First time in Europe. Vancouver to London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Barcelona???????

Some basics first. You will want to fly "open jaws," into one city (say London) and out of another (say Rome). To find these flights, don't look at two one-ways, but at the "multi city" option on booking sites. Even if it seems "more expensive" than flying round trip (and it isn't always) you save time and money by not backtracking.

As for which destinations or routes are cheaper: there is almost no rhyme or reason in flight prices any more. So, you'll just have to check yourself. You can use Kayak http://www.kayak.com/flights or Matrix ITA http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ to do this. Matrix ITA allows you to check more than one place at a time. For instance, if you put "LON, PAR" in the destination box (without the quotes), it will search all London airports and all Paris airports.

I don't know if Air Transat shows up in those search sites; if not, search it separately.

As for where to go, that's up to you. Once you figure out your four destinations, how to get between them will be easier to figure out. For instance, if you were only going to the three you listed, I'd say fly into London, take Eurostar train to Paris, fly to Rome, and fly home. If you do it in reverse, you may get better weather, but will probably pay more (London airports have high exit fees that are built into the ticket, so it costs much more to fly out of London than to fly in).

Unless you have a special interest, Milan is not usually found to be as worthwhile as Venice or Florence. Barcelona is not particularly easy to get to from your three destinations; there is now a fast train from Paris taking about 6 hours, but you'd have to fly to Rome or London. Of course, if that's where you want to go, that's what you should do. If you want a big city in a different country, consider Amsterdam or Berlin (both different from the three you are visiting, with lots to see and do). Or go further east to Budapest or Prague or Vienna (each of those three is VERY different from the other two, by the way, despite the fact that they're often mentioned as triplets, like I just did).

I'd start by reading travel guides and looking at videos, to see what interests you.

As for overnight trains, opinion here is very divided. While Rick (and some others) remain fans, others say "never again." If you don't sleep well on them (and you won't know until you've tried it), you arrive tired, unwashed, and cranky.

To research flights within Europe, use Skyscanner http://www.skyscanner.com/. To look at train schedules, use the Bahn (German rail) website, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/db_tips.htm. For LOTS more information about trains, look at The Man In Seat 61: http://www.seat61.com/

Harold as always has great ideas and information. Let me offer a few thoughts.

For a spring trip you'll probably have better weather, overall, if you start in Rome and end in London. On the other hand, for a first trip to Europe you might want to start in London to get an introduction in English (not the same as American but close enough). Wherever you start and end, weather will always be a risk, you can count on getting rained on some time in three weeks, and a range of temperatures. It's less of a factor in big cities than the countryside because you have more indoor options.

I wouldn't look for a fourth destination just to have four. Three of Europe's best sightseeing cities in three weeks might be enough, To experience streets and foods and people it helps to stay put and get to know a place better. Every day you move around is a bunch of logistics and costs. Remember that you can take day trips out of those cities if you want a change of scene, the choices are many.

I agree with Harold, "open jaw" is the best flight strategy between Vancouver and Europe. And take the Eurostar train between London and Paris, fly between Paris and Rome, whichever direction you go. I haven't taken overnight trains in Europe but I'd avoid them for this itinerary. The Eurostar is faster and easier than flying, center to center, An overnight between Paris and Rome, I expect, would involve at least one change and leave you tired. Scenery is a big advantage of trains over flying, but overnight you miss that anyway.

There are real advantages to renting an apartment for a week in a big city, from a service like homeaway.com, vrbo.com, or many others, especially for a family. But for your first trip, and with all the planning you have to do, you might be better off staying in hotels. They have staff who can help you find things and get around, relatively easy reservation systems, and take credit cards. You can learn about them from guidebooks, tripadvisor.com, and their own websites. You can usually cancel on relatively short notice if your plans change. With apartments you're dealing with individual owners who typically want big deposits, you have to arrange to meet someone to get keys, and it's harder to get something fixed, or yourselves moved, if there's a problem with the place.

The good news is that you have lots of time to figure all this out, and for many people the planning and anticipating are half the fun (or sometimes more). Have fun!

honest,

A few points to add to Harold's very informative reply......

I agree that flying "open jaw" would absolutely be the best idea, flying inbound London and outbound rome. That's much more efficient and probably cheaper than having to return to your starting point. As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd suggest starting in London and work from there. Continue to Paris, with perhaps a brief stop in Switzerland and then into Italy. Keep in mind that three weeks is not a long time, and you'll have to allow for your two travel days as well. You'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart from Vancouver and the last day will be required for the flight home (you'll arrive home on the same day). Also, don't underestimate the effects of jet lag upon arrival. It will probably be a few days before you're up to full touring speed.

