European Vacation - Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain?

[stephenson]

We are reviewing options for a European trip in either Spring or Fall 2018 ...three or four weeks?

Likely three couples - our thought was to rent a "base houses" in Spain, France and Italy
- around Valencia (day trips to Ibiza and Palma?)
- south of France to as far north as Nice
- around Florence (lots of day trips)

I wanted to add an unnecessary, but fun to me, train component by maybe flying into somewhere well north (Germany, Switzerland) ...train through the Alps, stop a day or two on the way and stay close to train station ... end up starting and finishing at whichever of the countries makes the most sense.

The group is flexible and fun - and, has enough money to afford a nice villa/house at each place. Probably have two cars so we have flexibility and not be locked into full time as a group.

Thoughts from those of you who have done something like this?

Thanks!!

[Bamaman]

As a perpetual traveler, there are few people I'd want to spend 3-4 weeks with in tight quarters. And travel with 6 people is very difficult logistically as you'd have to get a van or two vehicles to haul everyone and their "stuff."

Your planned itinerary would not be not the easiest to execute as the locales don't compliment each other. I prefer to travel in straight lines--like visiting Rome-Florence-Venice--Dolomite Mountains. Or, Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin. Or, Munich-Salzburg-Vienna-Innsbruck-Venice. Or, London-Paris-Barcelona-Madrid. It's best to travel from city to city by train as you don't want to pay expensive rental car drop off fees in different countries.

With the advent of budget European airlines, I like to fly open jaw into one major city, visit 2-3 cities in 2 weeks and take a cheap flight to the other end of Europe to a completely different region/country on the way home. Like taking Norwegian Air Shuttle home through Copenhagen or Oslo.

Have you considered taking the group on a cruise for 2 of your weeks? We went from Rome to Malta, a bunch of Greek islands, Turkey, Athens and ended up in Venice 10 mos. ago. 9 mos. previously, we stayed 3 nights in Copenhagen before hitting every major city in Scandinavia and 2 nights in St. Petersburg taking day tours. These were trips of a lifetime--and we visited absolutely fabulous cities. Cruises make travel easy and they can be surprisingly affordable. We couldn't have afforded Scandinavia if we traveled on our own on the ground--terribly expensive places.

We leave in 10 days on a repositioning cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Azores, 2 stops in Spain and ending in Rome for Easter. Then we're flying to our favorite new city Budapest for 8 days in an apartment. I caught a flight through Oslo to the U.S. for $238 one way.

I hope you guys can agree to a trip that is easy to navigate, and take you to fabulous places. I've been traveling Europe 46 years, and we have a few cities to go on our "must see" list. Who knows how many trips and years retirees have in them--even if retiring early?

[NW-Bound]

5 countries in 3 or 4 weeks? It does not sound like enough time.

I have a road trip coming up in May. I will spend 6 weeks mostly in France and Italy, with a few days in Germany and Belgium. We will drive by Switzerland, so will spend a couple of nights there because we have spent time in this country before.

Even with 6 weeks, when planning the itinerary I feel a bit rushed. But then, the trip could have stretched out to an entire summer and it still feels short. Got to save something for future trips.

[Fedup]

One week a city was decent for me, otherwise I would feel rushed.

[DrRoy]

I haven't done a train tour, but a couple of great spots I have visited in Switzerland are Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland area and Zermatt. Awesome Alpine landscapes.

[kcowan]

We are doing Berlin, Paris and Nice with another couple. Between Paris and Nice we are splitting up and they meet another couple for Switzerland.

[Nemo2]

Still hoping to ride this one in the Fall, prior to catching our westbound repositioning cruise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wKjyKsFkYI