BristolUK

Following on from my earlier thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/europ...venice-858135/ I'm wondering about the feasibility of heading for Strasbourg rather than Annecy.

It looks very similar, albeit without the lake.

So what about a couple of days in Strasbourg (arriving by train from Paris) with perhaps a brief visit over the border to Offenburg.

Then on - presumably by train/bus to either Zurich or Lucerne.

Venice might then be achievable, perhaps stopping off somewhere along the way. Como?

And then flying on to Nice for the last few days.

Any overnight trains that might save on accommodation?

BristolUK

Anyone with any practical knowledge or experience? Or alternative suggestions?

dmu

Hi, the Swiss Railways site is your friend!
According to
http://www.cff.ch/home.html
the trains from Zürich to Venice pass through Berne, so, unless you prefer to visit Zürich, there doesn't seem much point in travelling so far east in Switzerland. You could use Berne as a base and visit Luzern for a day... And Berne is less than 3 hours from Strasbourg.

Pulaski

Your trip is beginning to sound like an American's tour of Europe, where you will spend most of your time travelling and not much actually seeing anything.

I'd either devide your time between Paris and Nice, or add in one other location, and spend 2-4 days there too. How about Berlin, or Amsterdam?

Do not try to do Venice as a day trip. I did a day trip once, and it was brutal, if you're going to do Venice as the "one other location", then make sure to spend at least one whole day there, and wear good walking shoes as there is lots to see, and walking is the best way to get around and see the most things. And it is really quite small, you can walk from the railway station on the landside of the island, to St Mark's square on the far side in about 20 minutes if you hurry. If you're in Venice for two days you can visit Murano, for the glass works, and Burrano for the lace weavers, by public water-bus. I'd recommend skipping Torcello, which is the third island on the usual tourist cruises, unless you are especially excited about seeing a couple of Byzantine chuches, and a load of feral cats.

kimilseung

If you are going to Switzerland, I'd go to the bumpy bit. You talked about Geneva earlier, stay on the train and go in to the Valais.

BristolUK

Thanks...I'll look into that.

That sounds like I'm on the right track then as I'll have three North Americans who've never been outside NB and Quebec other than to the beach at Plattsburgh in the US.
If the trip is a fortnight with 3 or 4 days in Paris and 3 or 4 days in Nice that leaves 6 to 8 days for the three suggested stops. It doesn't seem like excessive travelling unless there are lots of changesand transfer waits etc. But this is why I asked, to find out along with the possibility of in the night travel.
I've done it as a day trip. I was based in Austria. It was perfectly okay. I could easily not bother but I'd be with people who would like to see what they've seen in the movies and on TV. And I'd like to do it for them if possible.

Maybe there's a a way to arrive in Venice mid morning, see the obvious bits, have a spot of lunch and then leave in the afternoon to make our way to Nice. I know they'd be happy with that.

Remember, also, that I've done Nice and Paris a few times each. I'm happy to do them again, but would also like to do somewhere that I haven't seen before or only saw briefly so I can see new places as well as the others.

So, with 6-8 days between Paris and Nice, what else would you suggest?

kimilseung

I am weighted towards Switzerland for this area.
In Switzerland I would, as I say go to the Valais, train from Geneva to Visp for the connection up to Zermatt. A town right in and at the foot of the Alps, with no cars. You can get cable cars for great views of the Matterhorn and right up to 3,800m. Continue on to Interlaken (You can take the Jungfrau tour train from here, its built in to the Eiger) then train back over the mountains to Montreaux on the way back to Geneva, via Château-d'Oex (known as The Golden Pass Line - The Panoramic-Express)

Pulaski

If those are your priorities then why not go the whole hog and do an American's tour of Europe: a couple of days each in Paris, London, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and a quick in-out to Venice, before leaving for Nice? Sleazy jet, or some other discount airline, each hop would be a short one, so perhaps a flight every other evening.

dmu

Rather than stay "a few days" in Nice, as per your other thread, I would suggest staying longer in any one of the many cities proposed. Unless you intend to drive around the area or finish off your holiday relaxing by the sea, Nice has less architectural splendour to offer than Venice, for example.

BristolUK

I've done London and Prague. Unfortunately I missed Vienna. But that sort of tour would likely add rather a lot of $$

One of our number doesn't have the patience for being in one place too long, people watching, gazing at architecture or other views.
The advantage of Paris is that there's a lot around and much of it easy to get to on foot or metro.

The advantage of Nice is a slower pace after getting around a fair bit over the previous 10 days - it will also have been a fairly lengthy journey from where we live. Sadly, not direct flights.

Monaco, Cannes and other places are simple train rides too.

Pulaski

Sounds like you're trying to do it on the cheap and bore your traveling companions to death, though why you're planning on going into Switzerland if you are budget-constrained is a mystery to me as every night spent there would pay for three nights elsewhere (except London and Venice).

Strasbourg and Nice wouldn't make my top 50 European cities to visit, probably not even the top 100. Paris wouldn't be in my top 10.

kimilseung

The reason to be in Switzerland is to be out of the cities, and that can give big cost savings in accommodation. I dont expect BristolUK to use camp sites or mountain huts (though the huts system is amazing and the word hut is such a disservice to them) but out of season (High season being winter ski season) the small hotels in places like Arrola (less fashionable) are not too bad in cost.

dmu

That's what I thought, but 'a slower pace', rush-tearing to and around Cannes and Monaco? Monaco might be worth a visit in a day, for the novelty of it, but IMO Cannes and Nice have nothing much to offer. Why not stop off in Monaco on the way from Italy, and stay along the coast in a town less "jet-set" on the railway line to Nice?
In any case, we can only give our personal opinions, you're the one who'll decide where to take your party, hoping to accommodate everyone's tastes....

BristolUK

Well it's me paying for the travel and accommodation for four people out of a lump sum (money from rental sale) and I need to make sure I'm left with enough capital to cover the loss of rental income until I get my pension. So budget is important.

Flying to Paris and back from Nice is pretty much a 'given' so there remains getting from Paris to Nice. It's a slight detour to include Switzerland. And a considerable change of scenery.

But given the arrival and departure points how many of your top cities could you include in a week?

I'm open to alternative suggestions, but I want the last few days to be relatively relaxing and by the sea.

I like comforts, but that needn't be 4 or 5 star hotel.
Paris can be cheap for basic hotels. As much as throwing back the bedding, opening the curtains and stepping out onto a balcony overlooking the med is a wonderful way to start the day, there are several places where the four of us can stay for under $100 a night.

If we do that rather than have a sea view - which we can see from the Prom instead - that's money saved for other things.

Slower pace is relative. Cramming as much as possible into a few days in Paris; travelling to other places with brief visits to other places on the way to Nice and finally a slow down in Nice.

Last time I was there, the trains were abundant, so little need for rushing.

Good point about staying somewhere less jet-set. I've stayed at Biot a couple of times and visited Juan les Pins.

But the trip may be October or May and while that can be warm (I sunbathed on the public beach at JLP in October) there's always the chance of rain and Nice would offer better things to do in that event.

There's also the advantage of a wide array of restaurants for evenings, meaning not having to travel back to base each night.

and much appreciated it is