Grad gift: trip to europe; looking for advice/experience

Parent Cafe
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<p>I have passport applications in hand, and I am thinking about taking D on a European trip in June as a graduation gift. I have never been to Europe. I have a sister with two trips under her belt who will also take the trip. Europe is D’s first choice. Initially I said no to Europe, but fact of the matter is, I would like to go too, and I really need to take more time off. Life is too short and I work too hard. We will not take younger D, as I will take her on her own trip in two years. H is not interested in traveling outside the US. We may also take a friend of D’s. Since D is more interested in flagship state U, there is a bit more savings available for a trip. I am thinking 10 days.</p>

<p>I am interested in info/experiences/recommendations with regards to Paris and Italy. My sis is getting a few travel books together, and getting info from a friend to travels to Paris on occasion. I have an office manager who travels regularly who also has some good experiences/advice.</p>

<p>Share anything you would like; the good and the bad. I would like more first hand info before I visit a travel agent or do anything online.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>I saw this link in Time or Newsweek…I don’t exactly remember:</p>

<p><a href=“rentvillas.com”>rentvillas.com;

<p>It sounds like it would be a lot more interesting than just a hotel. =]</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.eurail.com%5B/url%5D”>www.eurail.com</a> for traveling Europe by rail. I think you can only get this pass from outside of Europe, and once you’re there, you can’t. Not absolutely sure. Haven’t checked the site. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.easyjet.com%5B/url%5D”>www.easyjet.com</a> for air travel within Europe.</p>

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<p>I haven’t been to Europe, but friends rented a villa in Italy for a month, and absolutely loved it. Rode bikes to the village every morning for fresh bread. Had a view of the ocean. Best vacation they ever had, and they have been to lots of countries. </p>

<p>Some of the guide book/webpages like Lonely Planet or Trip Advisor get some helpful advice from recent travelers. Worth a look when you are websurfing.</p>

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<p>Yes, I too was going to suggest renting an apartment rather that stay in traditional hotels. My D went to Venice for 2 weeks with my aunt and 5 cousins, they rented a cute apartment, and enjoyed it so much more than any hotel stay. </p>

<p>I’m heading to NYC to visit my D (college sophomore) with my best friend, this is my 2nd time renting an apartment rather than staying in a hotel. More authentic and fun. </p>

<p>These places can be rented for as little as one night, so don’t think you have to stay put. Move around! And consider Barcelona as one of your stops. AMAZING.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/europe[/url]”>http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/europe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Have fun planning, you’ve given yourselves plenty of time.</p>

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<p>Thanks. This is just the kind of info I am looking for. However, as the only working spouse (H is disabled), a month in a villa sounds wonderful, but isn’t gonna happen ;).</p>

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<p>Renting an apartment can be much more economical than renting 2 hotel rooms (most hotel rooms in Europe only accomodate 2). Check Fodors travel forums for lots of suggestions. We were in Paris with the kids last June and there is a huge music festival celebrated all over the city every year on the summer solstice. If you can be in Paris on June 21st, you will really enjoy it.</p>

<p>In June, you will have daylight until after 10PM. Have a great trip.</p>

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<p>If this would be a first trip to Europe for both of you, and you are going to spend ten days (and I think that Paris and Italy are a fantastic first trip to Europe!), might I suggest the following if you want to be aggressive and see a lot:</p>

<p>Fly into Paris. Spend two to three days there, knowing that you can’t possible see absolutely everything in that short amount of time. Most guide books will make good suggestions about what to see (I would make sure to see Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, from which the views of Paris are outstanding, and the surrounding area of Montmarte, in addition to the tourist staples of the Arc de Triomphe, Musee de Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Pantheon, Notre Dame, etc.). For a reasonably priced hotel in a great location, I would suggest the Hotel Concorde St.-Lazare. The Metro is a great way to get around for a very reasonable price.</p>

<p>The suggestion made by an earlier poster about getting a Eurail pass is an excellent one, and I do believe that you can only get them here before you fly over to Europe. Speak to a travel agent about the options – you can choose numbers of travel days, numbers of countries, etc. I would recommend getting first class tickets (rather than second class) since you can upgrade first class tickets into sleeper car arrangements, so that you do your travelling on the overnight (wake up in a new place!) and save money on hotels. <a href=“http://www.eurail.com%5B/url%5D”>www.eurail.com</a> has a ton of information for you.</p>

