City Advice for 3 month trip!

[sarahm84]

Hi guys,

I am going to europe next june with my girl friend for 3 months ( we are both 25) and I have a couple of question in regards to which cities we should stay in...

1. We will be travelling from Paris to Madrid and would like to stop off somewhere for 3 or 4 days, any suggestions?? I've heard the the Loire Valley is pretty but not sure where to stay

2. We will be travelling from italy to greece then to croatia and I have been reading that this this is very difficult! We will probably end up catching the ferry from bari to patras then back again to either split or dubrovnik. We are thinking of staying in bari to break it up and so this 24hr trip isnt so painful. what is bari like? anyone been there?

Thanks so much

[WillTravel]

Are you insistent on doing this all by train?

If you go to the Loire Valley, for example, that could be a good trip, but I don't think it will help much so far as getting a good distance to Madrid.

So I'd see what you want to see in France, and see what you want to see in Spain, but probably take a flight between the two countries.

Similarly for Italy to Greece to Croatia, flights are most likely to be an easier option.

Railpasses can be expensive and not too helpful in many cases. A combination of point to point tickets, and budget flights is often an easier and cheaper option. Take a look at www.skyscanner.net and www.whichbudget.com .

There's also a program called the Europe by Air pass at www.europebyair.com/efp/cheapflightstoeurope.jsp , but I have not used that pass myself.

[sarahm84]

thanks for your advice, i might look up flights from greece to croatia, but im pretty sure that you have to go via rome and it might be too pricey.

I would like to stop in the Loire Valley though, any ideas of towns?

[WillTravel]

I don't think you have to do this in a daytrip as suggested in the following post, but you might find something helpful here:
www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k130266-TRAINS_We_need_advice_for_Loire_Valley_daytrip_from_Paris-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

[Eagle]

sarahm84,

Regarding a stop in the Loire Valley, there are lots of great possibilities. It would help to know what prompted your interest in visiting there, as that would help to suggest the most appropriate town to visit. How many days were you planning to stay in that area?

I haven't checked rail connections, but one possibility might be to base in Chinon. From there you could visit the magnificent Chateau de Chenonceaux, Chateau de Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Amboise or other sites. Have a look at tiny.cc/ki1QV for a view of Chenonceaux. Some other places you might consider to break up the trip between Paris and Madrid are Sarlat (you might consider a canoe trip down the Dordogne) or perhaps Carcassone (be sure to try Cassoulet if you stop there).

Regarding the rest of your route, you might consider going from Spain to Greece, then Italy and finally Croatia. It seems like a more logical route to me.

If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door as it provides a tremendous amount of information for efficient and smart travel in Europe.

Good luck with your planning!

[herrbert]

You could opt to have a couple of days in the north of Spain. San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander, are nice places to visit. If you want to see mountains, you could get to the Pyrenees, or the Picos de Europa.

Alternatively you could also walk a bit of the Camino de Santiago.