Palal

More Rome, less Zürich.

factory81

May 5th - DTW-FRA-FCO, A340-600 and A321 in business
May 6th - IC Rome
May 7th - HIX Rome
May 8th - HIX Rome
May 9th - Depart A.M and stop somewhere in Tuscany for lunch to roam around. Thinking Cortona or somewhere similar. Then board to go to Pisa to reposition ourselves.
May 10th - Cinque Terra
May 11th - skip up to Geneva overnight
May 12th - Train to Grindelwald (there are some scenic trains in this area I read)
May 13th -Grindelwald/Gadman area
May 14th - Grindelwald
May 15th - Grindelwald area
May 16th - Lucerne
May 17th - ZRH-DUB
May 18th - Dublin
May 19th - ORD-DUB Aer Lingus Business class!


It is a bit hectic, but we have 4 key areas. Dublin, Rome, the alps, Cinque Terre....(I want to make more of the Cinque Terre then what we have, but we will see). I want to see the jungfraujoch, trift bridge, staubbach and just check that out. I think the area offers a lot of bang for the buck.

NO Glacier Express/Bernina Express though. Sure we may take other scenic trains, but not the epic ones....

A good amount of staying in hostels, especially....Dublin. The Heineken World Cup has forced me to secure airfare for that already due to the high demand.

factory81

Latest revision. My current challenge really is just determining when/where to stop in Tuscany to explore for 4-6 hours. Right now it is in Cortona, but it isn't that widely talked about.

Anyone have any suggestions on this still? Or is it still too aggressive? This gets me a few nights in Rome, a night in the Cinque Terre, a few nights in the alps.....



5/5/2013 DTW-FRA-FCO
5/6/2013 Rome
5/7/2013 Rome
5/8/2013 Rome
5/9/2013 Rome-Cortona-Pisa
5/10/2013 Pisa-Cinque Terre
5/11/2013 Cinque Terre-Brig
5/12/2013 Brig-Grindelwald
5/13/2013 Lauterbrunnen
5/14/2013 Lauterbrunnen
5/15/2013 Toward Lucerne
5/16/2013 Toward Zurich
5/17/2013 ZRH-DUB
5/18/2013 Dublin
5/19/2013 DUB-ORD

farbster

Have you been to any of these places before? Since you asked, I'll say that this is one of the worst itineraries imaginable. You're in no place for any time.

What kind of activities do you like? Tell us about yourself...

Why are you mixing Switzerland in with Italy? Why aren't you doing Florence? Why aren't you doing Venice? Pisa is cool, the tower really leans. We were there this summer, but as part of a R/F/V trip.

I say scrap this whole thing.

Sorry, just my two cents worth.

brasov02

One man's waste of miles and points is another's effective use of miles and points. My two cents says if you want a relaxed and restful vacation, don't fly across oceans to foreign countries. Airports are about as opposite from restful and relaxing as you can get. And I don't think the OP's priority is relaxation and rest anyway. He/she obviously wants to see as much as possible without getting too ridiculous and I think the schedule is accomplishing that. I've fit in a more packed itinerary during a Rome/Verona/Salzburg/Berchdesgaden/Vienna venture last summer and enjoyed it immensely. At this point in my travels, when I fly all the way to a new country, I want to see as much as I can within reason. These trips definitely wouldn't qualify as a "relaxed and restful" vacation for most but when I want one of those I just grab a few books and videos and spend a week at the beach or a lake closer to home. Maybe when I'm older and more wealthy and less energetic I'll slow it down on my foreign travels and just smell one or two roses deeply instead of a dozen quickly. Everyone has their own two cents.

bdemaria

If you read this entire thread, you'll see that the OP has very strong opinions regarding Venice and that location is decidedly *not* an option.

brasov02

A serious case of unwarranted hyperbole I'm hoping. Or a serious case of a lack of imagination.

farbster

I've re-read the entire thread and can't find any mention of Venice. Maybe my eyes are tired? Can you please tell me what he said about Venice?

farbster

Perhaps I was a bit too critical...

factory81

Thank you for taking the time to critique my trip and I do appreciate your comments. I do want to make my trip as enjoyable as possible and without advice like yours it may not be possible.

I have not been to any of these places before, and I have revised my trip somewhat - although not a lot. I like beautiful vistas, charming cities, and just fascinating things to look at. I am not a person who will go visit a museum with the exception of a few things in Rome just because the beauty inside is on another level.

Things are not completely set in stone and I am open to moving things around. For me and my trip, it is about setting a list of goals and things I want to see and accomplish in THIS trip. I do have intentions of visiting Italy again - probably to do a bit of the anti-thesis to this trip. Aka Re-visit other sites in Rome, Amalfi Coast, spend an actual night in Florence, see Venice, see the Dolomites, and then maybe just head right up toward Austria or something.

