*Rome, Italy (4 days would be including the day we head home)

Not sure how you are calculating days - but 2 days for Paris is really cutting it short.

And sorry - a 17 year old is an adult -not a child. I hope you didn;t tell hotels you are bringing a child or they may provide you with a crib for the 17 year old.

I was very curious about the lodging you listed and would suggest that yu might want to clarify te information you have.

Looked at Home Suite Rome - which is apartments and they don't seem to have any that hold more than 4 people. Also the price listed - and you may have found a wonderful deal - seem to be more like $500 per night for an apartment for 4 people.

So technically, it looks like the days spent in Paris and Venice would be looked at as over-night stays, where London and Rome would be 3-nights each.

**5 adults then.

I'm running into the problem of finding hotels and such with room for more than the listed 4-person limit...which is bringing me to look into Suites or rooms that can be connected.

We haven't made any reservations or bookings yet.

Hotel Borromeo has space for 5 in a family-room option.

I'm finding others as well which have space for us all now, which is good, but none listed as resorts.

What are you looking for in a resort? It may be that what you'd expect to get in one could be addressed in a different manner in an urban environment like Rome...

Have you tried Venere.com? It is one of my favorites for finding lodgings. When discussing time per location, I suggest you look at it as how many nights, not days. Rather than simply searching for 5'people in "1" room, specify "vacation rentals" as well in your search criteria...that way you will get choices such as 2 bedroom apt for 6 people, 4 nights for $1567.66 @ London Apartments Shoreditch -- which is one that came up when I put your dates in. It's a starting point, anyway.

Then Read the reviews posted, check out the map, do a search here to see if anyone has stayed there. Give yourself a couple choices in each city. You may want to consider getting 2 rooms in destinations where you will stay less than 3 nights, as 5 people and one bathroom may not work all that well. It will also give you more options to chose from.

What my dad is thinking of is a place that has:

a) an in/outdoor pool
b) fitness/workout room
c) dining
d) nice views
e) a place to relax and stay most of the day
f) is all inclusive
g) holds (5) adults

Lauren, I admit I'm not aware of "all inclusive" resorts in mainland Europe away from the "normal" European holiday areas. Though www.clubmed.com might have somewhere

Lauren, you will not find a lot of those all-inclusive resorts in the major cities in Europe. Anything you do find is going to be very expensive. I think your Dad needs to realize that if you are going to these places you will be spending little time in your accommodation, and lots of time, and lots of walking, seeing the sights. A swimming pool is not needed for exercise after you have spent the day walking. And a gym may be something you just dispense with for the duration of your trip. If you want an all inclusive resort, you need to change your destination!! Head for the Amalfi Coast.

You should not confine yourselves to a hotel dining room. You will get a filtered version of the local cuisine. Get out into the cities and find little local cafes and restaurants that serve good food.

I really think you need to get a better idea of what people go to those cities for. It is not for a resort/spa expeerience.

Another alternate destination in Italy would be around the lakes: Como, Bellagio, etc. There would be more resort-type opportunities there. But you will then have an entirely different european experience.

1. What is your budget?
2. You are unlikely to find a pool unless you have a very LARGE budget.
3. Ditto, workout or fitness rooms,
4. If you are only there for 2 nights, I hope no one is planning on staying most of the day in their room...although if you get a flat in London and Rome, the privacy of having your own living room should fit that need.
5. "all inclusive?" Like the resorts Jamaica or Mexico? Not going to happen. The city, it's food and culture are the draw.

Most family rooms assume two adults and YOUNG children. Sometimes you will find triple or quad rooms but they are only going to have one bathroom' unless you find a place with two bedroom suites. (and those will only be found in 4 or 5 star hotels ... Again your budget will determine if that will be possible.)

