2 Weeks in France and Italy

Paris, Nice & EZE France
Monaco
Cinque Terre, Pisa, Rome & Venice, Italy

Summary

While France and Italy each merit at least two weeks on their own, this trip attempts to squeeze in as many highlights as reasonable in a fortnight: incredible Parisian landmarks, museums and cuisine, the sparkling waters of the Cote d'Azure, a medieval town, monied Monaco, rugged hiking trails between the pastel fairy-tale towns of the Cinque Terre region along the Ligurian Sea, the wonder that is the leaning tower of Pisa, ancient and modern Rome, and romantic Venice. There's so much to see and do... you'll wan to spend time reviewing the guidebooks, city maps and recommended travel sites below to tailor your time to your specific interests.

Trip Tic

For: Families, Couples    Travel Days: 14   Mileage:  n/a   Car Hours: n/a (one night & two 4+ hour train days)   Temps:  65-95° F (summer)

Route Map

Itinerary Outline

• Arrive at Charles de Gaulle Airport in the morning
• Purchase a 4-day Paris Museum Pass at the Tourist Information Office in the airport
• We were lucky to stay at the home of friends while in Paris, but if you aren't so fortunate, check into your hotel to refresh before venturing out into the city
• Walk to the top of the Eiffel Tower, taking the elevator to the actual highest level
• Walk to and tour the Cathedral de Notre Dame
• Lodging: Saint James Paris or Hotel La Tamise or the hotel of your choosing

• Spend the morning at the Musee d'Orsay -- it's possible to see the entire collection of Impressionist paintings, each one more recognizable than the last
• Enjoy an afternoon in Montmartre, briefly touring Sacre Coeur, sampling some traditional French fare (a crepe possibly?!), people-watching and shopping 
• Lodging:  Saint James Paris or Hotel La Tamise or the hotel of your choosing

• Make the pilgrimage to the Louvre, but don't even contemplate trying to see it all... if you just glimpse the Code of Hammurabi, the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, it's really okay! 
• People watch around and take photos of the glass Pyramid and fountains surrounding the museum
• Walk to and through the Jardin des Tuilleries and enjoy lunch in one of the lovely cafes therein
• Walk to the Laduree shop on Rue Royale for macarons before shopping in and around the Galleries La Fayette
• Take in the views and dine at George at the top of the Pompidou Centre
• Lodging: Saint James Paris or Hotel La Tamise or the hotel of your choosing

• Travel to Versailles to tour the palace and the grounds for the morning
• Walk and shop in the Bastille area and grab an evening meal before heading to the Gare d'Austerlitz for the night train to Nice

• Arrive in Nice in the morning, dropping luggage at the hotel but retaining swim suits and sunscreen so as to spend the morning at the Opera Plage beach catching up on any sleep lost during the train ride (rent towels and lounge chairs) while the room is being readied
• After formally checking in and showering, walk to old town (Vieux Ville) to people watch, shop (make a point to stop at Maison Auer for candied fruits) and eat dinner
• Lodging: Hotel Goldstar

• Take the bus to the medieval town of Eze and walk to the top, stopping at galleries that pique interest, to the Exotic Garden
• Walk back down and eat lunch before visiting the Fragonard factory to pick up a small perfume 
• Take the bus to Monaco for some window shopping or visit the Oceanographic Museum
• Return to Nice by train and go to old town again for dinner, gelato and souvenir shopping

• Take an early morning train from Nice to Vernazza in Cinque Terre (our route took us from Nice Ville to Ventimiglia to Genova Piazza to La Spezia Central to Vernazza, in all about 5.5 hours)
• Buy a "CT Card Treno" in the Vernazza train station to cover all train trips between the 5 Cinque Terre towns 
• After depositing luggage, hike the trail from Vernazza to Conrniglia... it's difficult, but invigorating
• Cool off in Corniglia with a frozen lemonade and return to Vernazza by train
• Dine at Il Pirata... it may not look like anything special, but the food is outstanding
• Lodging: Stra Der Caste Studio (apartment rental via Cinque Terre Riviera)

