If you consider the time to go to an airport then fly somewhere then make your way from the airport to the city center you should calculate a full day for travel.

Have you been to Europe before? What kinds of things are you planning to do?

The major cities, because of what they offer, are Rome, Paris and London. Obviously you can spend your whole time in any one of those and not wear it out. You should probably try to speand at least 3 days in each big city outside your travel time. From your list I would skip Switzerland, Belgium and Austria this time and save them for a later trip. If time permits you may want to add in Florence or Venice as side trips from Rome.

Sit the family down and see what everyone is fantasizing about and plan from there.

You could probably spend 2 weeks in Italy and not have enough time. Also know tha you will probably be scolded on this message board for even suggesting the number of countries you want to visit.

If you must, do a week in Italy and a week in Germany. You will be thourghly exhausted by the time you return to the States and will no doubt require a 2 week vacation.

If you're flying RT to Rome, that will limit you. If you had and open jaw for another city to fly back from, that would make it easier.

You could spend 2 months in Paris alone, and still barely scratch the surface.

Try starting with Rome, then Florence (day trip to Siena) and Venice. Figure out how long you might want to spend in each of these cities.

A good guide book like Fodors would be the best way to start. Once you understand what's in each of the cities, then you can narrow your trip schedule down.

If you make your way to Venice you can take the overnight train from Venice to Paris. Its not for eveyone but my sister, cousin and I did last year. It was quite an ezxperience but it's not for everyone. I agree with Aisle- leave out Switzerland, Belgium and Austri for another time.

We just got back from a 10 day trip in Italy. We started in Venice, went to Tuscany and ended it in Rome. It was not enough but now we know where we want to go back too.

In my oppinion-Tuscany is a must, but it's just me.

Thank you all for your opinions and input.

This is our first time traveling to Europe and my dad was the one who suggested seeing the multiple locations above. It seems that due to time constraints and limited traveling time, it just won't be possible.

We'll look at cutting Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland and focus more on London, Rome and Paris with Venice also being a stop.

You might then check out flights to Paris from Venice.

Easyjet flies to Paris CDG, but most of their flghts are in to Orly.

From Paris, the chunnel train to London works.

You need to start planning a daily budget to average out your expenses for hotels and food. Depending on how many of you there are in your family, you might also want to look for an apartment.

You have lots of travel work ahead of you. This forum seems to be self-planners. Also, look at trip reports for the destinations you want to visit. Perform a search for each of the cities to get a good idea as to what fits best with you.

Lauren, you didn't mention whether or not your tickets are to and from Rome. Have you booked your airline reservations yet? That does make a difference in what we suggest. If your tickets are already booked, and are roundtrip from Chicago to Rome, then I recommend either spending the two weeks in Italy (you can visit Rome, Venice & Florence & maybe another area, such as Tuscany or Cinque Terre), or do Rome and Paris. If you haven't booked your airline tickets, & really want to see London, then you should fly into Rome and out of London, and visit Rome, Paris & London.

here's a suggestion -

fly into London, 4 nights [you need at least one day to recover from jetlag, and London makes a easier intro to europe as we speak an approximation of your language.

get eurostar to Paris, 3 nights [nothing like enough, but you'll be back]

fly to Venice, 3 nights

train to Rome. 4 nights.

The flight tickets have not been booked as of yet.

It would be easier to either:

a) Fly into and out of Rome, and just venture around Italy.

b) Fly into Rome and out of London, exploring Rome, Paris and London. Or vice-versa.

It looks like we'll be looking into hotels that provide suites or apartments that will room 5 people.

Lauren - I would suggest flying into London, for the reasons i set out above.

flying out of a different city eg Rome means that you don't waste time back-tracking.

even if you were just going to Italy, into Venice and out of Rome would make more sense than into and out of Rome.

if you stay 3 days or more in any place, you can usually get an apartment. 4 days would be better.

annhig means for 3 days you can get a real apartment, not one in a hotel. look on VRBO.com, and for Italy, sleepinitaly.com, italyperfetct.com and trip advisor.com.

