We spent 16 glorious days in Europe several years ago, visiting France, Switzerland and Italy. That was my first trip overseas, and one of the best times of my life. We flew into Paris, spent 3 days touring the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musée D’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, and the Palace of Versailles. Then we took a train to Interlaken, Switzerland. There we rode a funicular train to Murren, as well as a Gondola ride to Schilthorn. It felt like we were on top of the world! We looked down at the clouds as snow gently fell all around us.
We loved Interlaken so much, with its fields of lovely flowers and its walkable town. We joked that we would someday return to live there and open up a “Wash and Dry”, which is their version of a Laundromat. Only because there were so few laundromats in that town! Next we took the train to Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa via Florence, and finally rented a car.
We drove through the picturesque villages of Tuscany. Next, we embarked on an epic trip to eastern Italy, to visit my grandparents’ hometowns of Caramanico and Sant’Eufemia. Our plan was to meet up with my grandma’s cousin and his wife. Although they only spoke Italian, they prepared us a home cooked meal, and spent most of the time yelling at us in Italian.
It was incredible and fantastic, and a memory that I will never, ever forget! We stayed in the Hotel Mazzocca, where *possible* relatives granted us a special room in their sold out hotel, merely because I shared the Mazzocca name. They gestured to people from the streets to come and communicate with us to see if we could find a family connection.
Then we drove back west, passing hilarious road signs, warning us of cows falling of cliffs and a person running with fire at their behind. We ended up in Rome, doing the tourist things. This included an audience with Pope Benedict the XVI, the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and of course Trevi Fountain. We took a side trip and visited Pompei. We returned home exhausted but exhilarated, and vowed to return! Here is my travelogue from that adventure.
16 Day Itinerary
Because I had never been to Europe, I had to pare down to the essential stops for a first visit. We settled on a quick, three day visit to Paris, two days in Switzerland, and the remaining time in Italy, conquering Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Eastern Italy (to visit relatives), Rome and Pompeii.
| France | 2 days | Paris | Notre Dame Eiffel Tower Musee D’Orsay Riverboat cruise, Arc de Triomphe Musee du Louvre |
| 1 day | Paris Day-Trip | Palace of Versailles Tour | |
| Switzerland | 1 day | Interlaken | City sights |
| 1 day | Interlaken Day-Trip | Lauterbrunnen Murren Schilthorn Gimmelwald | |
| Italy | 2 days | Venice | St. Mark’s Square Doge’s Palace Campanile Bell Tower St. Mark’s Basilica |
| 1 day | Florence | City sights Leaning Tower of Pisa | |
| 1 day | Tuscany | Sienna Montepulciano | |
| Italy | 1 day | Abruzzo | Caramanico San Eufemia |
| 1 day | Tivoli | Adrian’s Villa | |
| 4 days | Rome | Pantheon Trevi Fountain Coliseum Audience with Pope St. Peter’s Basilica Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel St. Susana | |
| 1 day | Rome Day-Trip | Naples Pompei |
Day by Day
FRANCE
We arrived in France early in the day, on an overnight flight from Chicago. Granted, it was the middle night in Chicago, but we hit the floor running in Paris, where it was early morning.
DAY 1:PARIS
Notre Dame
Eiffel Tower
DAY 2: PARIS
Palace of Versailles
Musee D’Orsay
Eiffel Tower
Riverboat cruise
DAY 3: PARIS
Arc de Triomphe
Musee du Louvre
SWITZERLAND
DAY 4: INTERLAKEN
Interlaken
Hotel Recommendation: Hotel Du Lac
DAY 5: SCHILTHORN
Lauterbrunnen
Murren
Schilthorn
Gimmelwald
10 Reasons We Fell in Love With Switzerland
ITALY
DAY 6: VENICE
Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark’s Square
B&B Recommendation: Locanda Ca’Valeri
DAY 7: VENICE
Doge’s Palace
St. Mark’s Square
Campanile Bell Tower
St. Mark’s Basilica
DAY 8: PISA & FLORENCE
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence
DAY 9: TUSCAN COUNTRY
Siena
Montepulciano
B & B Recommendation: La Ghiandaia
DAY 10: ABRUZZO
Caramanico
San Eufemia
DAY 11: TIVOLI
Adrian’s Villa
DAY 12: ROME
Trevi Fountain
DAY 13: ROME
Roman Forum
Coliseum
Audience with Pope
DAY 14: CATHOLIC ROME
St. Peter’s Basilica
Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel
St. Susana
DAY 15: ROME
Pantheon
Trevi Fountain
DAY 16: ROME/NAPLES/POMPEI
Day trip to Naples/Pompei
DAY 17: Travel HOME
If we had to do it over again with that number of days, perhaps we would have skipped Tivoli and Pisa and spent a full day in Florence. Three days would have suited us in Rome with the longer side trip which included Pompei AND the Amalfi Coast.
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