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#11
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Suggestions for European Trip
saycoda a écrit :
Hi, My daughter will be doing her last semester in La Rochelle, France. Her last class is May 19th, 2006. My wife, son, and I want to spend the following week with her visiting France and Italy. I can find decent flights using "Sidestep.com" or "Kayak.com", and I've even read about "RyanAir" in this group. What concerns me though are the hotels, and getting around, car or rail? Any help to make this a first time European vacation would be appreciated. Two weeks France/Italy for a first trip to Europe late May, an almost "local" guide available in La Rochelle, I would definitely recommend staying a few days in La Rochelle and that region in addition to a few days in Paris. For other destinations and recommendations on transportations, all depends on your preferences. As other posters already stated, driving in most larger cities in Europe is a mess, parking worse and expensive. But for both France and Italy, visiting smaller places is much easier by car rather than public transportation. Train in France is great thanks to TGV, and low-price airlines have become an interesting travel alternative in Europe over the last few years. I would start with a few days in Paris, fly or use TGV for either SW or S-France, rent a car for driving around a few days, get low-price tickets for a flight to either Florence (sure overcrowded, but small, nice - and definitely not a town for using a car) or Rome (more options, an other city to avoid traveling by car) and fly back. If you really like driving: regions I would easily return in France is most of SW, Arles-Marseille-Valence area, Alsace for the small villages. In Italy most of Tuscany, the coast-line from La Spezia to Naples (but driving south of Rome is kind of special ....). For itineraries including distances, gas and road toll check www.viamichelin.com (for gas count at least one euro per liter, mileage for most smaller to intermediate cars here is somewhere between 6 and 10 liter/100km) Best probably is to compile a list of sites you would like to see, define priorities, put them on a map, cut down to what you really want to see and then compare different means of transporations for different feasible tours. |
#12
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Suggestions for European Trip
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#13
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Suggestions for European Trip
Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, but I
would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it all together again. Thanks again. I suggest the original poster get back to us with some more clues as to what the various members of the party enjoy and what means of transportation they would be willing to take. -- Barbara Vaughan My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup |
#14
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Suggestions for European Trip
saycoda a écrit :
Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, butI would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it all together again. So back to basics: fly or use TGV for La Rochelle or a city not to far away, rent a car, drive around, find a reasonably priced ticket on one of the low-cost airlines (or if you fly in/out of Paris you might check for a night-train) for Rome or somewhere close. Rent a car once in Italy (if in a larger city: avoid driving during rush-hours) - and be aware that driving in Italy is special (I like it), driving south of Rome is very, very special :-) Driving from La Rochelle to Campania is sure feasible, but kind of longish and imho worth only if you have time for stops and/or side-tours. End of May is a good time for visiting the area, best would be having some local guide (relatives ?) showing you around. Campania definitely is worth a trip! |
#15
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Suggestions for European Trip
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#16
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Suggestions for European Trip
Le Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:19:20 -0500, saycoda a écrit*:
Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, but I would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it all together again. Thanks again. Unless you have some other special interest, at town, a place, a region, the better is to spend some days near La Rochelle, possibly Paris, and what remains in Campania. You could easily spend the 2 weeks there without being bored. The distance between the 2 spots is quite large, a 3 or 4 days drive. Driving on Autoroutes and autostrade is not difficult, but long and generally boring. In France, at least, it has really improved those last years, except in towns. From La Rochelle to Italy, the best route should through Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, Nice, Genova, Roma. Trafic conditions in towns can be difficult everywhere, except for locals, better avoid town centers when you can. Using public transports, you must first reach Paris (TGV 3 hours, Paris Montparnasse station), reach CDG Airport. Alitalia and Lufthansa have indirect flights from Paris to Napoli, through Rome or Frankfurt. Traveling in a group of 4, the car should result a cheaper solution. Train time tables : http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/...pageUK&WB= HP Flights and Hotels on their home page (Vols) http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ You can buy online 2 months before you travel. Flights http://www.govoyages.com/ http://freepromo.promovacances.com/vols.htm http://www.vivacances.fr/ http://agence.voyages-sncf.com/pub/a...1132387091378& |
#17
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Suggestions for European Trip
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:19:20 -0500, "saycoda" wrote:
Well, all of the posts here have been great. Maybe this is a stretch, but I would like to spend some time in the area of La Rochelle having our daughter take us around. But what I would really like to do, being on that side of the atlantic, is to get to the Campania region of Italy, where my family is from. I was there once as a child and I would like to show my wife and children some of our heritage. Both of my children are college age and with them beginning careers soon, I don't see us getting an oppurtunity to do it all together again. This is perfectly reasonable but it would be better to stick to just those two areas, and perhaps fly from one to the other. La Rochelle is a very attractive place, with both a pleasant old town and a beach, and there's quite a bit to do in the immediate area. La Venise Vert ('green Venice') a little way inland is worth a visit; as its name suggests it's an area criss-crossed with canals. If you're there in summer you might want to explore L'Ile de Ré, just off-shore but connected to the mainland by a bridge, which is primarily taken up with a string of beaches. Bordeaux, which is a very interesting and historic city and of course a centre for wine-making, is within comfortable reach. Martin |
#18
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Suggestions for European Trip
The Reid wrote:
I cant say driving in Italy is great I can. And did at the site at Right in the sig: http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/ItalDRIVE.html __________________________________________________ _________________ A San Franciscan in (where else?) San Francisco. http://geocities.com/dancefest/ - http://geocities.com/iconoc/ ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 --- IClast at SFbay Net |
#19
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Suggestions for European Trip
saycoda wrote:
Hi, My daughter will be doing her last semester in La Rochelle, France. Her last class is May 19th, 2006. Why not listen to your doughter and ask her for advice? She's been here for a semester, you know ;-). Thanks in advance. -- Nobody is perfect not even in failing Suzuki Bandit 1200S "Das Eisen" |
#20
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Suggestions for European Trip
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