First Europe trip in September from India - help optimise 10-12 day couple itinerary

[u/metaharsh]

Hi all,

We are a married couple in our late 20s from India planning our first Europe trip in September. Total budget is about INR 4–5 lakhs for both of us including return flights. Our priorities: romantic vibe, great views, walkable cities, and a relaxed pace (not city-hopping every day).

Draft plan (10–12 days):

*Paris – 2–3 nights

*Lucerne + Interlaken – 3–4 nights total (lakes + Alps focus, likely base in Lucerne)

*Venice – 2 nights (stay overnight, not a day trip)

*Rome – 2–3 nights

Key questions:

- Is September a good time for this route (weather + crowds + prices)?

- For a first trip, is 10 days enough or is 12 days noticeably better with this budget?

- Lucerne + Interlaken vs Zurich as a base – what would you choose and why?

- Is Jungfraujoch worth the cost, or would you prioritise Harder Kulm / Lauterbrunnen / Titlis instead?

- Would you keep both Venice and Rome, or swap one out for something more relaxed given our budget and days?

If you’ve done a similar route, what 10–12 day itinerary would you suggest for a late-20s couple with our budget and priorities?

Thanks a lot for any advice

[u/Vegetable_Network879]

10 days is nowhere near enough for those destinations. Your days of arrival and departure will only be part days and there are two full days of travel involved there so realistically you will only get one full day in each.

Either do Paris and Switzerland or Rome, Venice and perhaps one other nearby destination.

[u/MotorAd90 → u/Vegetable_Network879]

This is a good idea too. You could do Rome + Venice + somewhere in the Dolomites to get the alpine hit. We went from Verona to Brixen (and then another half hour higher up from Brixen) last year and it was very easy to navigate on the trains, so should be similarly easy from Venice although would take a bit longer. It looks like there are buses from Venice to Cortina d'Ampezzo which looks pretty easy.

[u/Consistent-Law2649]

That's a fast pace and the advise on this sub is almost always to slow it down. If you're hoping for any sightseeing, then 1-2 days in Paris or Rome is absolutely not a relaxed pace.

For reference, INR 4–5 lakhs is 3500-4500€. Since airfare is the big variable, it would be helpful to estimate that part then come up with a budget for the remaining (accommodations, transportation, food, and other costs).

Weather-wise, September is a great time to visit.

[u/MotorAd90]

Definitely not Zurich as a base. And pick one Swiss base if you must do the Alps in Switzerland (you know they are in France and Italy too, right?). It all feels rushed though, would suggest dropping one spot and allocating those days to the other 3.

[u/metaharsh → u/MotorAd90]

Do you think this is better? Paris: 2 nights. Lucerne + Interlaken: 4 nights. Venice: 2 nights. Rome: 2 nights And just from travel perspective where should you land first and depart from?

[u/Vegetable_Network879 → u/metaharsh]

You must stop thinking in terms of nights and rather more on days. Given you need time to travel between each destination two nights = One full day.

[u/MotorAd90 → u/metaharsh]

No, it's really not, I am afraid. 2 nights, especially with days you will be flying in and out of Europe, in each of Rome and Paris is a travesty. Drop one of the two bigger citites. Paris to Lucerne is well-connected by train (will need a change but only c.5 hours), as is Lucerne to Venice (same, needs a change but only c.5-6 hours). Would just do those three, and do day trips out of Lucerne to see more of Switzerland (the rail networks are very efficient).

I think right now you are not thinking about how much time you will lose travelling between spots, waiting at train stations and airports and so on.

[u/Brickie78]

Others have already suggested it's a bit packed, but I like to be constructive. You suggest dropping Rome, and I think Paris-Lucerne-Venice is perfectly doable in your time-frame, as long as you don't mind some long train journeys, becaue they're quite a long way apart.

Budget is very much a "how long is a piece of string" thing because there are so many variables but if I've understood correctly 4-5 lakhs of INR translates to between £3-4,000 or €3,500-4,500. It should be doable.

