Planning a first trip to Europe

I would suggest limiting your number of locations to 3 --> 3 nights in each location. Since you've mentioned countryside activities, I would recommend 2 cities and one village/smaller town location. Rome & Venice are completely different from each other & easy to connect by train. If you don't have the RS Italy book, that could really help you decide on locations that appeal to you.

Paris is wonderful, but for a 9-day trip, I wouldn't want to use a whole day to fly to another location unless you're just covering Rome & Paris.

Welcome to the forum!

I would first try to extend the 9 days (probably 8 nights) as far out as possible, if you plan more than just Rome. Paris, Venice & then Rome in that timeframe, in the heat of August, is not a great idea--you'll be on the road way too much.

That being said, even if you are able to stretch your trip out to, say, 11 days/10 nights, you should stick to one country. Here's a neat website for logistics that will answer some questions for you: https://www.rome2rio.com/

Fly into Venice, fly out of Rome, stay a night or two maybe in Orvieto on the way down. Let us know what you do. Enjoy your planning!

Rick Steves has a really good video on You Tube on trip planning. You can start by making a list of all the places you want to visit and why (Museum, landmark etc). That will help you determine how long you will need in each place. Then you list the top 5-10 things you want to do from your list. That will give you a better picture of what your trip will look like, you may discover that you need 4 full days in Rome and 4 Full days in Paris and all the other "ideas" go out the door or saved for the next trip. Now you become focused and the planning fun begins! Is that 9 days on the ground or 2 in transit giving you only a week on the ground?

9-days is about the bare minimum for Americans traveling to Europe, 2-weeks is ideal but, our work schedule sometime don't allow it. Just the air travel itself and the transit time necessitates at least a week-plus, to make such an expenditure worthwhile. August travel means middle of Summer, which can be oppressive depending on where you're from, if you can move it into late Aug or, Sept, that would be easier otherwise, you'll need to seek accommodations that have A/C. A workable itinerary below:

3-nts Venice
3-nts Florence (include a day trip to Siena)
3-nts Rome

The above itinerary should meet your demands (flip it around if need be) and is the most popular for first timers to Italy. All are train accessible offering plenty of departure times and each is about 2-hrs apart so, you're not spending all your time in-transit. You'll be able to see most of the big, A-list attractions that Italy has to offer while leaving you wanting more. Each location has its own distinct flavor and when you return for a second trip, you're already familiar with those areas and thus, you can explore those regions further.

Welcome to the forum!

There's always a tension between quantity and quality, especially when you aren't sure when you'll get a chance to return.

I'm glad you want to include trips to the countryside. I love big cities like Rome and Paris, but I also like to get out away from the big city to see another side of the country I'm visiting.

My suggestion would be to spend half your time in Rome and half your time in Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast. We've never been south of Rome, but we spent a magical 8 days in Tuscany December 2016. Do some research, there are a number of agriturismos that you could use as a home base to tour the countryside. Some even have cooking classes!

Look on YouTube, Rick just traveled the area and you can get a feel for what's available.

What time of year are you planning to go? We did a walking tour in Rome the last night of our trip. Our guide, who has spent years as a tour guide in Rome, mentioned that they have opened a port for cruise ships near Rome. In the summer there may be four or five boats anchored and the cruise lines take day trips into the city, hauling in 8-10,000 tourists at once. She said it has made Rome extremely crowded.

When you do go, I highly recommend Walks of Italy tours. We took the one I mentioned earlier, as well as two in Florence. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and helpful and tickets to museums come with the tour, thus you avoid the normal lines to get in.

Prepare to fall in love with Italy. It's a magical place!

Are those 9 days on the ground, or do they include your travel time from and back to your home (USA?)? Keep in mind that you will leave the USA (?) on 1 day and arrive in Italy the next day. Likewise, your last day in country will be a travel day.

Similar question, how many nights in Italy do you have? Your arrival day will be challenging due to jet-lag and getting settled. It's almost not countable as a useful day for seeing stuff. And in general, 2 nights in a place equals one day of sightseeing. Unless the trip is about getting around Italian style, you lose precious time by changing locations too frequently.

Even if you have 9 nights, that's not very many. I'd stick to 2 locations only. Fly into one and out of the other (called multi-city). If Venice is your choice with Rome, try to get a non-stop from the USA (?) to Venice first and fly home from Rome. Use Google Flights to scope out the options. Multi-city flights may seem expensive at first -- until you factor in the wasted time and extra money to backtrack for a seemingly cheaper round trip.

One heads up: the Venice Biennale will be going on this summer. I hope to be there in late June. I expect many arty people to be there with me. That could be lots of fun for your family, or not. Click on the calendar to see what will be going on when you are likely to be there.

