nschuchert

So my friend and I sat down and came up with an intinerary for the trip. We also decided that it would probably be better to start in London instead of immediately connecting to Rome. If we start in London we can take a train to see my relatives when we arrive and get over our jetlag at their house in a town 2 hours outside of London. Stay with them for two days and then start the real sightseeing and all that stuff. So here's the mini itinerary we started:

June 19th-AIRPLANE
June 20th-AUNTIE BRIDGET
June 21st-AUNTIE BRIDGET
June 22nd-MORNING TRAIN TO LONDON
June 23rd-LONDON
June 24th-LONDON
June 25th-LONDON
June 26th-Early morning train to PARIS
June 27th-PARIS
June 28th-DAY IN PARIS, TRAIN TO BARCELONA DEPARTS AT 8:30 PM
June 29th-BARCELONA-ARRIVE AT 8:30 A.M.
June 30th-BARCELONA
July 1st-TRAIN TO NICE
July 2nd-NICE
July 3rd- DAY IN NICE, NIGHT TRAIN TO FLORENCE
July 4th-FLORENCE
July 5th-FLORENCE
July 6th-EARLY TRAIN TO ROME
July 7th-ROME
July 8th-ROME
July 9th-ROME
July 10th-PLANE BACK TO LA

FLIGHTS:

June 19th
American Airlines LAX-ORD Flight 1012, Departs at 8:30 AM
American Airlines ORD-LHR Flight 66

July 10th

British Airways FCO-LHR Morning flight
American Airlines LHR-LAX Flight 135, Departs around 3 pm

TRAINS:
Rome to Florence: 1 hr 35 mins
Florence to Nice: 8 hrs
Nice to Barcelona: 12 hrs (night train)
Barcelona to Paris: 12 hrs (night train)
Paris to London: 2 hrs 30 mins (booked separately Chunnel)-75 dollars for coach

Need: Eurail SelectPass Saver, first class train travel for 6 days: 360 dollars, train tickets to Auntie Bridget

masonp123

Sounds like a wonderful trip. I will repeat early posts about reducing/eliminating Nice. The French coast is spectacular but Nice itself, given the other fantastic cities you will be visiting, was not all that impressive (IMHO). Beach/city is packed, a bit rundown, and it's a bit dirty (compared to other European cities). Several great art museums, though. Perhaps a visit to fabulous Genoa (2 or 3 hours on train from Nice) with a few stops at some of the many smaller French villages up the coast? Can even stop at Monaco, walk down the marble-lined tunnel from the train station, grab lunch, then look at the insanely large yachts moored in the bay. Enjoy!

schmare

Looks good! Two random comments:

Be sure to check the baggage allowances for your BA flight within Europe. They will definitely be significantly lower than your AA transatlantic flight, and excess baggage charges can add up surprisingly quickly. I'm not saying you should do anything differently, but definitely be aware of it and take the costs into account if you are going to be carrying a lot of luggage.


You can easily spend three days sightseeing in Rome without getting bored, but if you are looking for something else to do, I'd highly suggest Ostia Antica. You can easily do it as a 1/2 day trip from Rome. I found getting out of the city for a while to be very enjoyable, and the ruins were interesting, fun to explore, and not crowded at all. If you are really motivated you could go to Pompeii for the day, but it's quite a far for a day trip and better suited to an overnight.

jgoodm

I did this with two friends junior to senior year. A couple of suggestions that may or may not still be useful/available.

1. For the three of us, renting a car was cheaper than three 1st Eurorail passes for the time we were there. It was a lot of fun being able to stop when/where we wanted on our way to various destinations.

2. Get yourself a Fodor's guide. It lists many bed and breakfast type places that are much nicer and safer than the hostels and when your money is pooled can be pretty cheap per person.

3. I highly suggest Amsterdam even if you don't want to go to the "coffee shops." It is is filled with young people and you will have a complete blast there. Its definately something to see/do when you are your age.

4. I think 2 days is a really short time in any city. I would do a minimum of 3 any place you go.

5. Its worth looking in to cheap airfares when you are there. I had to get from Nice to Rome and it was something like a 7 hour train ride. I went to the Amex office in Nice and was able to book a student fare (didn't even know they existed and don't know if they do anymore) from Nice to Rome which was a 45 minute flight. I think it cost $50 or $60...

