My wife and I are coming from US from Feb 10-Feb 22. We have the 2nd part of our trip planned out and need some help on the front end.
We need to be in Nice starting Feb.15 for Carnival and then are heading to Paris where we depart for the states on Feb. 22.
For the front end of our trip, we leave on Feb. 10 and arrive Feb. 11 in the am. We have 2 options of either flying into Barcelona or Rome and then making our way to Nice over the next 4 days.
My wife and I have been to Greece, and I have spent time in Madrid and Rome. We understand the weather in February could be wet and cold but it is what it is.
My thoughts are if we fly into Barcelona, we would stay there for 3 days then head to Nice by plane.
For Rome, we would probably take a few trains stopping along the way in Florence.
I know it is a matter of personal preference but I want to hear your opinions as to what you would do, also for those Italy experts, what type of 4 day itinerary might you suggest getting from Rome to Nice.
About us, we are in our 30's, enjoy sights, good food, not into wine. Have a decent budget to work with.
Thanks!!!!!
Help with February trip? Italy or Spain....
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4 days doesn't leave you a lot of wiggle room if you actually want to experience anything between Barcelona and Nice, you'll end up spending most of your time making the journey. It's not a simple trip. I would simply head to Rome, enjoy the city for a couple of days, after getting over the jet lag, and get ready for your Carnival cruise out of Nice.
Not being into wine puts you in the wrong part of the world.
I believe the OP is going to Carnival, not taking a carnival cruise.
As most people know, there is a lot more to Italy and France than wine. There are many Italians and French people who don't drink wine.
As for an itinerary through Italy in February, there is really very little point to crawling along the coast by train after Florence to reach Nice. It is a long and not particularly comfortable train ride. Even if you luck out with sunny weather, you really only have time to spend a night.
If you choose Italy, then head directly from Rome airport by train to Florence. From there you can visit a number of famous and/or charming sights. If you can pick up a flight from either Florence or Pisa or Bologna to Nice, great. If not, go back to a Rome airport.
I'm not a big fan of Barcelona, so can't recommend it, but I would also fly from there rather than take the train, since I don't think the train route between Barcelona and Nice is particularly interesting.
I don't think whether you are interested in wine is relevant in any way. You aren't proposing touring wine country (which wouldn't make much sense in February, anyway, but I sort of feel that about touring anything in the country in February in Europe).
I wouldn't think I could spend just several days visiting various cities and seeing things along the way to Nice, as you propose from Rome. Not to mention that is your first stop so some jet lag, I would presume. Why even go to Rome if you are immediately going to leave it? I don't get that. And why are those the only places you cn fly into? I know sometimes with some special points or something, maybe that is the case, but Marseille would be a natural option where you could then take the train to Nice and it wouldn't be that long a trip.
Barcelona vs. Rome is just personal preference, there isn't any other way to choose. Whichever one you fly into, I'd just spend a few days there and then fly to Nice. I wouldn't then spend several days taking the train from Rome to Nice and trying to visit various places along the way. Easyjet flies direct to Nice from both BCN and Rome, I'd take that. It's a good, cheap airline and makes it easy.
Why not spend 4 days in Rome and fly to Marseilles or Nice?
Appreciate the input. It is a points thing about flying into Barcelona or Rome. I checked on easy jet flights and it is less than 40€ from both places to Nice. So I think the concensus is to just spend time in barc or Rome then fly to Nice. Just deciding which city which is not as difficult. Thanks for the replies.
Depend on where you have been before and what you liked most. I love Rome - but then I'm a history buff. While Barcelona is OK, we spend 3 days there and were done. Can never get tired of Rome.
I think that where you want to go is down to personal preference. Both are great cities!! In regards to getting to Nice from Rome you could always take the train. I have seen on raileurope that it is a 9 hour journey and prices start at 142 Euros. You could also do an overnight train that leaves Rome in the evening and gets to Paris in the morning and then from Paris you could get a train to Nice. You can look on the train websites in Italy which is http://www.trenitalia.it and also the official French train website which is www.voyages-sncf.com
If you choose to fly have a look at skyscanner.com and they will give you the cost of flights. if you go with a low cost carrier they are really strict on luggage allowance and also charge per bag that you check in. Depending on which airline you use for example easy jet youcould pay an additional 20 Euros per bag plus admin fees on the flight. so be sure to read the small print!
if you are looking for accommodation in rome we rented an apartment close to the spanish steps through a company called nextaway. have a look at them if you need a place to stay.