Western Europe Summer 2012 Itinerary Help

I feel, your schedule is packed already. By the way, my schedule is far worse and I am trying to beat it into some acceptable shape. :) You can keep those extra 3-4 days for all the travelling and recovering that you may be doing. In any case, if you find a couple of days extra.......consider driving to the Loire valley( Amboise)...and may be back to Paris. I am not very sure, if there is anyway of travelling on to Venice from Amboise( nearest big railway station is Tours, imk)...others can hopefully guide on this. Unfortunately, I am having to give up on Amboise, just to keep my own tour-schedule in shape.

Instead of adding destinations, I'd stay an extra night in several of the ones you already have. Paris, Florence, and Rome are all worthy of more time, and all offer interesting day trips without using up more time with the whole packing/moving thing. From Paris: Giverny, Chartres, Rheims (champagne + cathedral), St. Denis, etc etc From Florence: 1/2 day to Pisa (enough), Siena From Venice: Verona (one of my faves in Italy) From Rome: Ostia Antica, Hadrian's Villa, even Orvieto

Assuming your itinerary is in order, I wouldn't travel by train between Paris and Venezia and between Roma and Barcelona (they are too far apart for trains, fly instead). This being said, I'd preferably spread those 4 "unplanned" days in the destinations you have already chosen.
"3 days in Roma" actually means 2 full days + 1 half day (assuming you departed early from Venezia in a high-speed train). With more days in some of those cities, you can take some side trip, without luggage, without check-in/out etc. It can be Zaragoza, Bologna, Lille, a day at Pompeii (only with high-speed train, never with a boring bus excursion), Ravena... all cities that are within a feasible radius for a trip in which you depart in the morning and arrive back early in the evening by train.

So, to then put the travel component in you get this, based on what you supplied, you may find you have less time than you think you have, Charli. My guess is that most of the "experiencing authentic European culture" will be the authentic culture of the insides of train compartments. So, (assume at least 6 hours each time to pack, check out, get to station, wait, board, de-board, get new local tickets, find new local map, figure out local transport, get to new hotel, check in, settle in, get ready to go out, get to first place to see): 5th - land, customs, find hotel, jetlag, settle in, 1/4 day in London 6th - London 7th - London 8th - leave hotel, travel to Paris (Eurostar 30 min check in minimum, 2:30 station to station, lose an hour time change). Total lost to travel 9 hours. 1 sight in Paris 9th - Paris 10th - Paris (are you planning to not sleep on the night train?) 11th - arrive Venice and because of the early arrival you get most of the day (unless it is the day train yesterday or today or a flight) 12th - Venice 13th - Venice 14th - Travel to Florence - train 2:03, total lost to relocation nearly 8 hours 15th - Florence or Pisa (surely there's no choice) 16th - a town un-named in Cinque Terre - train time 2.5 to 3 hours with Pisa in the middle if you must, total lost to travel much of the day 17th - that town in the 5 Terre 18th - travel to Rome, train time 5 hours, maybe you can have an evening walk 19th - Rome 20th - Rome 21st - Rome - midsummer day 22nd - if you fly to Barcelona figure 2 hours flight, check in of 90 minutes, an hour to airport and one out = 5.5, so that's most of the day. Train takes 23 or more hours so you lose more than one full day
23rd - Barca, 24th, 25th. Fly on 26th. Is that what you had in mind?

You need more time in Florence, Rome, and London. You need to fly between most of your destinations to save ground travel time. Use this site to pick cheap airlines: www.whichbudget.com That part about "authentic European culture" is unrealistic. You need to live there a while to experience that. Just have a good time and spend it in your destinations, not inside a train.

@ Nigel........how are you working up the wasted hours due to re-location? For example, in the transit from London to Paris, you have mentioned that 9 hrs get wasted..........................although the journey itself is of 2 and a half to 3 hrs. Can you plz explain? This will help me in scheduling my tour-plan too. Thanks

@ Nigel........how are you working up the wasted hours due to re-location? For example, in the transit from London to Paris, you have mentioned that 9 hrs get wasted..........................although the journey itself is of 2 and a half to 3 hrs. Can you plz explain? This will help me in scheduling my tour-plan too. Thanks

Subrata Have a look at the following thread: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/76170/to-rent-a-car-or-take-the-train.html and go to Bobbie's answer, the sixth one down, I think. That has your answer. I think she says 4 hours, I think that is optimistic.

London to Paris: 1/2 hour from hotel to train by taxi (more if traffic is bad) 1/2 hour (minimum) at train station - Eurostar recommends arriving a full hour in advance. 3 hours on the train (including time change) 1/2 hour from train to hotel (minimum - there are often quite long lines at the taxi stand and then there's traffic)
1/2 hour to check in and drop luggage So 5-6 hours. You still lose half a day. At best you could spend most of the day sightseeing in London, and get into Paris late in the evening. I don't remember if anyone mentioned it, but going to the CT from Florence takes time too - slow trains, transfers. If you really want to visit Pisa, I suggest you stop on the way from Florence to the CT. Leave your luggage at the train station, take a taxi to the Leaning Tower. When you're done, taxi or bus back to the train station. You will waste time if you do it as a day trip, returning to Florence. Also, if you want to climb the tower, you need to reserve in advance.