Itinerary planning for 2 weeks in Europe

That's too many places for the time you have. Every time you switch cities like that, at least 1/2 day evaporates. Realistically, most of us figure that we don't accomplish much at all on a travel day.

How many nights will you be able to spend in Europe? The night of your overnight flight doesn't count.

Two weeks in Italy would be a more suitable plan, but it can be unpleasantly hot in the summer, and I see that you are from Oregon, so you might consider staying north of the Alps. If Italy is a must, push the trip as early in June as you can, and see if it works to begin the trip in Rome.

Do not take heavy bags. Taxis will not solve the problem of too much luggage. You'll still probably have to go up and down flights of stairs in train stations, and possibly in hotels. Plan to rinse out clothes in your hotel room or look for a laundromat. Some will wash your clothes for you; you just drop them off. See the "Packing" section under Travel Tips in the left panel on this website. Among other issues, there won't be hangers provided for all those clothes, do you'll be carrying around a bunch of wrinkled garments.

You'll benefit from reading "Europe through the Back Door".

How does one handle heavy luggage in going from place to place

Do not have heavy luggage. See the 'packing tips'---https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light

My daughter wants to not get rushed like crazy

You are contemplating 5-7 destinations in '2 weeks' spread across 4 countries. The only way to 'not get rushed like crazy' is to limit how many and how widely spread your destinations are

The Uber you know in Portland, does not exist in Italy

You need more time or fewer places

Rome-Florence-Venice is ideal for 2 weeks

Rome and Paris is ideal for 2 weeks

Anything else will be a blur.

I am British, not American and I wouldn’t dream of just taking a smal piece of hand luggage for a 2 week trip. We would have one large piece of checked in luggage (weighing c 15 kilos for a 2 week trip) between the two of us plus one piece of hand luggage each (weighing another 20 kilos in total), all of which have wheels. We have never had any issues getting around Europe with this luggage. Most accommodation has lifts or you won’t have too many stairs to negotiate. Trains have places for luggage. Make your daughter responsible for her own bag.

Thanks, folks for keeping me honest. I appreciate all the suggestions till now and all in the future. definitely cutting down my schedule from my pipe dream to reality. My kid is more practical than me.
Love the common sense advise - July getting too hot in Italy, luggage packing tips. Dropping Amsterdam for sure. Kid wants to see Paris. I want to see Vatican City and Florence and Venice(see greedy again). That is the highest priority items.
Pls keep it coming,
TIA,
Vijay

It would be helpful if you had an idea of how many days on the ground you actually have. That said, what about this?

Fly to Paris, spend 5 or 6 nights there, then fly to Venice (shouldn't be more than 90 minute flight, check with budget air carriers), spend 2 nights (in summer you'll be ready to leave), then train to Florence for a few nights, then train to Rome. Either fly back to Paris for return to OR or do "open jaw" flights and fly out of Rome to OR. You'll have to compare the cost to see which is the best option, financially.

Is it a busy trip? Sure, but it's doable. I don't think 4 different locations, 3 in the same country, in 2 weeks is insane. Are you going to be spending less time in those locations (except for Venice) than is ideal? Sure, but you could spend a month in Paris and not see all there is to see.

Because my suggestion involves taking a European budget carrier, I'd try to pack everything into a carry on and do laundry twice during the trip, but that's me. I'm a cheapskate when it comes to baggage fees, but I also hate carrying around heavy bags. I'd rather spend a couple hours doing laundry than drive myself crazy hauling a larger-than-carry-on sized bag up the staircases in the summer heat.

OK, you have your priorities. Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris.
Rome and Paris each deserve 4 nights, Florence and Venice 3 nights. So there you have it, 14 nights.
Details, fly into Rome, train to Florence, train to Venice, fly to Paris and fly home from Paris.
If you feel adventurous, you could take the Thello night train from Venice to Paris. Expensive with a premium cabin. Otherwise, you can get an Easyjet flight for about 50 EUR pp with luggage if you book well in advance.

You could do your stopover in Switzerland, but that takes away days from the other cities, and getting there and on to Paris takes up the better part of a day.

Trains Rome to Florence is only 1 1/2 hours and Florence to Venice is just 2 hours.

Sam's itinerary makes sense, and will at least allow you to hit the main sights in each city; although it is still a very busy schedule. But it does at least take intercity travel time into account. This does NOT include your travel days to and from Europe, though, so you would actually need 16 days to do this 14 day trip. You have lots of time to look at flights. Perhaps look at multicity (open jaw) flights into Rome and out of Paris and set up price alerts on a site like Google Flights. I agree that the earlier in June you go, the better, to avoid the worst of both the heat and the crowds.

