Need Itinerary Help Please!

James you are rushing the whole thing. Each time you change cities, you will eat up a day in travel and logistics. So you will have a couple of hours in Venice, not a day; a day in Florence and 1 1/2 days of actual time in Rome. Most of those hours will be taken up looking for a hotel and getting to it, and meals. If it were me, since you're committed to entering through Dusseldorf, I would fly to Rome, then Paris, and London. Just my opinion.

I agree with Stan, you are rushing the trip and will not see much of any thing. Time to check in and out of hotels, time to get to airports, train stations, time to eat breakfast, time for lunch and dinner. Jet lag is also a factor. You could stay just in one city of a whole week and not see it all! Since you are committed to the flights, spend your time in Rome and London. There is so much to see and do and walk to. If you must, include Paris, but do drop Venice and Florence. Look at the week long tours of London, Paris and Rome and you will see what the RS tours do every day. I have been to all the cities you want to see and they all need a week. Museums, parks, cafes, piazza's, churches to see. Amazing cities that should be seen and not breeze through. And YES, once you have your cities planned, book as soon as you can your hotels. Don't wait, big mistake. You are not risking so much the price going up, but more that you will not get a room or rooms. Many people from all over the world travel! It is busy all year long for every city. I already booked my five nights in Paris for this September. Think of this way, would you spend six days in six states, or six cities in one state in the USA. Plan it out and you will have a wonderful time! Look at the RS scrapbooks and you will see all the places they go and see. May help with your plans. Happy travels.

So you've already booked plane tickets, but they are to places you are not interested in seeing? Business class is great, but you've somewhat boxed yourselves in. Since your flight from Dusseldorf to Italy will be on a separate ticket, if your flight in from the US is delayed, you may miss your connection, and the airline has no responsibility to get you to your final destination. Sorry to be such a wet blanket, but last October my sister was flying from SFO to Paris business class and ended up arriving a full day late; good thing she was starting her trip with 4 days in Paris. So I'm a bit spooked about your plan.

Maybe consider taking a day or two in Germany [perhaps Cologne?], then 3-4 nights Rome, 3-4 nights Paris, and 2 nights London. I've never been to Rome, but Paris and London are great cities and you'll just scratch the surface in those few days. But at least it will give your daughter a taste.

Try skyscanner.com for cheap flights within Europe, and play around with your options. Note that some budget airlines, Ryanair in particular, may use some farther airports; Ryanair flies to Beauvais rather than Orly or Charles de Gaulle for its Paris flights. I've used EasyJet several times and found it very reasonable. You do have to read their rules; EasyJet allows one item in the cabin, not one suitcase PLUS a personal item, and if you have to make a change at the airport it can be quite expensive.

You will also want to book your Eurostar train tickets from Paris to London as soon as your plans firm up; ticket prices rise as the dates get closer. I just took a look, and for June 20 there are 2 trains with tickets at $54 each, then several $70 trains, then some $90, and most of the morning trains are $110 or more. On June 21, the cheapest ticket is $90 and some trains have only $110 tickets left.

Whatever you decide, this is a wonderful present for your daughter - have a great time!

James,

Definitely make all your lodging reservations as soon as you have your trip path.

You don't have enough time to do 3 cities in Italy. Try this approach...

6/11. Arrive Dusseldorf. Fly to Venice. Alitalia Airlines 10:45-12:15. $91.50. Check into lodging.
Explore Venice.

6/12. Venice

6/13. Venice. Late afternoon train to Rome. Use Trenitalia. 3H45m 39 euro.
Check into lodging. Dinner Rome.

6/14. Rome

6/15. Rome

6/16. Rome

6/17. Fly Easyjet FCO-Paris Orly. 9:50-11:55. 2H05m. Flexi fare includes luggage,seats. $95
Explore Paris after check-in.

6/18. Paris

6/19. Paris

6/20. Paris

6/21. Paris. Fly Easyjet CDG-LGW. 21:55-22:05. 2H10m. Flexi fare $114.36
About the same price as Eurostar, but gets you to the airport without a transfer.

6/22. Fly home.

Great Graduation Gift. Have a great trip.

James, what a nice gift!

I can see why you chose those cities (I imagine some are your daughter's choices), but I wonder if you could steal a day from Paris and have 2 nights in Venice. That would eliminate the one-night stay on the day you will most likely be tired by long flights and connections.

Or you could fly from Dusseldorf to Rome, then visit Florence and Venice, fly to London from Venice and leave Paris for another trip. That could give you 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, 3 nights Rome, and two nights somewhere else (Cinque Terre or one of the Lakes for a change of pace from an all-city trip), or add a night to Florence for a daytrip somewhere nearby (Siena perhaps).

Stan, Ann, Thanks for your candor. You confirmed my fears about having too much packed into a short time frame.

Kathleen, finding 3 premium (helps me to cope with my fear of flying) award tickets on the same plane to and from Europe just 100 days out is almost a miracle. Just getting to the continent and back was my first concern. As you said, short flights can be inexpensive if I know the baggage rules. But thank you for reminding me of the flight delay issue with a non Star Alliance member and their lack of accountability if I miss my flight. I've got about four hours between flights so I'll just have to chance it. Thanks for the Eurostar info as well !

gerri,

Excellent! I'm strongly considering your suggestion. I appreciate the time you took to price out the flights, train trips and times. You must be addicted to travel research like I am :)

Zoe and Ray,
Good advice on all counts. That's why I came here before cementing my plans.

This time, I hope to write a trip report upon our return. So you all can see how much I screwed up :)

Gerri, or anyone else who might know,

RE: "6/17. Fly Easyjet FCO-Paris Orly. 9:50-11:55. 2H05m. Flexi fare includes luggage,seats. $95
Explore Paris after check-in."

I take it "luggage" means carry on bag and "hold" baggage that you pay extra for is checked bags right?
I've flew Easy Jet from EDI to CDG but I can't make sense of their website for some reason this time.

Thanks,
James

Yes, James. the flexi far includes your seat and hold luggage. You also get priority boarding. You still may have a carry on in the cabin.Read carefully the requirement. 1 bag means just that. I put my purse inside carry on.

" Because we'll be there a little before the busiest season starts, can I wait to reserve all of my rooms and leave us some flexibility? Or am I risking having to pay last minute sky high prices by doing that?"

I wouldn't really say you will be there before the busiest season leaving on June 11. Yes, is isn't July or August, but you are going to the some of the top visited cities. Trying to get a triple room, or two rooms, in a busy city during the summer could be a challenge, even booking now! I'd suggest you decide where you plan to go and get those rooms nailed down soon!

Just my 2 cents... I would skip Florence and stay longer in Venice. Venice is a one of a kind experience whereas Florence is much like other cities throughout Italy and Europe.

James:

FYI: You could have flied on Norwegian Air very inexpensively from Orlando (or Ft. Lauderdale)--absolutely the cheapest way to Europe from North America. It would have simplified your itinerary somewhat.

You're wanting to go to some really great European cities--each worthy of a minimum 4 nights. I agree with the itinerary above where you take in less cities--bypassing Florence for more time in Rome.
Have a great time with your family.

While one can easily spend the entire time you have in Venice, Rome, or Paris, Gerri's plan make a great deal of sense to me. Enough time in each place to experience the city and still have a variety. Look closely at Gerri's plan and let me know if you need specifics about any of the three cities.