Help with Itinerary for 4 weeks in Europe (June/July 2019)

Your trip certainly is do-able and it will be a trip of.a lifetime for your family.
The Amalfi Coast is about 200 miles south of Rome and out of the way--going through Naples. Have you considered substituting Cinque Terre for Amalfi. It is northwest of Pisa.which is west of Florence. You can also easily get to Milan from C/T which is on the way to Lake Como by train.
Have a great trip.

I think two nights in Venice, arriving from Bellagio, is misguided. A short visit like that pretty much guarantees that nearly all your time will be spent among throngs of other tourists at places like the Rialto Bridge and San Marco. Not many people would enjoy Venice a great deal under those conditions. Give yourself at least one extra night so you can get into the back canals and see what Venice is really like. It is unique. I think I've read about opportinities to do some kayaking there, which might be appealing.

With respect to the weather: Unless you are big-time gardeners, you probably are not outdoors at home the way you will be in Europe. At home we tend to go from our air-conditioned homes to our air-conditioned cars to an air-conditioned office or store. The life of a tourist in Europe is not like that. Many museums are not air-conditioned. Small shops and cafes are often not air-comditioned. Train stations and bus stations ditto. Even when air-conditioning is present, it may be barely recognizable as such.

Read a lot of reviews of your proposed lodgings (booking.com and TripAdvisor have many) to be sure the a/c will be adequate. Pay particular attention to the location of those lodgings, because you may find you need to take a mid-day break in an air-conditioned environment. Why am I so adamant about this? I'm from Washington DC and spent part of summer 2015 in Italy.

I find a Kool Tie helpful (see Amazon.com and other sources), but believe me, you'll still be very, very hot.

This should be a great trip. Just a few nit-picky points:

Do heed acraven's warnings about the heat and the lack of what you will recognize as air conditioning. A coworker was in Prague and Budapest this summer during the heat wave. Both hotels had air conditioning, but only the Budapest one was adequate to handle the heat. And as acraven says, many many places that you will be going (including museums) are not air conditioned at all.

Driving for 12 hours, and flying 10 hours across 7 time zones, are two completely different things. You should expect your first day to be a jet-lagged haze, and be pleasantly surprised if it is not. Do not plan anything crucial on the first day - no timed reservations, and as little indoors as possible, and nothing too intense (like art tours where you will wanting to be paying attention to details).

I also agree that two days in Venice, in the middle of the summer, will only lead to tension and frustration. Either say 1-2 more days there, or skip it and add the days to other places. Given that you like to be on water, and like prowling around and exploring a place, if you spend 3-4 days there and stay in an area away from the worst crowds, you will probably love it. I stayed in Dorsoduro, and the feel of the area is completely different from San Marco or Rialto, which get very crowded.

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice! We are going to have a travel agent help with accommodations, so I will definitely request she look at places with AC. I always use trip advisor for vacation planning, so will definitely read reviews for her recommendations. We are definitely planning to take it easy on the 1st day in Rome. We may just walk around to explore a bit and find some good spots for lunch and dinner. I will definitely take warning of the heat and consider some options for trying to stay somewhat cool.

For Amalfi Coast, we are planning to take a train from Rome to Naples and then hire a private driver to take us to Positano. I think it will be worth the extra cost for the 3 of us. We looked into and considered Cinque Terre, but after researching all CT, Como and Amalfi, we thought we would enjoy Como and Amalfi more.

Would you recommend removing a day from Rome or Tuscany to add to Venice? My only scheduling problem is trying to get my husband to Edinburgh for his golf trip, so I am trying to get him to London for a couple of nights before he has to get to his golf trip. I can eliminate Venice if I have to, but I am thinking my daughter would really like it. But definitely want to enjoy our time there and not be frustrated with crowds.

I do have a question for budgeting hotels. I was planning to spend around $250 per night on accommodations in most towns except for Bellagio and Positano, which I am expecting to pay around $400-500 a night. Is that a realistic amount for nice hotels (not luxury) with decent AC? Or do I need to increase my average hotel night to $300?

Gee, that is a huge amount to spend on hotels. Here is a thought: Consider hostels and less expensive hotels. Hostels are not just a bunch of bunks in a basement. Most have private rooms. Some have bathrooms in the private rooms. In many places, we spent under $100/night for 5. In addition to cost, they would allow your daughter to meet some European kids. I would guess that she might like that. When I was that age, I wanted to spend time with kids my own age along with my folks. Some hostels have evening drinks hours where folks hang out in the courtyard.

This strikes me as an intelligent and rewarding itinerary overall. I do think you are not allocating enough time to Venice. If it is truly low priority you might be better off skipping it this trip.

Your itinerary leans urban, which contrasts with some of your stated preferences. I guess it will depend on where you are staying in Tuscany, etc., but your last 13 days are all cities. I don't have a specific suggestion about that, but it's something you might want to talk over.

The plus side is that you can probably expect to rely on planes and trains for this trip without having to rent a car (except maybe for Tuscany as you note).

Have a great trip!

But do hostels have AC? And if you add some days to London you could do day trips to smaller towns or better yet, stay in those places because London hotels are very expensive. In Rome, we love the Alimandi(there are 2 and one is less expensive than the other) which is right down the steps from the Vatican Museums. We then moved to a much cheaper convent near the Colosseum. You should look into convent/monastery stays in Italy-they are often cheap enough to get your daughter her own room.

I'd be cautious about using a travel agent for hotels. They do sometimes try to put you in bigger hotels that are not in the City Centers. Make sure for Venice you are not in one of the outlying areas. I have not used a TA for hotels but I've had friends that traveled to Europe and saw where they stayed. The TA will want to book hotels where they get a commission and the smaller hotels won't do that. Do take a look at Rick's books including Europe Thru the Back Door for some travel skill ideas.

