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Of the two, I would vote for Rome over Paris. Based on my experience, Paris is somewhat overrated. Paris does have that catchy slogan, "the City of Love" but it really does not live up to the hype (my opinion).
I found the service people in Paris (Taxi Drivers, Waiters, ect) less friendly and helpful in Paris, while encountered a lot of excellent and friendly service in Rome. I admit this is the anecdotal but is based on my personal observation.
Rome has more history and probably more attractions that Paris, although I admit the Louvre is amazing. Rome has the Pantheon, the Forum, the Borgezzi Gallery, St. Peters and the Scavi Tour, the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and a lot of amazing churches with fascinating relics including San Clemente with sits on an ancient shrine to Mithras. While Paris does have the Louve, Rome has the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Personally, I think the Scavi tour under St. Peters is one of the best tours I have ever been one.
I guess in the end, you really can not go wrong with either city, but my personal preference would be Rome.
I've been to all three cities, and Paris is the only one I would go back to. In fact it's the only one I have gone back to -- about six times. I love being there.
I voted Paris -- for one reason only. It's considerably larger than Venice, which is my absolute favorite European city. I absolutely love Venice to death, but there's probably not as much to see and do there as in Paris. You could probably see pretty much everything in Venice in half the amount of time you're planning to spend. Personally, I'm not crazy about Rome, especially as a romantic destination, so that why I eliminated it right off the bat. Of course, if you wanted to spend time in Venice and then take some side trips into the surrounding areas (i.e. the Domomites - the Italian Alps, for instance), then I'd suggest you reconsider Venice.
IMO, the operative words here are "one week". In which case I'd pick Rome.
a) You don't want to be in Venice for a week - even if to mostly use it for a home base for exploring. I think the best way to see Venice is to pop in for a day or two from outside. ymmv.
b) Paris has a lot to do and if you were to only stay in the city, the Metro goes everywhere, is easy to use and quite convenient. But Paris wears on me after 3 days or so. Thus...
c) Rome doesn't have Paris' Metro, but it's not hard to get around on buses. Most of it is very walkable from most hotels anyway. Personally, I like the lifestyle/cafe scene more in Rome than Paris. It's more welcoming to Americans and less stuck up about itself. I also think there's more to do/see in Rome for a week than in Paris - plus there are easy day trips by train that are almost equally as good (I don't find Florence overrated at all, but be sure Naples isn't having a garbage strike if you decide to go down there!). The urban neighborhoods in Rome also seem to have more character than in Paris, but I'll admit I've done much more exploring in Rome than Paris, which I've only been to twice.
Venice is one of my favorite cities ever, but I picked Rome. It's more centrally located, and there are lots of great places outside of the city easy to get to.
I like Paris a lot, but for me, Paris is about the museums. And quite frankly, most of the men I know aren't all that interested in museums. I think Rome has a better variety of things and places to see.
Realistically, any of the three would have sufficient entertainment for a week's vacation.
My brother took his significant other to Paris,France for a trip and I suggested Venice or Rome,Italy as an alternative seeing how we have Italian Heritage and he was adamant that Paris is a better place to vacation without even acknowledging what Italy has to offer. I think his SO(now wife) wanted France so I can't blame him I guess.
It seems to me that most of what makes Paris "great" is derivative of and has its roots in the culture of Italy.
The cuisine and architecture in particular. Not to take away from what France has to offer but the cuisine seems a little over complicated to me and would prefer Italy's offerings and it is less crowded from what I read.
I really would like to tour Italy some at some point. If you had to choose, where would you go or recommend of the two for a one week vacation?
I have been to all three and prefer Venice. Venice is the most unique city in the world and it may not survive. However, a week is too long there so I would also go to other parts of Italy such as Cinque Terre.
Rome is only impressive if you like really old historical sites. I wouldn't go back, but I'm glad I went.
Paris is nice and romantic, but really expensive. I would not spend a week there since I get bored after a few hours in a museum or art gallery. I enjoyed other parts of France much more than Paris. But if you are a big city person, Paris is nice.
Venice is one of my favorite cities ever, but I picked Rome. It's more centrally located, and there are lots of great places outside of the city easy to get to.
I like Paris a lot, but for me, Paris is about the museums. And quite frankly, most of the men I know aren't all that interested in museums. I think Rome has a better variety of things and places to see.
Realistically, any of the three would have sufficient entertainment for a week's vacation.
Yes, that's my problem with Paris. I get bored very quickly at museums. I went to the Louvre and left after two hours. I know some people spend days there, but that's not for me. So I would not go back to Paris, particularly since there are dozens of other places I enjoy more.
Regarding the natives, I found the people in Italy much more friendly than France. They made us feel welcome.
There are much more than museums in Paris, if you only visit museums and monuments, you miss most of Paris and you can't understand the city.
Paris is one of the largest city in Europe.
There are a load of thing to see if you stop thinkling Paris only by the stereotypes.
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