<p>Thanks for the comments. The four cities listed are four that are in the running. We are not bound to visit all four. Just feeling out if it is possible. Or not. And yes, we understand that we will need two european hotel rooms, but are adventurous, and open to B&B’s, small hotels and the like. Sounds like we should travel light, as in one small rolling suitcase and a backpack, eh? Not sure I can survive out of just a backpack. I did think that maybe we could travel between locations at night (train) to cut down on lost daylight hours. </p>
<p>I know that with 4 traveling, and the possible need for two rooms it will be pricey, but given that the two adults are from different families and budgets, I think we can handle it. And like I said, we are not locked into 4 star name hotels.</p>
<p>You can find 4 person/room hotels but you’ll just have to look harder. This assumes you’d want to stay 4/room to save on cost. Give it a preliminary shot on expedia.com or someplace like that just to see what your possibilities are. You can then also check the city government tourist sites also which usually have links to various types of lodging.</p>
<p>btw - I went to Italy in July and it was definitely hot but as long as you plan your activity between gelato stops you should be okay. June should be better.</p>
<p>Sunny, I’ve been to your top four cities many, many times over the past 15 years most often with my son in tow – it’s a wonderful experience. </p>
<p>I would reinforce what an earlier poster mentioned: Europe is very expensive for Americans right now because of the strength of the Euro and weakness of the dollar, so be sure to get CURRENT quotes and learn how to convert mentally.</p>
<p>I like Paris and agree that there is only one Paris, but would still, regretfully, make the tough decision between France or Italy for a ten day trip, unless you really want to do a rush, “best of” kind of trip. Nothing wrong with that but not my first choice as it is very tiring to pack and unpack and deal with transport. You’d much rather spend your time discovering a Renaissance chapel in Florence or on the canals in Venice than in airport security. </p>
<p>You can more than fill up three days each in Rome, Venice and Florence. I’d recommend staying in each city, not trying to commute. That way you could also fit in some day trips to other places like Tuscany or Pompeii depending on your interests.</p>
<p>Personally, I think apartment rentals are more trouble than they’re worth. There are so many pensiones and small hotels in Italy that are just oozing charm. They do fill up early in June/July though so fix your itinerary and book now. You’ll get more recommendations that you can possibly imagine, but it’s hard to make a bad choice.</p>
<p>I’d pick one city in Italy and Paris if it were me. They are so different it would be fun to compare. If I were to pick one Italian city I guess it would have to be Florence, with maybe a daytrip to see something outside the city. (Hilltown or villa with garden).</p>
<p>Airport security won’t be a problem between France and Italy - there won’t be any!</p>
<p>Ryanair has dirt cheap flights from Paris to Rome and Venice. Their airports are usually not the primary airports, and tend to be a bit away from the city, but a very reasonable bus ride. I just picked some random dates and found 10 euro fares from Paris to Rome/Paris to Venice after all taxes and fees. I agree with the suggestion of Paris + one Italian city, perhaps with a few day trips. Though I prefer Northern Europe. :)</p>
<p>I’ve done two family trips to Europe for weeks each and 3 females in tow and we carried only one rolling bag each and at that it was a bag that could be carried onto the plane. It’s possible to do if you pack smart. Figure you’ll be handling your luggage there more than you’re used to here when you drive your car up to a hotel door. Also, a lot of smaller hotels don’t have elevators but do have multiple floors so you’re likely to have to tote your bags up and down stairs. The more I travel the less I take.</p>
<p>Sunny, every time we go to Italy (we’re up to about 5 times between 2 of us) we take less stuff. One BIG advantage of 2 weeks is that you can stop one day in the middle and wash clothes - that will greatly impact how much luggage you have to lug around. Don’t plan on buying clothes there unless you are very trim, but that strategy works for my D. I usually “lose” a few things to open up space for small souvenirs - I’ve heard of people coming home with no underwear or socks left. For 11 days, I would plan on wearing the same “bottom” 3 days, so you can cut in half what you carry if you wash. Shirts are my personal downfall - in June in Italy I’ll need at least one per day, and I feel more comfortable if I have 1 or 2 extra for that nice dinner.</p>
<p>To give you an idea of logistics and time -
We went to Italy as a group of 12 - 3 families that have vacationed together for many years. Our kids at the time ranged from age 11-15 - 6 kids, 6 grown-ups. We were gone 11 days and did Venice Florence and Rome, We had 2 full days in Venice, 4 in Florence and 3 in Rome. We flew into Rome, stayed, trained directly to Venice (5 hours on the express), then worked our way back. We spent 1 night in Rome at a hotel close to the airport before we flew home.
