One point to add is that we have return ticket from Mumbai to London, so 30th Morning we have to be in London for return flight.

Sorry - but you can't 'see' London, Paris, Switzerland and Italy in 9 days. Even if you could - you don't want to fly back to London the same morning you fly home because if you miss your flight you will be totally stuck. You will want to be back in London the night before

>>also budget will be 1,20,000 INR per person.<< Do you mean 120,000 INR ($2200/€1600/£1400)?

Where do you want to go in Switzerland and Italy? They are big countries and you have almost no time.

You could spend 3 days in London, 2 days in Paris, and 4 days split between Florence and Rome - but even that is insanely fast.

I understand people wish to see alot , but you have too many countries planned for not many days, really only 8 days. You arrive on the 21st ( do you arrive in the morning or afternoon?) so this day is not going to involve much sightseeing, you must go from airport to hotel, then you will be tired so probably will just wish to visit one sight , walk around a bit, find some dinner.

So, now it is the 22nd.

22nd-London
23th- London
24th-Eurostar to Paris, 1/2 day Paris
25th-train to Switzerland( where in Switzerland ?) You will arrive in later afternoon
26th-Switerland
27th-so , from Switzerland you now want to visit Italy?? this day will be travel day.
28th-now you have one day to visit one city in Italy. Just one city , and only one day. This is not seeing Italy.
29th - you must return to London on this day, so this day is just travel

This trip will be expensive, every time you travel it costs more money. This trip is not seeing much, one day, maybe two days in each COUNTRY,( why even go to Paris , you only will have 1/2 a day?), how can I see your whole country in one or two days.. its not realistic.


I think you should sit down and look at the travel time. It takes 1/2 day or more up every time you move..so with all those moves you have so little time left to sightsee. You will be tired .This does not sound fun to me.
Also , does your group include children or elderly persons? If your group includes children under 10 then this schedule is going to be too tiring.

With your time I would visit two countries. London ( since you are flying in and out of there) and either France, Switzerland or Italy.

Yes I understand , the time is bit short, but we are young group of people, also what I am thinking is days will be very long during that time, with sunset around 9 pm in the night, so we can cover lot during a day. In Switzerland, as I have already been there , I am planning to visit interlaken, from there goto Jungfrau, MT. Titlis, any other place you all will suggest, as we all are avid nature lovers, rather than architectural beauty, we will to see places having more natural beauty. We will completely avoid Museaums on this trip.

I don't care how young you are, now you say you wish to see two places in Switerland, I suggest you make a plan and show it do us, I would like to know how you think you can visit so many places in such a short time.

Show me a plan like I made you. I did it, now you do it.

It is unworkable.

If you are young you have many years to visit Europe again.

Age has nothing to do with anything (much anyway )

One simply can't transport oneself that many places in that few days.

"We will completely avoid Museaums on this trip." . . . and most everything else except train stations and/or airports.

I'd like to see your plan, too, as your "concept" is completely unworkable. You simply cannot get to all these places in the very short time you have, unless you just fly over in a helicopter.

I have to jump on the "too much" in 9 days bandwagon. Why bother with Paris if you only want to be there 1/2 a day?

If you really really insist on doing this, you're going to have to skip Paris all together, then FLY most likely on easyJet. London - Geneva, Geneva - Rome, Rome - London.

That's the best I can do! But it won't be fun...... Geneva is probably the only airport that is easy and quick to get in and out of. So don't forget you're talking about 1/2 a day lost in travel time.

Janis: he probably means 120,000 rupees per person or 720,000 total. I'm thinking he's saying one lakh (1,00,000 = one hundred thousand in Indian numerological notation) and twenty thousand rupees.

And if I'm right, that means a total budget for 6 people of about $13,500 or 8600 GBP. That will be chewed up with travel costs with all those locations . . .

Ok, I've actually worked out the itinerary to do this... But I haven't even touched the budget issue. What can I say, it's slow TV night.

Caveat: I'm NOT by any means saying it will be ANY FUN at all nor do I believe it's a good idea! Especially trying to herd 6 people on a very tight schedule.

