multi country trip, how do I plan?

You don't say how long you will be gone and type of budget but regardless of this, it is way too ambitious. London, then east to Paris, then east to Poland, then west to Paris, west to London, train west to Ireland, you can't take train to Ireland, then east to London to home. Each time you change location, you lose at least a half a day so you will be spending about half your time in transit. If you really want to do this, suggest you have at least a month, fly into Ireland, then east to London, then train to Paris and fly to Poland and home from there. Do you have any tour books yet, have you been to Europe before?

Elysia, Planning is half the fun and alot of headache. Trains are sooooooo much better over there than here. But, you have to ask yourself, how much time do you want to spend on a train? the same with flying to/from. I try to plan my trips to countries adjacent to on another to minimize travel time and I try to keep my travel time once over there to less than 6 hours (4 hours really) that way i have the rest of the day to be tourist. Sometimes its unavoidable, but i try to minimize it as much as possible. You have an idea on WHERE you want to go, so what you can do next is to use the flight web sites to see cost, flight times and layovers. you will get an idea on how long it will take to get from A/B then. why go to paris 2x? If you can AFFORD the time, then go for it, but it appears at frist glance, youre trying to pack alot in. My frist trip over there last year i spent it in order: Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Normandy, Amsterdam. 2 to 4 days in each city and i was gone for 30 days. You can see that i was traveling in a path and most of the places were fairly close travel wise. Try plotting the places you want to go on paper and see if you can figure a path and if you want to spend that much time in Paris, i would do it in 1 shot and not go back on that same trip unless there some reason. I personally will go back to paris, but not like what youre doing, but for a later time. Also, figure out WHAT you want to do & see in those places. You will have a better idea on how much TIME you may need. If you have unlimited time & $$$ and can "wing it", then you wont need much help from me. But i can bet you dont have the unlimited time & $$$.

trying to spend as little as possible is alot up to you all. I travel solo so my accomodations can be and usually is sparse. I see places to stay as a place to use the bathroom, sleep and put my stuff. you may feel different. Pick up a copy of "Europe thru the back door", you will get alot of good ideas. Not that you have to follow to the letter, but it will give you an idea on how it can be done. use this board and start using the www to find places to stay. If youre willing to "wing it" you maybe able to find cheaper places. But you have to ask youself, are you willing to take that chance. what if its MORE expensive? what if you CANT find a place? or what if you cant fine 1 place for all of you? others that travel in packs will be better to answer those questions. you can do some estimate for transporation using the web and just plugging and chugging numbers for flights and trains. the rest is pinning down the date/time. Same for your lodging. happy trails.

Why not fly to Poland first and then work your way westward towards Britain? You'd still see/do everything you want but you would save at least 3-5 days on a train. As far as what is ambitious, if you're used to travelling fast, cramming a lot into every day, and sleeping when you get back home, go for it.

The more you move around, the more it will cost, times four. And every time you move you will lose a half to a full day to travel and its associated tasks (packing, getting to the station, waiting, finding your way to your new hotel, checking in, etc.). A journey from one place to another might involve transfers that you have to wait for, as well. You don't say whether you have been to Europe before, but I would advise you to limit your travel time in order to have time to actually see what you are going to see. Two nights in a place is actually only one full day. Is it worth the travel time to and from Poland (the whole country?) for 2-3 days? How can you do Ireland any justice in 2-3 days? Look into your transportation options to see how prices are running and whether it would make more sense to fly or to take a train or bus. Buying tickets ahead can get you great discounts, but it also commits you to a particular day and time. As an example, in August I took a trip to Scotland and Spain. Because I had airmiles, I was limited to flying from Chicago to London, roundtrip. I then had to book a train (two changes) to the town where I was staying near friends in Scotland. Then I had to book a train to the airport, a flight to Barcelona, a high-speed train to Madrid, then a flight back to London and a bus to Heathrow. Shopping for the great discounts I got on the flights to and from London, and the high-speed train took a lot of time and was done months ahead - and I was only going to three cities in two countries, not at least six places, with three other people. Scale way back - you will all be happier.

Poland is pretty far from the rest of the places you want to go, but you might have some specific reasons that it's on your list. If so, you could price out what is called a multi-city or multi-destination reservation. You would fly from the US all the way to Poland, but fly back to the US from Ireland. For example, Aer Lingus will fly from the States all the way to Warsaw (with a plane change in Ireland) and then fly you back to the US from Dublin. You would need to find one-way tickets on an airline from Warsaw to Paris. The train is extremely long, between 15-20 hours, for that leg. Next take the train to England, and then the train and boat to Ireland or fly to Ireland. In addition to the airlines on the search engines, you could look at Air Berlin, and a low cost airline that flys from Canada. Canadians--please help with the name of that airline.

I agree with the others. Your itinerary is too aggressive. But you're in luck. If you limit your carry on's to one piece, EasyJet.com flies cheap from Paris DeGaulle (CDG) into Warsaw. I always try to travel open jaw into one city and out of another, and I try to travel in a straight line. Backtracking to a city you've been to is very expensive and inefficient. Remember that every time you get on that train, you lose a day of tourism. You'd do best to fly into Dublin, which is the most inexpensive place in Europe for flights. Then, fly on Ryanair over to London. Take the Eurostar fast train to Paris and fly to Poland. Fly home from Poland. You certainly should be able to apply your points toward your flight.
I have had good luck using Booking.com for accommodations, which is the world's largest reservation system.

