Help! Did we wait too late to go to Europe mid May?

You can get hotels and transport. It's not too late. Certain popular hotels could be of course already fully booked but you will always be able to get accommodation. Many times I just arrived to some town and got accommodation for the same night. No reason to despair. 6 cities in 16 days would be too many for me.

You have not waited too late. It is still shoulder season and there are plenty of places to stay. Six places in 16 days is too much. You are averaging a little more than two days per location, then a day to travel between them and you are left with one day per location. Slow down. Florence and Prague are the odd balls to your trip. I would stick to London, Edinborough, Paris, Amsterdam. 4 days each is 16 nights. we are assuming you have 16 nights in Europe. I would fly into Edinborough and out of Amsterdam with an open jaw ticket to save back tracking and extra expense. Next, sit down and see what is open on your must see list and work it from there. You may need to start in Amsterdam. Grab Europe Through the Back Door and go from there. Then get guide books to each country or city. You need to research yourself to decide what you want to do.

No, it's not too late to plan. However, you are trying to do waaaaaay too many places in the time you have.

London. Edinburgh. Paris. Florence. Prague. Amsterdam. 16 days.
16 days. No, that's not reasonable IMHO. Remember, every time you change locations, you will use up most of a day (even if you're efficient, and if this is your first trip, you probably won't be - picking yourself up and moving to a new city takes its toll).

You have three obvious outliers: Edinburgh, Florence and Prague. Cut out those three, and you have London, Paris, Amsterdam, a reasonable group of cities that are easy and efficient to connect (and you would even have enough time to include a couple short day-trips out from those). You would enjoy this trip more than one that trued to squeeze in Edinburgh and Prague and Florence.

That said, while it's not too late to plan, you need to get cracking. Flights first. Fly in to London, take the train to Paris, then train to Amsterdam. Fly home from there.

It's never too late. In fact, just go. I learned that a long time ago. As you said, you never know what the future holds. I love travel. It's given me the biggest joys in life. And, as Rick says, travel as if you'll return someday. Try not to be in a rush. I learned that on my first European trip as a kid. I didn't have a choice 'cause my parents planned everything. It was a lot of train rides and not enough enjoyment. The best experiences are when you're actually relaxed and taking the time to be in the moment rather than rushing through trying to get to the next museum or city. Just be. Be where you are.

So, I agree that you should cut down the number of destinations. I would say sticking to just two or three maximum. First time to Europe, you'll want to go to London and Paris. London is particularly welcoming if you're not able to speak other languages. It's also easier to fly in or out of London back to the U.S. And Paris is my favorite big city on Earth. That said, Prague is the most beautiful and Florence is not far behind. But, don't rush. London, Paris +1 more destination.

Remember, you may be jet-lagged for probably the first two days. So factor that in, too. Pick a site to check out in the morning/day. Then spend the afternoon and evening just living like a local. Eating a great dinner. Taking a walk. Enjoying the company you are with. Again, just being where you are.

Ironically, the best way to figure out an itinerary is right where you wrote this question. Rick and his writers are hardly ever wrong. He makes it easy to find things to do. He also has good recommendations on areas to stay in. Listen to him. Then, when you're there, ask a local for suggestions. But remember to do "nothing" too.

One of the best things to do in Paris is free... staring at the Eiffel Tower and just breathing the air around it and watching all the other people in awe of seeing it with their own eyes. You'll never "see" it the same way again. When you return home and see it on TV or someone asks you about it, you'll remember the smell of the air; the breeze on your face; the almond croissant you ate while sitting at Trocadero park overlooking it. You will mentally transport to that day you were there... and it will be a magical feeling every time. That is the beauty of travel to me. Enjoy.

Way too many places for 16 days and you will be traveling too much as well.

Check Kayak for hotels.

I agree with everything written so far.

But I'd like to bring up one thing....you state you are "disabled."

