Help with Trip Planning for a Summer Trip to Europe - 30 days

With only 4 cities and a week in each you will have plenty of time to see the main sights in each comfortably.

To travel most easily between the centres of London and Paris the quickest and most straightforward way is the Eurostar train which goes at up to 300 kph and dips under the English Channel - it takes you right from city centre to city centre in only 2:17. If your travel is soon, the beginning of summer, you need to plan your days and get the Eurostar tickets while cheap tickets are still available. The cheap ones go quickly and never go down.

Paris to Venice could be done by discount airline but in only 3 hours by train you could be in Switzerland and see the Alps (with maybe a day or two to enjoy them in passing) as you travel down to Milan and then due east to Venice. Make sure you take enough (IMHO as one who returns frequently to Venice 7 days is too long) time in Venice to appreciate it at dawn and in the evenings.

What interests do you and your daughter have?

Have you looked at the Rick Steves Tours? Even if you don't take one, look at the itineraries they have for the Best of Europe tour, and that will give you an idea of a reasonable, comprehensive itinerary.

"look at the itineraries they have for the Best of Europe tour, and that will give you an idea of a reasonable, comprehensive itinerary." Some of us disagree. The pace of those tours and suggested itineraries is appropriate to an organized tour where all the logistics are arranged for you. Entirely different story if you're doing it on your own.

Those four cities are definitely do-able in 30 days. I agree with Nigel on 7 days being too long for Venice, so you may choose to fit one or two more cities in. That's all your choice - you can switch up your pace with some longer stays, some faster ones. I think Nigel's idea of stopping in Switzerland on the way through is great. You could also stop in Florence or another city on the way to Rome.

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What I would do is something like (just my preferences, you could do a slower pace and skip Florence etc)

• Day 1 - depart US
• Day 2 arrive in London, spend 6 nights
• Day 8 take the Eurostar between London and Paris, spend 6 nights
• Day 14 take the TGV train from Paris to Switzerland (you'll connect over to some Swiss trains, likely - depending on your destination). Destinations could include the more mountainous regions, Lucerne, etc. Switzerland is expensive, so factor that in when you're considering how long to stay (but London is expensive too!). Stay 3 nights.
• Day 17 take the train to Venice. Stay 3 nights.
• Day 20 take train to Florence (or somewhere else that interests you). Stay 3 nights.
• Day 23 take train to Rome and spend the rest of your time there (a longer, relaxing stay at the end of your trip after some shorter stops).
• Day 30 head home.

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Saving money:

• Apartments for your long stays can often be cheaper than hotels, and you have the choice of preparing some of your own meals or a picnic lunch to take with you while you're exploring. VRBO, homeaway.co.uk and airbnb.com are popular sites to search.
• Book your trains in advance. You will save tons of money doing this. You'll be locked into non-exchangeable, non-refundable tickets - but the savings is quite large. Now this is for your travel between major cities. If you're planning on taking day trips while in these cities, you don't necessarily need to book in advance (flexibility will probably be more important to you and on shorter routes savings isn't as much).

For routes, schedules, number of train changes and number of stops, go to DB BAHN (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en). Be sure to click on the Map to see your route. You can't buy Paris to Italy tickets here, but you can see everything else you need to know about the journey, including the type of train. If you want to go fast, you'll need a TGV train from Paris and you might adjust your route based on that. We have.

• Once you have decided on the route options, go to Voyages.scnf.com (http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/?rfrr=reserver%20un%20billet%20resultatsheaderhome) to buy your tickets. Be sure to take the check mark OFF "Direct trains" which appears, faintly, under 1st class when you start to type in the "From" box and the booking option opens up. Also be sure to select a European country, like maybe Belgium, from the drop down box under "Ticket collection country." If you choose the US, you will be booted into RailEurope where there aren't as many options for routes and the prices are much higher.
• Depending on how flexible your timing is, you might also take a look at the "Best Fare Finder" box for a month view of fares. The same advice about Ticket collection country applies. OUIGO, prominently shown on the website, might also be an option for you, but read the fine print carefully.
• You have plenty of time for your trip, so going through the Alps or down to the Cote d'Azur and spending a night or 2 there enroute to Italy is a good idea. Not spending a week in Venice is also a good idea. Others may disagree, but I think Venice is only worth 3 nights (2 days) at most.
  
• I'd spend some of that time in Florence before going on to Rome. In spite of the tourist-filled summer (you don't say exactly when in the summer you are going), you might consider poking around Tuscany a bit -- especially Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano -- and maybe visiting an agriturismo. We did something similar with our daughter and 5-year old granddaughter and they both loved it.

This is totally feasible, but especially for the summertime it is awfully heavy on the cities. Consider Provence, Normandy, or Burgundy (in France) or Tuscany or the Cinque Terre (in Italy). Really, after London and Paris a little fresh air will give you your second wind.

Flying to Venice will save you time, but if you are feeling adventurous there is a night train to Venice from Paris. Otherwise you will have a lot of time on trains.

I would suggest you take the Eurostar from London to Paris,

You can fly from Paris to Venice go get into your Italy portion of your vacation. Airfares are very inexpensive on EasyJet.com if you buy tickets ahead of time.
Take a train down to visit the incredible Florence on the way to Rome. Trains are inexpensive in Italy, and very frequent. You'll just have to get a reservation to get on the fast trains between major cities. And you can save if you buy tickets ahead of time--on Trenitalia.com.

Thanks Nigel. My daughter and eye really want to see the sights and also get a real feel for the culinary scene as that is my industry. I love the idea of going thru the alps and down to Milan but I was not sure that we would have enough time. We will definitely look at the train from London to Paris as we prefer to not travel by air so we can really see the area. What would be your suggestion for staying in the Alps? Any suggestions as far as areas to stay would be helpful in these cities.

Thanks to everyone for the information. This is helping a ton.

We always asked our daughters to research and help plan the trip and then made sure we incorporated their guidance into the itinerary. Doing so greatly increased their involvement and ownership of being part of the trip while taking us to some places we never would have considered.