Italy and Paris in a Week.

Ciao! We just recovered from jet lag from our whirlwind vacation to Italy and Paris! Between work schedules and having 3 younger kids, we could only escape for 7 full days. Even though it was a bit rushed, it was the trip of a lifetime and I’m so thankful we got to see these beautiful areas of the world! 

I have always loved traveling, I also love the planning process. I love researching hotels, restaurants, neighborhoods, and things to do. For this trip, I almost solely planned everything through the Expedia app! The app is so easy to use. You can track flight prices, read hotel reviews, book rental cars, and even find experiences all within the app. The ability to save everything to your trip folder inside the app makes staying organized easy and super accessible while traveling. Here’s a screenshot of what my Expedia App looked like for this trip.

Before I dive into our Itinerary, I wanted to share my “must pack” items with you! I seriously loved and used each of these during the whole trip. 

Okay without further ado…. I’m excited to share our itinerary with you below! We had 5 full days to soak in and enjoy Italy AND Paris and that we did! 

Day 1:

We flew into Florence and arrived in the morning their time. Once on the ground, we took the tram from the airport to the train station. Since I took the advice of a friend and booked our train tickets ahead of time, we had a time before our train departed so we wandered the streets nearby. We found a lovely cafe to have our first meal in Italy at. We had spaghetti, margherita pizza, bruschetta, table wine, and a couple of beers all for under $45!!! Food and beverages are so inexpensive compared to the US. There’s no tax on food and tipping isn’t a thing in Europe. After lunch we took the train from the Firenze Santa Maria Novella station to the Monterosso station. Something to note that I didn’t realize beforehand, is that this is not a direct train. We had to get off in Pisa, and La Spezia to switch trains. It was a learning curve to figure out which platform to be at for the next train at first because every strain station is a little different. Some of the newer ones had screens everywhere, similar to finding your terminal at the airport. But older stations just had a big printed poster in random places that had the train schedule listed with platforms next to it. So just watch out for how much time you have to change trains and be mindful of finding that platform as soon as you get off! We arrived in Monterosso around 5:00 pm and checked into our beautiful hotel, Hotel Souvenir. Monterosso is the northern most town of the 5 small coastal villages that make up the Cinque Terre.  When we decided to go to Italy, the Cinque Terre was top on my list of a must visit place!  As soon as we got to our room, we were blown away by the stunning views of Monterosso from our private terrace! We quickly showered and got ready to go out for dinner. I had made dinner reservations before hand at Torre Aurora. The views from this restaurant are spectacular. The cocktails were fabulous and it really was a special first dinner in the Cinque Terre! After dinner we got gelato by the sea and strolled the streets! 

Day 2:

We had breakfast at the Hotel Souvenir’s wonderful breakfast Buffett and enjoyed it in their beautiful garden. We then headed off to hike the trails that connect each of the towns of Cinque Terre. It was a moderate to difficult hike between Monterosso and Vernazza but the views the hike afforded us were breathtaking! We stopped in Vernazza for a much deserved aperol spritz. We sat on the warm rocks and swam in the sea at the public beach area. The village was so beautiful too. After our break we hiked on to the next town, Corniglia. I would say this section was again moderate to difficult, but also worth it because the views along the trail are unlike anything I’ve ever seen! In Corniglia we wandered the narrow streets and found the perfect lunch spot, La Scuna. It was perched high above the sea with a gorgeous view looking back to where we just hiked. We had planned to hike more of the trail but unfortunately the last 2 trails were closed due to mudslides. So we took the train down to the last town of Riomaggiore. This was our least favorite of the towns in the Cinque Terre. It’s the closest to the cruise port of La Spezia, so it was super crowded and touristy. We didn’t stay here long because of that and took the train up to Manarola. We found us a nice rock by the sea and camped out in this cute town for awhile. We watched several people jump off the cliffs and decided to be adventurous and do it too! Once back in Monterosso, we showered and headed out for dinner at a local cafe. There are so many beautiful and delicious cafes I really don’t think you can go wrong at any of them. I loved being in Monterosso at night because all the cruise ship and day trip tourists have cleared out. We sat at a table near several locals who were ending the day with a good meal among friends. It was really cool to see their normal day to day lives. We ended the night with more gelato… of course.

