And so the countdown has begun. Phil, Rachel and I will be leaving from Pearson International Airport on Friday June 17th @ 3:35 PM. We will be arriving in Paris, France at Charles de Gaulle airport on Saturday June 18th @ 6:40 AM.

We have rented a car to travel through France, Switzerland, and Italy. The car we are renting is a Renault Meganewww.renault.com.

This trip is no little holiday getaway, it is more of an cross country tour, allowing us to travel and see over 3500 km of France, Swtizerland and Italy combined before reaching our end destination point of Palermo Sicily.

We will be staying in Paris for two nights and two days.
We will be leaving for Lucerne, Switzerland on Monday June 20th (early morning). Approximately 600 km.

Arrving in Lucerne late Monday afternoon, we will be staying in the picturesque town for a day and a half. Lucerne has everything a Swiss city needs – a lake, a medieval cobbled old-town and some snow capped mountains.

We will be leaving for Lugano, Switzerland on Wednesday June 22nd (early morning). Approximately 460 km.

Hoping to arrive Lugano by noon, we will spend a few hours in Switzerland’s southern most tourist town which is a sophisticated slice of Italian life, with colourful markets, upmarket shops, pedestrian-only piazzas and lakeside parks.

We will be leaving Lugano by 3:30 at the latest, so that we can arrive in Milan for dinner. Approximately 180 km.

We will be staying in Milan overnight. We will be leaving Milan for Verona in the late morning of Thursday June 23rd.

After leaving Italy’s fashion capital, we will be making a stopover in Verona. Approximately 180 km. Verona is perpetually associated with Romeo and Juliet. After our afternoon of shopping and sightseeing, we will be off to Venice.

Venice is approximately one hour away from Verona arriving in the evening of Thursday June 23rd. Approximately 100 km. We will be staying in Venice overnight so that we can spend an entire day touring the sinking city.

Leaving Venice in the late evening of Friday June 24th, we will be making the trek to Florence/Rome. Approximately 220 km to Florence, 260 km to Rome. This is where things get cloudy. I would like to stay in Palermo for at least 5 days. From Rome to Palermo is about 800 km which we could travel in approximately one full day.

I am aiming to arrive in Palermo either late Monday (27th)or Tuesday (28th) evening.