[Nonstop-driver]

Originally Posted by Saanil

been to Switzerland last year and would like to explore some other country. I wanted to know I should be careful regarding weather in some European countries for the month of September? Both of us are excited by the option of Italy/France/London. We do not intend to cover 2/3/4 countries in these 8/9 days and would prefer to stay in a single country for the entire trip duration.

We were in Europe last year from September 14 to 28. London was very cold by Delhi standards but Paris, Luzern, and Munich were rather pleasant. Rather Interlaken was more pleasant than London (probably due to the wind). We carried a light zipper and used it early morning and late evening. The rain showers were frequent but intermittent during the day except for one day in Paris when it really poured. Italy/ Greece would be warmer comparatively.

[Who_are_you]

Originally Posted by deepakchan

As someone who had traveled to Italy 2 months ago, I guess I am qualified to answer this. ...

Thank you. I just found out, vodafone enables international roaming for 99 per month. I will am thinking of buying ICICI Bank forex card.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I always get any forex from a counter at the airport (even if the rate is lower). Centrum etc.

Thank you. Any benefit of buying currency online compared to Centrum ?

[deepakchan]

Originally Posted by Who_are_you

Thank you. I just found out, vodafone enables international roaming for 99 per month. I will am thinking of buying ICICI Bank forex card.

The last time I checked ICICI bank forex rates were a rupee above the market rates as in XE or Google, where as centrum forex online was a few paise lesser than the market. The advantage of buying at the airport is all the documents are with you but the disadvantage is you get a bad rate. Not a good idea if the volume of forex bought is large.


If you have sufficient time before the trip, say, even a week, I would suggest you get it from centrum forex online. Although you make the transaction online, the documents and collection of the forex card all happens offline.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Thanks for the suggestions! I had not considered Romania at all. Any view on Czech Republic or Hungary? I have heard that these places are cheaper compared to Italy/France/Germany.

You cannot go wrong with any of the above.

Just throwing some more options:

Last year in September we did a small trip to Croatia & Slovenia - well priced, beautiful, and great weather!
Of course we didn't have time to do the entire Croatia, but did a part of it and it was amazing.

Another great option is Germany during that time. Just before Oktoberfest, you may just get some good deals in Munich which is a beautiful city as well!
When we did Czech Republic, we flew into Munich and drove down to Czech Republic. On the way back, we stopped at Munich for a couple of days (food, shopping, etc.) and came back.

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Go to Italy or Spain (Canary Islands), you cannot go wrong there.
Spike

Originally Posted by deepakchan

As someone who had traveled to Italy 2 months ago, I guess I am qualified to answer this.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Carry some cash and a forex card.

Discussing it here can help many more people, don't you think.

Originally Posted by Who_are_you

Hello Folks,

I am travelling to Rome, Italy for 5 days in July.

I have almost finalized Italy with dates as 21st Sept to 1st October (9 days). Now I need to finalize my itinerary within Italy. There are just too many places to cover in Italy so it is clear that I will be missing out on a lot of good places.

We really would like to do one of Amalfi Coast/Cinque Terre. I believe these are the coastal parts and they look really nice in photos! If we can do both it would be really great but we would like to cover at least one of them. We also liked Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice. Now, is it possible to do all these places in 9 days? At how many places should we stay? Should we stay at 4 places for 2 days each or stay at 2 places for 4 days each?

I would really appreciate help from experts here!

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Saanil

I have almost finalized Italy with dates as 21st Sept to 1st October (9 days). Now I need to finalize my itinerary within Italy. There are just too many places to cover in Italy so it is clear that I will be missing out on a lot of good places.

We really would like to do one of Amalfi Coast/Cinque Terre. I believe these are the coastal parts and they look really nice in photos! If we can do both it would be really great but we would like to cover at least one of them. We also liked Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice. Now, is it possible to do all these places in 9 days? At how many places should we stay? Should we stay at 4 places for 2 days each or stay at 2 places for 4 days each?

I would really appreciate help from experts here!

You have a good no. of days given the places you've listed. Although I would recommend that you skip Venice; I've heard from far too many people that it has been reduced to a gutter. A beautiful gutter. Here's what I would suggest (it is the itinerary I followed):

Day 1: land in Rome
Day 2, 3, 4: Rome
Day 5: Rome -> Florence
Day 6: Florence
Day 7: Florence -> Naples
Day 8: Naples + Amalfi
Day 9: Naples -> Rome

Some points to not miss:

1) In Rome:
- pre-book an English tour of the Colosseum
- pre-book an English tour of the Vatican
- once there, do the additional tour of the Sistine Chapel

2) In Florence:
- Consider a tour- we booked a package that included a bus tour that took us to vineyards, lunch in a village, leaning tour of Pisa

3) In Naples:
- Day trip to Pompeii
- Cruise off Amalfi coast

If you're a history & culture nut, you're going to go crazy with all the museums, monuments and culture.

[chetan_l]

Good suggestions by @libranof1987

One alternative you can try would be to stay in Florence for longer and go to Cinque Terre (instead of Naples and Amalfi coast) as a day trip from Florence. So, you will only have to stay in two cities. Search for ‘day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence’ and you will get plenty of info. This option also allows you to squeeze in another (rushed) day trip to Venice if you are inclined to do so. Or, you can visit the Tuscan country side and see if you want to cover Val D’Orcia / Montalcino / San Gimignano / Sienna...

