Post # 1
Member
139 posts
Blushing bee
My SO & I are planning a trip to Europe this summer. We will be there for 10 days and want to do Spain & Italy. My best friend and her husband have an apartment in Madrid so we will def be going there first for a few days.
It’s so hard to decide where else to go since neither of us have been to Europe and who knows when we’ll be able to go again. We narrowed it down to Spain & Italy since we are both italian and do not want to be rushing around trying to visit too many places. I have heard some many opinions on what cities we should go to…. Rome, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Seville
Madrid is a definite since our friends will be there and we can stay with them, anyone have an opinion on where else we should go? why?
Post # 3
Member
3526 posts
Sugar bee
Of the four you listed I have been to Barcelona, Rome and Florence.
I would DEF do Rome and Florence. Rome has so much history!! Florence is a short train ride from Rome and can def be done in a day trip. It’s such a beautiful city. Of all the places we stopped at in our honeymoon Florence is the one city I said I could live here!
Barcelona was nice but not my absolute favorite although La Sagrada Familia is insanely beautiful. 😉 If transpo is convenient between Madrid and Barcelona I would do it as well.
ETA: Oh…you are asking for other recos?
I add Cinque Terre in there! I *might* replace this instead of Florence. CT is about a 4 hour train trip from Rome. It’s a beautiful relaxing area. 🙂
Post # 4
Member
4137 posts
Honey bee
seville! it’s my favorite – so much fun and lots of things to do.
Post # 5
Member
2392 posts
Buzzing bee
Of those, I’ve been to Barcelona, Rome, and Florence. Both Rome and Madrid struck me as very large, very modern cities. There are definitely things worth seeing in both places, but they didn’t seem really all that different. I was living in New York at the time, so maybe that was part of it. Barcelona seemed a little more unique and less of a modern world city.
I actually really didn’t like Florence. I would recommend you go there at least for a little while if you are very into art, but it struck me as very crowded and very touristy. I’d suggest you go to some of the smaller villages in Tuscany and explore the countryside over spending a lot of time in Florence.
Post # 6
Bee
2362 posts
Buzzing bee
- Wedding: June 2010 - New York Botanical Garden
Oh, I looooooved Barcelona – I think the Gaudi architecture makes the whole trip worth it, and I spent a week there and was never bored. I wouldn’t miss Venice though, it’s been a long time since I was there, but it was my favorite city for a long time!
Post # 7
Member
1566 posts
Bumble bee
I’ve been to Barcelona, Rome, and Florence – can’t go wrong with any of these! I’ve heard Venice doesn’t have that much to see/do, but haven’t been there. I think you’ll see from the comments that everyone has different opinions based on their preferences.
Barcelona has gorgeous, gorgeous Gaudi architecture. Rome has incredible historic sights, beautiful churches, museums, etc. Florence is also a beautiful historic city, lots of art, but it’s smaller so completely different feel from Rome. Great food in all of these places as well. I think you would need 4 days for each of these places – I wouldn’t try to combine them so you don’t feel rushed. I have never heard of Florence being a day trip before – I’d love to hear how one could possibly see it all in a day!
With all that said, if I were you I’d stay in Spain and go to Barcelona just because of logistics. That way you’ll get to see the two biggest cities in Spain and experience 2 facets of Spanish culture. Then, on another trip, you can do Rome, Florence, and Venice all together.
PS I lived in Madrid for a semester – it’s such a fun city, I think you’re going to love it!
Post # 8
Member
139 posts
Blushing bee
@Entangled: I know what you mean about the big cities. At first we decided on Venice (vs. rome) because Venice looked nicer and more relaxing yet still has some great sights to see but then Florence was brought into the picture and we got confused.
@GirlWithARing: As soon as the replies started I realized I was going to receive a lot of different opinions which is exactly what has been happening amongst our friends. My mom’s boss thinks we should stay in spain too but becuase I don’t know if or when we’ll ever go to Europe again I at least wanted to see two countries. Any specific recommendations in Madrid?
What do you guys think of the # of cities we should visit? In addition to Madrid, one or two cities? (We don’t want to be rushed)
Post # 9
Member
3526 posts
Sugar bee
@GirlWithARing:
It’s all about priorities. We def did not see ALL of Florence. I don’t think we can see ALL of any city in a week’s time. We only had a day so we picked a few key things we wanted to see in Florence. We even saw David!
It was a impromptu day trip for us from Rome so we’re happy we were even in Florence!
—
For the record I think it’s really hard to ask a group of people what we think YOU should visit. Everyone’s priorites are different when you travel. My husband and I moved at a breakneck speed during our honeymoon. With planned relaxing intervals. We wanted to pack as much as possible into our 21 day honeymoon. And we def saw more than 85% of people can see in that period of time. But that’s what we wanted.
If you don’t want to be rushed I think you are trying to see too much. Depending on how you travel between Italy and Rome you could easily lose a day to travel.
Post # 10
Member
907 posts
Busy bee
Unfortunately, I haven’t been to Europe, but I have done a lot of research on Spain and you are so lucky! I picked Barcelona because it seems to be such a unique city full of interesting architecture, two languages, art, and it’s on the water. If I were in your shoes, I’d also try and go to Andalucia. It looks so beautiful, historic, and complex. Spain is on the top of my list of dream desinations!
Post # 11
Member
708 posts
Busy bee
Venice is beautiful but as a PP said, there isn’t much to do. Florence and Rome are amazing. You can rent a car and drive from one to the otehr and take in some of the beautiful Tuscan scenery (and wine)
Post # 12
Member
2074 posts
Buzzing bee
Barcelona is amaaazing, especially all the Gaudi architecture!
Post # 13
Member
92 posts
Worker bee
Of the ones you listed, I have been to Florence, Rome, and Venice. Personally, Venice was my favorite. It was relaxing and not the big city feel that I got in Rome. Rome was great for shopping, history, and tourist things. With that being said. I stayed in Rome and took a train to Florence, then to Venice and stayed for a couple nights in both places. Each has different things to offer and have a different feel. Is it an option for you to stay in more than one place?
Post # 14
Member
3049 posts
Sugar bee
I freaking love Venice! My favorite city by far! But it’s a city that you can do in a day, if that helps any. I was really sad I couldn’t go to Rome… so I would try to make it there. So much history and so beautiful from what I’ve heard 🙂 Hmm, I also would love to go to Barcelona!
Post # 15
Member
95 posts
Worker bee
I second adding CT to your list. Venice is beautiful in a totally different way. I grew up in Europe, my dad was a career Army soldier. I miss it so much.
Good for you for going!
Post # 16
Member
870 posts
Busy bee
Umm..all of them? 🙂
I totally disagree with Rome bring a modern city though–it’s around 3000 years old and a lot of its charm is the juxtaposition of the ancient city, and the new. And the layers of history that are there is amazing. I lived there for a bit and I would sometimes just wander the city, turn a corner, and be confronted with something incredible and ancient. And then of course you get the benefits of a new modern city like shopping, and cuisine.
If you wanted to spend a lot of time in a city I would pick Rome over both Venice and Florence. They’re both much smaller: Venice in particular while amazing and unlike any other city in the world is also incredibly expensive, and touristy. The whole place shuts down at night. Florence is lovely and definitely worth a visit, especially if you’re in Rome since it’s so close.It would make a lovely day trip (maybe two days if you want).
While I was in Madrid we hopped down to Toledo. It was also a really nice little day trip and I’d recommend popping in if you have the time!
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