Itinerary advice?

I think you have greatly underestimated the time and effort to pack up and travel from place to place, especially in Southern Europe, especially with a multigenerational crew of newbies in tow. Your itinerary would spend five of seventeen days on trains, planes, and in airports. (And that's being generous, since most would count first and last day as a travel day.) You and your family will see more if you see less. I like your second itinerary better only because it is a day longer. (Q: Why can't they both be 18 days? Or is that just a typo?) Since I do not know your priorities or constraints, I am reduced to this critique, rather than positive advice. I do think that in 2-1/2 weeks even a slow-moving group can have a marvelous experience if they pace themselves.

Most of the transfer days, door-to-door, are all-day affairs. That's one-third of your time moving around at some god-awful expense. I sure wouldn't do it. The real kicker is only one effective day in Rome (world class, even if I don't care for it that much) vs two for CT (a very low-tier spot). Why you'd need two days is Florence and two in Nice is beyond me. I don't think you're going to remember much except dashing around to catch transportation.

shelley, Are you planning on taking the trip THIS AUGUST??? If that's the case, the cheap air fares have already been taken so you'll likely be paying PREMIUM rates for flights within Europe. Also, have you already booked air tickets, and if so into / from which cities? I tend to agree with the others that this Itinerary is somewhat ambitious, especially for the PEAK August travel period. It would help to know WHICH of the two Itineraries you and your group are leaning towards? In the same situation, I'd probably arrange the trip along these lines..... > Flight SFO - MUC (take S-Bahn into city) > Munich - plan touring well - there's lots to see! > Train to Florence (time ~7H:45M) - it's a long travel day but it will be easier to arrange than a flight given the short notice. > Florence > Train to Rome (very easy! About 1.5 hours as I recall) > Rome - again, plan touring well! > Train to Cinque Terre - there's a direct train from Roma Termini to La Spezia with a travel time of ~3H:45M. From there you can use the local train to whichever of the five villages you're staying in. > Cinque Terre > Train to Nice - this trip will be north via Genova. Travel time is ~6-hours as I recall. Your destination station will be Nice Ville. > Nice > Train to Paris - travel time very short via TGV. I'm sure you'll all enjoy travel by rail at 300 kmH! > Paris > Flight CDG - SFO This provides your group with exposure to three countries. You'll need to adjust your time in each location to adjust for travel times. Most of the rail travel times are reasonably short and you won't have to use air travel for any of the routes. There are lots of possibilities, and this is only one suggestion. Happy travels!

Okay. Oops, I forgot to mention that it will be August of 2012, and, yes, the (3) for Rome was a typo. But we could easily add that extra day. My daughter has a three week window before she has to be back in school. Otherwise I would NEVER pick August. I prefer late September. Thank you for your wise suggestions. I was assuming it was a bit too much. I basically copied Rick Steves' itinerary in '05 starting in Amsterdam and finishing in Paris, and we were exhausted with the frenetic pace, but if you asked me which I would lop off, I just couldn't miss any of them!! I'd rather be semi-exhausted!! BUT this is a different group, and I should slow the travel pace a bit. I am a little concerned about my mom's ability to bring just one suitcase! I can't check airfare for next year yet, but when I compare for this year flying into Munich and home from Paris was about 400 dollars more that flying into Madrid and home from Paris. But one beautiful thing was Munich and Paris are both non-stop flights, which I love! I have never been to either city, but it would be fun to add an overnight train, and Munich I imagine would be a bit cooler than Madrid, a nice break from the heat, it would seem. So how about this? SFO-Munich (3) Munich overnight train to Florence (4) (we can do side trips to tuscany region or Venice and day in Rome, for those who want to), train to Cinque Terra (3), train to Nice (3) (because it just seems to make logistical sense traveling via train on our way to Paris?) train to Paris (4)

I think you will find your second itinerary much more manageable and fun for everyone. Note that a good night's sleep is not guaranteed on a night train (I think they are fun though). Your comment about Nice being a logistical stopover, however, makes me wonder if you wouldn't be better off skipping it and using the time elsewhere. It sounds as though Nice is not a high priority (which makes sense to me, especially given that you would be coming directly from the CT). You could take a night train from the CT to Paris (via Milan) and have four more days to play with. (If so, fly or take a day train from Munich.) You could distribute those four days among your existing destinations, or add back Rome or another Italian stop. For instance, Venice, Lake Como, or the Dolomites would fit into your itinerary between Munich and Florence. Any of these would be very different from the wonderful places you have already picked out. If you add Rome back in under this scheme, you would probably want to go CT > Rome > Night Train> Paris. But your reworked itinerary with Nice is perfectly good, if it is what you want to do. Have a great time!

Hi Shelley, I did a somewhat similar (and hectic trip) two summers ago. I agree with the other post-ers in that the night trains are fun (and useful) but the sleep isn't the best. Although with the three of you it might be possible to get a private cabin, thereby assuring you less coming and going from other passengers. Also I would recommend that Nice be eliminated unless you have your heart set on it. The days would be better spent in other cities. I traveled Florence (3 nights) to Cinque Terre (3) to Torino (2) to Avignon (2) to Paris (3) and found out that the train connections can be head-ache inducing when going from Northern Italy to Southern France (but maybe that's just me). I personally would look into CT to Paris, probably via a fast train from Milan. Best of luck and happy travels!