Input on Italy, Switzerland, France itinerary

Remember that, in addition to Nancy's and Andrea's excellent points, in December the days are quite short, which cuts into your sightseeing time. You can take an overnight train if you wish, but first do a search here for the strong varied opinions. Some love them, and others say "never again." If you want details on the night trains from Italy to Paris, here's the Man In Seat 61: http://tinyurl.com/bwx957v To find flights between Italian cities and Paris, use http://www.skyscanner.com. Watch out for Ryanair - in addition to hostility towards its customers, it uses Paris Beauvais airport, which is 90 minutes from Paris. Easyjet and Vueling use Charles de Gaulle and Orly, which are much closer (if you have a choice, use Orly, but either is fine).

John, I travelled from Florence to Paris on the overnight train. I found it a good way to travel. Departed Florence 8PM. Arrived Paris in time for breakfast. I can recommend that mode of using time well for a long trip. I have travelled often by train in Italy. Most recently my itinerary was Rome-Florence-Venice. Not wishing any complication, I buy my train tickets at travel agents in Italy. They can print your tickets, reserve all your seats and you can use your credit card. My hotel concierge recommended an agency a block away from the hotel. I've used this method of travel often in Italy because I actually find it very easy. If you decide to travel from Venice, the train station has an agency right there which is very helpful and sells tickets, no commission.
Judy

Sounds very doable to me. Buying the train tickets well in advance onnTrenitalia, SBB, and TGV will save you quite a bit. When you say holiday season, do you mean December?

Thank you...and, yes, we are planning on December, including Christmas in Rome.

Hello John, The intinerary is certainly doable but with only 13 days (assuming one of the nights in Rome in the night you arrive) that seems like a lot of countries for that time frame - bear in mind each change is going to eat up about 3/4 to a full day when you take into consideration hotel check out, travel to train station, actual travel time, checking into new hotel, etc. Also, since it is the holiday season, Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas will have reduced train service (which may or may not be an issue depending upon when you are arriving in Rome) and there are reduced hours at major sites in Rome on Christmas eve and the day after Christmas. With 13 days might I suggest dropping Lucerne and Strassbourg - you could add another night to Florence and 3 more to Paris. Not sure what you and your family's interests are but Paris has a tremendous amount to see and do - the additional days would also allow you to do a day trip from Paris to Versailles or Giverny if you are interested in those sites.

Is this your first trip to Europe? If no, have you been to any of these places already? In my opinion you have too many places. Remember that two nights in a location gives you only one full day there. Then factor in your travel time between. You can't just consider the time it takes on the train. You have to check out of one place, get to the train station, buy tickets if you don't already have them, find your track and wait for the train. When you arrive at your next city you have to find your lodging and check in. Five nights in Rome is great. You might want to skip one of your other places and add those two nights to Paris to give you 5 nights there.

Thanks to you both for your thoughts...part of the reason for the number of stops is to enable us to work our way by train from Rome to Paris. Given your thoughts, do you think it is better to just take a flight to Paris...perhaps from Florence or Milan? One other option we considered was to go to Venice from Florence and then take an overnight train from Venice to Paris...what do you think of that?

I originally stated I thought this trip is "doable" as a journey from Rome to Paris. I still see it that way, especially as a holiday trip, as Luzern and Strasbourg should be very festive at this time of year, and would give you a taste of very different cultures from either Italy or Paris. The travel time for each segment is not long: Rome to Florence about 1.5 hours; Luzern to Strasbourg is less than 3 hours, and Strasbourg to Paris close to 2. Only Florence to Luzern is longish, around 6 hours, but this could be a very scenic trip through the Alps on the Gotthard pass route. (Or it could be socked in with fog or clouds.) We have done a number of family trips similar to this (in Switzerland and Italy), with a mix of 2 and 3-night stops, and everyone enjoyed them. I keep the travel time between towns to 3 hours or less whenever possible. Add half an hour on either end to pack up, check out, then travel to new hotel and check in. We consider train time as "good" time: we play cards with one another, read, talk, relax, and we often bring a picnic lunch to enjoy. I cannot say the same of flight time, which involves stress, waiting in lines, and transport to and from airports, not of which can be considered quality time by any stretch of the imagination. So unless you really want an all-Italy trip and a flight to Paris, I'd still say it looks like a nice trip as is.

Hi John, Given the size of your party - I'd opt for a flight out of Milan or Florence to Paris - it may be more expensive, but I think time wise it would be more efficient. To be quite honest, given the time that you have, unless Paris is an absolute "must see or the world will end" I'd skip it this trip and focus on Italy - given that you will be be travelling over the Christmas holidays you will not have as many days to sightsee. Remember Christmas is on a Wednesday so hours will be shorter on Tuesday and non existent on Wednesday and many museums are closed on Mondays - so factor that in your plans.
Again, not saying this can't be done (since it certainly can!) but it really boils down to what you really want to see/experience and given the time involved in changing locations (and the holidays) will this give you sufficient time to see/do what is important to you and your family in each location?

Thanks to you all for your thoughts...they have been very helpful!

If you do go to Strasbourg, I strongly recommend a day trip to Colmar (or better yet,stay in Colmar and day trip to Strasbough). It's a much more manageable town, wonderful for exploring, great museum (Unterlinden).