best way to travel to multiple destinations

You're going to have some bearish legs with Cardiff in the mix. I think what I'd do is work a multi-city with the following legs: Lax -> Lon Lon -> Rom Mxp -> Lax Lon would probably wind up being Heathrow and Rome would be Fiumicino. I'd take the first shot using Kayak.com and refine it with specific airlines (only use one or codeshares for the whole route). That leaves Cardiff which a about a two and a half hour drive from Heathrow. It's a straight-shot freeway all the way, so it's be easy. You can get a car for about twenty bucks a day or so (if you have it for a week) and you won't burn through a tank of gas driving to Cardiff and back. Kayak can help you hive this out as well. There's undoubtedly a way to do it by train, but I'd think you would have to get into Paddington with your junk and work from there. It'd probably take longer, but I'm not a train expert. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with spur of the moment, which yours isn't since you had time to ask a question. Spur of the moment is an hour between idea and airport, which is really fun.

hi, when you go will be just as important. also, day of the week can affect air fair too. i do my flights/trains by Trial & Error (T&E) and i try to travel in a patch or circular route since round trip (r/t) flights can be less expensive if you fly in/out of the same place. But you will need to get on a web site like skyscanner.net and input some flights. While youre at it, why not break out a map and see a path to travel. Look at flights on teh weekends and week days and see how the prices vary. YOu will probably want to take alot of notes. Also, look at flying in/out of different cities too. With regards to Cardiff, why ride there? Theres all of the UK, to ride and even Hyde Park. If there some cosmic significance to riding in Cardiff, then its what you want. You can look at the nationalrail.co.uk for train service if they go to Cardiff. I try to keep my transporation times to less then 4~6 hours so i spend more time doing stuff, then watching things go by. So i try to travel to adjacent countries and not jump several. I guess that in the next few years, i will have to do it, but for now i try to minimize my travel times. Thats how i do it and it works for how i travel. If you can drive a stick, you will have a better chance at getting a car. I dont drive a stick and got lucky finding an auto, but from what i hear, its rare. you just have to "think" about driving and not go on autopilot. Just a note, in the UK they dont make turns on red lights! happy trails.

You won't find budget flights to Italy from Cardiff, however EasyJet.com flies out of Bristol which is close to Cardiff. You can fly directly to many locations in Italy from there for very cheap fares. You just need to carry on one piece of luggage or be prepared to pay for any checked luggage as you make the reservation.
Good luck!

Thank you for the quick and useful responses!! Re: they "why" of riding in Cardiff...it has to do with connections between my daughters' pony club and those in Cardiff - excellent question, though :)