Day 1

Arrive in Paris, stay 3 nights

Your first night in Paris will just be the day you arrive - don't plan on doing anything other than checking in and resting. If you can do great. So you've got two full days in Paris and it's perfectly possible to have a great time without really buying much more than food and drink and a Métro ticket. See the sights, walk along the Seine, have a nice dinner. Obviously there's lots of popular museus but you don't have to visit them if time and budget are tight.

Day 4

Head to the Gare de Lyon and taken the 1022 TGV high-speed train to Basel. Change trains there for Lucerne - the next one is about half an hour after you arrive, and will get you into Lucerne at about 3.20 in the afternoon - but you can just take the next train if you need more time. Like most trains in Switzerland, they run every hour at the same time.

Spend three nights in Lucerne - it's a lovely place and a great base for exploring Switzerland. Interlaken is about 1h 45m away on a lovely little journey through the Brünig pass, so you can visit Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. Whether the Jungfrau is "worth it" is subjective but it's certainly not cheap, and very weather dependent. You don't want to fork out all that money and end up looking at the inside of a cloud. There are plenty of other ways to get up a mountain much cheaper - the Jungfrau Railway trades off the cachet of being the highest station in Europe, but near Lucerne are Pilatus and Rigi, both easily accessible for much less.

Day 7

Bit of an early start to get to Arth-Goldau in time to catch the 0918 coming from Zürich which will take you south through the Gotthard tunnel into Italy. That train gets to Venice at 1442, but to keep costs down it might also be worth looking at Verona as an alterative. It's a lovely place and home to Romeo and Juliet so definitely romantic, and Venice is an easy day-trip - but it's difficult to really get the most out of Venice in a day, so that's up to you when you do your sums about budget.

And that's your trip. Two longish but not too complicated days of travel, assuming you can fly into Paris and out of Venice - or do the whole thing in reverse.

[u/Tricky_Chicken6399]

Looking at your itinerary, this plan seems rushed. You’ll be spending more time on travel than seeing the place.
You could choose one of the places and plan your travels within and just outside the city of choice. That way, you’ll have a good time and memories about the city.

[u/Vegetable_Web3799]

September is a good time. It will be chillier the latter half of the month. If budget is your concern, do not go to Switzerland and skip Venice.

Ideally, a trip of this length would go:

Paris, 3-4 nights

Lyon, 3-4 nights (use it as a base to visit Lyon, Dijon, Annecy, and/or Geneva)

Rome, 3-4 nights

Have fun and good luck!

[u/Fox-2178]

Apparently INR 4–5 lakhs is around €3'600 - €4'500. Your flight is most likely going to be your biggest expensive with flights from India to Europe ranging from €800 to €1'600 for two people. You should also aim for 3 cities if you want to have a relaxed travel time.

Major airports are Zürich, Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, etc. If you catch a good priced ticket to Zürich then jump on it and skip Paris in favour of Switzerland. Same goes for any of the other airports. If you are able to catch a decent flight to Munich that is your next best alternative to see the mountains. You can reach the Alps by regional train in 1 -1 1/2 hours. I would say the German and Swiss Alps are not too different in style. But it will be significantly cheaper in the German Alps. Good towns to look into are Berchtesgarden and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From Munich you can also take a train to Venice (overnight).

If you are able to get cheap tickets to Paris, stick with Paris but skip Switzerland. Paris is wonderful. It is oh so romantic, and chic. And there is plenty to see and do. You can visit Versaille, walk around the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, look dreamy eyed into each others faces at the top of Montmartre at Scare Coure. Paris - at least in my opinion - never fails for a good honeymoon-like visit to Europe. I would skip it regardless if you prefer mountains. Then stick with Zürich or Munich.

Venice is also an incredible place. I really like it. September might still be a bit crowded but it is just a place in the whole entire world like no other. From Paris you can easily take a train to Rome. Again great place to visit.

So possible routes:

- Zürich --> Venice --> Rome

- Munich --> Venice --> Rome (you can book trains all the way)

- Paris --> Zürich --> Rome (fly from Paris to Zürich to Rome)

- Paris --> Venice --> Rome (fly from Paris to Venice)

Probably the most sensible route for 10 days:

- Paris --> Rome. Look into day trips to from Paris and Rome to nearby towns and attractions.