How much does your disability affect your travel? Will you need special hotel accommodations, assistance getting on and off transport, or need handicap facilities at sights?

These are not as prevalent in Europe and you may or may not need extra planning. Keep that in mind.

While May is doable if you get moving, depending on the severity of your disability, the fall might give you extra cushioning to plan a trip that will be easier.

Will we be too late to get hotels and transport between cities?

No. If you are using the Rick Steves guides as your sole reference, his fans tend to fill the small minority of hotels he promotes, but finding a room in a large city is never hard, barring some major event taking place. The longer you wait, the tighter the selection.

You can book train tickets up until the time the train leaves the station, and they never sell out. And trains run very frequently. But the cheapest tickets are usually non-refundable and available only with advanced booking.

I would suggest that you focus on London and Paris only. Give yourself plenty of time for the sites, some spontaneity and rest. If you really want to knock all or most of these places, I would look into a tour through Rick and Plan on the fall.

Not too late - but too much - for 16 days (14 if you haven't already deducted travel days to and from Europe).

You can always find rooms, especially if you aren't overly picky (disabled may make a difference). Clean, comfortable and quiet can almost always be found. In fact I've found traveling without reservations saves money by picking up last minute pricing from hotels whose rooms will go empty if they don't entice last minute customers. What you lose is the ability to stay in that really quaint place that everyone loves - because that's been booked up for awhile.

I'd look for your air first. Traveling open jaw, rather than round trip, is good for multi city itineraries, but I prefer a logical direction to my itinerary rather than a bunch of zig-zagging and backtracking (which costs time) or long travel distances (which also costs time).

In two weeks, you could do a nice England, Scotland tour (even throw in some Wales). You have plenty of time to see London and Paris, two big cities that can each fill up more than a week on their own. Adding Prague, Amsterdam, Florence is just too much for one relatively short trip, pare it down and you will enjoy yourself much more.

yes as all have said not to late. Still some great ticket deals out there. Especially with new discounted routes.

I have been to all the places mentioned over the years.

As several people mentioned cut it back. Travel even short distances can wear on you after awhile. Add that any disability you might have. 3 cities in 2 weeks for a new traveler would be a good trip.

London is a HUGE city. Lots and lots to do but also takes time. Scotland is good and I would guess more mellow. Amsterdam can be lovely and very different from UK. Good airport to return home from. Though my experience tickets can be more expensive.

Good luck.

Do you already have transAtlantic airfare booked ? If not, fall travel is also lovely. Otherwise, consider what your disability actually means to your travel abilities -- I build in that I need to walk slower, carry less, sleep more.

Which of these proposed destinations makes your heart sing? See that one or two, don't cram your trip with other people's "must sees"

Suggestions -- for longer trains, pay the extra fee to get seat reservations so you will know you don't need to stand; use booking.com or a similar service to book "adequate" hotels to reduce your stress (you can continue looking for "perfect" and cancel the first at no charge as long as you do it within the hotel's stated time period); and once you're there, carpe diem.
EDIT -- following up on this, after l posted this 6 hours ago I got on booking booking.com and made ALL my hotel reservations for my May 6 to May 31 trip. All cancellable, but I have an adequate place to sleep in 8 cities. So, no it's not too late to put together a mid-May trip.

Easy to do. And sometimes late air fares can be really cheap. We once went with five day notice and did just fine. Plenty of hotels and lots of trains so you can do that day to day. If not well organized prior to arrival then hit the TI and they will lay everything you need to know, do, including hotels. We go all the time with min reservations - mostly first few days and the last day.

You would need to cut back at least one destination.

Arrive London (3N)
Train to Edinburgh (3N)
Fly to Florence or Prague (3N)
Fly to Paris (4N)
Train to Amsterdam (3N)
Depart Amsterdam

Flying from Edinburgh to Florence or Prague will mean connecting flights:
via Amsterdam with KLM
via Paris with Air France
via Frankfurt/Munich with Lufthansa