first itinerary attempt

[naiel87]

any advice would be helpful, leaving on may 1st, coming back june 18th, and here it is

Amsterdam - 5 days
Brussels - 1 day
Paris - 4 days
Bordeaux - 2 days
Madrid - 4 days
Valencia - 4 days
Barcelona - 4 days
Marseille - 2 days
Nice - 5 days
Florence - 2 days
Rome - 5 days
Venice - 2 days
Zurich - 2 days
Lyon - 2 days
and then back to amsterdam to our return flight

thanks for any replys

[francefiend]

Welcome to the forums, naiel97!

Looking sharp! You've apportioned appropriate amounts of time for each destination. It flows. It makes sense geographically for the most part. Just a few things I noticed:

1. The first red flag - Bordeaux. I've never seen this on anyone's itinerary before. I've never been, but I've heard good things. Tell me if you like it when you return.

2. Second flag - Brussels. Everyone says it's an "okay" place, but there are better cities in Europe with more to do. For a taste of Belgium, visit Bruges instead. Or, you could add that day to Paris

3. Third flag - Madrid. That is a journeyyyyy. It's obvious from your itinerary that you want to spend some quality time in Spain, so I won't suggest cutting it. It's time to start researching flight options or another stop in between the two cities (Biarritz?).

4. Fourth flag - Lyon. It would fit in your itinerary if you were doing France -> Italy, but it's odd anywhere else. It could work from Marseille or Nice - but you would be backtracking. Alternatives: another Swiss city (Basel, Bern, Geneva?) or Strasbourg, France. The alternatives are optional - Lyon could work - the trip just looks odd on a map.

and then back to amsterdam to our return flight

Nonononono, we advocate open-jaw flights here. Take the train from Lyon to CDG and fly back from Paris instead (if you haven't already purchased tickets, of course).

Transportation: Will you be taking trains in between destinations? Questions about Rail Passes vs. Point-to-Point? Questions about reservations?

Again, it looks very good. Happy travels.

[pointofnoreturn]

Sometimes, people find it too expensive to use open jaw flights so in some cases, a return flight is cheaper despite more travel time to get back to the starting city.

[herrbert]

Hi,

I think most of the days awarded are OK. Maybe you can debate a little on maybe one day more or less in some places. in my opinion Florence is better with 3 days, and Nice could do with less, but that's up to you.

Some other points:

I would rather cut off one day in Amsterdam, and use the one day you sheduled for Brussels, and use them to get to Brugge.

I have my doubts about the 4 days in Valencía, I honestly have to admit that I haven't been there, but 4 days seems too much, and I have to say that there are places in Spain, that are regarded as much better. I would rather go to Granada, for 3 days. and see the Alhambra. (and fly Madrid - Granada, and fly Granada - Barcelona) Or maybe go to Sevilla from Madrid by AVE, and then to Granada, but then you need at least 3 days each.

See if you can get a flight with Clickair or Iberia from Barcelona to Marseille. the trainride take much longer then you expect, if you look at the map. On second thoughts: I would fly Barcelona - Rome, and add Nice and Marseille at the back of the trip, as you already plan to go back to France (Lyon).

The Open Jaw flights are the best options, but you have to see for yourself if the price you need to pay more is worth it.

If you need to go back to Amsterdam, then I would even go as far to reshedule, and fly Amsterdam - Madrid (the earlier you are in Spain, the better, weatherwise). Check Vueling Airlines.

And go like this:

Amsterdam
Madrid (daytrips Toledo, and if possible Segovia)
Valencía (or Sevilla and/or Granada)
Barcelona
Rome (vueling airlines/clickair?)
Florence
Venice (I always mix this up, maybe Venice-Florence works out better)
Zurich (not my pick to be honest, maybe Cinque Terre or Gimmelwald, two favourites here, would fit in)
Lyon
Nice
Marseille
Bordeaux
Paris
Brussels (or Brugge)
Amsterdam

[naiel87]

Thank you more the inputs so far, but I forgot to add that we have already bought our tickets to get to Amsterdam from Toronto and they are round trip, so we must get back to Amsterdam. Another thing, we are now considering flying from Paris to Madrid and skipping Bordeaux all together as I found 30$ tickets to get there. Also, the only reason we thought we needed to go to Zurich is because of the euro cup festivities and can skip Switzerland all together i suppose if it will help us with lesser travel time and save us money with getting the 4 country euro rail pass instead of the 5 country one. Any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.

[herrbert]

It is your trip, so if you want to go to attent some of the festivities surrounding Euro2008, then do it. It might be difficult to find lodging for these dates, so you might want to try to find some rooms first.

I have no clue about the shedule of the matches, but in any of the towns hosting matches, you can find some festivities, you just need to find out when the matches are, because on other days it is not as busy, then on a matchday.

Did you find your tickets for Paris-Madrid on Vueling? Or are you tempted by Ryanair. If you choose Ryanair, then know they are flying from a small airport about 1,5 - 2 hours away from Paris. Which makes it a hassle, because these flights usually depart pretty early.

If you stick to you original route, then know that the trip between Barcelona and Marseille is a pretty long one to do by train. you can check flights by Iberia and Clickair, but you can also visit Carcassonne dividing the trip in two parts. (personally I would fly from Barcelona to Italy, and then go to Nice and Marseille, after Italy.)