I'd suggest travelling in May if at all possible, as the weather should be a bit better. However, it's prudent to plan for rain at any time of the year.

Regarding flights from Vancouver, you could certainly look at Air Transat or Canadian Affair into London, however it may be difficult getting a return flight outbound from Rome with Air Transat. In some cases, they only offer flights once a week to some destinations, so that will work if your schedule is flexible but I find that it's often difficult to make their flights "fit" my Itinerary. Your best bet for schedules and flexibility is probably Air Canada although I should mention that they only use Heathrow, which is not my favourite London airport (it's huge but if it's the only option, you'll manage). Air Transat uses Gatwick which is a bit easier to navigate. You could also look at KLM but it's very likely that you'll have to change planes in Amsterdam with them (which would be a nuisance). I prefer direct flights whenever possible. If you use Air Canada from Rome, you'll likely have to connect in Frankfurt for your flight back to Vancouver (it's not difficult as FRA is a very well organized airport).

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far into your planning. That will provide you with a lot of answers on "how" to travel well in Europe.

"Where to go" will depend to some extent on what interests you the most. For a first trip, you might consider something along these lines:

• London (5 days including travel day and at least one day trip to perhaps Bath or York)
• Paris (4 days, perhaps with trip to Versailles)
• Lucerne (CH) (3 days - Be sure to budget more here, as Switzerland is expensive! You could perhaps substitute the Berner Oberland for Lucerne if you wanted more of a "mountain experience")
• Florence (4 days with at least one day trip - some possibilities are Siena, Pisa, Lucca or the Cinque Terre)
• Rome (4 days)
• Flight home (1 day)

There are lots of possible ways to arrange this, and this is only one suggestion.

To get some ideas on the places you'll be visiting, you might find it helpful to have a look at Rick's video channel. When you've narrowed down your list, use the country or city-specific guidebooks to plan hotels, transportation, sightseeing, etc.

Good luck with your planning!

With flights around the continent being relatively cheap, it would not be unreasonable to connect London-Paris-Berlin-Rome, as in one suggestion. You'd probably take the Eurostar train London-Paris because it's faster, but then fly the next two legs. Trains from Paris to Venice or Florence take 10-13 hours by day, with connections, so you'd probably prefer a quick flight (or an overnight train). There is a France-Italy railpass, but I would not recommend it for this trip, since it doesn't cover direct Paris-Italy trains or routes through Switzerland. You can watch Rick's shows free online and find other introductory articles at http://www.ricksteves.com/europe.

Air Transat doesn't always show up on search sites.. but it usually has the best prices .. the pain in the butt part is they do not fly direct from Rome to Vancouver.. so you can't do the London, Eurostar to Paris and then fly to Rome( on cheapo airline like Easyjet) then fly back home from Rome..

You can fly into London on them.. or Paris or Amsterdam. direct from Vancouver ( direct does not always mean non stop) . But Rome and Barcelona they only fly in and out of Montreal and Toronto and you have to book a separate leg to get to and from Vancouver.

I would advice three weeks three big cities.. no more.. you have no idea how much there is to see in all three of those cities ( Paris London and Rome) and how many great opportunities there are for daytrips outside those cities.. so don't over plan .. From London many enjoy visiting Bath, Windsor, Hampton Court, Brighton, Oxford etc.. from Paris there is Versailles, Chantilly , Monets Gardens in Giverny, or perhaps take 2 nights and visit the Loire Valley Chateaus.. For Rome.. well you could split that week with 5 nights Rome and two in Venice! OR perhaps work in a visit to Pompei..

Tons to do.. you will never be bored, and you don\t want to be stressed either..

I agree with much of what has already been said... unless there is a specific reason for Milan I would choose another location and also May will probably be better weather... the only comment I have is that on a 3 week trip it is not an extraordinary amount of time, but if you are spending every day in big cities it can be overwhelming and sometimes stressful. I think you might want to consider staying someplace a little quieter for a few days mid-trip simply to regroup and enjoy some of the ambience of a small village. Just a thought, and not sure how old you or your parents are, but a few days to chill out might be a welcome change... time to sit and enjoy the food and wine:)))