• Breakfast at Il Pirata
• Hike to Monterossa al Mare, bringing bathing suits to swim and sunbathe on the beach
• Walk through town to find a place to enjoy a snack before returning to Vernazza by train
• Lodging: Stra Der Caste Studio

• Pick up breakfast treats at Il Pirata before boarding the 3.5 hour train to Rome... choose a train that stops in Pisa, disembark there and check luggage in the station ($20-ish) and then catch a cab to the Tower of Pisa (10 minutes) for a photo, asking the cab to wait 10 minutes so that you can return via the same one to the Pisa station to collect luggage and get on the next train to Rome, in all, stopping 30-40 minutes in Pisa (our train route took us from Vernazza to LeVanto to Pisa Centrali to Rome)
• After checking in at the hotel, stop at the adjacent gelateria, Flor, for a refreshing gelato and head to the Palazzo Massimo, a wonderful museum, to see the Discus Thrower and ancient mosaics
• From the museum, walk to the Borghese Gardens (it's not completely straightforward how to enter) and then on to the Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona before choosing from among the many area options for dinner
• Walk off dinner, heading to the Fontana di Trevi and return to the hotel, stopping at Flor again (it's the BEST gelato, completely worthy of sampling twice a day throughout your time in Rome!)
• Lodging: Hotel Campo Di Fiore (book room(s) on the 5th floor away from the lift)

• Take a guided tour of the Colloseum, Palantino and Forum in the morning before it gets too hot
• Return to the hotel for your first Flor gelato of the day, rest inside during the heat of the day, heading to the hotel roof for a cold beverage in the late afternoon before venturing out to walk and shop around via de Guilia and find a restaurant for dinner
• Lodging: Hotel Campo Di Fiore

• Windo shop along Via Conduti in the morning
• Book (online, in advance) a timed afternoon ticket to tour the Musei Vatican/Sistine Chapel (note wardrobe guidelines)
• Take in the sights at Plaza di San Pietro and walk to the top of the Basillica there
• Return to the hotel (stop at Flor!) to relax in advance of some early evening vintage shop-browsing along Governo Vecchio and Vindi Parione and then dinner
• Lodging: Hotel Campo Di Fiore

• Get an espresso on the way to the Pantheon and then do your last bit of wandering, perhaps enjoying the market in the square adjacent to the hotel, and enjoying your last visit to Flor before heading to the Roma train station
• Take a train from Rome to Venice, a 3.5 hour ride on one of the faster trains, if not delayed along the way (generally, we experienced transportation delays throughout our time in Italy)
• In Venice, take a private water taxi to the hotel
• After checking in, walk to St. Mark's Square before finding an appealing restaurant for dinner
• Lodging: Charming House Suites - IQS

• In the morning, take a vaporetto to Murano for a glass factory tour, afterwards shopping for glass souvenirs
• Spend the entire afternoon at the Giardini Biennale for the fascinating International Art Exhibition installations (architecture in alternating years)
• Hire a gondola to see the city from the canals before dinner
• Lodging: Charming House Suites IQS

• Take a water taxi to the Venice International Airport for your departing flight home

Additional Notes

• I found the advance booking of train tickets to be a bit challenging, in part because the Italian summer rail schedules were not published until later in the spring that I would have liked -- plus there are many different classes of train which added another degree of complexity. Rick Steves's train travel time/cost map was an excellent resource used in planning our initial route.
• There was some question as to whether to get a Rail Pass or just buy specific tickets for our chosen route... we ultimately decided that our itinerary was pretty detailed, making the flexibility offered by the Rail Pass unnecessary (plus it seemed that we would have had to pay incremental fees for some trains, even with a pass). You can explore all manner of routes and passes via the RailEurope website.

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