If you have not made bookings, perhaps you should think about how much time you will spend getting from place to place in a 2 week period. Also, charnees is right about European cities and the all-inclusive resort exerience, you may not find a fit. There are resorts out in the countryside, so perhaps you need to do some reading and get a better idea of what you really want, I would also cut out one city in your time frame.

You don't have enough time in these cities to worry about work out facilities if you intend to see anything. You won't be at the hotel to use them.

Your priorities need to be:
1. Central location
2. Air conditioning
3. Two bathrooms

Most apartments have a three night minimum.

Lauren_S, that's what I was thinking you might say... and as others have said, Rome is really not the place for (a) staying inside a hotel room all day; (b) spending significant amount of time in a pool or fitness room; and (c) eating "all-inclusive".

That said, we were going to spend a night (anniversary) at this hotel two years ago. (The Icelandic volcano changed our itinerary.) Just look at that pool! In the middle of Rome!!
http://exedra-roma.boscolohotels.com/

We did end up staying at the Hotel Valadier. Breakfast was included - IMO, if you're used to all-inclusive, you might want the ease of knowing where your first meal of the day will be - and the hotel has two good restaurants, Il Brillo in the cool cave-like cellar, and Hi Res with a rooftop view. The third restaurant is where the breakfast is served; we didn't eat any other meals there. Rooms are small, typical of an urban hotel, though they list suites and junior suites on the website. If I remember correctly, they also have an apartment for rent nearby.
http://en.hotelvaladier.com/

Hi again Lauren,

In your other post, one Fodorite suggested apartments for your family trip. Have you looked in to any? It's really the best answer for a family group of 5. However, most require at least 3 night says so for your planned itinerary an apartment will probably only work in 2 cities. One advantage of hotels is you have the staff to help you get acquainted on a first trip to Europe.

I hope you are sharing the advice received here with you Dad. He will need to adjust his ideas of travel in order to enjoy Europe.

Since you are trying to stay within a "reasonable" budget for 5 people, you really should think about this: less is more. The more you move around, the more it costs and the less you actually see. You are spending more time and money GETTING somewhere than actually BEING there.

I know you have already cut way back on the number of destinations, but I think you need to consider further.

As mentioned above, 2 days in Vencie is really only 1 full day. A minimum of a half day will be taken up just getting there from Paris. Same on the day you travel to Rome. Almost a half day will be used just to get there.

I would highly recommend adding these 3 additional days you seem to have available, plus cutting one city. You choose.

Keep working on it, keep asking question here, and you will have a wonderful trip.

I found the best site for looking for rooms for a family of 5 is booking.com, a priceline company.A lot of info on their site, and they will describe exactly what you are getting. I would do 2 searches . One search for 5 persons(adults) 1 room and the second search 5 persons 2 rooms.Do not limit yourself to connecting rooms. Important is location, you do not want to be too far from the tourist area.Read the reviews.There are no resorts. If your dad is expecting newer American type hotels at your price point, he will be disappointed.The cities are 1000+ years old and so are their mattresses.But that's part of the fun.

Sorry -

Major cities in europe don't have all -inclusive resorts - any more than does Manhattan.

There are all-incusives - a few - but they r in typical resort areas - not capitol cities. And agree that getting a hotel with a pool in any of these cities is going to be probbly a 5* property - at a very high budget. I would assume that a suite for 5 people in such a property woud be well over $1000 a night.

You really need to make up your mind if you want a city or a resort. And if you really want all-inclusive beach resorts - frankly, europe is not the best plae to go.

Thank you so much, guys, and Charness for your input. Very very helpful advice and info.

I didn't think resorts would be available where we were looking to be located. I'll read over all the posts and do further research.

On a side note, have any of you had experience flying through Iberia airlines (Boeing 767) ?

Well, London and Rome will be visited for sure.
We're going to try our best to secure a great deal someone pointed us out to with our airline tickets and that includes flying into London and then later out of Rome and if all goes well, the tickets work beautifully for us.

I'm currently using Booking.com to locate hotels/apartments that best suite our needs.