Based on all the sane advise here in the forum:
My girl made it easy. She cut out Paris- so we are planning to focus on Italy. So, maybe a trip from Rome to Pompeii--> Vesuvius -> Amalfi and back.
Another option was to go to Venice & then skirt over to Slovenia instead of to Amalfi ??? Or should I try Milan instead????
Thanks once again in advance,
Vijay

Rome to Pompeii--> Vesuvius -> Amalfi and back.
Another option was to go to Venice & then skirt over to Slovenia instead of to Amalfi ??? Or should I try Milan instead????

Stick with Italy and don't mess up the two weeks with another country. Milano is OK, but unless you ahve a site or sight in mind, skip it on your first trip.

Rome - 5 nights
Sorrento - 5 nights (includes seeing Pompeii and Vesuvius as well as the Amalfi Coast)
Venice - 4 nights

Very nice pace. Can be reversed, i.e. Venice - Sorrento - Rome. All done by train.

Very nice pace. Can be reversed, i.e. Venice - Sorrento - Rome. All done by train.

I like the Venice 1st route, as its easier from a logistics standpoint, to get to US from Rome.

I want to see Florence for sure.
Rome -5 nights
Sorrento -4 nights
Florence (lukka)- 3 nights
Venice - 2 nights ??

Rome - Sorrento - back to Rome - Florence - Venice - rome
Maybe fly back from venice to rome & go home ?? Every other trip by rail ?

Rome - Sorrento - back to Rome - Florence - Venice - rome Maybe fly
back from venice to rome & go home ?? Every other trip by rail ?

Why would you want to waste so much time going back and forth and back and forth like that? Joe's recommendation makes much more sense, saves time, and avoids too much backtracking. And can eadily be done by train. Fly into Venice, then Florence (with your side trip to Lucca), then down to Sorrento before finishing up in Rome and flying home from there, because you will likely have the best choice of flights from there (vs Venice).

My opinion is stick with just Italy, or you can go London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam all via the train. I would pick one of those 2 and start planning. Personally I have enjoyed getting to know 1 country than going to several big cities but it's all personal preference, especially if you have to entertain a teenager (i mean that in the best way). I have done 2 weeks in Spain and I have done 2 weeks hitting London-Paris-Florence-San Sebastian.

Since you said your daughter does not want to be rushed I would stick with Italy but it's something you should talk through. Present some options and be flexible.

For 2 weeks, stick with Italy.

I would also vote for just taking a carry on and doing laundry.
This advice increases in value as the number of destination increases.
Many great places to stay are in old buildings with tall ceilings that have no elevator and long stairs.
Search the forum for great ideas on how to maximize your wardrobe.
Another option might be to do Rome(5)-->Venice(3)-->Paris(6).
Venice to Paris is only a 2 hour flight for about $55.
Have fun.

Like the Land in venice -> florence -> sorrento -> rome idea.
Just checked Costco travel & they have 1 for 2 people at around 10k - flight from pdx & travel by rail included all around + hotel stays + amalfi chauffeured trip. Should I even consider this or wing it myself to save myself money ? https://www.costcotravel.com/Vacation-Packages/Europe/Italy/Offers/EURVCEFLRROMRRO20120817

Personally, I think you could do an Italy trip yourself for much less than $10K (depending of course on your style of travel--where you're willing to save and where you like to splurge). It would just require a little bit of research and planning.

Hi,
Rick Steve's books are awesome. Thanks for all the itinerary and book recommendations.
My tentative itinerary:

Travel:
Start PDX 6/7 - Land in Venice 6/8
Venice (3 nights) 6/8-6/10

Train from Venice to Florence - 2h40m

Florence(5 nights) 6/10-6/15 - day trips to Lucca or Siena

Train Florence to Rome (1.5 hrs) 6/15-6/20

Rome(5 nights) -
1 day - Vatican City

Train Rome to Sorrento via Naples(1.5 hrs)

Sorrento(4 nights) 6/20-6/24
Amalfi - 6/21 bus tour
Capri-Blue Grotto- day trip- 6/22

Could switch between Rome and Sorrento(aka Naples airport) depending upon airline prices for going back to PDX as prices from Naples back to PDX seem to be higher than from Rome to PDX.

Would like some feedback on the spread of 5 nights in Florence and 5 in Rome and 4 in Sorrento ? 3 -4 nights in each place seems optimal but would like your feedback based on my tentative itinerary.

TIA,
Vijay

Unless you have already made plans to fill all your time in Florence, I would make just one tweak to your plan and add a night in Venice and take it from Florence ( Only because your arrival day in Venice is lost to jet lag.)

When you look at the return flights ( cost) be sure to factor in the land travel cost back to Rome as well as the value of your time.