First-ever Europe Trip - Itinerary Feedback?

Since you are planning a trip to London, I think you should consider spending there few more days or just skip.
Where would you find these days? You could make your stay in Cinque Terre or Paris shorter for example.
The point is getting a taste of London in one day and having to leave it so fast will be must be some sort of torture!

Wow looks like a trip of a lifetime!! Just know that no matter how much research you do you will always find one more thing to add on! I agree with PP on London. It is such an amazing city that to do a day trip would not do it justice. 4 Nights in Cinque Terre is too much IMHO, we stayed 2 nights (Day one arrival and wondering around Monterosso, day 2 visit the 5 villages by train) and feel that was plenty. So there are two days then maybe take two days from Paris and there you have at least 4 days in London (Still not enough but you will get more of a visit to London). I would rather spend the time in London than Cinque Terre. I can recommend using London Walks for great walking tours and something for everyone (evening Jack the ripper tour looked interesting).

I think it's a great itinerary, and perfect for a first time visit to Europe. Your destinations are all interesting and diverse, with lots to entertain your 10yo brother. What an amazing sister you are!

I would perhaps make room for a few nights in London, and fly down to Barcelona with easyjet.

9/6 Fly Portland to Rome
10/6 Rome - 4 nights
14/6 Cinque Terre - 3 nights
17/6 Venice - 3 nights
20/6 Munich - 4 nights (day trip to Salzburg, day trip to castles)
24/6 Paris - 5 nights
29/6 London - 4 nights
Fly from London to Barcelona with easyJet EZY8575 / dep 14:20 LGW London Gatwick / arr 17:25 BCN Barcelona
3/7 Barcelona - 4 nights
7/7 Fly Barcelona to Portland

However, you say all of your accommodation is locked in, so moving bookings may not be an option.
Perhaps just replace Barcelona with London for the last 4 nights.
Barcelona, and the rest of Spain, will be awaiting on your next trip.

As a simple European I don't understand the American fascination with Cinque Terre, so I agree with the above that 4 days is too much. Why not have two days less in CT and spend them in Lucca? Nice city, and with Pisa around the corner.
Doing London as a day trip is in my opinion a waste of time and money. It just gives you a part of a glimpse of a wonderful city. Why not keep it for another time when you can do it properly? That day can much better be spent on an extra day trip from Paris, like Fontainebleau, Chartres, Reims or even Brussels.

It all looks good in general, but I'm concerned about the day trip to London from Paris. That's a lot of effort leaving such a short time to see such a world class city. One problem in seeing London, other than the vast wealth of things to see, is that London is quite spread out. When you arrive at London St Pancras International, to get anywhere you will need to plan carefully to maximise what you see in the direction you choose - realising that you miss all the rest.

I know that time is short, and you're trying to see and show a lot, but I expect that at least one of your party will be really tired and wondering if it was the right thing to do on the way back in the train.

I wonder if you have a bit too long in the Cinque Terre?

WOW - thank you so much for your helpful feedback! In regards to Cinque Terre, maybe we could use one of our three days there for a day trip within Italy. Given what everyone has been saying regarding London, we will definitely reconsider our London day trip, and turn that into a more reasonable, less rushed, (and most likely less expensive) day trip from Paris. I was looking at maps of London, and it seemed like quite a large area to even skim within a day, so I'm glad my concerns were validated. There will always be a next time for London!

Thanks again, everyone!

I also would argue to skip London. Especially coming from the Pacific Northwest where, while we complain about crowds and traffic, it is nothing compared to the crowds you will experience in these cities. If I were you, I would take away one night from Venice and two nights from Paris. Take these three nights and add a 3-night stop in Mürren between your stays in Munich and Paris.

My first instinct would be to take a night off CT and add it to Rome. I've had 10 nights in Rome over 2 trips (5 nights each) and there is just so much to see there and 4 nights (3 days) would pass in a blur. I've done 4 nights in CT over two trips as well, and I think I've had my fill.

Not sure about the day trip to London as it makes for a very rushed day, but you can decide at the time since it doesn't involve an overnight - I don't think you'll get bored of Paris tho! I've had 8-9 nights in Paris over 3 trips and wow - I'd still love to go back for another 4-5 nights. We thought on our 2nd visit to Rome we'd daytrip to Orvieto, but we never had the chance - too much to see in Rome!

If you can reduce your Paris stay by a night or two, then Avignon makes a wonderful stopover en route to Barcelona by train. Time in Provence would further add to the diversity of your trip.

