Planning the Perfect Trip with Parents!

I have two thoughts.

Focus the whole trip on the UK. There’s plenty of castles, cathedrals & amazing gardens. An advantage is there’s no language barrier for them. Also the time between locations will probably be shorter.

Or a sampling trip could be flying into Vienna and working your way by train to fly home from Paris.

By the way, I’m in my late 60’s, and still going full speed ahead during my trips to Europe! ; ). What a wonderful opportunity of memories you will be creating together!

10 days on the ground really means a sampler trip. Once you pick your targets there is lots of weather data available on the internet. In addition there are "Garden focused" tours so check some out for ideas on where they go and when (not that you would need to take one of them). I would suggest flying into Geneva and in the first half of the trip do France (select among Annecy, Lyon, Paris or something similar depending in your/their tastes) then the second half in England (select among London, Stratford, Salisbury, Cotswolds, again depending on your/their tastes and interest). Two nights in each place so each location gets one full day to enjoy. Most can be done by train although for the Cotswolds a car would probably be easier. Have fun planning. I have used the itineraries for the RS tours as a way to start my own thinking about touring different areas, although I have never been on a tour.

You want a perfect trip with your parents? My dad always said watch out what you wish for. I'm kidding. I wish I would've made a trip like this with them.
For me a perfect trip is one that is planned out. By that I mean everything is planned out like a Rick Steves type tour. Cities, motels, some meals, daily tour or activity with some free time fit in each day. You can do your own planning or go on a tour. I will explain why a Rick Steves tour is something that may suit your needs.
My wife and I are in our mid sixties and we made our first trip to Europe two years ago and hit many of the largest cities over a three week trip. I did all the planning myself. I had just retired so i had the time. I bought all the travel books and watched way too many U Tubes. I booked all the trains, rooms and tours myself. It was a lot of work. Then I used an app called Tripit and inputed the entire trip.
Amsterdam , Bruges, Paris, London, Edinburgh with a couple of other smaller stops. We did this many cities and countries because we weren't sure if we would ever come back. This was both our first trip overseas. So we thought we needed to see as much as possible not knowing if we would ever come back. We fit a lot of sites into each stop. I am always amazed when I see something in person that I have seen all my life in pictures or films. Walking up to the Eifel Tower or Big Ben is something you should see once in your life. But that is just me and what I like to do.
We liked the first trip so much we thought we would look into a Rick Steves tour in Italy since we didn't hit Italy or Rome on our first trip. Plus planning a perfect trip is difficult so we thought let's try one of Rick's tour. We choose the 9 day Venice, Florence, Rome tour. We flew into Rome to start our trip before the RS tour started in Venice. We were able to overcome our jet lag and visit some Rome sites the tour wasn't going to visit like the Colosseum and St Peter's. The RS tour skips those sites because of the crowd size. But the tour always leaves you time to visit those sites during your free time they give you.
We met some of the nicest people on this tour. Everyone was open and engaged. One thing for my wife and I were many of our tourmates were our age, mid sixties. A few other couples in their forties. And one family with a twenty year old daughter. This was our first tour with people over a 9 day period. I don't think I've been around this type of thing since summer camp.
So we are doing another Rick Steves tour this spring. 12 days in Portugal. Lisbon to Porto. Then after the tour we're going to walk the Camino de Portuguese between Porto and Santiago Spain. I don't have to do any planning for the first part then all the planning for the second part.
A perfect trip all comes.down to planning and not putting too much into each day. Know when your leaving and arriving between cities but leave some open times in each city.
So I don't know you or your parents or husband. I take it your the daughter and your husband is the son in law and you want a perfect trip? Your words not mine. You may want to look into a Rick Steves tour. There are so many different options. Plus you will travel with others your parents age, old peoplelike to be around each other. We like to sit around and talk about the good old days and you never know when you and your husband will need that time to get away from and having others around is a nice option.
Sorry to ramble on but either way make that trip. If you think this will be their only trip make sure it's places they want to go to. You get old people in a situation they don't like it doesn't matter how perfect the plan is.

You mentioned the favourite locations of you and your husband. But where would your parents like to visit? If you want to plan the "perfect trip", perhaps their wishes should have priority. Sit down with them and have an honest discussion. And an "oh, I don't know; whatever you decide" is not good enough.

As a 75 yr old who still travels internationally at least twice a year, I will say that your comment about your physically fit parents ages being a possible concern smacked of undeserved agism.

With only 10 days on the ground, you really need to be aware of travel times between places you choose to visit. You will lose at least half a day to travel every time you check out of one hotel and move to another in a different town. So moving more than 3 times will indeed result in a trip full of little more than drive bys.

May is an excellent choice. And the previous suggestion of limiting your trip to places in England is worthy of serious consideration. The gardens will be lovely. And remember that the Chelsea Flower show will be held the 3rd week of the month.

With basically 10 days, I would suggest either sticking to 1 country OR splitting your time between 2 cities , perhaps London and Paris. You'll have gardens, castles, cathedrals. Toss in a day trip in both locations to get a "small town" experience.

You could fly into London, take the Eurostar to Paris and fly home from Paris. May will be great for gardens, but there are some holidays to work around.

Keep in mind the more you change locations, the less time you will have to explore and experience. If you could stretch your trip to 2 weeks, you could add another base location.

But really, if this trip is for your mother, what does she want to see and do? Is her dream of Europe sitting at an outdoor cafe with a view of the Eiffel Tower? A gondola ride along the canals in Venice? Absorbing the centuries of history at Westminster Abbey? Walking the cobblestone streets in fairy tale Bruges? Lunch overlooking vineyards in Tuscany? Seeing the works of a favorite artist?

I want to say that I love that you are taking this trip with your parents. Some of the responses have felt a little harsh to me. You are wanting to give your parents the very best of times and are asking for ideas. Very thoughtful!

I would echo the suggestion to narrow your focus. Everyone has a few dream places that they have always wanted to see. I’d pick a few of your parents’ top dream locations and go from there.

You know their travel styles better than anyone else. Are they go, go, go travelers or do they prefer a slower pace? Match your itinerary with their style and interests and you are sure to have a great trip.

I have traveled with my adult children and really value those times we have together. If I am honest, the destination is less important than having those days together with the people I love. My guess is that just being with you will be the best part of this trip for your parents.