Also google vacation apartment rental + the city name to find more refs.

You are smart to limit your stops. I would spend my time in Rome, Paris, and London on this trip, no more moves than that, as you will spend too much time moving. Actually I would advise choosing two places and doing some day trips out of them to see some of the smaller towns or regions. you can get some ideas by buying a couple of city guidebooks, as they usually include suggested day trips. Rick Steves has some good books for newbies.

Believe me, you will go back to Europe again, and see more!

annhig means for 3 days you can get a real apartment, not one in a hotel. look on VRBO.com, and for Italy, sleepinitaly.com, italyperfetct.com and trip advisor.com.>>

lol charnees - thanks for providing the translation. yes - proper apartments would be better than "suites" and most probably cheaper.

Thanks guys. I'll look into apartments instead of suites.

also, it looks like round-trip flights from O'Hare to London and back are cheapest, which would then include a flight from Rome, back to London. (approx. 2hrs and 45min)

I looked into flying into London and then out of Rome, and it looks like flight costs from Rome to O'Hare are over double the cost at $3054/person (non-stop.) I know my parents wouldn't take the bullet to bare a single stop along the way, despite the difference in price. ($1015/person)

Looks like a round-trip flight into London suites them best, and we'll have to compromise to fit an extra flight in from Rome to London.

Lauren - i don't think that the price differential should be that much.

what you are looking for is the "multi-city" button where is says one-way, or return [which will just give you O'hare - London - O'Hare]. you need to put in O'Hare to London for the outward leg, and Rome - O'Hare going back.

Sorry if you already know this, but lots of people don't and try to book two one-way trips, which are more expensive.

if you are stuck with the round trip option, it might be a good idea to go straight to Rome [or Paris] and work your way back to London. that means that your time in london won't be broken up and you'll be in the right place for going home.

you could of course also investigate the costs of flying into/out of Paris and Rome.

Man do you pay a price for non-stop flights both way. I'm looking at double the cost of 1-stop flights.

Thank you for the tip!

Double the price for nonstop from Chicago to Europe? That's surprising. Where are you searching and for what dates?

I'm going through Orbitz.com

Dates: July 22nd - August 2nd (any time) -peak season may be the reason for the jump in price.

Try searching at kayak.com. Also, if possible, be flexible about which days of the week you can travel.

Using Kayak, the least expensive nonstop for your dates I found was on American Airlines [multicity: ORD-LHR (London), FCO (Rome)-LHR] for $1537.

What price were you finding?

Lauren,
You do realize the Olympics are July 27 to Aug 12 in London. It is not surprising that airfare to and from and housing in London on your travel dates is very pricey. Unless you are planning to attend the games, I would leave London out during this trip. Just a thought...

I don;t think yuo are looking at the right flight. You ned to look for a multi-city or multi-destination ticket. That will give you a proce 1/2 of the round trip for each city. Any ticket for more than $3000 RT to O'Hare - is not an economy ticket - it's either business or somethng else strange. Check kayak.com - multi-city ticket and look again.

Also check airbnb.com for apartments

Yes, from ORD > LHR / ROM > ORD, I'm seeing no less than a total price for all family members being $11896, or $2380/person included non-stop flights. 1-stop is cheaper and can be made for a total around $5000 for all members to fly -definitely a safer bet pocket-wise, and that may be our only option if we decide to take that route.

Thanks for the information, Travelforbeer. I'll take that into consideration and relay it to my parents.

Did you use the multi-city function?
Did you try Kayak?

Yes, I used that option both through kayak and orbitz.

Lauren - i'm getting the same info as ellenem on Kayak - it's showing $1274 for a non-stop flight out with virgin, and a one-stop going back with ?.

if you want non-stop both ways it goes up to $1537 each.

on kayak, it's the third button along that you want - it says multi-city

you need to reset the 2nd line as it comes up automatically with london as your departure point.

I would suggest using easyjet or similar between Paris and Rome - so you only need to put in ORD-LHR and ROM-ORD.

