I have never been to Europe and I've already made mistakes planning

If this is your first time in Europe, I would highly recommend having a look at Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far in your planning. It has an enormous amount of good information on how to travel well in Europe. After that use the country-specific guidebooks to plan sightseeing, hotels, etc.

Villepinte is a bit of an unusual location, but it's not far from Paris (a bit north east of the city). I believe there's a Bus (Line 100?) from CDG to Villepinte, that takes about 30 minutes. Hopefully one of the others can provide a few more details on that.

The easiest way to get from Paris to Amsterdam is via high speed train. I believe you can take the RER (trains) from Villepinte to Paris Gare du Nord, and from there you can connect to a Thalys train to Amsterdam Centraal. There's a direct Thalys high speed train departing at 10:25, arriving at 13:42 (time 3H:17M). The high speed trains travel at up to 300 km/h, so that will be faster, cheaper (and MUCH easier) than a flight.

If you're travelling solo, I'm not sure that AirBnB would be a good choice. It's a lot nicer to have hotel staff to help with any questions. The Rick Steves guidebooks have lots of good information on hotels in various price ranges. If you want to stay in Hostels, you might have a look at the HI Hostels website. They usually have one or more properties in larger cities, and I've found that their facilities are fairly consistent from one location to the next. It's a good idea to get the inexpensive membership.

Villepinte is a 10 minute RER B ride from CDG - see map here

Take the RER back to CDG and catch a TGV to Amsterdam Centraal - about 3:30 hours - see trains here

Use the search feature at the top of the page and search for Amsterdam Hotels or use http://www.booking.com/

Buy that TGV ticket as soon as possible to get it at a heavily discounted price. Make »Paris (all stations)« your departure point. Chances are that a ticket from Paris Gare du Nord is much cheaper than one from Charles de Gaulle. Make sure that you can make that train. Discounted tickets are only valid for that specific train.

Excellent point ton - take RER to Paris and ticket TGV from there.

Just want to throw in re: Airbnb. If you stay in a room (which my husband and I have done a lot) with the owner present, chances are they can help you with lots of stuff - especially local transport, hidden gems, non-touristy restaurants. What to see/avoid. We've had a couple hosts who have been like...avoid going to this place, it's boring and overrun; check out this place instead - and the tips have always been appreciated.

The apartments we have stayed in (without owner present) almost always have a binder with lots of tips. And almost all will likely have some local brochures or guidebooks. (Or maybe I have just been lucky with our stays).

Perhaps I don't utilize hotel counter people enough. I rarely ever ask questions - and usually only about how to get back to the hotel. I don't want to hold up people waiting behind me...

I don't think the TGV goes to Amsterdam. I think you have to take the Thalys from Gare du Nord. If you are visiting Paris for a few days (I would assume as otherwise you would fly to Amsterdam) then get a hotel in Paris not in some suburb. Villepinte will be a very awkward location and costly for commuting to Paris. If you are visiting a friend and staying free in Villepinte then perhaps it can work but you are talking about a lot of time and money commuting to Paris from there. A ticket on the Thalys purchased 3 mos ahead costs about 35 Euro; it is about 3 times that bought just before travel. I would also encourage you to spend 3 nights at least in Amsterdam which gives you two full days. It is expensive to go long distances and then not spend enough time to really see what the place has to offer. Two full days in Amsterdam gives you a good chance to see the major museums, tour the canals and so forth.

Ok so I am with my 29 yr son and his girlfriend, We are on a pretty tight budget hence staying in Villepinte 230.00 for 5 days verses over 1300.00 in Paris. We are flying into Nice and staying 3days, then Nice to Paris I couldn't find a map that had all the small towns when I found an Airbnb for that price compared to every where else I grabbed it. We are not leaving til Sept. 6th. I have talke via email with owner she says yes it is an hour to Paris she said I could cancel and get a place in Paris but affordable? Anyway we are goin to Amsterdam from Paris to Rome, Rome to Milan, then to Venice back to Nice. We are staying 21 days altogether. I want to go to Cinque Terre while we are in Italy and I still do not know exactly where that is, I know it's beautiful and we are all hikers. So I have two other trips I have not yet planned. We are flying Easy jet to all these places. Which the whole rice for flying was 400 Euros. So 1/3 the cost of 3 Euro passes have I messed up that bad. Any input would be greatly appreciated

I enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Vondel in Amsterdam. Convenient location. If you are flying into Amsterdam, catch bus 197 (airport express) into the city for 5 euros. If you are taking the train. Grab tram 1 or 5 right outside Central Station. There is only a 1 block walk to the hotel from the Leidseplein bus/tram stop. It is an easy walk or tram ride to anywhere in the city from here. Good grocery store and restaurants nearby.

There are several TGV departures from CDG TGV station to Brussels. So you either go to the airport and connect in Brussels or go to Paris Gare du Nord for a direct Thalys train to Amsterdam.

Prices look way better from Gare du Nord, but you should buy them now. I see 69 euro pp on your travel date.
From Villepinte, you can buy carnets (book of 10 tickets) to get you into central Paris and back for 34.80 EUR. That is a 20% discount over the individual price of 4.35 EU pp each way. That will get you to anywhere in central Paris with a connection on the Metro. One ticket in the morning and use another ticket on the way back to Villepinte.
How are you getting around in Italy? Train will be the best and again, if you plan ahead, you can buy inexpensive nonrefundable tickets.

c1,

Your route in Italy seems a bit convoluted and inefficient. If you haven't yet made travel arrangements, you might consider travelling Rome > Venice > Milan > Cinque Terre > Nice. Is Milan definite? With such a short time frame, you might consider skipping that to spend more time in other places.