One other bit of advice is that for the 4 of you, an apartment might be cheaper than a hotel or B&B. Booking.com can give you a idea of what's available at what price during your time in whatever city you plan to visit. It has all kinds of lodging options, but there may not be very many that can sleep 4 adults in the same room. Your kids are too old to be children. They will count as adults. If you decide in favor of an apartment, there are other possibilities for finding one besides Booking.com. Other people can provide more help on that than I can.

Thoroughly explore all the great Travel Tips and the Watch, Read, Listen section on this RS website. Get everyone involved in the planning and have fun doing it. Remember that a group of any size moves at the pace of the slowest person, but all of you don't have to be glued at the hip all the time.

I'd stick to one country with just 8 or 9 nights. As already noted, repositioning yourself chews up far too much time on a short trip. And it's not like Italy (or France) is short on Class A destinations.

I don't know where you are from but you may encounter extreme heat in southern Italy. (For that matter, it may be very hot in northern Italy in August.) We like to point this out to summer travelers because those of us in most of the US tend to live in air-conditioned environments. It's different when you're a tourist. You're outdoors a lot. Small cafes may not be air-conditioned. Archaeological museums are often not air conditioned. Be sure you have an air-conditioned and accessible hotel you can escape to for a couple of hours in the middle of the day if you need to.

Do try to add more time to this trip if you can. An additional day need not break the bank; a lot of the cost of the trip is tied up in the one-time airfare expense. You do not have to stay in expensive hotels. Simpler places may be small (especially the showers!), but I'm a budget traveler and use them all the time. Just give me my own bathroom, air-conditioning and Wi-Fi, and I'm fine. Off the tourist track, restaurants in Italy are almost universally quite good. They aren't dirt-cheap, so plan to have one restaurant meal each day (pizzerias being usually the cheapest sit-down option) and get take-out snacks and market goodies the rest of the time.

I can not believe all the help!!! Wow, I have never posted on a board like this and am so happy I did, you all are so helpful and gave me so much good advise. I passed it all along to my husband and we are going to do 9 nights minimum, we are coming from New York. We now need to decide between combining Venice and Rome or Rome and the Amalfi Coast, we really enjoy outdoor activities, hiking etc so want to include some of that. We can bump it later into August and will do that upon your suggestions. So I have assigned everyone to come up with their must sees and go from there. I would never have thought of making sure that there is a/c and will look into apartments. A friend went and did Rome, Florence, Venice and booked through Europeandestinations she stated this worked well for her, any input on that.

I think there is something totally empowering about planning, then actually executing a European trip yourself, even if you haven't done it before. It can be done, but you have to like decision-making and doing your own research. A few comments--

The later in August, the better--there could be a few less people than earlier and it could be a few degrees cooler (but probably not so don't count on it!) You have mentioned Rome on both your posts so you had better do Rome. Next month, we're staying in an apartment in the historic center of Rome, got a very good deal on it. When you book, make sure about A/C! In deciding between Venice/Rome or Rome/Amalfi Coast, if you like to hike, I'd pick the latter. So many neat walks on the A.C, with spectacular views, and utilizing the ferry system to get around.

Unless you can get a killer R/T deal NYC to Rome, I'd fly into Rome, out of Naples--Capodichino's a good airport. Enjoy your planning!

If you decide to include Venice please consider flying into (not our of) Venice. And then fly home from Roma. There are two reasons for this suggestion. First, Venice is a very user friendly place to recover from any sleep deprivation and / or jet lag. Wonderful place to start a trip. Second, many flights back to the U.S. from Venice leave early in the a.m. and getting to the airport super early might be a problem. Since you will have a 20 and 17 year old with you, the idea of getting everyone's input is great. Don't want to think about a trip with a couple of unhappy folks that age. We've been to Venice a number of times so let us know if you need specific info.

With 9 days I would limit destinations to two to three. You want Paris. It will be hot in August but probably not more than in New York.
ACs are not as common and good as in New York. Your destinations in Italy will be oppressively hot. I would avoid it in August and instead go to the Alps. You like countryside, outdoors, hiking. I suggest Chamonix - right under Mt.Blanc the tallest mountain in the Alps and Berner Oberland in Switzerland.

Europeandestinations.com is doing what YOU can do on your own - choosing your lodging and adding in car rental.

You must start at the beginning as has been noted. Read Europe through the Backdoor. Watch Rick's videos. Make a list of what you truly wish to see. And with those few days, everyone is right about 2 or 3 locations. And you probably don't want a rental car when trains are highly efficient for getting you from Rome to Florence and/or Venice !

Once you make that determination, create a calendar of what you plan to see and do each day. That will help you realize if your day is too crammed or if you have allowed time to sit and enjoy a cappuccino !

With dates in each location, you can begin to research lodging using Rick's suggestions, tripadvisor, or just using the search bar at the top of this forum. This is where all of the posters here can help you clarify any issues you may have in the research process. Come back with specific questions !

