Intinerary Advice

This is a very busy schedule indeed, but although it wouldn't be my pace, I do realize some would enjoy it. I will say that since you have only given Rome two days, I would revise it a bit, I mean, the actual driving, parking etc takes time so basically you have allowed Rome 1.5 days, not nearly enough even for a surface peek. Same with Paris, really only 2 days.
Do keep in mind that gas and road tolls( to lesser extent) will be expensive .

I think I could trim off Baden-Baden same distance to Reims. I'm almost thinking to not go to Germany and use the 6 days to extend Provence and Italy, and get a train from MRS into Paris. Too many choices!

I agree with your idea of ping Germany - your itinerary as it is currently doesn't provide enough time in any of the destinations. Use as a rule of thumb the idea that each time you change lodging, you lose about half a day (between packing, unpacking, checking in and out, getting to/from destinations). I know traveling with 4 people can be expensive. Did you factor in gas charges, parking charges and toll charges? If you could change the days of your trip, you could fly into Paris (no car), take train to MRS to pick up family member and pick up rental car there. Then end trip in Rome, where you could the rental car. That way, you'd save some on paying for parking (rather, not paying for parking) in Rome. We have lots of experience traveling with 3, but not 4. Depending on the size of the members of your group, consider a B&B called Casa dei Tintori in Florence. The room we stayed in has a queen bed and two foldouts. The foldout bed worked great for our small 12yo, but might not be so comfortable for a full-sized adult. In Rome, Residenza Canali ai Coronari may have rooms for 4. Both places have great, central locations, clean rooms (those in Casa dei Tintori are beautiful) and very helpful staff.

Rome: ridiculously little time. And what do you do with a car there, or in Florence, or in Venice? OMG, a car in Venice. I'd suggest you get the car for a week or so at the very beginning, then drop it before Rome; do the rest by train. trenitalia.com shows Rome to Florence for 44 Euros, Florence to Venice for 42. You are racing through Germany. I would trim all your German destinations except Bacharach and stay to the west; spend 3 days in the Rhine/Mosel area - an easy trip to Paris from there. If you stay in St. Goar instead, daytrips by train can be done on a 3-day pass in that area for 40 Euros per group of 2-5 people (VRM mini-group ticket.) You can get Ryanair flights in advance from Venice into Germany for next to nothing, maybe 20 Euros to Frankfurt Hahn, which puts you very close to the Rhine. The rest of your trip is easy by train. Bacharach all the way to Paris is 39 Euros with advance-sale tickets from reiseauskunft.bahn.de

Apartments on the Rhine: we stayed in this one and it was great: http://www.loreley-apartments.de/ Others: http://www.st-goar.de/586-1-fewos.html

The mind reels. Do yourself a favor and slow down. This itinerary is impossible.

I agree with John, immediately above. This is madness. First, how many full days do you really have? Don't count your arrival or departure days; the day after you arrive, many people will only be at about half strength after jetlag and adjustment shock, so it's a good idea to plan for a soft landing on Day 1. If I read your schedule correctly, you really have about 22 or 23 full days, a bit over three weeks. I would cut out 1/3 of your stops. Otherwise, you really never have a whole day anyplace - just about every day, you're coming or going (or both!). Remember, you're not going to instantly beam yourself from a hotel in one city to another. Every time you move, you lose half a day just to the mechanics of coming and going (pack, check out, get outta town; arrive, find your way to your hotel, check in, find a place to eat, etc. - don't forget to allow some time to get lost a few times). Then add in the actual travel time between departure and arrival. Going by your schedule, all you would do during those 3 weeks would be moving between hotels, with maybe a few hours to spend actually being anyplace. I'd skip Germany entirely, and pick just a 2 or maybe 3 places in Italy (not the 5 you currently have) - and in most of those places, having a car is a huge pain. Consider doing at least some of this by train. Regardless of how you slice it, you've just got waaaay too much in there for that many days, at least in my opinion - and I travel like a crazy man, blitzing through too many places too fast for most tastes. Hope that helps a bit.

Kevin, This is a very ambitious Itinerary, and considering that you're planning to travel by Car it will be somewhat "challenging". IMHO, your proposed Itinerary does NOT include adequate time for travel between locations (especially considering the distances you're going to be covering). Well planned rail trips (especially via fast trains) would be a much more efficient use of your travel time, especially as you're primarily travelling to cities (the only exception is "Tuscany", where a car would provide better flexibility). However, I can appreciate that buying tickets for a group of 4 would be a bit pricey. One point to mention is that for driving in Italy, each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are easily and inexpensively obtained at any AAA office, and are valid for one year. Driving in Florence and other towns in Tuscany can present other "hazards" if you pass through any ZTL areas. Each pass through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket! If you'll be transiting Switzerland, you'll require the Highway Tax sticker (~$40), which is compulsory. The fines for not having it are fairly steep. A GPS unit along with a good Map are highly advisable. I suspect that you might have to drop some of the destinations in your list, in order to allow for adequate travel times between locations. Good luck!

Even to someone who has done some ambitious trips (12 days, 8 cities in Germany & Switzerland) this seems a bit hectic. If you've done something similar before then I could see doing it but if not you might want to slow it down some. Baden-Baden didn't really do anything for me. I'm not a spa person and other than the casino, I wouldn't go back. Getting to/from Rothenburg (which I really enjoy in the winter, never been during the summer) can be time consuming. From Munich it is around 2.5-3hrs and getting to Bacharach is about the same time. At a minimum I'd eliminate Bacharach, Baden-Baden and Reimes and add those days to Munich, Rothenburg and Paris. In my case when I have a busy itinerary I make sure I spend two night in one place every 3rd city (at a minimum) to help recover and relax. You have one stretch where you are changing cities 5 days in a row. That is tough even when healthy. As someone who always makes up his own schedule I always create of long list of things to see then start looking at maps and travel times (in my case trains) and see what is truly realistic and practical. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks everyone for the input. Will relook seriously at making changes. Great Forum! Kevin

What?! OMG, someone's actually taking our advice to do less.
:)