France, Spain or Italy in summer?

Parent Cafe
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Which would you choose, and (if you have experience) which particular regions?
Want to be able to travel via train, bus, taxi…no driving in unfamiliar places for me! But love to get off the beaten track, too, which can take some doing on public transportation but I’m up for the logistical challenge (TripAdvisor is my friend). Happy to spend some time in major cities but partial to small cities, villages, countryside. Love history, nature, local culture, gardens. Castles and cottages…yes! Prefer small, local inns and B&Bs, don’t have to be fancy.

Took D21 to Scotland this past summer and we loved it. So much, I’d be happy going back again and again. But I’d like D to experience something different in Europe before she flies the nest. I’ve been in all these countries, but it’s been a while…almost a lifetime. In Italy, only saw Rome, and in France, only Paris. I spent six weeks in Segovia, Spain as a teenager, and went to Madrid a couple of times.

Am thinking about next June/early July for a couple of weeks. Am considering Spain, because I speak passable Spanish and because I’d like D21 to try her hand at the language IRL. But Spain is SO hot in summer and I’m not partial to heat anymore, though the dry heat of Spain might be OK. Same with Italy and heat, (and I hear tourists can be overwhelming now), but maybe northern Italy, in the mountains? Daughter is partial to the idea of France or Italy. And though I don’t speak either language, and it’s probably unnecessary to learn, it could be a fun project this year year (via Rosetta Stone or Babble).

Prefer to spend the whole time in one country, and, really, one or two regions of a country…i.e. Normandy and Brittany in France.

What would you choose, and why? I know you all have a wealth of experience :slight_smile: Am open to other countries, too, but daughter is currently favoring these, and they’re a nice contrast to Scotland.

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I’ve been in each in summer and my first advice to to forget August, unless you’re up in the mounains or seaside. At least check temps.

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Thanks, @lookingforward, August is out, as band camp takes up the whole month. Looking at mid-June up to to mid-July, the earlier the better.

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We went to Spain in Spring. We drove from Madrid to San Sebastian, stopped at few small towns and went to local spas. The drive was very easy - very little traffic, google map worked well and we were able to drive on the right side of street. :slight_smile: We had amazing food and glasses of wine for 2euro/glass. We spent 2 days in Madrid and had a great time. I have been to Barcelona a few times. It is also one of my favorite cities to visit.
I love Italy, but if had a choice, I would spend more time in Spain. I haven’t been to Portugal yet, both of girls have been, and I would love to go there.
For some reason, I do not have much of desire to go back to Paris any time soon.

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I do not speak Italian, but I don’t have any problem getting around Italy. Same in France - I can read a bit of French and most of them do speak some English.

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We spent two weeks in Italy about 15 years ago driving from the Amalfi Coast to Venice with a friend that lives there. Made stops in Naples, San Marino, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Assisi and other small hill towns before ending up in Rome. It was hot, and not every place we stayed had AC, but we would do this road trip again spending more time in the less touristy places. We took a cruise two years ago, and did day trips to Florence, Rome and the Amalfi Coast. I would not do Rome or Florence again. They were very crowded in July this time, and Rome was overrun with tourists and trash. We have been to Barcelona in June and would like to go back. There are decent beaches and other places to see. France, however, is my favorite. I love the beaches in the south of France. We had a friend that lived in the Loire Valley and loved that area, too. We did the castle tours while there. Paris, except for museum tours, is not my favorite.

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@yellahamma, what is it about France that you love, especially? The people, the aesthetics, the landscape?

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The lakes area of Italy is lovely, and is definitely much cooler than the other locations you mentioned. Lake Como and Lake Maggiore are lovely – Lake Lugano is too, although it is mostly in Switzerland. That area is nice because you can fly into Milan and it’s a short drive. Lake Garda is a little further east and also gorgeous. All have lots of small villages that are not particularly crowded, but contain loads of charm.

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@oldFort, have been wondering about the SanSebastian/Basque/Pyranees areas. They seem distinctive (and maybe a little cooler, weather-wise). Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into whether it could be do-able by train from Madrid, maybe with a stop or two along the way.

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Our France trip and others I know was in late June-early July and it was So, SO, hot. We were largely in the south of France and luckily are beach people and my family we stayed with had a pool but gosh I don’t think we ever saw anything below 90. Our two days in Paris it was 110. I literally remember getting off the train in Marseille that we used to go to Paris, driving home so, so sweaty and literally peeling off our clothes to undewear and jumping into the pool! (all females!!)