During this trip, we had a clothes washing afternoon on our first afternoon in Florence and we trained to Pisa so the kids could see the Leaning Tower. The highlihgt, though, was hiring a guide in a 15 passenger bus to take us out into Tuscany to visit a market, do some wine tasting and have a nice lunch - we had such a wonderful time that DH and I went back to the same little area of Chianti for our 25th wedding anniversary, at a wonderful small hotel. That sidetrip took one entire day, so we actually “did” Florence in 2 days.</p>
<p>We organized the entire trip ourselves, except for plane and train tickets. I’m not sure I would recommend that, travel arrangement became a second hobby for me. We were on a tight budget hotel wise, and the hotels were a mixed bag. Also, we sent summer of 2002, which made a big difference. That was the slowest summer in Europe in many, many years, and that made a big difference. The only place we had any problems getting a preferred hotel was in Venice, and that was because we were there during the Feast of the Redemption - but seeing the fireworks on the Lagoon was worth it.</p>
<p>OK, so in my mind I am thinking 3 cities and 14 days. I have never, ever, in my entire life not worked or been in school for 14 days. Ever. In high school, time off of school was spent working at McDonald’s and JCPenney. By college it was Disney World. In med school it was drawing blood gases. In residency, it was moonlighting in the ER. Once working in a real job, it just never hapened. Missing two weeks of call meant a brutal make up schedule. </p>
<p>My biggest problem now is that, being self employed, each day of a trip not only means covering expenses, it means not making any income. But I think I am prepared. I have been very frugal. And if I am doing this, I think maybe its time for two weeks… Will talk to D this weekend and share a little more info. And we will discuss Paris and Italy vs just Italy. My younger sister is an artist, and I think she also may not want to pass up on Paris. Or, she might go earlier and hit Paris first. She is the starving artist of the family, who stayed single, worked hard,starved for a little while, lived even more frugally than I, and who found her niche and will be retiring from her corporate graphic arts job at 50 to be an independent contractor and do consulting. </p>
<p>And given that I won’t know a soul in Europe, I have no problem rewearing outer clothes for a few days. And I KNOW that my D pulls things off the floor and wears them again!!</p>
<p>I was just thinking about the pros and cons of doing one country vs. two and I got thinking about my then-teens and their impressions when we did both Paris and Rome on the same trip. </p>
<p>One liked Paris better and one liked Rome better. (Both are great cities for young people I think.) </p>
<p>But perhaps most interesting was that they truly appreciated the contrast that those two wonderful cities showed when visiting one then the other. And that wonderful contrast stuck with them, especially as it was their first trip to Europe.</p>
<p>Two weeks makes Paris and Italy much more doable.</p>
<p>One of the Moms on our trip above is an OB - I know how much planning it takes, and what a trip like that means to her, both in terms of financial cost and call time cost. Good luck, whatever ya’ll finally do, it will be a lifetime memory.</p>
<p>sunnyflorida, now that I read your sister is an artist I wholeheartedly vote for Florence along with Paris. Pure heaven for an artist and a lay-person.</p>
<p>Two weeks is definitely enough to do both France and Italy. Your artist sister will really enjoy the Louvre and Orsay, as well as the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The Renaissance frescoes, especially “God creates Adam” by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the chapel, are magnificent.</p>
<p>You will definitely have to travel light if you use a budget airline. They have very low luggage weight limits and high excess charges (in many cases, such as Flybe, you have to pay a fee for every bag checked anyway). </p>
<p>These are the most common budget airlines. </p>
<p>Sometimes big airlines are just as cheap. For example, on Air France London to Paris normally only costs about $100. It’s not that far. Remember all these 10c prices do NOT include tax. This is added on just before you click pay Remember some of these airlines fly to small airports far from the city advertised (esp Ryan Air) so travelling in to the city can be expensive. </p>
