Revised European Itinerary June 28 to Aug. 2nd

[cellabella]

Hey all, so my cousin and I finally bought our tickets to Europe and i just wanted to ask everyone if this sounds good, again any suggestions are welcome and appreciated, we're also planning on getting the Euro-pass Youth 3 Countries 8 days, but I'm not sure if you can go from Rome to Pisa to Florence to Venice, I'm sure you can, but please someone help me out. Thank you

1) London (staying @piccadilly Backpackers Hostel) - 4 days
2) Rome [flying w/ British airways] (beehive hostel) - 4 days
3) Pisa/Florence [hopefully train] - 3 days total few hours in Pisa
4) Venice [train] - 3 days
5) Milan [train] - 2 days
6) Nice [train] 3 days
7) Barcelona [long train ride, any other option??] 3 days
8) Madrid [train] 4 days
9) Paris [ train] 5 days
10) Home from Paris


So hopefully there's another way to get from Nice to Barcelona b/c the only time i found by train was to leave at 10:10 am and get there at 21:48, now that's a LONG ride and we don't wanna miss out on a whole day traveling.

[madamtrashheap]

Had a look at your original itinerary post cellebella (welcome back to the boards btw!) and see that you chose Nice over Cinque Terre - I understand that Nice has it's appeal, but as you've found, that long train ride to Barcelona is a 'mare (as in nightmare) so there are a few solutions:

• chuck Nice for Cinque Terre (ease of travel, prettier)
  
• to keep Nice, look at altering your direction, so it could look like this:
  

London
fly London to Nice (check Easyjetwww.easyjet.com )
train to Milan-Venice-Florence-Rome
fly Rome to Barcelona (check www.vueling.com or Click Air www.clickair.com/view/default.aspx?lang=2 )
train to Madrid
fly to Paris (look at www.vueling.com or www.easyjet.com or Ryanair if all else fails)
home from Paris.
There are cheap flights Marseilles-Madrid that Herrbert found (with Ryanair from memory), but that's still a 3 hour train ride Nice-Marseilles so it's up to you if you want that option. It's easy enough to fly from Barcelona to Paris so you can reverse the Spain order.

Have you already bought your flights from London to Rome, and do you have to fly out of Paris or can you fly from Spain?

You might want to rethink the train pass now that there might be cheap flights involved - but 3 countries 8 days would still be OK if there's not a better choice.

A few more points on the destinations:
London - 4 days is good and allows for a day trip at a pinch (see other posts for suggestions), but it depends on what your interests in London are as you can easily fill 4 days in this fab city.
Rome - 4 days really only allows for time in Rome itself, no day trips. Plan what you want to see on what days with this in mind: the Vatican Musuems (and the Sistine Chapel) are closed on Sundays (except last Sun. of month) so look at www.vatican.va for this and public holiday info.
Pisa/Florence - there are lots of posts about this route, but to clarify, Pisa is about 1 hr by train north-west of Florence and is better as a half-day/quick stop from there. Rome-Florence has a very good train connection, particularly the Eurostar (Italy) which takes 1h30mins city to city.
Venice - IMHO 2 days (full days) is enough, but again 3 will also give you time to really explore (and get lost!) the city
Milan - it's the least "Italian" city in Italy, but again it depends on why you're going there. 1 day might suffice (you could see the Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Santa Maria della Grazie for The Last Supper - but book ahead), unless you're into shopping where the beautiful people shop, then keep 2.
Nice - if you decide to keep it in, 2 days would be plenty (1 for beach/sightseeing, 1 for Cannes and Monaco visit)
Barcelona - 3 days is the minimum I'd recommend, but still a good start.
Madrid - 4 days is good and will allow for a day trip to Toledo (see other posts).
Paris - 5 days is good, allows for day out at Versailles.

[herrbert]

I would also fly Barcelona - Madrid, Vueling has tickets for 20, or 31 euros, with multiple options (5 flights a day). Also from Madrid to Barcelona, if you would decide to change the order.

Just to follow-up on the Madam, the Marseille - Madrid tickets, are indeed by RyanAir. Personally i would make Nice, my second stop, and train to Italy from there, and take a Rome - Barcelona/Madrid flight, just like the Madam, suggested.

I would also take a look at flying back to Paris, this also is a long trip from either Madrid of Barcelona. (and it is only 40 euros to fly this, again check www.vueling.com/EN/index.php