Traveling in Europe for 10 days

Book hotel for Paris now, rates are very good, but they go up,, I saw a room in a hotel I know and like for 95 euros a month ago, ,now it's up to 105 and I know the prices will just go up.

what is actual preferred budget for hotels,, no point in me listing off places I think are cheap that you wouldn't.

As far as the budget for the hotels, I'm not really sure because I don't really know the range of prices for hotels. I guess generally we would like a decent place to stay without spending an excess amount of money (90 euro or so I could tolerate but alot more than that could be tough). Generally I see us spending alot of time in cities but in Switzerland especially I think that Golden Pass could be cool and generally exploring the Interlaken area.
Any advice on specific hotels in Zurich, Paris, and London would be appreciated as well.

Okay, here's some thoughts. The Berner Oberland is a good Swiss destination that's more or less enroute to Paris. Don't stay in Zurich or Interlaken, stay in the mountains.

Invest in a few good guidebooks and plan out sone sample days at your destinations. If your planning makes you feel you are trying to ram too much in, then slow down--you can have a great ten days in any two of your three. (Three works too.)

Don't book anything through Rail Europe, they charge a huge markup (and they don't list all the trains).

None of your destinations are cheap, but they are really worth it. Have fun!

I had read a few good reviews about RailEurope but thanks for the info. Yes, I know, I have heard Switzerland is the most expensive country in the EU I guess you only live once.

Matt,...save yourself a ton of money and check the German railway site, the French national rail website (select "Great Britain" as your country on the secnd page), and the Eurostar website to book any train tickets. Compare them to RailEurope prices and you'll see a massive difference!

Hi Matt, i would go directly to the Berner Oberland. We have stayed in Lauterbrunnen, at the Valley hostel and loved it, we had a double room and it worked out great for our first hostel experience and it was cheap. For us Lauterbrunnen was the perfect base. You could then go to Paris and end with London. You need to research each destination, and you will find some got places to stay at good prices. We spent 8 days in Switzerland last fall, and we did not find it that expensive! Since it will be your first time in Europe, i recommend your read Rick Steves's Europe through the back door book, it will answer a lot of your questions. Have fun!

Norm,
Thanks for the tip...I tried a few random fare searches and the price difference is huge. That being said, would I be best suited to go to those various sites and book individual tickets for where I want to go? That would work fine in Paris and in London because there we basically plan on staying in the city. However, in Switzerlands we plan on traveling around a bit more--would this be a problem to purchase individual tickets?

Obviously, the sooner you book, the better deals will be available. But the better the deals, the more restrictions on changes and/or refunds. But even most standard ticket prices are cheaper than RailEurope. The only thing you won't be able to do is qualify for tickets posted to your home. Better experts than I are available on the forum re: Swiss travel....but from what I recall, it's easy to get individual tickets for within Switzerland. Post another question about the length of time you'll be in Switzerland, and they'll be able to fill you in on the discount Swiss passes available.

Matt, .....I had read a few good reviews about RailEurope ..... I don't knew where you have read that but doubt if anyone on this site would agree with that statement. RailEurope is a travel agency, not a train, that sells rail tickets to North Americans. Many believe that the routes they sell are limited and the fees are very high. It is seldom necessary to purchase tickets in advance more than a couple of days.