I DO agree with checking on the AC capabilities, though.

On your Venice to London leg - there will be low cost carriers (read the rules on carry on) that do that run. I've taken Easy Jet from Paris to Venice and it was fine, just booked a checked bag when I booked my ticket.

You'll probably want to do the Eurostar train from London to Paris and you'll book that 6 months out for the best fares. Put a reminder on your calendar for that date. It's very easy to do yourself.

I agree with the comment upthread about comparing a 12 hour Road Trip day to an overseas flight. No comparison. I can easily do a 10-11 hour drive solo and not feel much but I have a completely different kind of day after an overnight flight.

Have fun planning!

I like your itinerary, though if it were me, I would make a couple of changes. First, I would take a night from Lake Como and add it to Venice. I loved Lake Como, but Venice had more to see. Second, I would take a night from Paris and add it to London. There is tons to do in and around London.

Some other comments:

In Venice, we stayed in Dorsoduro, which I thought was an excellent location - very quiet and not crowded.

At Lake Como, we opted to stay in Varenna, rather than Bellagio, and we were glad we did. Varenna is smaller and quieter, while Bellagio is more upscale and busier. Bellagio may work for you if you are interested in shopping. The train station is at Varenna though, so you will have to take your luggage on the ferry (not a big deal, but a little more difficult).

Speaking of luggage, I would not want to take a 24 inch suitcase as it will be a big pain to schlep around. Take a 20-22 inch suitcase and learn to hand wash in a sink. It will make your transportation (getting on and off trains) so much easier.

My only other comment is that your itinerary is heavy on cities, while your interests seem to say small towns and countryside. The cities you have chosen are fabulous, and you can take day trips outside the cities (though your time is limited), so I stand by my comment that your itinerary is good. Just make sure you will be satisfied with so much city time.

I really appreciate all the comments, you are all giving me lots of things to consider. I added Rome and Venice to our itinerary because everyone said we must visit them. But I am wondering with the heat and crowds, if it may be more enjoyable for us to eliminate those towns from this trip. We do want to see historical sites, churches and museums, but I think we would prefer to visit them in smaller towns with beautiful scenery, stunning architecture, great food and wine. Towns with pools, lakes, and coasts are great too.

Would the following itinerary be better suited for us?

Arrive in Rome - recover from flight, jet lag (2 nights)
Amalfi Coast (Positano, but open to suggestion) - 3 nights
Tuscany - 6 nights
Lake Como (Bellagio) - 4 nights (we are meeting friends in Bellagio for a few nights)
Milan - 1 night, to get there from Bellagio and then fly to London
London - 5 nights (day trip to maybe Oxford/Cambridge)
Paris - 6 nights (day trips to Reims, Versaille)

Another thing to consider is that 2 nights in one location gives you just 1 full day for sightseeing. With 6 nights in Paris you’ve got 5 full days, so to me I’d not want to spend 3 of those days on trips out if the city leaving 2 days for city sights. Ditto with the other locations.

It’s really difficult to start paring things down because there is so much to see! Rick says to assume you’ll return so don’t feel you have to cover everything in one trip.

Also, if one destination doesn’t call to you, don’t feel you have to go because someone else feels it’s a must see. (PS I hate that term!!). Well, except for Paris, hahaha!!

I don’t see jetlag as a big deal, especially since you are going business class. I certainly slept well when I went biz class on AA. And you aren’t driving on the trip.

I think you will laugh at the thought that you needed to worry about the heat.

I think Amalfi will be disappointing after the Caribbean.

24” wheeled suitcase should be no problem

I would add a day to Venice.

Do try to get hotels with A/C. Windows typically don’t have screens on them and mosquitoscan be a problem

Try staying in alternate accommodations. In Venice we stayed at the
istituo San Guiseppe in Venice - a nun operated facility. Inexpensive, well located. A/C. It was 1 of 4 such facilities we stayed at in Italy. Monasterystays.com is a good resource

Is your hubby taking his golf clubs?

Hubby is shipping his clubs and golf gear directly to Edinburgh. :)

We will be going to Costa Rica for spring break with my daughter (they do a senior trip each year, but me & my hubby are planning to go as well), so we will get in our beach vacation in March.

My daughter wants to see Amalfi for some reason, probably because it looks so pretty on InstaGram posts. Lol....It's all about beautiful pictures for 18 year old girls!

It looks like the bus-train and ferry-train options, Bellagio to Malpense (or Linate), are frequent, cheap, and less than 3 hours total.

So you could skip your (likely unsatisfying) overnight in Milan if you schedule an afternoon flight to London.

Of course if you want to be in Milan you should, but it sounds as though it's just a convenient way to catch the flight.

Heat factor - when you are out sightseeing, there is little shade. Heat in Europe, especially Italy, is going to be more like Houston than Dallas (humid!).

Rooms - what are you looking for? One room that sleeps 3 or one double room and one single room? The benefit of 2 rooms is having 2 bathrooms. The disadvantage is it is more costly. Neither option is easy to find. Rooms for 3 are not common, nor are single rooms. But if you start looking early, you should be able to find reasonable choices. I would NOT ever rely on a travel agent for rooms. They haven't been to those hotels and perhaps not even the cities. They won't know if the location is good or even what the rooms are like. While on-line reviews are not always trustworthy, you can get a very good idea of what a place is like. Some sites are more reliable than others. Tripadvisor is the most used, but you have to read those reviews with a large grain of salt, since some are biased or perhaps even phony. Sites like booking.com and hotels.com only allow people who booked through them to write reviews, so they are all real.