The Cinque Terre is on the west coast of Italy in the region of Liguria (where Pesto was invented), and consists of five small towns right on the coast. It's easy to reach via the local trains, but one concern is the fact that hotel reservations may be hard to get on such short notice. You'd first have to choose which of the five towns you want to stay in, and then try to find a hotel. You could also stay in Levanto, which is just north of the Cinque Terre, and only about 5 minutes by train from Monterosso. The C.T. has been increasingly crowded in the last few years, due to large cruise ship groups, but those are only a problem in the day time. IMO, the C.T. is still worth a visit.

I really appreciate all your input and I agree that I shouldn't have gone to Milan but I wanted to go to Venice and since I am in California I haven't any idea about the transportation except for the Europass and the fast train Eurostar, had I known about how helpful this forum was I wouldn't have done things quite the way I have. I have already made the plans from Rome to Milan, however I am staying in Rome/that part of Italy for 6 days. As I was booking the flights they were going up and up day by day and I really wanted to go from Rome to Venice but couldn't find a flight and wasn't knowledgeable at all about train,buses, or rental car prices. I had heard scary stories about renting a car, although since then I've heard different.Does anyone know the most efficient way to get to Cinque Terre from Rome or near Rome Airport.I found a reasonable place in Riomagiori to stay and we are all in good physical shape.Is there a train that goes near CT . I will look up the train schedules I just don't know which one that I'm looking for. HELP!!! Thank You all you are so helpful.

Oh by the way do they give Seniors a discount on trains like they do here on buses?

c1,

It's very easy to get from Rome to the Cinque Terre. Use the Trenitalia website to find one of the direct trains that travels from Roma Termini to La Spezia Centrale, and then transfer to the local train to Riomaggiore (it's only about an 8 minute ride from La Spezia). A good one to consider would be a departure at 11:57, arriving at 15:52 (time 3H:55M, 1 change). The first segment is via high speed Freccia, which has compulsory reservations. There's also a departure at 09:57 that gets to Riomaggiore a bit earlier. AFAIK, there are no seniors discounts.

You don't need a rental car for the destinations you're visiting, and there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when renting cars in Italy. In most cases, the trains (high speed where possible) are your best and easiest transportation method in Italy, so forget flights.

As this is your first time in Europe, note that most cities in Europe have more than one rail station, so it's very important to know which station you're using when you buy tickets. Also some trains such as the Freccia in Italy and TGV in France have compulsory seat reservations, and those without reservations can expect hefty fines! You may find this video helpful.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz0UCZkPqbA

Please take a weekend to read Rick's book Europe through the Backdoor. Would be SO HELPFUL to your planning and stop you from making anymore mistakes. I'd also look at the Lonely Planet website to help you find accommodations especially in hostels. Slow down. Research, reflect, rearrange and reroute if need be AND use Google Maps to get a sense of travel time between all that you wish to see and do on your first trip to Europe. Focus!

GoogleMaps is a good suggestion. It will show you the route between the airport and your small-town retreat (10 minutes on the RER; trains every half hour during the middle of the day.) Use the Directions function.
As for going to Amsterdam by train, connecting from the airport through Brussels or going directly from Gare du Nord works out about the same in both time and cost when you work in the connections from Villepinte. Railroad info: http://www.seat61.com and http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/
But if your budget is tight, consider skipping Amsterdam altogether. It's further away from Italy, adding to the pressure on your schedule, and the hotels are even more expensive than Paris.

If you are coming from North America, a multi-destination ticket could be efficient in both cost and time. Fly into Venice, work your way by train or budget airline through Nice to Paris, then fly home. http://www.skyscanner.com will show the low-cost airlines that don't appear on more North American search sites.

my experience has been that Paris hotels are quite a bit more expensive than Amsterdam. We just stayed in a centrally located 4 star in Amsterdam for $98 night. My Paris hotel definitely cost more than that. I do think there are seasonal differences in prices.

I agree you need to take a weekend and write down everything you are doing. It sounds like you prefer paper so print your reservations and directions and organize them in the order of your trip and keep them in a folder or envelope. Maybe you have an organized friend that will look over your itinerary and make suggestions. I can tell you have many things you want to see so use your time now to make sure you are sightseeing rather than getting lost while you are there. I would even write myself directions like- walk 1 km north to this train station and take this train to... And do not forget that staying out of the city may be cheaper but your transportation costs will go up so factor that in. I hope you have a great time!

Several suggestions: first, like many others I suggest reading Europe Through the Backdoor and I add Let's Go Europe (a more budget minded option) to your reading list; when looking at apartments or other accommodations outside the tourist center always calculate commute cost and time to see if it's really a savings as it often isn't; if you are willing and able to cook, apartments will save you money and foster interaction with locals not in the tourist trade; pack your lunch or buy it pieces meal from outdoor markets; limit travel days and travel times; a city with many possible daytrips is more relaxing and time effective than a string of small places.

But mostly I suggest asking yourself why you want to be in Europe and planning your time and spending accordingly.

For hostels, Hostelworld.com is a great website. My son is using it now to plan his month-long trip to Asia.