I agree that a pool and fitness room and all-inclusives are not and won't be needed.

My sister wanted to see one thing in Paris and that of course was The Eiffel Tower.

We included the one day stay in Venice to separate the trek into Rome for the remaining duration of the trip.

*suit

Hmmmm...Iberia Airlines reviews don't look very promising, but then again, I am always left with the perception that most people feel like writing reviews on airlines when the experience was slightly more unfavorable.

I guess the low cost of our flight deal is in part thanks to this airline (Iberia - coach class), but at least we have a very nice flight back home (British Airlines - Biz class) and won't be flying with them again both ways if we choose to run with this deal.

Lauren,

You might also want to look at venere.com for your Italian lodging. It's useful because you can sort by stars, or location, or price. Has a huge number of listings.

I've just been looking at rentalinrome and sleepinitaly for apartments......

Hi Lauren

We flew Iberia Chicago to Madrid last year, not a 767 but on an Air Bus, and it was fine. Service, seating, cleanliness, food,were all good. For your vacation I would recommend London ( I do have some concern about attainable flights and lodging because of the Olympic games), Paris, and Rome. If you could spend 4 nights each city that would be an enjoyable vacation.

Lauren,

I'm beginning to feel the stress you must be feeling. It seems as if you have a family group of adults who are traveling together and YOU are the one stuck trying to assemble an itinerary that will please everyone. And so you end up adding an incredibly brief, and therefore expensive, visit to Paris so your sister can see the Eiffel Tower. And I get the feeling that your father is coming on this vacation under duress, thus his need for resort facilities to avoid touring all day.

With this in mind, I'm troubled that you are trying to put 5 adults (a 17-year-old is an adult size-wise) in one hotel room--a bathroom nightmare, and no place to hide when patience wears thin.

To answer your question-- please tell us the number, in dollars or euros, that you consider "affordable." What is the highest amount you can afford to pay per night to lodge your family? An actual number will help us help you in the best way.

The best site for accommodation for families of 5 or more is http://www.roomfor5.co.uk

A one-day stop in Paris to see the Eiffel Tower... Right now, access into the Eiffel Tower is extremely limited, and the wait in line to go up/down very long: 2 hours at the base. (Even without the current problem, it's never quick to go up.) So perhaps the Paris stop can be saved for another trip?

This is the page on the official Eiffel Tower website that describes the problem. They don't identify when the problem will be fixed; it could be before your trip, or not...
http://www.eiffel-tower.com/preparing-your-visit/planning-your-visit.html

We included the one day stay in Venice to separate the trek into Rome for the remaining duration of the trip.

Here are two suggestions, just to put them out there:
1) Remove Paris from the itinerary, and do London-Venice-Rome instead, with more time in Venice to get away from the city center.

2) If you want to keep Paris on your itinerary, remove Venice and "separate the trek into Rome" with: Florence; the lakes region like Lake Como; OR on the coast at Cinque Terre. Venice is geographically farther away, and ultimately is yet another urban environment (albeit different from ones you may have experienced before!). Since your trip is in summer, perhaps a day or two on a lake or the coast between all these urban areas will be a good respite. (You also could look into a resort-type place in Tuscany or elsewhere.)

Can we just ask is there any actual reason you want all five adults to share one room? to be honest this is quite peculiar unless you are a bunch of kids looking for a small hostel dorm! You'll find it a lot easier to get a double and a triple (or even 2 doubles and a single and let the 17 year old have their own room). I don't even think a 5 person room in a nice hotel (if you find one) would work out more economical that 2 rooms.

anyway, if you really all have to sleep together you might have more luck looking for a 5 or 6 person room in a hostel.

In Europe - in fact most anywhere - to put 5 people in a room you will need a suite (as in a bedroom with 2 dboules and a pull-out sofa in the LR) or a family room. But family rooms are really meant for parents with several children - and often have a double and then several small beds.