Have fun!

MADflyer

If on same PNR should qualify for 2 bags USA rules AA(50lb) checked through to LAX and not the 20kg(50lb)total how many bags you want EU rules.

I think with OW you will qualify with BA even if 2 PNRs but need to ask if that is case.

I know it is easier with rail pass for you but you could really find LCCs cheap this early but only if you are carrying under 50lbs or luggage and even less with some like Ryanair. Rail is very cheap without pass in Italy.

Problem with air is trip to airport is often as long and costly as flight.

Guess FC on night trains involves checked or secure baggage. Otherwise watch that you secure your belongings on both night and day trains.

Was just on Sky News how the low airfares and rising train fares are contributing to global warming. UK and others putting higher taxes on flights.

schmare

[QUOTE=MADflyer;6940189]If on same PNR should qualify for 2 bags USA rules AA(50lb) checked through to LAX and not the 20kg(50lb)total how many bags you want EU rules.

I think with OW you will qualify with BA even if 2 PNRs but need to ask if that is case.

QUOTE]


I have some experience with OW baggage rules and 2 pnrs/2 tickets. In my experience, the Trans Atlantic baggage allowances apply if there is no stopover in Europe. With the stopover for a few days in London, and with 2 tickets/2 pnrs, I've always been subjected the Intra-European baggage allowances. From my reading of the OP's first post, the AA ticket to London is already purchased, and the BA ticket will be separate, but that may not be a correct assumption.

In any case, it's worth checking with the airline!

Jay71

Accommodation suggestions
Check out www.eurocheapo.com. (However, the site seems down right now.) It lists a lot of value accommodations including hostels, pensions, and 1 star joints.
Paris: Our best find was Hotel de Rouen in Paris. Two blocks from the Louvre in the 1st Arrondissement for around 50 Euros. We stayed there again this past spring. Basic 1 star no frills accommodation.
Barcelona: We stayed at Hotel Fernando which was a couple of blocks off Las Ramblas. Also very basic. Cost 55E for a double w/ WC a few years back.
Nice: We stayed at a place called Hotel Canada for 60E/ night w/ WC. Located about 2 blocks from the promenade. Not the best value place we stayed at but it did have a balcony for us to eat and have a bit of a view of the Mediterranean.
Florence: In Florence, we rented one of a number of secure and self contained rooms w/ WC in a building that was being rented out by a lady. Place was called Soggiorno Pezzati Daniela. 62E for a Double w/ WC a few years back. It was located about a 10-15 minute walk from the train station. We found the main attractions in Florence to be very reachable by foot.
Rome: We rented a room for 30E a night from a friendly couple that listed it on Venere.com (Bacalav Daniel). It was a positive experience but we obviously lacked a bit of privacy. If we had to do it again we'd probably try to find a place thru Craigslist before Venere.

All the accommodations that I’ve listed were positive experiences for us but obviously YMMV.

Transportation Suggestions
Personally, I'd get the first class tix, if for anything, to save you from having to fight for a seat (most of the time).
If you do an overnight train, try to get a sleeper car. We did Madrid to Barcelona overnight in a regular six seat car and it was pretty brutal. It was uncomfortable and we tried to stay half awake to ensure our gear didn't get ripped off (I'm paranoid).

Itinerary Suggestions
Paris looks a bit light on days. We went a few years back for four days and we just went back this spring for another four and we still missed some things we wanted to do. But obviously it's up to you to prioritize. And you can always go back.
To agree with other posters, Nice (and a day trip to Monaco) were nice but they weren't a highlight of our trip. It was kind of cool hanging out along the Mediterranean tho.

Miscellaneous
Personally, I really like Rick Steves' books. Follow his hints on how to save time. Eg. If you're going to museums and stuff in Paris, get the Museum Pass if just to skip the lines (we literally bypassed lines of over 100 people at the Louvre, d’Orsay, Versaille, l’Orangerie, etc. Make reservations for the Uffizi. Get entry tix at Palatine Hill for both it and the Colosseum to avoid the longer line at the Colosseum. Etc, etc.

nschuchert

I checked the train schedules and it doesn't look like there's a night train between Barcelona and Nice. It would stink having to lose a whole day on the train (leaving in the AM, arriving in Nice in the PM). Is there a possibility that they'd operate a night train between the two places during the summer?