Amazing trip but the heat made it a little hard to enjoy.

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@abasket, that’s what I’m afraid of. I’m halfway thinking we should give up this idea and head to Iceland, Scandinavia or maybe Chile. Spent years of my youth happily living in the tropics with no a/c but those days are long gone for me, lol.

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That was one trip, one year - others may say differently. I just wanted to share because while we had a wonderful time, we literally were sweating all the time! AC is less common (it seems) and we were walking around Paris with 1/2 gallon sized water bottles (may be an exaggeration, may not - they were huge!) just to try and keep hydrated.

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Sounds appealing, @Gourmetmom. One of DHs best old friends is Italian and lives in Milan. He travels every couple of years to the U.S. for work and makes a point to detour a good bit to come visit us for a day so maybe we could return the favor :slight_smile:

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Anyone here traveled in northern France or alpine France?

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We did Italy, France, and Switzerland in late June/early July. I don’t mind the heat too much, but France and Italy were quite warm at that time. Switzerland was lovely. Wonderful train system and breathakingly beautiful. Our base was the Jungfrau region. We stayed in Wengwald, a tiny little village down the hill from Wengen. Lots of villages to explore in the mountains and the valley, ie, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald. We did a lot of hiking, spent a day at an outdoor history museum (Ballenberg) and took a boat ride on one of the lakes. If you don’t like hiking you can take a train to the mountaintops. We were there for five nights and there was more to explore. You could easily add in a side trip to Lake Como in Italy, or Provence, or another area of Switzerland.

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@inthegarden We enjoyed the more subdued atmosphere we experienced In France. The Loire Valley has a lot to offer- vineyards and like I mentioned above, the castles! It’s a beautiful area. We also liked the beaches especially in Cassis. We liked Nice, too, but it’s a bit more lively. As stated above, AC is not always available. To be honest, I’m used to hot climes so nowhere was really unbearable in June/early July but YMMV.

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Thanks, @taverngirl, I’ll look into Switzerland more. Did you fly in/out through Italy and France?

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I’ll read more on the Loire Valley, #yellahamma.

I actually prefer open windows and no A/C and used to be fine with heat but my body has changed. Loved the summer weather in Scotland (mostly 50s, 60s and 70s) but I know that’s not going to happen in South/Central Europe except maybe in the mountains.
I think the high ceilings and thick walls of old European buildings probably helps.

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If you are limiting travel to public transport (mainly train) then for Spain I’d fly into Madrid and stay there for 4-5 days with a few day trips (definitely to Toledo and perhaps to Segovia) then head up to either Santiago de Compostela or Bilbao for another few days in a cooler location. Very different cities but both very nice.

For Italy and southern France I’d fly to Pisa, see that (and maybe Florence too, which is an easy train ride from Pisa and Pisa is less expensive than Florence) then head to Cinque Terre for a few days then take the train to southern France. Nice is a good base (for eg day trips to Monaco) and has plenty of beach options, while Nimes is quite a bit further and inland but has some spectacular sites like Pont du Gard (sadly you can no longer risk death by walking across the top like we did 30 years ago). My twins did a 2 week trip to Pisa-Cinque Terre-Nice on their own after graduating from high school, so it is pretty straightforward and the trains are very convenient.

For mountains, you can get the train easily from Paris to Chamonix, so that could be a good two center holiday, but I’m not a big fan of most French towns in the mountain valleys as they tend to be a bit ugly in summer and the train routes are somewhat limited. The mountain towns in Switzerland are much more accessible by train and the villages are prettier (Grindelwald and Zermatt are both amazing) but Switzerland is horrendously expensive nowadays. Alpine Germany may be cheaper and has some good sightseeing (in particular Neuschwanstein is quite accessible by train from Munich - I think we had a couple of miles walk from the station, though I seem to recall there is a bus as well), Austria is another possibility, though again not many mountain towns accessible by rail.

Most of Northern France seems hard by public transport. I think both Normandy (Bayeux, D day beaches, etc) and Brittany (beaches, Mont Saint Michel, neolithic stone circles, etc) would require a lot of complicated bus travel since the trains don’t go to many of the key sites. Most Loire chateaux will need buses to get there also (as will the vineyards). Better to take day trips from Paris - Versailles is obvious, Giverney was nice (I’d recommend renting bikes at the station, otherwise it’s about a 3 mile walk each way).

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That’s a lot of information, @Twoin18, thanks a lot!