Short Trip Itinerary

[starttogether]

I made a post about my short Europe trip on the Pre-Travel Planning board (and my eternal thanks go to Eagle for being so helpful--I'll probably have more stupid questions to ask there later!) but now that I have my basic itinerary, I wanted to make sure it looked feasible/logical.

August 20 - Arrive in Prague at 5:45 PM
August 21-23 - Sightsee in Prague three days

August 24 - Leave Prague early morning, arrive in Poznan, Poland by train
August 25 - Stay in Poznan (I'm attending a concert on the 25th so these dates are non-negotiable)

August 26 - Leave Poznan in early afternoon, arrive in Krakow by train
August 27 - Sightsee in Krakow

August 28 - Fly to London in late afternoon
August 29-31 - Sightsee in London/Reading

September 1 - Fly out of London early morning to Rome
September 2-4 - Sightsee in Rome

September 5 - Leave Rome in morning, arrive in La Spezia mid-afternoon by train, stay in Riomaggiore
September 6 - Stay in Riomaggiore

September 7 - Leave Riomaggiore late morning, arrive in Nice early evening by train

September 8 - Leave Nice at night, arrive in Paris by train early morning on September 9
September 9-11 - Sightsee in Paris

September 12 - Travel from Paris to London via Chunnel

This means...

Prague - 3 days
Poznan - 2 days
Krakow - 2.5 days
London - 3.5 days
Rome - 4 days
Riomaggiore - 1.5-2 days
Nice - 1.5 days
Paris - 4 days

Thanks in advance!

[Eagle]

starttogether,

Your Itinerary looks reasonably well sorted. You appear to have allowed adequate travel time between locations, which is good. I'm assuming that you've got all your flights booked?

I can't remember all the details from your previous posts, but were you going to be using a Railpass for trains, or buy P-P tickets? Were you planning to take the direct train from Rome to La Spezia (no changes)? When you book your ticket, be sure to specify Riomaggiore as the destination, so that you don't have to buy anothe ticket when you arrive at La Spezia.

If you have further questions on sightseeing in the various cities, I'm sure the helpful group here can provide information.

Cheers!

[starttogether]

I'm planning on just getting P-P tickets because the cheapest railpass I could find was $245 and that is more than the total cost of all of my P-P tickets combined. I attempted to specify Riomaggiore as my final destination, but the Raileurope pops up an error every time unless I change my destination to La Spezia. Is it troublesome to buy a ticket in La Spezia for Riomaggiore?

If anybody has specific suggestions of what I must see in any of these cities, feel free to let me know! Otherwise I'll be bringing guidebooks and just taking it day by day.

Thanks again for the peace of mind!

[Eagle]

starttogether,

I wouldn't bother trying to buy tickets from Rail Europe, as they'll likely be more expensive. It's usually easier and less expensive to just buy tickets in Italy (either from an agent or from a ticket machine). If using P-P tickets, I tend to buy them either when I arrive in a town (since I'm at the station anyway) or at least a day or two before I'll be travelling.

No, it's not difficult to buy a ticket at La Spezia. It's a fairly large station (if my memory is correct, there's even a McDonald's there!). The trip from La Spezia to Riomaggiore is only about 8-minutes, so don't get too comfortable on the train. Also, be sure you know how to release the door, as the train doesn't stop for long, maybe a minute. Finally, if 8-minutes has elapsed and the train stops, get off even if your car is in a tunnel!

On arrival in Riomaggiore you may have to travel through a sotto passagio (tunnel) to get from the platform to the side where the station building is located. You should be able to buy a Park Pass at the station (or in La Spezia?). You may be approached in front of the station by the famous Mama Rosa, trying to entice you into her Hostel. She doesn't speak much English, so keep that in mind. Where are you staying in Riomaggiore?

From the small piazza in front of the station (there are ATM's there also), go through the tunnel that's parallel to the tracks to get to the main part of the village.

Happy travels!