Kayak - it's showing $1274 for a non-stop flight out with virgin, and a one-stop going back with ?
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Yes, I'm seeing that too...

& then when I select non-stop both ways, the price jumps to 2300+. with America Airlines showing up most frequently. ex: (american airlines / $2380.00)

ORD 9:10a → LHR 10:45p 7h 35m nonstop
FCO 11:15a → ORD 3:00p 10h 45m nonstop

consider taking overnight trains between say Rome and Vienna - say a hotel cost and travel time. Lots of overnight trains going everywhere. If going by rail look at the Eurail Select Pass valid in up to five countries - right now a special deal if buy before May 30 you get a free day - check out these great sites IMO for learning lots about European rail travel and overnight trains - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

Kayak just offered me this nonstop-both-ways pair for $1261 on American Airlines:
ORD 9:10a → LHR 10:45p 7h 35m nonstop
FCO 7:45a → ORD 10:10a 8h 25m nonstop

And this nonstop-both-ways pair on United for $1261:
ORD 6:20p → LHR 8:25p 8h 05m nonstop
FCO 7:45a → ORD 10:26a 8h 41m nonstop

I choose nonstop only at the first opportunity when searching.

I haven't looked at the booking sites, but yes, you often do pay a premium for nonstop. Sometimes it's worth it, but only you can decide that. On the other had, a flight with one stop might be a good choice, even for your folks who seem to be resisting it. While it does add time to your overall flight, if it's a "good" layover (not too long, not too short) it can serve to break up an otherwise long (10+ hrs) flight, and the day actually seems to pass quicker. That's my experience, anyway. I like the convenience of a nonstop, but man, that can feel like a lonnnng flight.

ellen - is there a certain amount of people you're punching in?

I've got 4 adults and 1 child (age 17) flying, which is what I'm looking at through Kayak with nonstop only being the first choice before clicking Search.

Can you post the link to your findings?

here's the link that I used - it comes out at just over £1000 pp.

http://www.kayak.co.uk/flights/ORD-LON/2012-07-22/ROM-ORD/2012-08-02

I haven't tried with more than one person, but that shouldn't affect it. [unless one of these flights has only 4 seats left of course].

I was searching for two seats, not five, which could make a difference. Are your dates flexible? I've saved dramatic amounts by traveling midweek rather than on weekends. Good luck with your searches!

http://www.kayak.co.uk/flights/ORD-LON/2012-07-22/ROM-ORD/2012-08-02/nonstop/4adults/children-17>>

total cost £6,406.

for some reason, it's showing business class going home, but you might need the extra luxury by then.

you can get it down to £765 or so if you accept one stop each way.

Thank you, annhig.

So we're looking at about $8000 for non-stop both way (with the addition of the biz class on the flight home which you've pointed out.)

I'll report this to my parents.

(We are able to make a 2-3 day difference between the Jul 22 and Aug 2 dates.) Thanks for the tip~!

Lauren, I compliment you on actually listening and trying to do what others are telling you. Many of these people are real pros and can help you a lot. You are a smart woman - your parents are lucky to have you planning the trip.

hi Lauren - the U$8K is about right. you could cut it down a lot by accepting one stop each way, but it might depend on where the stops are and how long they are whether that would be acceptable to you and your parents.

playing around with the dates may also help. i found that planning our trip to Sri Lanka, i saved us £300 each simply by flying home on a monday rather than a sunday.

Lauren, I compliment you on actually listening and trying to do what others are telling you.
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I'm glad I found this site, and am very appreciative of the help and tips, and how friendly the people are here -not to mention the fast responses. Thank you~

annhig - that's wonderful. I'll experiment with the dates and thanks so much for helping me find the flights at their cheapest costs.

If you are trying to fly United go directly to the website. Usually it is the same price as expedia. But you can click the multiple destination button and nonstop as well as the find airfare +- 3 days. It will give you a chart with the difference in prices based on when you leave and when you return.