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8-day vacation to Europe: travel advice - Page 2

post #16 of 23
5/2/11 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jslade View Post
I'll be keeping our vacation down to just Paris and Rome, and most likely be renting a car to drive the distance in between

That's a long long long drive. Have you priced out flights?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jslade View Post
Would you guys who have toured Italy/France recommend group tours as opposed to individual frolicking?

I always prefer individual frolicking.
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post #17 of 23
5/2/11 at 2:03pm
I'll just +1 to spend more time in less places. assume that if you push hard you can get through 3 places/sites per day, if you're not good on scheduling or have a kid sister tagging along or older slow parents, then assume 2 sites per day is good. You still have to travel there and between, wait in lines, get lost, eat somewhere, etc. with 8 days you might even consider just spending it all in one country. With france you could do a few days in the city, then a few in the countryside, and just leave it at that.... I'm not so sure BOTH france and italy are good ideas with only 8 days. How about you fly into france and fly out of spain? So add Barcelona and Madrid or something. as for what to see, think about everyone's interests and then find specialty shops for those things. Eg I like chocolate, so google chocolate stores and make sure taht we visit some amazing secret chocolate store along the way... or if your dad's into leather goods, then research the best leather shop and plan to go there. Food markets, artisan shops, fine dining, how about entertainment? maybe there's some great show like you and your dad go to the moulin rouge together as a boys night out or something.
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post #18 of 23
5/2/11 at 8:07pm
I would skip Louvre, or limit it to a quick stop to view Mona Lisa, appreciate the structure, and grab a tea and pastry at a cafe inside. If you don't know what you are doing Louvre is very disappointing, and if you do know what you are doing you would need many days to really appreciate it. +1 to less cities and more time in each city.
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post #19 of 23
5/4/11 at 1:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jslade View Post
Hey, thanks for all the great help, gentlemen. I'll be taking a few days to craft a more detailed itinerary. I wish that I could move my tentative dates around to a more suitable timeframe for vacationing, but mid-August is the only time where I can get my entire family together and away from their busy schedules. Your advice is well-heard, though: I'll be keeping our vacation down to just Paris and Rome, and most likely be renting a car to drive the distance in between, hopefully all the while taking in the sights of the European countryside. Thanks, WildeMan, for the Hertz recommendation.

If there are any must-visit locations between Paris and Rome that can be seen in around half a day that any of you would like to recommend, please, do let me know.

Would you guys who have toured Italy/France recommend group tours as opposed to individual frolicking? Money isn't so much an object, but time is, and I think the reservations I have with a guided tour is that large groups might move at an overall slower pace than smaller groups would, due to certain members possibly slowing down the overall group. If that makes sense. I'm seeing some conflicting opinions in this topic with regards to group tours, so some further thoughts would be fantastic.

We had about 35 people in our group and we were on a schedule so it was x number of hours at certain places. There was also some free time after dinner to wander on your own.
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post #20 of 23
5/4/11 at 6:11am
It's Tuesday so it must be ... Paris. One major city, possibly two. London + Paris London + Rome. London + Barca. Berlin + Rome. Four days in a major cap will give you flavour of it, at least. Why not London then Eurostar to Paris? Save big time on airports. If you insist on Rome, certainly fly from Paris with low cost outfit. Even if you've driven in Yurp before I wouldn't relish the trip. It's not so short.
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post #21 of 23
5/31/11 at 11:13am
Anyone recommend a group tour for late 20's -30's range for Europe? Checked out GAP Travel but they don't have anything in the one week range.
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post #22 of 23
6/2/11 at 2:48am
Don't know if I can add anything others haven't said before, but in my honest opinion you really don't want to drive from Paris to Rome. That's 1400 kilometers (same as between Dallas and Denver) and, if you want to stop somewhere en route, the drive will take two whole days of your vacation. Plus August is the holiday season in Europe and the roads are jammed. A flight between the cities is much more considerable.

I could vouch for some of the alternatives others have suggested, and Paris - Nice (French Riviera) sounds very nice. That would offer greater variability to the vacation. A train between Paris and London (abt 2 hours from center to center) is also good, but then you would limit yourselves to two world class cities only. Rome is great and unique, but it's a long way from Paris. And eight days in either Paris or Rome only with possibly a couple of days trips somewhere in the surrounding area would be comfy too.

Have a good trip with your family - and be prepared to walk many, many miles
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post #23 of 23
6/2/11 at 3:06am
Assuming you have ONLY 8 days including travel time. Two days are dead off the bat basically.

Stick to Paris and Rome. I'd avoid Venice and the others to be honest seeing as you're on a tight schedule. You may want to go to Switzerland (Geneva is gorgeous as well as the Matterhorn, you can also ski/snowboard in the heat of summer. I did it years ago, amazing experience.) instead of Rome, seeing as doing Italy as a seperate trip works better.

Also, when dining on your vacation avoid tourist areas. Go where the locals go.
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