to, that you can barely get it. The worst is getting on the trains in Rome. They will grab your bags like they are trying to help you, they will shadow you and rush you at the entrance to the train so they can grab things out of your pockets, in broad daylight. Luckily we were cautious and had our wallets buried deep in our suitcases (that we were clinging to) so they couldn’t get anything from our pockets, and they tried. Don’t trust the too friendly stranger, that is just hanging around the train station, trying to “help”.
We would keep a small amount of Euros in a pocket, along with a credit card. I figured if they stole that, no big deal. But the more important stuff was in one of those flat pouches, around my husbands waist, under his pants. It was hilarious trying to get to it, he ended up having to unzip his pants just to get into that pouch…thankfully, never arrested for flashing!
H & I each had our own pouch under our pants (& under our shirt). We kept all our CCards and passport there. We kept some money for daily spending in a more accessible place (front pocket or in my crossbody shoulder bag). I was pickpocketed in London tube, sadly (fortunately they only got a scrap of paper and 10 or 20 pounds). The Rome gypsies were very persistent at trying to get H’s wallet until he finally heeded my advice and buried his wallet in his suitcase and carried his valuables in the pouch under his pants.
It really is freeing to have your most valuable things – passports, credit cards and bulk of money – in a pouch under your pants so it isn’t stolen from you. It is also important to leave xeroxed copies of your passport and front & back of credit cards at home with loved ones so they can be sent as needed.
You should have a FABULOUS time! Honestly, I prefer trying to see fewer places and see things more in depth than rushing around to a lot of places, but we’re all different.
I have a travel wallet where I keep passport and money: it slings across my body diagonally and I never take it off. But I typically have a cardigan or light jacket which I put over it, so you don’t really see it as I walk down the street. I use it all over the world.
I did a pretty close approximation of that trip 25 years ago with a friend of mine. Not that I would recommend it, but we got counterfeit student ID cards showing that we were art history students. That got us into some of the private collections not normally accessible to the public. We bought a Frommer’s book and ripped out the pages we needed, stuck them in my back pocket.
Lots of good advice, especially about taking care of valuables. Like others, we got a bag stolen in Barcelona but it was still one of my favorite cities. Be a little flexible in case you make some friends and decide to see a few cities together. Have a great time.
In response to post #18 from the OP, Rail passes only save you money if you do a LOT of long distance train travel in in a short period of time. For the majority of travellers, it is likely that separate tickets for each journey and/or flights will be cheaper. However, rail passes allow you flexibility to get on almost any train, whereas if you book specific trains or planes you have to be on that specific service or lose your ticket. I also advise booking directly with the airline or train company, not through resellers like the trainline.com. they add booking agents.
In many countries, train tickets are like airline tickets and get more expensive the closer to the day of travel you book. However, if you try to book too far out you just get the maximum possible price. I can only give accurate examples for the UK where I live. But for example,if I book ticket London to Edinburgh for tomorrow, it will cost £134. But if I buy an advance ticket for 25 February, the same journey is £24 (cheap advance tickets go on sale 10-12 weeks before travel and you can get an email alert when they are released for your preferred dates). That is from www.eastcoast.com (but the UK government is selling them in March and they are joining the Virgin group so this website will change)