Where to go Mom Daughter 7nt trip for Graduation

Approach the issue backwards:

Rome and Madrid will be worn out in four or five days, so you'll have to spend more money on transportation to someplace else to kill time. They also tend to cost a bit more to get to. Madrid's cheaper, but the Andalucia swing is hard to do in that amount of time. The Toledo-Segovia-Avila loop is a bunch of one-nighters. Anything close to Rome is essentially more of Rome.

London would be okay, but it costs like the dickens.

Which leaves.......Paris! Easy to do on the cheap if you know where to stay. Everything's compact. Plenty to do for a week with maybe one short excursion.

My first reaction is to recommend that you do a little research, to determine your interests. You can start by clicking on the "Plan Your Trip" tab above, then clicking on "Best Destinations". As you are reading, compile a list of places that interest you (daughter can do same thing). This should help you narrow down the choices. You might want to get started right away, so you can begin tracking airfares - June is not too far away.

While it is tempting to try to "do it all", in 6 to 8 days you realistically only have time for two destinations. Travel between places takes time and money, so it is best to limit transfers. Spending at least 3 days in a place gives you a chance to get to know it a bit.

If you have never been to Europe before, and only have 6 to 8 nights, London and Paris would make a good destination. Fly into London, take the train to Paris, and fly home from there. London is expensive, but there are ways around it, and it is a wonderful city. (Our daughters preferred it to Paris). In Paris, you can sometimes find an apartment that is less expensive than hotels.

Another option would be to spend all the time in Paris and do daytrips from there.

Or, if Italy is your priority, fly to Rome and divide your time between Rome and Florence.

If you're wanting to keep costs down, then the cheapest place that you listed would be Spain.

For a first time to Europe you might look at the City Tour offerings on this site.

Even if you decided not to do a tour you could look at sample itineraries for ideas.

My daughter adored Paris. What are your daughter's specific interests besides wanting to see the sights?

I would suggest either spending the week in Paris with a couple of day trips, spending most of the week there with a couple of days nearby such as Normandy, or split your week between Paris and London. As already mentioned, it is easy to go between Paris and London. If you go between those two cities I would actually start in London, spend 3 nights then take the Eurostar to Paris.

The more you move around the more money you spend on transportation. I have also found that sometimes you get a deal on hotel rooms if you spend more time there.

I would hate to think of leaving Rome to travel 1.5 hours by train to Florence to spend a few days as "killing time".

But I agree with everyone above who said the most economical option is probably simply Paris. Rent a small apartment and live like locals, shopping at the markets, using the Metro, etc. to get around.

But I notice paris is not on the original list. Rome, London and Spain are.

You might start checking airfare and see if that is a deciding factor. You will have a wonderful time wherever you go.

Did your daughter take a foreign language in school? I'd take her to wherever she can practice and show you what she learned! ;-)