<p>You may want to consider an overnight train from Paris to Venice (usually best to make a reservation for overnight accommodations on the trains). Spend a day in Venice wandering and exploring, which I think is the best way to discover Venice. Oh, and get a map as soon as you get there. You will find that a lot of streets have very similar names and a lot of streets lead to no where (walls, canals, etc.). Unless you want to take a side trip to Murano (a small island off of Venice known for its glassworks), I don’t know that you need to spend more than a day here, though it is certainly worth seeing. I would recommend staying in a pensione if you are on a budget. Pensione Guerrato is one of my favorites. </p>

<p>Take the train from Venice to Florence. This is one of my favorite cities in the world. Again, consult a guidebook for a list of places to see and things to do, but take some time here. There are wonderful places to eat, amazing architectural wonders and outstanding museums and galleries. A favorite place to stay here that is very reasonably priced is the Burchianti, with its frescoed ceilings and friendly hosts (though I haven’t been there in a few years now). </p>

<p>Take the train from Florence to Rome. See the sights and fly back to the States from here. </p>

<p>Whew! That would be quite a trip, but I’ve done a similar one and made it though excited but tired. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I tend to be one of those folks who try to do as many things as possible, in as short a period of time as possible. A week in one spot would be great, but to me a few days in Paris followed by a few days in Rome or Venice would be a great way to go. As somebody who has never been to Europe before, I would think this might be more interesting than staying in one spot for a week.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ricksteves.com%5B/url%5D”>www.ricksteves.com</a> – look in the “plan your trip” and “grafitti wall” areas for some general information. Some folks don’t like the way Rick Steves does his trips, but the site is a good spot for information.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.virtualtourist.com%5B/url%5D”>www.virtualtourist.com</a> – just view around the site for the countries you are interested in visiting.</p>

<p>Have fun!</p>

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<p>If we rented an apt in Paris for, say 5 days and rented one in Italy for say, 5 days, it is reasonable to be able to travel from a central location in Italy to Florence for the day, Venice for a , and Rome? What would be central to those locations?</p>

<p>Oops–sally-thanks!! I was mulling my post, and posted before I read yours. Your ideas were exactly what were were thinking!!! My sis has done the Eurorail type trip before, but not this itinerary. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Don’t bother with a Eurail pass if all you’re doing is going between two cities. Regular train fare will most likely be cheaper.</p>

<p>I try to stay in one place for a trip. I’ve been to Paris, London, parts of Italy… me, I’d go back to Italy and just do four or five days in each of two or three cities. I’d love to go back to Florence, Venice left me cold (although my daughter loved it and is planning to go back on her 7-week eurailpass trip that she left for yesterday), and I’d like to see Rome and Naples. My D liked Verona and I liked Padua (yes, it’s a big industrial city, but there’s been a market in the market square since Galileo and Copernicus lived there and I got a HUGE kick out of that).</p>

<p>Venice to Florence is a pleasant train ride, just a few hours.</p>

<p>I’ve been to Paris a bunch of times, but frankly, I doubt if I’ll go back again. I began to just feel too ripped off there… although I do speak French. </p>

<p>I also like the food (and the cost of food) better in Italy.</p>

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<p>But this is sunnyflorida’s first trip to Europe. She HAS to see Paris! :slight_smile: I personally think it’s a beautiful city with tons to do and see.</p>

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<p>Yes, and my D HAS to see Paris! And for the first time ever in Europe, we want to get a taste of more than one location. So I really am leaning toward Paris a few days, and then a trip by rail that will take us to Venice, Florence and Rome. Or, we can move from Paris to a central location in Italy and stay, but will still need transportation to the various locations.</p>

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<p>One thing to remember that thanks to the current administrations economic mismanagement the dollar is at a 20 low against a lot of european currencies. Expect to pay double what you would pay here for most items. It is still well worth the experience, but it can be quite a shock!</p>

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<p>Well, I suppose everyone should go to Paris once. </p>