If you can come to the New York Travel Meeting this Saturday at 1 PM, you can get direct live help with your questions. I can't be there, but I know others who will be coming and will have lots to offer you: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings/new-york-city-meeting-february-11

How exciting for you!

Unfortunately, nine days is not much relative to air fares. Years ago my husband and I honeymooned in Italy spending 7 nights in Florence and 3 in Rome. It was perfect. We daytriped Fisole, Siena, and a couple villas, saw the Collosium and Forum, as well as the Vatican and St. Peter's. That pace, at least three nights in each place, has stood the test of time. Slow travel is good travel. So pick two bases easily connected. Rome and either Florence or Venice would work as would Paris and either Amsterdam or London. If you think you all would sleep well on a night train, Paris and Venice would be another good combination. Or do either Rome or Venice and rent a car in Tuscany.

Whatever you do, given just 9 nights, fly into your first destination and out og your last.

With your limited time, don't forget that many places close one day a week. Make sure you figure that out in your planning. It would be a waste to travel all that way and discover that you are there during the day you major sites are closed.

I like Paris, Venice and Rome. Three unique cities. It makes for a very rushed trip, but you see a large variety. I know it adds the complication of another country.

I have been to Europe once but I only went to London, England. I have also never been to Italy. It looks like the most common cities in Italy to visit are Rome, Florence, and Venice. I am Flying to Rome, taking a train to Florence, staying for 6 nights including a trip to Pisa, then to Naples (3 nights), then seeing sites in Rome (5 nights), then flying home from Rome. I am not writing what I am doing as if I am an expert traveler; I have no rational reason why I am going to Naples instead of Venice except that I am only taking 10 working days off of work and I want to see the Pompeii ruins and possibly the Herculaneum ruins, the Archeological museum in Naples and probably the Capodimonte museum. Perhaps I like art museums more than some people; perhaps you will want or need less time in each city than I think I want to spend in each place.

Can your kids and/or spouse walk around alone if they don't want to see everything you want to see? When you wake up, do you have to wait for your spouse and kids to be ready and do you all have to walk around together or can you all agree to separate and just meet somewhere in the middle of the day and/or in the afternoon or evening? Figure out what your interests in general are and then go through your guidebook and make a list of what seems appealing in each of several cities and make up a supposed itinerary and see how many days you will want or need in Rome, Venice, and/or wherever else, as others have suggested.

You may want to consider how the weather will affect your trip. August can be brutal in Rome. And when you are touring the Forum and Coliseum, or whatever, the heat will limit how much you can stand. So maybe do as the Romans do, plan on taking a midday siesta. Hit the sights early, rest in the heat of the day, then go out and enjoy the glorious Roman evenings.

When we took our first trip to Rome, we found that a good guidebook was a lifesaver. I can't think of a better one than Ricks' for a first time traveler. He tells you strategies on how to avoid standing in the endless line to get into the Coliseum or the Vatican, and other helpful tips. And in August you definitely dont want to stand in lines. Another helpful tool in planning, at least for me, is Google Earth. The first time I was in Rome I was totally lost. Checking out where everything is on a map or Google Earth will help you get orientated. The old section is a wonderful jumble of great ancient alleys. Have a wonderful trip!

With only 9 days (and the first and last are shot -- you really only have 7.5 ays on the ground if you have 9 nights.) I would focus on Italy and would fly into Rome, immediately train to Florence (you can buy tickets at the FCO train station both to Termini and then on to Florence and then you don't have to worry about a late plane -- they will sell you the tickets for the train you can make. It is more expensive so if you want to buy early then give yourself about 4 hours between ETA and train from Termini to account for a late plane and the time to get into Rome to get your train) This puts you in Florence about the time your hotel room would be ready -- it takes 90 minutes for the trip on fast train. spend 3 nights here which gives you the afternoon and two full days, then take the train to Venice and spend 2 nights there which gives you an evening and one full day to wander around Venice, then train to Rome for the final 4 nights, 3 full days and fly home. This is very tight -- if it were me I would do two stops not three, but I sense you want to cover more ground.

Plan your sightseeing carefully as all those places are full of wonders and you want to choose the things you particularly want to see. Book the Vatican Museums ahead on line and the Scavi Tour at the Vatican if you can get in. The later is a long shot as demand much exceeds supply, but when I took my family there 20 years ago it was the highlight of the trip. Book the Uffizi and Academia ahead by phone. If you want to see the Borghese gallery in Rome book that ahead as well. You can buy train tickets 3 mos out for great savings. As noted, we usually just buy the ticket to florence on arrival so we don't have to worry about timing, but you can easily book the other trips in advance. By ending at Rome you don't waste one of your precious limited days getting back to Rome the day before the flight. And that first jet lag day is kind of a loss anyway, use it to get to your furthest point.

then have everyone in the family identify one thing they really want to see in each stop and build your plans around that. Less is more and sometimes less well known sites are amazing. You absolutely don't have time for Paris on this trip. Make that another trip.