It's not clear who the members of your party are - but you need to be clear about 2 things:

What bed configuration do you need - how many doubles and how many singles

What your budget is in euros or $

Often you will find that two double rooms or one double and one triple room is cheaper than a suite. The other issue is everyone sharing one bath - a really bad idea. When we traveled with our two daughters we always got them their own room so we didn;t have to be joined at the hip 24/7, didn't get on each others nerves - and I didn't have to share a bath with 2 tween/teen girls. If you're all stuffed in one room what do you do when someone wants to sleep, others are still awake and the 17 year old is still out at a student cafe or bar?

Apartments would work better since you would have more room and a kitchen - but if none of you have traveled before you don;t have a concierge or front desk to fall back on with questions or for recommendations. (Of the places you have listed above for Rome the first is an apartment - with no lodging listed as allowing more than 4 people. The Alpi hotel does have rooms for 4 - in which you wouldn't fit - you would have to get one double and one triple - the latter with one double and one single bed - with the triple costing about $300 per night and the double $230 - so $1600 for 2 rooms for 3 nights.)

People can help with recos if you provide more info.

It also helps to build a spreadsheet to track your plan. For example,

Leave home July 22
Arrive London July 23
Stay 3 nights: July 22, 23, 24
Leave London July 25, fly to Paris
Arrive Paris July 25
Stay 2 nights: July 25, July 26
(this would give you one and 1/2 days in Paris)
Leave Paris July 27 for Venice
options -- if you take an overnight train on the 27, it gives you most of another day in Paris
If you fly, assume you get to Venice in the late afternoon
Arrive Venice July 27 or 28
Stay Venice 2 nights, July 28 and July 29
Leave Venice July 30, train to Rome
Arrive Rome July 30
Stay Rome July 30, July 31, Aug 1 and Aug 2
Leave Rome to fly home on Aug 3

(You did say "give or take" - this is only adding one extra day.) Personally, I would add two more nights (not days) and stay one more night in Paris and one more night in Rome.

Busy, but doable.

Oh Drat. (not what I actually said) You need to move everything up a night as you would stay in London July 23, 24 and 25.

BUT this gives you an idea of what you need to plan for, including travel time between destinations. If you drop one destination, it gives you more time to enjoy the cities you do visit.

My dad said that about $250/night is best if we can find it.

After talking about it tonight, he's still keen on flying into London for 4 days (3 if you count travel time into France) -which looks like we all want to hit one night in Paris before making it out to Venice for another night and ending the trip in Rome for 4 days. (3 if you count flying home on Thursday)

My mom is going to start helping me look into lodging information, but any guidance is much appreciated.

Yeah...there doesn't even seem to be tickets left for Eiffel Tower visits/tours on the day we'll be there.

Thank you for the suggestions, ggreen.
I'll explain both of them to my parents tomorrow.

It looks like it would be better to skip Paris if access to the Eiffel Tower is going to be cut, and therefore, best for another time even though we'll be passing through Paris via train, which was my dad's argument in cutting Paris in the first place. He might still opt to stay a night there anyways, i'm not entirely sure. But your suggestions will definitely be brought up. Cinque Terre seems like a wonderful addition if we are to pull Venice from the list.

nona1- We certainly don't have to be rooming together. My dad is fine with looking at the option of 2 rooms or inter-connected rooms, so long as they are offered and within the price range. ($250/night)

If we're able to find rooms with 3 beds, ie. one for parents/one for me and my sister/one for my brother (a couch or pull out will also suffice) -that would also be best. Again, we don't all have to be in a single room.

uhoh_busted - I'll work on pounding out a spreadsheet like the example you provided asap, and see if France is still in the cards as well as Venice, as they might change due to this new information and suggestions given to me.