[deepakchan]

I'm the third person after @chetan_l and @libranof1987 to recommend skipping Venice. Staying 4 nights in 2 places is infinitely better as packing and unpacking becomes less of a thing to worry about when you are on a holiday.


One additional tip to driving from Rome to Florence is to stop at one of the awesome hot springs that have free entry and ample free parking too. We went to Cascate del Mulino which was open 24 hours, sparkling clean, and hardly any crowd for something that is free. We spent almost 1.5 hours there until it was a good one hour after sunset before we set out on the road again.

[Jeroen]

We did Venice last year in September. Stayed for four days. Absolutely loved it! So much to see and do/ You can take several boating outings to some of the other islands as well.

As with a lot of places, it can get a bit touristy, but there is enough to see and do that gets you away from the crowds.

But again, lots of other interesting things to see and do in Italy too. Enjoy

Jeroen

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

We did Venice last year in September. Stayed for four days. Absolutely loved it! So much to see and do/ You can take several boating outings to some of the other islands as well.

I actually enjoyed riding their Vaporetto (water public transport) more than the gondola rides.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by carboy

I actually enjoyed riding their Vaporetto (water public transport) more than the gondola rides.

Yes, the Gondola rides are overrated I think. But of course, you have to go in one and take a selfie. You can not do Venice and not do a Gondola.

The Vaporetto's are very good, cheap and make for a lot of fun getting around. Even the watertaxi's are affordable. We were picked up from the airport and taken to our hotel by water taxi and that is how we left as well.

We arrived early in the evening, with the sun just setting. Getting out of the plane, into the water taxi and travelling across the water and into the little Venetian canals was an awesome way to start our Venetian adventure. And we ended it like that as well.

And I used two of my Venetian photographs in my recently awarded Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society. So I have a lot of very happy memories when it comes to Venice.

Jeroen

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

You have a good no. of days given the places you've listed. Here's what I would suggest (it is the itinerary I followed):

If you're a history & culture nut, you're going to go crazy with all the museums, monuments and culture.

Many thanks for sharing your itinerary. I am more than willing to exclude Venice. So you are recommending to stay at three places for a period of 9 days right? Was it very hectic for you? Many posts on TripAdvisor recommend staying at 2 places only for 8/9 day trip.

One more important thing. My wife is not too much into history. If that is the case, should we exclude Rome? What other places can we explore?

Originally Posted by chetan_l

Good suggestions by @libranof1987

One alternative you can try would be to stay in Florence for longer and go to Cinque Terre (instead of Naples and Amalfi coast) as a day trip from Florence. So, you will only have to stay in two cities. Or, you can visit the Tuscan country side and see if you want to cover Val D’Orcia / Montalcino / San Gimignano / Sienna...

I have to ask you - is a day trip to Cinque Terre feasible from Florence? I have read that this day trip will be a little too hectic. I do not mind stretching a little bit for a day but I am also leaning towards staying at two places only for the entire trip (Florence + Rome?).

Originally Posted by deepakchan

One additional tip to driving from Rome to Florence is to stop at one of the awesome hot springs that have free entry and ample free parking too. We went to Cascate del Mulino which was open 24 hours, sparkling clean, and hardly any crowd for something that is free.

This is the reason I love this forum! Amazing suggestion! I will definitely check this out! Which all places did you visit in Italy?

Originally Posted by Jeroen

We did Venice last year in September. Stayed for four days. Absolutely loved it!
Jeroen

A contrarian view! My wife wants to go to Venice but I am not that inclined.

Originally Posted by carboy

I actually enjoyed riding their Vaporetto (water public transport) more than the gondola rides.

Thanks for this! Which all places did you visit in Italy?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Saanil

Many thanks for sharing your itinerary. I am more than willing to exclude Venice. So you are recommending to stay at three places for a period of 9 days right? Was it very hectic for you? Many posts on TripAdvisor recommend staying at 2 places only for 8/9 day trip.

Nah; three destinations across 8/9 days is manageable.

Also, we stayed in airbnbs in all three cities; felt wonderful as they were all highly recommended and had a charm of their own. Eg. One airbnb owner also runs a bakery, so he brought delicious breakfast every morning.

One more important thing. My wife is not too much into history. If that is the case, should we exclude Rome? What other places can we explore?

No, no! Don't exlude Rome. You can reduce a day in Rome and spend that in Naples. Just fyi: Europe is a lot about culture/history. So, think about what you want from the trip.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Saanil

One more important thing. My wife is not too much into history. If that is the case, should we exclude Rome? What other places can we explore?

Of all the places, I have visited in the world, I consider Rome+Vatican City as #1. #2 is Paris. If you have to visit one place in the world, I would suggest Rome+Vatican City. If you are short of time, you can cut it to 2 days or 3 days. Vatican is inside Rome - it will take 1/2 to 1 day to see the Vatican. The trip will be worth it just for seeing the Sistine Chapel.

[deepakchan]

Originally Posted by Saanil

This is the reason I love this forum! Amazing suggestion! I will definitely check this out! Which all places did you visit in Italy?

My itinerary was
Milan 2 nights
Pisa 1 night
Florence 2 nights
Venice 1 night
Siena 1 night
Rome 3 nights

Whilst driving from Siena to Rome is when I visited the hot springs that I mentioned in my previous post.
I didn't venture below Rome with the limited time we had in Italy and proceeded onwards to Germany to experience the Autobahn.