First time to Europe have 5 to 7 weeks for trip starting in Rome 4/23/19

As far as communicating, if you just buy a European plan from your cell phone provider, family members can call you on your same number and talk.

As for your other questions, they are sort of impossible to answer without knowing more about the trip, like budget, likes and dislikes, logistical considerations, and where you would like to visit. How about fleshing out your request?

We have t mobile and we called home a couple times. It was not that expensive.

Thank you for your quick reply. Hope this helps.
Our budget is very modest. We have enough rewards points for 20 stays in hotels. We thought we would use those in Barcelona, Paris and the UK. We plan to use Airbnb for any other destinations (France and Netherlands). We plan to visit the Mauritshuis in the Hague and any small museums that we may come across. On this trip we really just want to meet people and experience local customs, cuisine, and architecture. As for traveling in and between countries we are clueless. We have thought about flying from Rome to Barcelona and Barcelona to either Lyon or Burgundy. And then taking the train between other locations. Cost time and convenience would factor into choice of tranportation for that leg of the trip. Friends have said we really should consider taking the Eurostar from the UK to Brussels and than go on to Amsterdam for our last leg of the trip. Any thoughts?

The fastest route without backtracking would be.

Rome (FCO) > Lyon (LYS). Fly.

Lyon (LYS) > Barcelona (BCN). Fly.

Barcelona (BCN) > London Gatwick (LGW). Fly.

London > Paris. Train. Eurostar.

Paris > Amsterdam. Train Thalys.

For these short flights, look at budget airlines, Easyjet and Vueling. Just be sure you understand the baggage requirements.

For both the trains and airlines, the earlier you purchase, the less expensive the tickets.

For phone service, whichever plan you go with, remind your mom and SIL the best time to reach you, I'm going by central time so adjust, is between 10-3.

Thanks your comments were very helpful.

Regarding your next stop after Rome, have you considered stopping at key places on the way. For example, from Rome to Lyon, there is much to see. You could stop in Pisa and Lucca, Cinque Terre, even Milan in Italy. Also, you could visit Provence (South of France--French Riveria) visiting Monaco, Nice, St. Paul de Venice, Eze, (then head up the Rhone River Valley), Arles, Avignon, Pont du Guard, Viene and Lyon. We did a wonderful week long river cruise on the Rhone and Saone Rivers. It might bust your budget, but you can do the same places on your own.

You could fly to Barcelona or take the train, then the high speed train to Paris, or skip Barcelona and take the high speed train from Lyon to Paris.

Some great places to visit in France are the Loire Valley, Normandy, Strasbourg (on German border),

Your still plan to visit Rome, Paris and London, which each deserve 5-6 days. Amsterdam, 2-3, Lyon and surrounding 2-3. Barcelona 3-4.

Plan on visiting Brugges, Belgium on your way from Paris to Amsterdam.

With up to seven weeks you can do more than just the five destinations you list. On the other hand, you could also have a nice trip with five bases and doing day trips. I would try to limit the flights as much as possible. I feel days I take a train between places, even if it's 3 or 4 hours or a bit more, that I still have a good portion of the day for sightseeing. But flying seems to eat up a whole day even if the flight is only an hour or so (all that getting to and from the airports, which are not in city centers, security lines, etc. - just takes up more time than you think). You will certainly need at least one flight.

Consider flying Rome to Barcelona. Then train up through Provence to Lyon. You could stop for a few days once or twice, perhaps Marseille and Avignon, each with a day trip or two. From Lyon it's easy train to Paris. Also easy train to either London or Amsterdam and then to the other one depending on where you want to fly home from. Lots of day trip possibilities from each of those, or consider a few days in Belgium before Amsterdam.

Do your mother and SIL have smart phones? If so, install Whatsapp on all your phones. Any time you have wifi access you can call them and they can call you for free using the app. If you have a data plan for Europe (maybe your US carrier offers one?), then you don't need wifi. You can also send text messages, videos and photos for free.