I would definitely get two rooms, one double and one triple. The rooms are very tiny in europe! The bathrooms even smaller! I would agree on limiting the travel to several cities as it takes a day to get anywhere even if the flight is an hour. I think London and Rome with day trips if you wish would be the best. If you do two weeks (5-7 in each city) you can more than likely get an apartment. If less, I would go the hotel route.

"even though we'll be passing through Paris via train, which was my dad's argument in cutting Paris in the first place"
If you will not be visiting Paris, then there is no reason to take a train from London to Italy. A flight would be a much more efficient use of your limited time and will probably be cheaper.

Just verifying: $250 per night is for all 5 adults per night, yes? For the expensive cities you plan to visit , that will be a challenging budget. Even better to save money by NOT going to Paris which would add in extra transportation expenses. The more you move, the more it costs.

My other problem with the idea of all staying in one room is that you will have nowhere to put your stuff, or to sit, except on your beds. And there won't be any room in the bathroom for 5 people's toiletries either.

It is true a hotel offers a source of information from a concierge or front desk. However, for $250 a night you could rent a two-bedroom apartment with a living room with sofa bed plus a kitchenettes. And two bathrooms. Check out sleepinitaly.com for one place for apartments. There are lots more, too, like VRBO.com (vacation rental by owner). It might be worth it.

"even though we'll be passing through Paris via train, which was my dad's argument in cutting Paris in the first place"
If you will not be visiting Paris, then there is no reason to take a train from London to Italy. A flight would be a much more efficient use of your limited time and will probably be cheaper.
----
good point. I know my dad was excited about taking a train instead of flying more, though.
I'll still bring this up~

Thanks charness, I agree and a will look into the sites your presented.

In all probability, you will take a 4.5-hour train ride from Venice to Rome.

The Rembrandt Hotel in London has a three bedroom suite. They offer a number of other room types as well. Their website description is very accurate in every detail. Excellent restaurant in hotel, provides English styled breakfast, with lunch and dinner served daily. Many bistros within easy walking distance. Located in Knightsbridge across the street from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Natural History Museum and The Science Museum are a short walk. Harrods is a 10 minute walk, Kensington Underground station is nearby, double decker bus stops in front of hotel. Great place to stay to visit London.

While it's true that the Rembrandt has a 3-bedroom suite that would suit the cost is aobut $1200 per night. The OP is loking to spend a total of $250 for all 5 people.

I hate to say it - but esp for London that is an extremely low budget - it's not much more than 5 people would pay in a hostel. The two people might bid on Priceline and have a chance of getting somehting for $100 (but not something great) but that won't work for 3 people. I have never used but have seen others reco Eurocheapo for people with very a challenging budget. Perhaps that might be an option.

Hotwire is another option for London- I've had success with it in the past, after studying up so I was reasonably certain which hotel I was booking.

If you're open to the idea of apartment, then for options in Rome I would also look at Real Rome. They tend to have more budget oriented properties and the owner/manager is great to deal with.

http://www.realrome.com/

Yeah what I'm finding for price ranges to accommodate 5 adults is $900 to low-$1000 range for three nights stay in London. (through Booking.com)

Ellenem is absolutely right. Fly from London to Venice. In the end, it gives you more sight seeing time and most likely saves money. Your Dad will get to ride the train in Italy.

Boy, your family is so lucky to have you doing all of this!

I would suggest the following. If you decide to make your itinerary:
- London-Paris-Venice-Rome: take the train from London to Paris (your father might get a kick out of the Eurostar in the "chunnel"!); air from Paris to Venice; train from Venice to Rome.
- London-Venice-Rome: definitely fly between London and Italy, then train within Italy.
- London-Paris-Cinque Terre(?)-Rome: this you could do each leg by train, but do compare the costs of train vs. air tickets. You can take an overnight train from Paris to Milan and pay for a sleeping car, thus eliminating one night's hotel stay and add a day of sightseeing - but know that you won't really see any of the landscape, and it's definitely closer to camping than a hotel lodging!

