France and Italy or Germany?

[shel]

I swear this is my annual question...

Hoping to go back to Paris this year for 4-5 nights and want to add another country for maybe 3. Have done this before and I've typically picked places with convenient airport transportation and where I can manage not to lose a day in traveling. Also going alone again and want to pick a place with a comfortable feel to be solo, although I guess that's relative. 

I had thought about Rome, but for some reason, the idea of transportation there intimidates me a little, especially since available flights from there to Paris via travel company I use are all at 7:30. How convenient is the airport from city center via train?  There used to be an overnight train from Rome to Paris but can't seem to find any info on that.  Also, are full 3 days "enough" for at least a first trip?  

Second thought is Germany, Munich or Frankfurt?  A place with opportunities for castle or countryside exploring would be nice.  

Any recommendations appreciated. 

[rupertpenny]

3 days in Rome is fine. There is a train that goes directly from the airport to Termini train station. From there you can get a cab or take the metro.

Munich is nice, I would not go to Frankfurt.

[babsbunny]

3 days is not enough for Rome. I can't comment on the airport train - we paid for a taxi, maybe 60 euros. 3 days is fine for Cinque Terra but not sure how best to get there from Paris.

I have my eye on Frankfurt to visit castles on the Rhine but so far think a car would be easiest since they are spread out.

Zurich is doable in 3 days but they are really expensive right now.

Amsterdam is great for 3 days and quite friendly. 3 days is plenty for Athens and the metro goes from airport to city center. Rick Steves has great free podcast walking and museum tours.

[mdgirl]

I second Amsterdam over Rome or somewhere in Germany. We did a Paris/Amsterdam trip a couple years ago and I really enjoyed it. It's an easy train ride (if you pick the right one you don't even have to change trains) and 3 days is a good amount of time there. I have some information about the trains in my blog post about the trip.

[tinkerbell]

I've not been to Rome, but I suspect there's a lot I would want to see there so I feel like 3 days might seem rushed. That being said, I have been to both Frankfurt and Munich and would pick Munich in a heartbeat.

[GilliC]

I did a weekend trip from Paris to Munich when I was living there, and it was quite easy. We flew there, took the train into the city, and took the train out to Neuschwanstein on one of the days.

I'm in the camp that 3 days is not much for Rome, but I loved the history and visited tons of museums and churches. No idea about airport transportation, because we flew RyanAir, which uses the "other" airport in Rome. It wasn't terribly inconvenient, but I wouldn't recommend it for your case, because on the Paris end you'd be stuck flying to or from Beauvais, which is quite far.

[shel]

Thanks for these. Actually did get to do an Amsterdam-Bruges-Paris via train a couple of years ago and that was such a great combination. Have also visited Prague-Paris and Vienna-Paris, afraid I'm starting to run low on convenient cities where I also easily end up in Paris. I need to be convinced to go to Spain and problem solved.

Now I'm thinking Munich and may have to concede that Italy is its own trip. Would really love to see Neuschwanstein and have a chance to leave the city. Just realized that my time frame(mid-late Sept) would have me at Octoberfest. Is the city absolute chaos then? Also solo, maybe weird?

[GilliC]

Jan 26, 2015 18:27:15 GMT -5 shel said:

Just realized that my time frame(mid-late Sept) would have me at Octoberfest. Is the city absolute chaos then? 

Check hotel availability before you make a final decision. I've never checked, but one of my friends books his Oktoberfest accommodations a year in advance. :S