I would also like to secure local rail passes

If by that you mean passes that do not include long-distance travel, they probably are not worth it. Besides, in 7 days for two major European capitals does not allow for side trips (except maybe Versailles).

Look at sncf.com for low price tickets between Frankfurt and Paris three months before travel time.

For short hops outside Paris a rail pass is not going to save you money. Where were you thinking of going?

Three cities in 7 days is a lot and you want to take day trips. That means that you will have almost no time to see the cities. You need to allow time to get from one location to another. You'll need at least a half day for each segment. In addition to the train travel time you need to factor in traveling to and from the train stations.

You should rethink the amount of time you have or the number of cities you'll visit. You will have 2 days in each city minus the side trip time.

You can get inexpensive German and French train tickets by buying ahead. For France the lowest prices are found 90 days before your departure date. Do a price comparison before buying rail tickets.

Hi Michael:

Thanks for the information. That is a good start. I will definitely check sncf.com when ready, but what about all these different passes like the German Rail Pass, France Day Tripper and Britail Pass that I have found via Rail Europe? Also, do you know whether or not there are such things as rail and hotel packages? Or, are we better off booking rail and hotel separately?

@ Michael and Adrienne: thanks for the advice. I kind of thought that day trips would be too much for our 7 days, but can't blame me for thinking big, right? So, yes, we will, instead, wisely spend our time exploring key destinations in each city instead. Lodging. Any suggestions on lodging?

How much do you want to pay? You mentioned hostels which are about E25 or E30 per person. You can look at hostel world or other hostel sites and get an idea of prices. There are 2 threads here on Paris hotels - Paris right bank hotels and Paris left bank hotels. And there are lots of recommendations for Frankfurt hotels. Please use the search box to find the threads.

I've stayed at the Excelsior hotel in Frankfurt which gives easy access from the airport and is just across the street from the train station. The large buffet breakfast is included with the room.

As far as train passes you need to do the math and compare rail passes to point to point tickets. That is the only way to get an accurate assessment of cost.

I've never heard of a rail and hotel package but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. It's usually more cost effective to book yourself.

Traditionally rail passes cost more than buying tickets from the country train sites. And any tickets you buy from RailEurope will have a premium price. German train tickets can be purchased at:

bahn.de

You want to see Frankfurt and Paris and London - in seven days - with six people - ?

That is a pretty tall order. Everything will be determined by the slowest one in your group. Even if you were all 20-somethings it would be tough.

7 days minus all the travel/checking in and out/travel means you'll have less than 2 days in each city.

And if you need to factor in travel to/from Europe and jet lag, you'll net barely a full day in each city.

If you are coming into Frankfurt you could easily spend seven days just visiting Frankfurt and the towns and cities around it, even into Luxembourg. I would rather do that than try to include Paris and /or London. Both of those two are major destinations and just 2 -3 days is short-changing them. Or fly into Paris or London and just do them. Or budget a lot more time. 14 days would be getting closer to the mark, three weeks even better.

You could easily do Frankfurt and surrounds by rail as there is an excellent rail network for both local and major trains here. One of the Fodorites, texasbookworm, did just this trip recently - search for her posts and TR. There are also local rail passes you can use to make travel within Hessen or other states cheaper for groups of people, although I'm not an expert on those (although there are lots of people here who could advise you on that here very competently).

Good luck, it's a great opportunity for you all.

Lavandula

IMHO for 7 days with 6 people you have 2 cities too many.

Realistically you can see quite a bit of either London or Paris, with 1 or possibly 2 day trips. Trekking through 3 cities would essentially give you 1 to 1.5 days in each city - barely time to see 2 or 3 sights and then move on.

If you have a full 2 weeks you can do 3 places superficially. But you need to understand that moving so many people, with obviously different interests, habits, eating patterns, etc is going to be a whole lot more complicated than travel just with a couple of people.

As for hostels - if you want private rooms - versus bed in common dorm rooms they are not necessarily less expensive than modest hotels - and many don't allow children. If you are contemplating hostels you should check out student resources (Let's Go Guides or Thorn Tree section of Lonely PLanet) to get info on them. Some are fine - but some are party central with lots of booze and even drugs.

To echo previous posters, your time frame is totally not realistic. Really, you must give up at least one if not two of the cities.
As for accommodations, most hostels cater to the younger backpacker set and your senior parents are not likely to be comfortable there. You can try a site like www.venere.com and search for 2 star hotels.

If you do cut your itinerary to one city, another option might be to get an apartment. I'd suggest you look for a place with two bathrooms since you have six people in your group. You could save some money on meals, at least having breakfast at home. If you were to choose Paris, for example, on www.homeaway.com properties 419884 or 934046 look like they would work (just examples, not endorsing those specific properties)

Very, very simple!

Frankfurt (Main) to Paris in 3 hour 45 min, fares from €39 at www.bahn.de/en

Paris to London from €45 in 2 hours 20 minutes, www.eurostar.com

Passes a red herring, just buy cheap tickets online in advance.

I assumed that Franfurt was just a point of arrival and not meant as a major stop in this whirlwind tour.

While there's a general consensus on this thread of not rushing to see 3 cities in 7 days, and I'd tend to agree. (If it were me I'd skip Frankfurt and split the week evenly between London and Paris).

If you're really intent on covering all three though, here's a suggested itinerary - i.e. what I'd do if I were doing there three cities in 7 days.

Day 1 - Arrive in Frankfurt, settle into hotel (near Hauptwache if possible). Spend afternoon and evening exploring Romerburg.
Day 2 - Check out early and dump bags in lockers in Hauptbanhof. Do a walking tour in the late morning and then early afternoon - train to Paris (about 4 hours). Stay in hotel in Paris (suggest either near Rue Cler, St Germain, or even better in the Marais). Dinner near hotel and then early night.
Day 3 - Do the free walking tour from Sandemans first day morning. You won't be entering the Lourve so take pics by pyramid. Tour ends at Place de la concorde. Spend afternoon browsing nearby Place de la Madeline. Have light salad lunch there - possibly the Fauchon bistro, then cab up the Champs Elysee, dropping off 3-4 blocks before the Arc de Triomphe. Take metro from there to Tour Eiffel - then hang round there at night till 9ish for the lights.
Day 4 - Morning walk the left bank, enter notre dame and seine. Skip ste chappelle (not worth it given 1/3 is covered in scaffolding anyway). Afternoon - tour palais garnier and quickly pop into the galeries lafayette food hall. Do a Montmatre walking tour in the evening.
Day 5 - Train to London (2h 20 mins). Afternoon - do royal and stately london (buckingham palace, houses of parliament, trafalgrar sq etc.). Stroll along the southbank in the evening.
Day 6 - Do a museum (suggest the V&A and museum of natural history in Sth Ken), walk to harrods to see, then in the evening do the west end - have dinner in Chinatown and catch a west end show.
Day 7 - home.

Doable - and you get to see the 'highlights' but very little rest time.

Don't bother with regional rail passes - the cities themselves have so much to offer.

I recently spent 6 days in Paris (my third visit) and still havent yet made it outside. Not even to Versailles.