If you do fly within Europe, use one of the discount airlines mentioned above (like Easyjet or Ryanair). Of course, more caveats come with that-! These airlines tend to be really strict on the amount/weight of luggage you can take. If you get to a point where you're looking to lighten your luggage, there is a lot of advice on these forums for that, too.

Thanks ggreen I'll be sure to compare costs of flights over trains.
We're used to strict flight rules regarding weight of luggage and such thanks to small jets we took when we were in Panama. I may be looking into tips to lighten the load when we get closer to packing. I really appreciate all your help guys.

And in Rome for three nights I'm getting between $600-low $1000's as well. -this is fine, price-wise for us. (of course, their are high thousands, but we can't afford a place for $4000+/3 nights stay)

Thank you for providing websites to help narrow down where it is we will and can afford to stay. I've FWD them all to my mom, who will be taking over the lodging information/bookings.

For London trey Londontown.com. The hotel we stay at the Milleniumj Gloucester has a fitness /workout room. They may not have a room for 5 but the couples could split up and they do have triples! Look at the prices for Club room they are larger, include internet, breakfast, canapes and wine or beer, and snaacks during the day.

There are a couple of hotels in Rome that have apartments for families. The Hotel Mozart and the Hotel Modigliani are 2 such places and they may be just around your price range. Make sure that they can hold 5 people though.

I would do an apartment for 5 people in Rome on a budget, as suggested above.

Regarding Rome, Sleep in Italy has a few apartments with 3 (and one with 4) bedrooms for your dates in your price range, with AC.

See for example this one:
https://www.sleepinitaly.com/en/show-popolo_vasari-piazza_del_popolo-roma/appartam.php?id_appartam=630

We stayed at the Domus Julia in Rome, and liked it very much:

www.domusjulia.it

"The following prices may vary depending on the season and events in Rome, and on our promotional offers as well, therefore we show the minimum and maximum levels of which may fluctuate.

Double single use
€ 70,00- € 140,00
Double superiori
€ 78,00- € 180,00
Triple superior
€ 89,00- € 210,00
Suite (2 pax)
€ 89,00- € 200,00
Suite (3 pax) € 95,00- € 220,00
Suite (4 pax) € 105,00- € 240,00
*Above-mentioned prices include: breakfast, VAT, services and air conditioning. Do not include city tax of Euros 2,00 per person/day.

However, please send ALWAYS an e-mail or contact us by fax or telephone to have ours BEST RATES"

I can't imagine you will find lodging for 5 people for $250/night, though.

Have glanced at booking.com and they do indeed show a number of places with one room for 5 people at astroundingly low rates. But I suggest you look carefully at two things - first the location. Many of those listed for London are not only not central - they are at the end of hell and gone. And would require a trip of at least an hour to get from the hotel to the center (and transit costs for 5 people). Also look at tripadvisor.com. While it's certainly possible to get a couple of negative reviews for any hotel - if a hotel gets lots of negative reviews it probably IS a dump.

Also, try londontown.com

Hi Lauren
Let us test our understanding.

Your vacation is:
3 nights London
1 night Paris
1 night Venice
3 nights Rome

Train London to Paris
Train Paris to Venice
Train Venice to Rome

Is this correct?

dugi, the OP is in the process of refining, in discussion with her family. (See posts by the OP upthread, from about May 28, 12 at 7:14pm on.)

Hi Lauren

Have you finalized your flights?
What date are you leaving the USA?
What date are you leaving Rome for the USA?

We stayed at a wonderful small hotel in Rome near Termini called the Hotel Adler. We stayed in their Bellsuite rooms (I think it might be listed as a separate hotel now) which had the best air conditioning I have ever had in Europe. I think that it's a little over your price range, but you might want to check it out. They have two rooms available during your time frame.