Day 3:

We woke up bright and early and took the train back to Florence. We then took the tram back to the airport to pick up our rental car that we booked through the Expedia app. One thing we realized pretty quickly in Italy, is that the Italians run at a slower speed than Americans. So just be prepared to account for extra time for things. Once we finally got in our convertible Fiat, we found a public parking garage near the center of Florence to leave our car at for the day. We went ahead and got the car before exploring so we would have a place to keep our luggage. We also didn’t need to rush back to the rental place before they closed if we decided to stay in Florence late. We grabbed yet another fabulous meal at a pizza cafe before heading over to the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s Statue of David. I highly recommend buying “Skip the Line” tickets on the Expedia app for any busy tourist attractions like this. We only waited about 20 min in the hot sun to get inside as opposed to the 2-4 hours that other people did. After touring the Accademia, we walked around Florence a bit. We toured the Gucci Museum which was really beautiful and fun. We walked around the Duomo and even got to go inside without purchasing a ticket because they were about to close. If we had more time in Florence I do think it would be neat to do a guided tour of the Duomo. We then had cocktails and a snack on the roof top cafe of Rinascente. It’s an Italian department store and their location in Florence has one of the most prime views of the Duomo. We spent our last couple of hours in Florence just wandering the streets. We walked over one of the bridges next to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge so that we could see it better. The area of Florence on the other side of the bridges (away from the Duomo) was a bit quieter. There were cute shops where local artisans were working. If we had more time in Florence, I would have stayed in this area for awhile! But we needed to get on the road to our dinner reservations that were at our next hotel, La Pietra del Cabreo. This quaint bed and breakfast style hotel is nestled in the rolling hills of the Tuscany countryside. The drive down in our stick shift Fiat was quite the adventure! Skot loved driving it both on the highway and the dirt roads that led us to our hotel.

Once at La Pietra del Cabreo, we were warmly welcomed by the staff and our stunning suite. It was the most beautiful place we’ve ever stayed in our lives!!! We had our own terrace overlooking the family owned vineyard. Our suite’s soaking tub also had this same quintessential Tuscan view. The hotel’s dinner service was absolutely delightful. Every course blew us away. The wine that comes straight from the vineyards surrounding the property was also one of the best wines we’ve ever tasted. I can’t recommend this hotel high enough! Every aspect was a 10/10! 

Day 4:

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at La Pietra del Cabreo and had a slow morning by their gorgeous infinity pool. I was intentional about not having too many things scheduled on this trip so that we could take time to relax when needed. 

For lunch I had booked a winery tour with a picnic on the Expedia app. I loved that I was able to read reviews from other travelers about the tour beforehand so I knew it was going to be great! We drove through the Tuscany countryside for about 30 min and arrived at Casa Lucii where we were warmly greeted by Alessio. We happened to be the only ones signed up for the 12:00pm tour so we got a personal tour of this family owned vineyard and olive grove. Alessio was so kind and knowledgeable. We learned a lot about Italy’s wine making history and about the Lucii family. After the tour, we enjoyed a super fresh lunch prepared by one of the family’s nieces who was also so kind and welcoming. We enjoyed tasting several wines as well as olive oil all produced from the family owned land.  This was a highlight of the trip! There was another couple having lunch that said they had done 12 winery tours while in Tuscany and that the Casa Lucii was by far their favorite! I’m so thankful that I was able to utilize the expedia app before our trip to make sure I picked out a great tour for us especially since we just had time for one! 

The winery was very close to San Gimignano so we stopped there next. It’s a small medieval town nestled on a hilltop. We wandered the streets, got gelato, and did a little souvenir shopping while there. My favorite part of this town was getting “lost” on the less populated tiny streets. We walked by a kids camp where the local kiddos were playing basketball, we found a stairwell leading up to beautiful 360 views of the surround countryside, and we even saw a quaint little retirement community where the elderly locals were out for an afternoon stroll. I loved getting a true sense of what the culture is like in this small historical town. After San Gimignano, we traveled further south to Siena. This is where driving got a little crazy. I was using my GPS to find “public parking” like we did in Florence but we didn’t realize that the streets are way smaller (and confusing) in Siena. I highly suggest parking OUTSIDE the wall surround Siena. Once we entered the huge arch and were inside Siena, it took us around 30 min to navigate how to get back out. But once we found parking, we had a short walk back inside the town.

The town was setting up and preparing for the Palio Di Siena, the twice yearly horse race that takes place around Siena’s main square, the Piazza del Campo. The energy was much higher in Siena especially around the Piazza del Campo. We decided to enjoy a classic Italian meal right where all the action was. After dinner we walked around a little bit and then drove back to our bed and breakfast since we had an early flight the next morning. I do wish we would have had more time in Siena. Personally, we liked it a little better than Florence. I’m glad we got to spend time in both towns but Siena wasn’t as crowded. 

Day 5 

When booking our flights and searching around for the best prices, I stumbled upon a great deal on a flight from Paris to Washington, D.C. It was literally hundreds of dollars less than anything I could find from Italy back to the states. So even though I knew it would be taking a day away from our time in Italy, we decided to be a little wild and fly over to Paris and stay a night in order to save well over $1,000 on plane tickets. We also were excited to get to experience just a tiny bit of Paris! So we woke up super early on day 5, drove to the airport in Florence, checked the rental car back in, and boarded the short flight to Paris! 

