HELP!!!!! Travel from Lyon to Milan, Venice, Rome and ?, ?, ?.

Dear Carolyn: While I hate to criticize, I must say that you are beginning your planning rather late for a June 30 departure. However, I would begin by immediately going to the Barnes & Noble or Borders nearest your house and picking up Rick Steves' guidebook to Italy...you don't have time to do Amazon, buy it right away. That book is loaded with excellent advice...read as much of it as you can before the trip and then again on the flight over.
As I understand your general plan, it is June 30 fly to Paris, July 1 arrive Paris. July 2 and 3 Paris. July 4 Train from Paris to Lyon. Night of July 4 in Lyon. July 5 take evening train from Lyon to Milan. Nights of July 5 and 6 in Milan. July 7, train from Milan to Venice. Venice nights of July 7, 8, 9. July 10 Train from Venice to Florence. Night of July 10 in Florence. July 11 Train from Florence to Rome. Nights of July 11, 12, 13 in Rome. July 14th Flight from Rome back to the US. Is this correct? I had a hard time following some of your plans, so if this is wrong please correct it.
Comments...well, I assume the airline tickets are bought already. The train tickets can be bought on the scene, but ideally at a travel agency rather than than at the stations, where the lines will be quite long. You will be paying a premium for buying them at the last minute, but even so the prices will be ok...the only ones you really need to worry about are the Paris-Lyon and Lyon-Milan tickets. The Italy tickets pose no danger of being sold-out. Search on this site to see how to look up train schedules on DB...there is a direct link to the DB site on the "Plan your trip" page.

You need to figure out just how you plan to get from either Milan or Venice up to the Alto Adige....car, rail, bus? Which village is it? Do you plan to stay overnight, or just make a day trip? The more specific you can be about your plans and intentions, the more help people on this site can provide.
Out of space....

As far as a hotel in Paris goes, I would recommend the Hotel Castex, which has a family suite (2 double bedrooms connected by a bathroom), reasonable prices, and an excellent location a short walk from the Isle St Louis and the Isle de la Cite. Whether they have vacancies I don't know, but they have a website and you could check very easily.
I would cut the time in Milan unless you are using it as a springboard for daytrips. You might consider basing in Lake Como, about an hour from Milan...I think your mother, in particular, would appreciate the scenic beauty and quiet after Paris and Milan, which are great, but are huge modern cities.
You can go to AAA, but they are not likely to book you in anything less than a Hilton/Marriott, which is sort of like never leaving the US. Armed with Rick's book and the internet, you can easily book the hotels yourself in a few minutes. (assuming they have vacancies!!)

You need a debit card/atm card to get cash from ATMs...anyone with a Visa logo will work beautifully IF it has a numerical 4 digit PIN. I bank with Apple Credit Union, and theirs do have a 4 digit PIN..check with your bank. VISA and Mastercard are accepted widely, though your card may not work in automated machines at places like train stations and toll booths or gas stations...but if you can find a human attendant, he or she can run your card.
Again, this is just repeating Rick's information...get his book right away. Good luck!

You are correct. We have our plain tickets into Paris and out of Rome. We have the hotel for Paris. Hotel Cecilia. I hope to book the rail tickets to Lyon and Italy today. I also hope to book hotels today or early this week. I was wondering what is the best route for travel the Eurorail pass or PtoP trains. I think that we will rent a car in Altojust for one day.

As you can see we need extra help. Is there a travel agent who would be of great help?

Thanks,
Carolyn

You might consider reducing your stay in Venice to one night in favor of spending more time in Florence or Rome or near Alto Adige. You could even stay in Verona (north of Venice) or Ravenna (one hour south of Venice on the train line to Florence) and make a day trip to Venice.

I know Venice has a great reputation for romance and there are a few important things to see there, but my experience was that the city was not very pleasant outside of the most touristed areas, and they are, well, touristy, which is fine for a short time, but perhaps not for two nights.

Thank you so very much. Please keep the suggestions coming.

My experience with Venice is the opposite of Lexey's. I think the magic of Venice is when you get away from the tourist areas and just wander through the back streets. I love Venice, I'll be there for 6 nights next week ('next week',I love saying that). If you stay two nights, then you probably only have one day.

Book Paris-Lyon and Lyon-Milan at tgv-europe.com following the instructions given by Steve. If you book ASAP, you can get a fare as low as €64.30 on the Paris-Lyon TGV departing at 19:54. If you book ASAP, you can get a fare as low as €43.70 for Lyon-Bellgarde-Geneva-Milan.

Buy your train tickets in Italy as you go. The station ticket machines have an English option and they accept US credit cards.

The best site for detailed train timetables for virtually all of Europe is the German Rail site. After you get summary timetables for point A to point B, click on the arrow to the left of the departure time(s) of your choice to see the connecting points, if any.

Two nights in Milan should be enough. Spend at least two nights in Venice. Spend two nights in Florence, if possible.

Both VISA and MasterCard are universally accepted in Europe. Use a debit card linked to your checking account to get cash from ATMs. Be sure you tell your credit card companies and your bank when you will be in Europe so a computer doesn't block your card for suspected fraudulent use. Read this helpful article by Rick Steves.