Hi, looking at the accomodation you already booked maybe a room in Casa Villa Gardenia in Mestre/Venice isn't what you want. We simply LOVED our stay there: A very nice 'lady-of-the-house' enjoying to be that, giving attention, tips and serving excellent breakfasts. The bus to Venice is in the street; in 15 min. you're there, take the public boats through the Canal Grande... Take a wallk through the gardens where the Biënnale is being held. We were there summer 2011 and will go back next year!
Try it! Enjoy your trip, greetings HJ

Is the trip this year? I think you will find it next to impossible to find something in London as that is the week prior to the Olympics and rates are sky high.

Also I dont think people have mentioned this but hotels in Europe are generally not like hotels in the US - ie. they are tiny, with tiny bathrooms/showers, and do not have 2 double or queen sized beds in them. They are probably 1/3 of the size if not smaller than places I have stayed at for $250 in the US. They will most likely not have a desk with a chair, and minibar and a separate comfy chair for you to sit in. I cant imagine fitting 5 adult sized people in a room unless it was a suite or something similar. Not at all common in central places for your budget.

If you want an American style hotel you will either need to increase your budget substantially, or try Starwood hotels or other large American chains understanding that these will likely be very far from centre and will require commuting to see the sites.

Although flying in Europe can be inexpensive, the airports are some distance from city centers so be sure to add in the extra cost (both time and money) of getting from the airport to the city before deciding whether to fly or train.
I would also take Cinque Terra out of the possible itinerary. As beautiful as it is, the logistics of getting there and finding appropriate accomodation while they're still cleaning up from their devestating mudslides would be difficult on such a short trip.
I agree with the previous posts. I think your itinerary is too optimistic. It would be better to cut one (or even two) cities out of your trip and have more time to enjoy your time in the remaining cities. In light of the possible nightmare the Olympics may create in London, I'd suggest Venice-Florence-Rome and save London-Paris for another trip.

I think the $250 budget for five people in major cities of Europe is entirely too low. That's only 162 in pounds or 200 in euro. I just looked at the London School of Economics (they rent out their dorm rooms in summer) and even they seem to be above your budget for five people.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/ratesavail.htm

Italy does drop their prices a tad in the major cities the 2nd half of July and during August as everyone tries to escape the heat in the cities.

I think the $250 budget for five people in major cities of Europe is entirely too low. That's only 162 in pounds or 200 in euro. I just looked at the London School of Economics (they rent out their dorm rooms in summer) and even they seem to be above your budget for five people.
http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/ratesavail.htm

Italy does drop their prices a tad in the major cities the 2nd half of July and during August as everyone tries to escape the heat in the cities.

I would factor all costs based on 3 and 4 locations then take that total and look at two locations only.

You should find that you will have more to put toward a decent, centrally-located hotel or apatrment.

Obvious expenses

Posted too soon.

Obvious expenses include flights or trains, all transfers from airports and stations, transport into and out of city centers if staying in the 'burbs, not to mention loss of time actually in a city.

I would cut down the cities, to two, and add to the hotel budget. Particularly in London, I have seen some of those "rooms for 5", think one double, one small single and a bunk bed with a bathroom the size of a single closet.

Look at Hotel Selene in Rome, ,its not luxe resort,but rooms are fair size, have mini bars, and ac and it convenient location ( close to Terminus train bus station) .

I love love love Paris, and would never suggest skipping it, but in this case, I would not even consider it. Eiffel Tower has a broken elevator, its been broken now for some time, lines for remaining elevator are running about 2 or more hours. Only option is to take stairs, sounds like your dad would not be into that.There is one way to make Paris work.

I would skip London completely, 3 -4 day in Paris, 2 nights in Venice, and 3-4 in Rome. Fly into Paris and out of Rome.

Look at renting an apartment in Paris,, more room, often cheaper, even though some do surcharge for stays of less then a week.

Frankly, I think its a lot to for everyone to expect daddy to pay for whole trip,, the two other adults could throw in a wee bit, even 40-50 dollars a night.. why is it in some families parents are paying for holidays for apparently adult children.

