Air Travel to & from Europe

With those options and 10 days, Switzerland seems the best option. However, 10 days for a stop in the UK, maybe Paris, one other stop in France, leaves only a few days for Italy...one maybe two stops in Northern Italy, keeping in mind you would need a night in Switzerland before flying out. A whirlwind trip at best, you will need to seriously look at your itinerary.

Colfax Suzy, We have flown back and forth from Lewiston to Seattle to Amsterdam and back the same way a number of times. A problem we sometimes run into is arriving at SeaTac too late in the afternoon and have to wait until ten in the evening to head for Pullman and on to Lewiston. I think Amsterdam is a good place to arrive or leave from. Ten days is not much time to see some of France or Italy when you consider travel times between places.

Paris (or Amsterdam). Icelandair doesn't have service to Italy or Switzerland.

Stop. You need to do a reality check, and start being honest with yourself. How many days do you have? Count full days that you will be in Europe, not counting the day you arrive from the US, and not counting the day you depart for home (no matter what time the flights arrive or depart). How many days do you really have? Most people are only at half-strength (at best) their first full day, too - do you sleep easily on long plane flights? Got excellent connections? I hope so, otherwise your first couple of days in Europe may be kind of foggy and not terribly efficient. Let's say that you really do have 10 full days, not counting arrival or departure days (just to present the most optimistic, blue-sky scenario). That's a really, really short time to be in Europe, even if you're not trying to cover too much (which I think you are). If your goal is to see a little of France and Italy, you're not helping yourself by flying into the UK. On such a super-short trip, you need to cut out stuff that's not central to your trip (both geographically and in terms of your interests). Fly to Paris, spend a few days in France, then head to Italy for a few days, flying home from there. With just 10 days (or less) that's all you get. Switzerland? Amsterdam? You've got to be kidding - might as well include the moon on your itinerary. Sorry, but somebody had to say it. Good luck.

I should have said that I will be in the UK staying with a friend before I start my approximate 10-day jaunt. I haven't purchased my ticket yet and was exploring my options.

Suzy: You didn't say which Colfax you're flying out of. Flying IceAir is not always competitive if you're not flying out of one of their few gateway cities. Last time I looked, they were actually very expensive. A conventional air carrier that serves your market might be the least expensive way to get to the U.K. You might do better to take the Eurostar from London down to Paris, and spend 3 of your 10 nights there. Since you're time limited, fly from Paris to Venice on a budget air carrier, and spend 3 nights there. Take the 158 mile train to Florence and spend the rest of your time there. You can easily do day trips from Florence to Siena, San Gim and Volterra. Then, catch the 75 minute train ride over to Pisa for your international flight home.

I was planning to fly out of Spokane, WA. I chose IceAir as I am planning to stop off in Iceland to visit friends I met while living there. I am heading there for two full days, not including my travel days. I thank you for your responses, and am taking it all in. I appreciate your candidness and look forward to hearing from others & planning my trip.