12 days/4 cities in Europe

Are you saying that your daughter wants you to take her to both Paris and London on this trip? If you have to do both - why not fly into Paris or London and have your daughter meet you there?

Otherwise, I would suggest dropping London and spending more time in Paris - perhaps breaking up the train ride by spending a couple days somewhere between Frankfurt and Paris - so many places to choose from!

Just take the train between London and Paris.

if you do not want to fly again until it is time to go home consider the Frankfurt to Paris train first and then the train Paris to London.

I would skip London it is easier for her to do that on her own with friends from school for example

I guess my question is if you mean days or nights. To me, two nights = 1 full day to tour. Two days = 3 nights. So...If you were just visiting London for 2 nights/1 full day I would say cut it and add those nights to Paris.

Your itinerary looks too busy to me in either event. I agree that I would cut London this time and spend that time in Paris with maybe a day trip somewhere. Or forego the night (2 nights?) in Iceland and add those nights to London. (I do know about the layovers Iceland Air offers so assume that's what you have in mind.)

I'm going to agree with those who say drop London. 2-3 days, when at least half of one day will be spent flying, is just not enough time, and IMO is a waste if airfare. And since your planned time in Paris is short too, it would been better to add those extra days there.

I agree with others that this is a rushed itinerary, especially for London and Paris. But it seems like your daughter wants to visit them with you, partly because your pockets are deeper than hers. So be it, and you should all make the most of your time together in Europe. So I won't try to talk you out of visiting both cities, or out of changing your flights since you must have them lined up by now.

This website you're on has lots of information about sights in London and Paris, just click through the links under "Explore Europe." It also has lots of info about getting around, staying in touch, languages, etc. under "Travel Tips." What it doesn't have is hotel and restaurant recommendations.

To find places to stay, I'd recommend using booking.com, which has good search filters and reviews by people who have actually stayed there. You could supplement your searches with the help of guidebooks that might give you an idea of what neighborhoods would be most convenient and/or affordable. The "street view" in Google Earth allows you to check out the immediate surroundings of a candidate hotel. In each city, look for a place within a few blocks of a tube (London) or Metro (Paris) station. Do your actual bookings with the hotels' own websites in case any problems arise. EDIT -- You might also look for recommendations on the "England" and "France" boards here, or just use the search function to find many already posted.

Unless you've been to Paris and London before, you'll find that there's much more to see and enjoy in both than you'll have time for. But this seems like a great opportunity to introduce yourselves and your lucky daughter to these amazing places. Bon voyage.

There have been many threads in the French forum, focusing on budget or moderate hotels in Paris. Not quite as many for London, I think, but still quite a lot. However, since you're traveling in April you're probably better off using something like booking.com to do your initial search. A lot of the most popular spots are probably booked up for April.

I agree with others that this is a rushed itinerary, especially for London and Paris. But it seems like your daughter wants to visit them with you, partly because your pockets are deeper than hers. So be it, and you should all make the most of your time together in Europe. So I won't try to talk you out of visiting both cities, or out of changing your flights since you must have them lined up by now.

Thank you Dick for understanding and reading between the lines! We know our time is very short and limited but it is what it is and cannot be changed. We are looking forward to our time with our daughter most of all!

That being said, thank you all for the advice -especially about booking.com. I'll explore the other forums for additional ideas in each place.

Way too much wasted travel time.

If I were offered your trip, I would ask: 'can we skip Iceland and add a day each to London and Paris?'