And I also think you are doing your family a huge favor by doing all this research,, you are saving them some hassle preventing them from wasting time for things that do not really exist,, ( all inclusive resorts in the middle of an ancient city!!??) your dads perception of what type of accomadation is available in Europeon capitals is quite interesting.

Also, two hotel rooms can be under 100 euros each a night, maybe 120 for the triple. Its a bit late now to get the deals , so many good budget places will be filled up,, but you can look at the prices at these hotels, I have stayed at most of them, they are clean, have a/c and are very well located in Paris. ALL of them have SMALL rooms , as is the norm in Paris in the budget-moderate price range.

Hotel Eugenie

Hotel Saint Pierre( the one on rue D'Ecole de Medicine near the Sorbonne)

Hotel Diana

Hotel Des Mines

All these hotels put you in areas where you can enjoy cafes, shops and walking to many ( but not all) sites.

We're doing the same travel this June, but instead of Rome, we're heading to Madrid. The key to saving money in Europe is do your reservations in advance. We started ours in March and completed all our reservations in April. If this is your first time, it makes it even challenging bec you don't know the places to go. It helps if you know local people. For hotels, try Ryanairhotels.com. We find the cheapest ones from that site. Once you selected a hotel from this site, it directs you to another booking sites where you can do the actual reservation. Always select the known sites. Be aware of the ratings and reviews of the hotels you seclected and check out Tripadvisor.com. It's true what others say, the hotels are tiny. Use google map to see the actual streets. In Paris, beware of places in the outskirts area. Since you are going to go around the place, more than likely, you will only use the hotel for sleeping and will be getting back to the hotel very late at night.Make sure you have transportation. Taxis and trains stop much earlier. Be aware of the schedules.Some hotels also do not have 24-hour service. That means their door will be closd and you will be locked out. We also sue EasyJet airlines for local travels in Europe.They're much much cheaper, sometimes up to 80%, especially if you hit the sales.Just make sure you know that they charge much higher in luggages.Book online and travel light! If you can also pay for all your hotels and trips online, it is much cheaper and you do not get charged for local fees using your credit card.In Italy, look for aparthotels.They use school dorms as aparthotels during summer.they're much cheaper and nicer and bigger than hotels and can accommodate up to even 6 ppl or more for 2bedrooms. I dont think they have the same WITHIN Paris, but you can find some outside of Paris. Dont believe what you see on Craigslist. Also beware of aparthotels that charge you deposits that you may never recover. Read the fine prints. Ryanairhotels should show the different types. Ryanair.com also has cheap, cheap air tickets, even as low as 9.99 pounds or EU10.00 euros. But they charge up to 60lbs per luggage.This is our second trip with the family. The first trip we had, we didn't know a lot of things and messed up some of our schedules and fares.We spent many days and nights doing these researches.You'll have to do the same.There are many discounts you can get from online that you will not get if you purchase locally.For example EuroRail.In many cases, hotels or trains, 17 year old is still a child. It might not too late for you to get discounted EuroRail from London to Paris or even Paris to Venice or Italy especially when you are traveling as a family.You have to do this ONLINE. If you have the Europass, it's only EU10 euros per travel. Save you lots of money, if it matters.Good Luck!!

Hey guys, thanks for the help and suggestions and all of your time. Sorry it's been awhile since I've been able to get back. We're just trying to finalize things, and my parent
s have spoken to a couple of friends and with numerous roadblocks seeming to pop up with our ideas of a Europe Trip, such as the Olympics, Eiffel Tower Maintenance, and Euro to US Dollar Conversion, we're 99% sure the trip will be changed to Ireland alone.

Many friends have made the suggestion of traveling to Ireland, and my parent's are loving the idea and have decided to save the European trip for another upcoming year of travels. I'll make a new forum/topic with the updated information and itinerary soon.