If we both have first class train tickets will we get our own sleeper room to ourselves so we won't have to worry about our stuff being stolen? We're definitely gonna get the 1st class train passes, well worth the 30-50 extra dollars.

And no, we haven't booked the FCO-LHR flight yet so it won't be on the same itinerary as the AA LAX-LHR flights. However, luggage shouldn't be an issue as I'm only planning on bringing on a backpack and a bag that is small enough to be carried on to the plane. My dad got me this luggage from a company called Red Oxx for Christmas. Great stuff! This bag can be carried on and it's absolutely huge on the inside. It's tough, durable, looks cool, I guess they make bags for the Airborne. I'm only gonna be bringing shorts, tshirts, sweatshirts, and maybe a pair of jeans so I'll be packing fairly light.

I'm really looking forward to Rome! How far is Pompei from Rome? If it's like a 2 hour train ride I'd be interested in taking a day trip out there to check it out. I've been to London before and really liked it. I can definitely seeing myself enjoying it a lot more because I'm older. I think I was 11 years old when we went. I've got a ton of books on the places we're going to, but just need to take the time to read through them and all that to figure out the places we can't miss in each city. Does it look like we have enough time time in each city to hit all the "must see" stuff?

Thanks for the advice everyone (and I'll definitely look into those hotels!).

gilpin

The pass itself will just get you a seat on the train. There may be couchettes, were you sleep in bunk style cots, or private compartments, but either will usually cost extra.


Have you studied the map before planning this trip? Pompei is in the vicinity of Naples; it isn't a practical daytrip from Rome.

norse_aztec

Sounds like a fun and exciting trip. My single strong suggestion is to consider adding an extra day in Paris - one full day and two half days is cutting it short, even on a trip like this.

Great idea to recover at Auntie's upon arrival, instead of recovering while sightseeing.

I suggest checking the LCC's and individual rail tickets versus the pass. One of the big advantages of a pass is the flexibility, but your trip sounds fairly well set so this may not be a big advantage for you. When I've checked trips like this, usually a combo of air/train tix purchased well in advance saved money and time compared to a train pass. For example, London-Barcelona should be cheap via air, and perhaps Barcelona-Paris as well. An individual TGV ticket Paris-Nice purchased well in advance can be very inexpensive. You can buy the French train tickets online and then pick them up in France. So London-Barcelona-Paris-Nice-Florence-Rome might be a better routing.

Too bad that you're so close to Venice, without time to see it. Or Amsterdam, a very fun city. Next time.

Have fun!

schmare

I'm not 100% sure, but I think train schedules for next summer probably aren't fully loaded yet, thus I would expect a Barcelona to Nice train to be there.

If there isn't a train that terminates in Nice, there might be a train from Barcelona to Milan, Florence, Rome, etc that stops in Nice. Alternatively, changing in Perpignan also might work (though this will definitely be longer, as I think the Perpignan-Nice trains are local and will make multiple stops).

In regards to the Pompeii trip, it's a solid 3 hours each way from Rome. Possibly a little more, depending on the connection time in Naples. I've also heard they were starting "tourist" trains from Rome to facilitate day trips (i.e. very early non stop departure from Rome, and a late evening return). I did a quick google search and didn't find much about it, though, so I don't know if that will pan out.

If you really want to do Pompeii, I would fit it in by either traveling from Florence to Pompeii, then going up to Rome, or by going to Rome first, then down to Pompeii, then fly from Naples back to the UK for your flight back to the States. This definitely adds travel time to your trip, and the trip is fairly tight to begin with, so unless it's a real priority for you, it might be better to save Pompeii for another trip.

MADflyer

[QUOTE=schmare;6940749]I understood it as an open jaw. OP is outbound on rail from London. The return journey should allow bagage to be checked through to destination (* most likely even with 2nd PNR) and thus put the destination USA 2 bag rules in effect.

If London was stopover of course bags could not be checked through and EU rules would apply.

Problems occur when the 'agents' at check-in do not know the rules I guess.

Smart move having BCN for Friday and Saturday night as that will be great nights out only problem if you miss your train to Nice by ending up at the Sunday daytime club on the Barceloneta beach on the way to the station.

gilpin

They may be the best nights for clubbing, but are also the most difficult for finding rooms.