One month itinerary with teens Summer 2015

Amelia, these are great destinations, and you allocate at least the minimum at each stop. Nonetheless, except for the Cinque Terre they are all cities. I'm thinking you will regret that in the course of a month in the summer.

Also, the places are not handy to each other, so you must spend a lot of time in transit.

Are all of these destinations of equal importance? If you could, for instance, leave Barcelona for another trip, you could save a lot of running around. (Alternatively consider starting in Barcelona and flying from there to London etc.)

Some transit stuff: There are now fast trains Paris - Barcelona that do the trip in about 6-1/2 hours.

The night train options are not good on this route. They are completely untenable Barcelona - Monterossa (in the CT). The night train from Paris to Milan (if you start in Barc) is better, or you could fly.

The trick to long trips is to vary the texture and tempo. Leaven the great cities with great villages and countryside. Otherwise even the greats blur together.

Sounds like a great trip, with the right number of stops for a trip this length. Note the comment about the fast train from Paris to Barcelona--- a much better option than the night train via Perpignan.

I suggest you fly from Barcelona to Venice, then train to Florence, to Cinque Terre, then Rome. That route minimizes the travel time between these places.

Personally I think this is a great overview for your kids. You have enough time to see most of the major sights in each place and your kids will certainly go back for more when they're older!
My only other comment would be about taking night trains. There are very few night trains left in Europe except between large cities that are spaced very far apart, so you would have to check to see if your routes offer that anymore. Although they seem romantic, I have found night trains to be exceedingly uncomfortable, stuffy, and noisy. Unless you are going high end they really aren't worth it. Your distances between Paris - Barcelona, and Barcelona - Italy aren't really long enough for an overnight train anyway.
Take the Eurostar from London to Paris, fly to Barcelona and fly to Italy or take a daytime train. It's only about 6 hours and the route from Barcelona to Italy is quite lovely. Same approximate time from Paris to Barcelona. With flights within Europe being as cheap as they are, flying is often preferable to train these days.

I love the advice to vary the texture and tempo! As excited as I am about this trip, I just kept thinking how TIRED we are going to be when we get home!

So...I'm still in early stages of researching this...but I'm thinking of switching the Italy portion to 2 nights in Venice, a week in Lucca or similar town where we can do some day trips to CT and Florence but also have some time just relaxing and not fighting crowds and long lines. And then ending the trip with 3 days in Rome.

Skip Barcelona, put in a few days in Switzerland instead. Somewhere in the high Alps with lots of "white-tops" and a visit to a Glacier. That is then your countryside fix.
Possibly Venice before Cinque Terre, and the whole trip is sort-of in a straight line, no more zig-zagging. I am assuming all the travel between cities is by day train.

Or if the girls really want Barcelona instead of the Alps
Direct Paris --> Venice (night train as far as Milan). Onward Cinque Terre --> Florence --> Rome. Then cheap flight to Barcelona, and fly home from there.

Going north to south is a good idea, as you will slowly get acclimatised to the heat of a Mediteranean summer

I have traveled with teens and love that you are mixing it up. The kids really do like down time to kind of settle into a place for a while, then they are ready for more sightseeing.

Make sure the kids take a journal. They will love reading it years down the road. I designed a journal/trip log that I made sure the kids filled out each nite...also nice if each one has their own camera. What a great experience. I usually give them an ' assignment' to do a bit of research on one place and plan a day.

Amelia, now you're cookin'!

Only check out the transit connections for your day trips (from Lucca or wherever). It could be more than you'd like.

Use Vueling for flights into Venice or Pisa.

I think Lucca is a great place to relax with your girls. If you get bored...

Easy day trips from Lucca

Pisa 35min. by train

Pistoia, Montecatini Terme , with a cute funiculare to the upper Village Alto 40min to first 12m to second.

Cinque Terre 1H07m by train

Florence 1H30m

Have a wonderful time, and I second the suggestion of TK to take a journal, or have them make one.

Stickers have come a long way and travel stickers are readily available for most cities.

The Germain rail site shows no AM trips from Lucca to CT at less than 2 hours. It's doable but a lot of train time as a day trip (since you must also return).

I think your original itinerary looks great.

Lucca is nice. I think Florence would be better though with the girls. Florence really shouldn't be a "day trip" as it's worth at least three days. Florence is a huge transportation hub, and you could day-trip to Siena and a number of other places that CAN be seenin a day. Check out VFBO #68776. It's a lovely apartment in a residential area within walking distance to all the major sites. The piazzas in Florence are absolutely beautiful at night to sit in and have a nice meal and a drink.

The apartment I mentioned is two bedrooms with a nice little outdoor patio. I've spent several weeks there on three separate trips, and really enjoyed it, as did all the friends I've brought on these trips. The owner, Christina is a lovely woman and she has a teenaged girl.