But as you can obviously see on this trip; geographically I am hugging the middle/west portions of Italy and going nearly straight north in to Switzerland, going around the Aletsch glacier, and then back in to the Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen area before going to check out the Swiss low lands.


I like a little adventure. For instance I will be considering mountain biking in the alps, riding cable cars up to viewing platforms, seeing Jungfrau and the glaciers as close as possible. Maybe even bungee jumping in Interlaken.

I have even started to assemble a list of just things I want to see/do...

Bernina Express
hike cinque terre
mount pilatus
the colosseum
roman forum
pantheon
staubbach falls
aere gorge
leaning tower of pisa
Dinner in Florence
vatican city
sphynx observatory
jungfrau
bungee jump interlaken
mountain bike interlaken?
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
campidoglio (rome)
trevi fountain
Civita di Bagnoregio
altare della patria
two lakes bridge
gimmelwald
trinity college
guiness brewery
dublin castle
jameson distillary?
bank of ireland/parliament building
dublin general post office
dublin bike rental
dublin hop on hop off


May 5th: DTW-FRA-FCO
May 6th: Arrive 12:30PM in Rome.
May 7th: Rome
May 8th: Rome
May 9th: Rental car out of Rome @ 8 A.M. Travel up to Civita Di Bagnoregio. Estimated arrival in Civita Di Bagnoregio is roughly 9:30 A.M. That is passing right through...Orvieto initially, but after spending 90 minutes or so around Civiti Di Bagnoregio we will make our trip back toward Orvieto to get back on the autostrada. At this time we will walk eat lunch in Orvieto. I expect to be leaving Orvieto by 2 PM. This should allow for us to arrive in Florence for dinner/walk around. Following this we will take off toward Pisa. I really only need to try and see the leaning tower of Pisa when it is daylight for a somewhat decent photo. We will stay in Pisa overnight.
May 10th: Leave Pisa on the first train up toward the Cinque Terre. Spend all day at the Cinque Terre and taking the last train out to Genoa to stay overnight.
May 11th: Open-ended day. At this point we can backtrack for some more time in the Cinque before taking off basically for the alps (and trying to arrive in Brig that evening to stay).
May 12th - Brig to Interlaken taking the glacier express for part of the way, buses other parts of the way
May 13th - Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen
May 14th - Lauterbrunnen area
May 15th - Bern by day, Lucern to stay for the evening.
May 16th - Open ended day,although I have a hotel reservation at the CP in Zurich this evening.
May 17th - Depart Zurich to Dublin and arrive in Dublin @ Noon. This day is a debated day, we've discussed heading right from T2 to Galway/Cliffs of Moher by car rental, stay overnight in Galway OR take a overnight bus back to Dublin. Alternatively this day is also an optional "easy breezy Dublin day" where we just rent bikes, hike Howth Head, see Grafton Street, Dublin Castle etc.
May 18th - This is an open Day in Dublin. No real agenda, we really want to see the Cliffs of Moher (by boat particularly) and we know that the 17th would probably not permit that, but the 18th we could.
May 19th - Take off out of Dublin at 3:35pm.


I know you think renting a car in Italy is crazy, BUT we will not need to store the car anywhere but for 3 places, Civita Di Bagnoregio for 90 minutes~, Orvieto for lunch/walk-around, and finally Florence for dinner/walk around. We will be returning our car to the rental agency in Pisa. I am already ahead of the game in regards to automobiles and their considerations..e.g.

-I am purchasing an international drivers license for the rental. So no polizia or rental agency will have troubles reading my license.
-I did purchase an auto transmission specifically (us American's can't drive real vehicles =) )
-I am aware of the autostrada tolls of roughly $10/USD per hour of driving on the autostrada roadways
-I am aware of there being certain locations in towns that are off limits to automobiles during certain hours and to be mindful of those or I will be heavily fined
-In another topic entirely, I am aware that it is my responsibility to validate my ticket when I board a train/bus.

factory81

Maybe not in thisthread (I have spoke of Venice a few times), but I do hear from some travelers that they are underwhelmed by the "reality" of Venice. Some have went as far as to describe it as a smelly industrial port town with Venice being the "Adult Disney World" out a flooded marsh.

I know you can take "mini gondola rides" to cross things for like 1 euro, but a real gondola ride costs something like 100 euro's I read. I guess that is something I don't want to spend just now...

Followed by the fact that the entire place is essentially a tourist trap, Rick Steve's highlights this in a video mentioning how some travelers get "lost" on the same road and spend the day walking back and forth looking at junk stands and trinkets for tourists. I have no problem with the 2 menu pricing, $18 euros for a cup of coffee to sit down, or $4 euro to stand up. But this is not something I need to see on this trip. When I have a wife though - this may be something of interest to her.