Once in a Paris, we navigated the public transportation system from the airport and took a bus to a station that was close to our next hotel. Since we only packed ONE rolling carryon and 2 backpacks, it wasn’t hard to walk the little over a mile to the hotel. We stopped along the way at one of Paris’ quaint and charming cafes and had brunch before finishing the walk. This initial walk also got us acquainted with the Parisians and see some beautiful neighborhoods. Right off the bat I noticed everything (and everyone) was so beautiful. The mothers pushing their strollers were dressed to the nines in beautiful sundresses, handbags, and shoes. Their kiddos were also dressed equally fashionable and most were scooting along on a scooter or bicycle. I immediately fell in love with Paris’ beauty. The beauty continued once we arrived at our hotel, Hotel Saint Germain. Since our room wasn’t quite ready, the kind front desk concierge took our luggage for us and allowed us to freshen up in the hotels’ bathrooms. Then Skot had the idea to rent e-bikes to cruise around the city to see some of the iconic sites that we wanted to see. This was the best decision we made in Paris! They were not only super fun but also the perfect way to make the most of our time and see so much. There are several brands of e-bikes you can rent around Paris but we used  the “Lime” ones. The app was easy to navigate and we had no problem finding places to park them. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements which are small districts. Based on the recommendation of a friend, we decided to book a hotel in the 7th arrondissement. There were so many cute shops, cafes, restaurants, and people around this area! It was also easy to get to the attractions from here. On the e-bikes, we made about an 8 mile loop hitting these sites: Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge, The Notre-Dame, and finally one of the bridges across the Siene. 

Even if you have days to explore Paris, I still highly recommend renting e-bikes just to see areas and streets you wouldn’t normally see. After the bike cruise, It was now time to check in to our hotel. Since we are members of the free Expedia Rewards, we received a room upgrade AND a bottle of French wine at check in! When booking stays within the Expedia app, you can easily see which hotels give additional perks to Expedia Rewards members. I love feeling like a VIP! Our room at Hotel Saint Germain was so uniquely decorated and stunningly beautiful! My favorite part was the French doors that opened up to the bustling street below us. It was like looking out into a postcard! Skot rested while I walked the streets and did a little shopping before dinner. There were so many dinner options near our hotel. We ended up getting drinks and appetizers at one of them. We wandered around by foot making our way to the Eiffel Tower which was about a mile and a half away. We stopped in a grocery store and a couple of specialty small shops along the way to pick up items for a picnic at the Eiffel tower. This was the cherry on top of a lovely vacation. We ate our macaroons, local cheeses, and sipped champagne while watching the sky fade from blue to pink with the tower beaming overhead. There were people in the fields around us but it wasn’t overly crowded, especially as the night grew darker before the “light show.” The Eiffel Tower lit up at 10:00 pm and twinkled its beautiful lights for about 10 minutes. It was pure magic! We then started our journey back to the hotel but not before grabbing one more delicious meal at a nearby cafe! I was astounded by how many people were still out and about at 11:00 pm… maybe Paris should be the city that never sleeps as well! My feet and body were fading so we hopped back on a trusty Lime e-bike that quickly whisked us back to our hotel. 

Day 6:

We enjoyed a nice breakfast and cappuccinos that came included with our hotel stay before making the trek to the airport. Here’s where our trip almost went astray! I read on several websites before our trip warning travelers to make sure they pay attention to which airport they were flying out of in Paris. Apparently it’s common to fly into one and out of the other. I read this but did I remember to do this? NO! We thankfully arrived at the WRONG airport in time to take a very expensive cab ride to the other airport across town. 

After all the woes of flying and being absolutely exhausted when we arrived home at 3:30AM, I would do it all over again to get to experience Italy and Paris. Both places were extraordinary beautiful and I loved the cultures of the locals we encountered. Traveling is so unique to each person, Skot and I even had different highlights of the trip. But in my overall opinion Cinque Terre, specifically Monterosso and Vernazza, Tuscany, and Paris were my top 3 experiences. If I could go back I would stay at least 2 nights in Cinque Terre, 3 nights in Tuscany, and as long as I could in Paris. I’m glad we saw and experienced Florence and Siena but I prefer more of the “off the beaten path” Italy. But if you’re a history buff, art fanatic, or just don’t mind the crowds, then the larger towns would be amazing for you! 

No matter what your European itinerary looks like, you HAVE to check out the expedia app when booking your trip. I couldn’t have organized and planned all the experiences, hotels, flights, or rental car without it. Several people asked if I used a travel planner to book all of the things and I proudly told them “No! The Expedia App made it so I didn’t need to!” The discounts, perks, and reward program are all such great bonuses to being an Expedia member. 

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions please send me an email!