<p>Don’t go anywhere near Alitalia. they are always a nightmare (eg I booked to Turin, arrived at airport to find flight was actually going to Milan. Arrived in Milan late at night with no promised bus to Turin, so I had to pay $$$ for accommodation in a strange city).</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend flying rather than taking the train such a long distance. Flying will be a LOT cheaper, and only take a couple of hours. The train will take 15+. Yes, you could take an overnight train, but you won’t get much sleep. It’s quite noisy, especially if you are not used to it, and usually much more expensive than the day time train (assuming you want one with beds in - known as a “couchette” in France). Not to mention hot with hard beds. Eurail passes are really for students backpacking round Europe for 3 months. They won’t save you any money unless you make a lot of journeys (and you still have to pay extra for overnight trains).</p>
<p>Big airlines are rarely as cheap as ryanair - which has flights from Paris to Rome for 10 euros after all taxes and fees. Checking baggage is costly, but usually only a few dollars - still a much better deal. The 10c prices became 10 euros exactly (well, 9.99) after all taxes and fees - still dirt cheap. Buses to the city center cost a bit, as they’re out of the way, but they’re still a much better deal, almost all the time. </p>
<p>I agree, though, that there is no point in taking the train, and flying is a much better idea, for such a short trip.</p>
<p>These are my favorite cities in Europe - Paris, Florence, Venice and Barcelona. I also can’t spend more than a few days at each city. I just came back from Paris last week - 4 days with hubby and another couple. We couldn’t get into any major hotels because of the world cup. We ended up staying at a small hotel. It was great because of the location. We took the metro everywhere - 7 Euro a day. We have also rented apartments in Paris with our kids by bye Louvre(?), but they usually require us to stay for 7 days. It is great if you have kids, but with only 2 people, you could find some great little hotels in Paris. Believe it or not, Best Western has some very nice hotels in Paris. We have rented villas in Tuscany with family and friends. It works if you have a car. We loved it because there is nothing better than drinking Italian wine and watching sunset in Tuscany. I think I love all of those cities because they are all walking cities (and great shopping cities), except for Barcelona. Barcelona you get surf and turf(beach and city) - great night club scenes, which your daughter would enjoy. It’s kind of like South Beach, except nicer</p>
<p>Most people join tours and stop at every city for a day or two when they go to Europe. But there is something to be said to do those cities on your own, and don’t be afraid to miss some “must sees.” I enjoy doing those cities slowly, taking in one or sights a day, and if I feel like sleep in one day or waste an afternoon at a cafe, so be it. </p>
<p>Of course right now Euro is at its all time high, $1.4 to 1 Euro. It used to be $.9 to 1 Euro. So you are not going to get much for your money. But there is no price on this experience with your daughter. Congratulations on your daughter.</p>
<p>A few years ago we did a trip that resembles what you’re planning. We spent 5 days in Paris and a week in Rome. Took the overnight train from Paris to Rome (great thrill for the kids) and once in Italy, traveled to nearby cities by day trains – saw Assisi, Pompei and Perrugia. Never had to rent a car or worry about traffic. Saw a lot of the countryside. Ate a great deal. It was a fabulous little trip. We travel a lot internationally in part because of business/family history – but that trip remains a family favorite – and I think it would be an ideal first-time-in-Europe adventure.</p>
<p>Two weeks sounds ideal. You have to allow for one day of bad jet lag on arrival, one half to one full day to relocate from city to city, and a lost day at the end of the trip because most flights leave in early afternoon. If you are looking for airfare deals, see if you can fly from the US on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The prices will be lower, and there will be more seats available. If any of you is hoping to use FF miles for the flight, make those reservations ASAP. They can be changed, for a fee.</p>
<p>For a short stay with a group, try the Citadines apart-hotel chain in Paris. The accommodations are nice, modest (think IKEA, not Louis XIV), and well-located.</p>
<p>In general, if you try to visit the big cities on weekends, and the smaller cities or countryside on weeknights, you can benefit from lower hotel prices.</p>
Remember some of these airlines fly to small airports far from the city advertised (esp Ryan Air) so travelling in to the city can be expensive. </p>