<p>If you want to go to Venice, Florence, and Rome, you should NOT stay in a central location but stay in those cities. They are terribly walkable cities with wonderful atmosphere in the evenings, and you’ll want to stay out late and then wander back to your hotel at midnight.</p>

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<p>My D and I did a 10-day trip to London and Paris following her high school graduation. We flew into London, stayed there for four days and then took the Eurostar to Paris. For transportation while in the cities, we relied on the Subway in London and the Metro in Paris. I think we bought five day passes for each and then just used maps provided at the stations to figure out how to get around. I felt perfectly safe in both cities, although we we’re not out late at night. </p>

<p>I found lots of good hotel ideas and advice on traveladvisor.com</p>

<p>One thing we did in was purchase a Museum Pass in Paris. From what I remember it was 55 euros, but allowed entrance to most museums, cathedrals, and monuments. Also to save money, we purchased food for breakfasts and picnic lunches at the Monprix (kind of like a French Target).</p>

<p>If you have time, take the Fat Tire Bike tour in Paris. The tour company hires American students to lead bike tours through the city. The tours last about 2.5 hours and attract lots of young people — my D really enjoyed it.</p>

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<p>It is funny for me to be reading this post, because my mother just left to go to Paris. She is going to stay in a hotel in Paris for 10 days, and she is flying out of NY. I won’t name the hotel here, but it is a 4 star. She is there with a friend. I have the hotel name, and what she paid for the trip, so if you are interested you can send a PM and I’ll give you the information. I don’t know who they booked the trip through, but I believe that her son booked it for them online. I think that her reason for going to only one city is that she has been to Europe several times, she did not want to take a tour package, and feels a bit too old to move here and there every few days. I am gratefult that she still has her health and can still make such trips.</p>

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<p>We have done both the survey, tour type trip to Europe and then for D’s graduation 2 summers ago, we went just to Italy. I would NOT spread yourself thin going to too many places. You will spend more time travelling, checking in/out of hotels, changing money, getting your bearings. Also, Italy is wonderful, but horribly HOT in July. I will never go back to Rome or Venice in the summer. Florence was not so bad. If I were to go to Italy, I would spend 2 days (at the most) in Venice and then take the train to Florence. Spend a few days there and then rent a car and go to Tuscany, (stay in Sienna); you can go to all the wonderful hill fortress towns too. </p>

<p>You may want to consider going to London for a few days; see some of the outer areas such as Bath, Stonehenge, etc to fill a week. Then go over to Paris for a few days. It won’t be as hot and you wont be stretched too thin. You can drive to Bordeaux or 2 hours north of Paris to Brugge in Belgium. Brugge is one of the most beautiful, charming villages in all of Europe.</p>

<p>Someone mentioned Rick Steves - Europe through the Backdoor. Excellent resources, although his “undiscovered” places have all become popular. He does give excellent advice on when to go to major attractions, how to get around, money, etc. </p>

<p>Finally, you should know that Europe is very Very VERY EXPENSIVE. Just double the dollar. You will pay a lot to stay in the big cities. I used Rick Steve’s books and found some less expensive and much more charming small places than you will find in most places. We also hired a guide thru his books for Tuscany and also one to take us on a private tour of the Vatican. Well worth the extra money.</p>

<p>Good luck, have fun and enjoy the travel.</p>

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<p>When my S graduated he wanted to go to Japan, and there we went. This year, my D graduated and her choice was Italy. We did a 15 days tour visiting Milan, Lugano (Switzerland), Lake Como, Verona, Venice, Padua, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Rome and after that Paris. The tour was fantastic, the nicest group I’ve ever had, mostly adults with teenagers. The company is called Perillo Tours and has several options but you have to book well in advance because they sold out very quickly.</p>

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<p>If you want to save time, I would fly from Paris(Orly)to Rome, which will take less than two hours. Taking the train from Paris to Rome will take over 12 hours. If you book in advance, a ticket on easyjet will cost you less than
$100. I love to travel on trains, because you can enjoy the scenery, but if there’s a time constraint, I’d much rather fly.</p>

<p>The Vatican is definitely worth visiting!</p>