Elysia, How long of a trip is this itinerary for? It's a good itinerary and can be done all right provided that you have at least five weeks, your family are good troopers in traveling, and don't mind long train rides or a night train. In 2001 I did part of your itinerary, going from Paris to Warsaw, then to Krakow, and then back to Paris. But I broke up the ride by staying a night or two on each leg in Berlin. Breaking up the ride is needed. When I did this in 2001, I never thought of going by night train, which I would use now. "...training to Paris (spending 4 days)" by EuroStar...good. From Paris to Poland, presumably Warsaw or Krakow, I suggest 3 full days. This route you can fly, as suggested above, either from Paris or Frankfurt, or do the entire route by train. In that case I recommend here the early train ferom Paris Est to Frankfurt Hbf, (I prefer transfering here than in Mannheim), change to the direct ICE to Berlin Hbf., stay a night or two, then the early train to Poland. Returning from Poland either a fly and rail combination, but since you want "to do mostly or all public transport," the same as above. Warsaw or Krakow to Berlin, stay a night, then Berlin to Offenburg on the ICE, change to the S-Bahn to Strasbourg. This is the place I suggest staying, instead of Metz, even though Metz is easier to access from Berlin. Then after 2 full days in Strasbourg, take the direct TGV to Paris. Good that at this point you set aside 5-6 days. I've done the same. How are you getting to Ireland? By ferry or flying from Paris or London?

Thank you all so much for the very thought out and helpful responses! I am very grateful! No, I have never been to Europe so I am being a bit ambitious due to this. Yes, there are reasons behind wanting to go to the countries I have chosen. I could give up one or perhaps even two but would like not to and that is why I posted on here. So I could get some educated, experienced information and opinions. That is a Very good idea, starting in Poland and ending in Ireland or London. I hadn't thought of that. I am so used to going to one city and then returning from there, so that was habit. Thank you again, that idea was very helpful. I will look into that. We only have about 2 weeks (I may be able to extend it a bit, but not much)for this trip. I don't know yet exactly where we will want to go in Poland or Ireland but I am doing my research and will know soon. I do know I want to spend the largest amount of time in Paris and would like to rent a flat while there. So any suggestions in that area would be amazing. I know about Air B n' B and have been looking on there for flats/apartments. Thank you again!
Elysia :)

Hello Elysia I may have missed the bit when you said when the trip is, but could you remind me please? When you are looking at air fares to and from Europe, don't look at one-way fares each way or you will jump into the ocean. Look for "open jaws" (the old name for it, imagine the shape) or "multi-city" which will be about the average of round trips into the first and last cities and almost always save you plenty money. You will know your group well, but do remember that when a group travels it travels at the speed of the slowest member of the group. If somebody stops for a toilet break, or is hungry or tired, the whole group stops for a toilet break or meal or snack, or sleeps in or waits while the nap is taken. I'm just suggesting that you leave a little wiggle room in this most ambitious plan.

You say you have only 2 weeks. Does that include traveling to Europe and traveling home? If it does, remember that you will loose one day off the calendar when you fly to Europe. That could leave you with only 11 days on the ground. If the 2 weeks is total time on the ground in Europe, your trip is still has too many places to go to. I go to Europe every summer for a month and do not move before spending at least 3 full days in any one destination. As others have already said, you usually loose anywhere from 1/2 to a full day every time you change locations. Since this will be your first trip to Europe, I would strongly suggest that you get a copy of Rick Steves' "Europe thru the Back Door" and read it carefully. It should provide you with some good information about formulating your travel plans.
Also, as others have already said, get a map of Europe and plot all of the places you wish to visit to see if your initial ideas about where to go when are still valid and do check out "Open Jaws" or "Multiple Cities" when checking into airline tickets. I have always been able to fly non-stop from Seattle directly to Europe saving the time and aggravation of stopping somewhere in the US on the way over or back. My choices are becoming more and more limited however.

Elysia, i missed you live in oregon. you can get direct flights from PDX to amsterdam. its a 10 hour flight. However, if you do open jaw, then you may have some stops in between. the flight from PDX arrives in AMS around 0830. a flight to Poland will probably be another 3 to 4 hours (not looking at any schedule). Im looking to go to Russia next year and the flight from AMS is another 5 hours from just a quick check. one thing i cant stress enough of is to look at what you want to see/do in each city. that will determine how much time you need there. i also do this when i plan, its more anal for some, but it saves me time. i do this when i have everything else done. I will plot out the sights i want to see in each city and try to group them and go to the furthest out first and work my way back. that way im walking less each day. It just something i do and it saves time for me. also, any spare time is usually chilling or wandering around trying not to get lost. happy trails.

Train from Paris to Warsaw is 15 to 23 hours. I agree that flying into Poland would be better, then fly to Paris, spend some time in Paris and surrounding countryside, then chunnel or fly to England or Ireland and leave from one or the other. The less backtracking the better, and with your time constraints, flying will save you time over traveling by train and not be that much more expensive for long distances. You can compare train travel times on bahn.de (but not prices, for that you need the country's rail system site) with air travel times and prices (my friends love Air Berlin).

Elysia, Have sent you a private message
Gerri