2 weeks and first time traveler! Don't know where to go.

You need to do some homework - not us. Use your local library, check out some guide books, and DVDs covering the various countries. The Rick Steves' DVDs are especially good. All guidebooks do a good job of covering "must see" items. They are pretty much the same for everyone. Then come back to this forum with specific questions. You are asking everyone to write you a guidebook when we have no idea what you want to see and do. Whether or not you need a rail pass will be one of your last decisions. You need to know where you are going before you can determine if a rail pass would be cost effective. Most rail passes these days are not. The more traveling you do the more expensive your trip will be. Consider flying open jaw - same price or cheaper - so you don't have to back track to your starting point. For example, into Paris and home from Rome. Rick Steves', Europe Through the Backdoor, should be one of your early reads.

Well, you say you have 2 weeks. You say "My musts are visiting France and Italy". That by itself sketches in most of your trip. I'd fly in to Paris, spend a few days there, then fly to a major city in Italy (Venice, Florence or Rome), spend a week or so split between 2 or maybe 3 of those cities (get a map and figure out what order makes sense, without doubling-back). Fly home from one of the cities in Italy. You could fine-tune this by adding 2-3 days in France (obvious French side-trips to either the Loire Valley or Normandy). Or you could add a few extra days in Italy, adding maybe the Naples/Sorrento area, or some combination of Pisa/Siena/Tuscany. Just be careful not to try to do several of these "extras". Especially since this is your first trip to Europe, you need to expect to get lost occasionally and generally not be 100% efficient. That's OK, give yourself permission (and time) for some minor mistakes.

I would recommend trying to do a very minimum of 2 nights per location. I would try to do at least 3 nights whenever possible. When you are doing your planning think of this as a starter trip where you get a little bit of multiple places. Really think about the time of year you are going and the amount of time you really want to spend traveling. Don't spread yourself too thin. For example, for my starter trip, I really wanted to go to Italy as well but since it took a long amount of traveling time, I wanted to go to so many cities and I was traveling in August I decided to save it as a trip in the future all its own. I also eliminated Scandinavia and Spain due how far away they were. And I agree, you need to figure out some more for yourself and then come back to us. People on this site can be very helpful. They helped me plan my backpacking trip a couple of years ago. Look forward to hearing from you again.

You might want to consider a RS tour. There's a place on this website that gives info about them.

Hanan, As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door to begin with. That provides a LOT of information on things like Itinerary planning, Rail Skills, money issues, languages, etc. Use the country-specific Guidebooks to plan sightseeing in each city, Hotels, restaurants, transportation, etc. You should be able to find Guidebooks at larger bookstores in your area, or at the Library. Click the "Books" link at the top of this page for some examples. With only two weeks, you'll need to be very sellective. Be sure to consider travel times between locations, which will usually be a minimum of half a day each. Also, keep in mind that you'll lose two days in travel times to and from Europe. You'll generally arrive in Europe the day after you depart, and the last day will be spent on the flight home. You won't be able to determine whether a Railpass is cost effective until you have some specific destinations worked out. Keep in mind that Railpasses do NOT include the reservation fees that are compulsory on some trains. You'll need to pay for those separately. For such a short trip, and especially in Italy, I doubt that a Railpass will be the best choice. Good luck with your planning!

Frank is absolutely correct. However, you should limit your choices. For France, You could fly into Paris, spend 5 nights, TGV to Avignon and stay 2 nights. Rent a car in Avignon and drive to a number of the towns in Provence. TGV back to Paris. Train or fly to Rome. Four nights in Rome. Train to Venice. Fly home from Venice.

You know sometimes it is hard to get a non-stop flight back to the US and it can also be more expensive. This can also be an advantage. We have had a couple of trips that we had a significant layover in Paris and once in London so we asked if we could extend the layover for a couple of days ( I believe they once told me if it was too many days that there was an additional charge but if not too long it would be the same price...anyway) So we extended the layover and got to see another wonderful city for a couple of days without paying for an extra flight or train trip. One of these trips was into Venice, traveled through Italy (Florence, Siena, Orvieto, Sorrento, and out of Rome to Paris) then spent 2 days in Paris, then home. It was a great taste of Paris and of course left us wanting to go back which we did. The other trip was into Paris (see we did go back), spent 2 days then went down to Avignon, Arles, Nice, and then to Italy. We saw the Cinque Terre, Volterra, Siena, Rome then started for home but had our layover in London for 2 1/2 days before heading home. Did we just scratch the surface? Yes, but it was great and we would love to go back again to any of the places that we went to. So this might be something that could work for you also. Buon Viaggio!

Also, how old are you and are you going to be traveling by yourself?