I would agree with other feedback the 4 nights at the Cinque Terre is too much. Also that a day trip to London (except to say you were there) would be almost wasted. There are lots of small cities in Tuscany (some mentioned) and other areas of N. Italy such a Verona or Ravenna which are good day trips from Venice.

So many prompts from others to drop a night from Cinque Terre.
Perhaps a night spent in Florence en route from Rome - the Duomo is by itself a spectacular sight, and you can soak up a lot of Florence's atmosphere in 24-36 hours.

Are any of you airbnb's refundable? I would take a night away from Cinque Terre, and take a couple of nights from Paris, and either do Florence, or London. Agree with others, forget a day trip to London, too much to see and do!!

Don't forget that the first couple of days after you arrive in Europe will be spent recuperating from a long flight from the West Coast. Your best flights appear to be Delta into Amsterdam, and transferring to a connecting flight to Rome--a tough itinerary.
By taking on so many cities, you're going to essentially lose a day every time you move from city to city. And traveling with so many people will not allow you to move very fast.
Rome is worthy of another two days. Cinque Terre is out of the way, and should be scrubbed. Florence is much better city to visit--and it's on the way to Venice. You could cut a day out of Venice. Munich is a great 4 day city, however Salzburg is worthy of more than a day trip. It's difficult getting to Paris from Munich, and London's too much to see in a day trip from Paris You could take a fast train from Paris down to Barcelona in 6 1/2 hrs.

What a wonderful gift for your family! I think what you have planned sounds really good. Everyone here will give you different tweaks that we'd make – but you know your family and your preferences, so I wouldn't worry about your decisions. I think you'll find that it will be a wonderful trip regardless of what you decide to do.

Your idea of day trips if your time in the CT seems too long is a great one. you'll find a number of options on the Internet. Here's a link to get you started with ideas:
http://www.beautifuliguria.com/blog/best-day-trips-cinque-terre/

My suggestion would be much the same as David posted at 13:19. Some thoughts on specific points.....

• I'd suggest leaving the Cinque Terre at 3 nights. Once you arrive there, you may wish you had booked more time. You'll first have to decide which of the five towns you want to stay in.
• Taking a day trip to London is a waste of time. Keep in mind that you'll have to arrive early for the EuroStar and the travel time each way will likely be 2-3 hours, leaving only a few short hours to see the sights in a city which has so much to see.
• Be sure to allow for travel times, as some changes of location will take the better part of a day, when all is considered. For example, Cinque Terre to Venice will be ~5.5 hours.
• You may have covered this in your trip planning, but note that there are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using trains and other public transit in Italy. If you need more information, post another note.

Good job on this itinerary. Here's my 2 cents. My personal preference is to spend more time in villages and less time in big cities. I spent 4 nights in the Cinque Terre and I enjoyed that time more than time spent in Venice and the CT will provide you with a nice break between Rome and Venice, which are both wonderful but at times overwhelming.

I would not go to London on this trip. The cost in time and money getting there exceeds the fun that I would have visiting it.

I assume that you are spending 7 nights in Paris because the gite you rented goes from Sat-Sat and its a way better deal than staying a hotel. That said, I would recommend spending 2 of those 7 nights in a smaller French town like Beaune or Colmar and just eat the costs on the 2 'lost nights' in Paris. Adding the french countryside to your plans would complete the 'best of continental Europe' portfolio, in my opinion. Also, I've taken the Munich to Paris night train and would likely never do that again. Breaking up that ride with a 2 day stop in Colmar (or equivalent) would be a good thing.

-Matt

Thanks again for your insights!

In regards to CT: we'll be staying in Monterosso and really enjoy hiking, so we'll probably end up spending more time traveling between cities via foot as opposed to train. If we do get bored, it won't be too hard to plan a last-minute outing to one of the locations listed on the site Sherry shared (Portovenere, Genoa, Lucca, etc.).

Since it would be easier to change reservations at the tail end of our trip, we could take a day from Paris and visit Provence on the way to Barcelona.

I feel pretty fortunate about our flight situation...we are flying with Condor, and our total travel time (including a layover in Frankfurt) is only 16 hours. I expect that our arrival day will be jarring, so I didn't plan anything for our first day in Rome.

You are not the first person I've heard say bad things about the Munich/Paris night train, so we are definitely skipping that.

I'm planning to book all trains via trenitalia (no rail pass, I did the math and it won't pay off for us) - Ken, would that avoid the specific concerns you were thinking of?