Best of Europe trip, start and end options?

IMHO the best Europe trip for 14 days would be one or, at most, two countries. If you try to do too much, you end up constantly traveling - your time will be consumed with checking in and out of lodging and making transportation connections. Some ideas of decent itineraries might be Italy - Rome, Florence and Venice. One region of France plus Paris. England with some Wales and Edinburgh. Flying into one airport and home from another can save backtracking time and help you get a little more out of your trip.

Sorry I should have been clearer. I;m signed up for The Rick Steves BestOfEurope 14 day trip, so that part of the itinerary is fixed; starts in Paris and ends in Rome.
I'm really only curious what other people have done for pre or post tour days for a trip that starts in Paris and ends in Rome. I guess I was mainly thinking of people who've done the R.S. BestOfEurope Paris to Rome trip in the past.

Yes Matt, I think you were misunderstood. I have done the Family Europe in 14 days, it follows the same route except it started in Rome and ended in Paris. I had more time then you, so added 7 days before in Paris( I flew in and out of Paris) , I then flew to Rome to pick up tour, I flew in 2 days early, I then spend an additional 5 days in Paris. I really like Paris and have been before. I think its a great idea to add time onto front and back of tour. The first two days you will be jet lagged , so starting a tour right off the bat is tiring,, so add as many days as you can,, and I also think adding time at the end is great, you will have learned alot of travel skills while on the tour, so will find you feel comfortable in Rome on your own, and Rome is definately worth at least an extra 2-3 days . If planning on taking the Eurostar to Paris, suggest buying ticket sooner rather then later , as ticket prices tend to go up not down. Look at different departure times and days( tue, wed , thurs generally cheaper) . Flying open jaw( into London and out of Rome) makes sense too .

You could easily spend the before time roaming around London or a combination of London/Eurostar /Paris. So much to see within those two Cities. it would be a pity to end your trip in Rome without a few days to see a little of that City (although I am more in love with London and Paris). Get a guidebook on the Cities and pick out some stuff that interests you

Since your trip begins in Paris, pre-tour stays in London or Amsterdam would make sense. Decide which one interests you more, and spend some days pre-tour there. Catch a fast train to Paris to begin your tour. If you do opt for either of these cities, purchase your train ticket as soon as possible for the best price. Post-tour, why not spend more time in Rome. You could easy spend more time visiting and having been there with the tour would help with the logistics of it before you set off on your own. Just see if you could continue your stay in the same hotel you are staying in for the tour. I'm not sure what you mean about "arrival and departure options".

RE: "arrival and departure options", sorry I wasn't clear, I guess I was mainly thinking of other connecting cities, other than London, Paris, Rome. The suggestion of Amsterdam is the kind of thing I was thinking of. I was just curious if others had done other things, such as flying into Copenhagen, Zurich, Frankfurt, or Munich and then fly or train to Paris to start the tour? Or fly into Barcelona and travel to Paris to start the tour. Or fly in and out of Paris and at the end of the tour take the train from Rome to Paris?
Or at the end of the tour travel to Greece and fly home from athens? I've researched the London-Paris start to my trip quite a bit, so I know most of those options. I was just curious what other people have done. Pat, your plan sounds great, unfortunately I'm kind of stretching to add an extra 5 days to my trip, I don't think I can add on an extra 14 days to my trip, although that does sound like a fun trip!

Ciao Matt, Following our RS tour ending in Rome, using our newly acquired rail travel skills, we took the high speed train from Rome Termini to Naples and then the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento for 3 nights. Exploring the spectacular Amalfi coast from this base allowed us to take busses and hydrofoils to Positano and Amalfi. I think that you could also visit Capri if you had 4 nights. This destination used to be included in the Best of Italy tour. So worth it! Buon viaggio, Sherry