Having said that, if you can work out how to make 6 people turn on a dime:

21 London
22 London
23 8:19 TGV London - Paris, arrive 11:47,
12:00 -
16:11 TGV Paris - Geneva, arrive 19:27
24 Geneva
25 Geneva (Lausanne? Vevey?)
26 18:50 EasyJet flight Geneva - Rome, arrive 20:20
27 Rome
28 Rome
29 11:00 EasyJet flight Rome - London, arrive 12:40
30 London

Phew! I'm exhausted!

Opps, I sent early. I meant to put in 12:00 - 15:00 visit Eiffel Tour

hmm..by the looks of it...it seems that this trip is very difficult...

Ok first we are deciding to add one more day so our trip starts on 20th June, so we will reaching London at 13:00 outside airport. Here is rough itinerary

20th June : 14:00 In hotel ( central London, in the evening visit London Bridge and nearby)

21st June : early morning start from London with EUROSTAR to Paris, reach Paris ( Gare De Lyon) by 11:00 a.m., Visit Eiffel Tower and come back to Gare De Lyon by 16:00,reach Switzerland by evening, check in the hotel.

22nd June : Visit Rhine fall at Schaffhausen enjoy Boat ride to the fall, Zurich lake and arrive at Lucerne in the night.

23 June : Excursion to Engelberg -Mt Titlis, and then do ice flyer ride, snow sliding and then in the night take Lake Lucerne Cruise.

24th June : Trummelbach Glacial Waterfalls, then Jungfrau and ice palace.

25th June : Sky Diving in Interlaken and arrive In Rome in the evening

26th June : City tour of Rome, Colosseum, Tiber River, Trevi Fountain, and Time elevator ride

27th June : Morning reach Venice, water bus ride to Venice Island, Bridge of Sighs and ride in Gondola ride in canals of venice

28th June : Pisa and florence, In Pisa see leaning tower of Pisa and in florence michelangelo point and statue of david

29th June: Earlu morning reach London, and take a city tour by tour bus

30th June : return back to Mumbai by Afternoon flight.

Budget can be stretched.

Are you serious. Is this a joke?

BTW, in Paris you will arrive at Gare Du Nord, not Gare du Lyon, so you will have to store your luggage at Gare Du Nord, go see tower, then return to Gare Du Nord to get luggage, then go to Gare Du Lyon, OR, you can arrive in PAris, go to Gare du Lyon store luggage, then go to Et.. either way what a waste of time.

Yes I understand going to paris for just a half day seems not that reasonable , but this visit is unavoidable because of some other factors, its like we have to go there.

Why do we waste our time.

@mamcalice: nobody is forcing you to , i am just trying to take expert opinions from the experienced travellers....

<Why do we waste our time.>

Sometimes because there is nothing on TV.

But it is a shame the people spend all that time and money only to rush around ticking off boxes. If at any time anything goes wrong (that never happens right!?), the whole thing will degenerate into a big mess and no one actually enjoying themselves. Ah well.

Hi Deepraj...having done fairly detailed study of italy as we are going there for 2 weeks...i think the trip you are planning is not advisable as all you will be doing is checking in and out and travelling to one place to another.

If you MUST go to Italy...cancel all other places and relax for 3 nights in venice as you are not interested in museums. I would suggest there are enough and more places in swiss itself which you might want to see...like saint moritz, Zermatt, Lugano, zurich etc etc

Or else do one of the tours from the travel companies like Henna or Thomas cook where they take you to main sights of a few countries.

Just my thoughts.

I think you need to be more realistic as currently you are spending all your money and time in transit and not seeing much of anything.

For example:

20th June, so we will reaching London at 13:00 outside airport. Here is rough itinerary

You will need about an hour to get through immigration and get your bags

20th June : 14:00 In hotel ( central London, in the evening visit London Bridge and nearby)

It will take at least 1 hour to get into central London + the time it takes to find your hotel.

If I understand this correctly you are flying into London with only the late afternoon and evening available to see anything and then leaving the next morning? I think this is a waste of time and money and would just drop this and fly into your first location. If you are travelling from overseas you may be jetlagged as well.

21st June : early morning start from London with EUROSTAR to Paris, reach Paris ( Gare De Lyon) by 11:00 a.m., Visit Eiffel Tower and come back to Gare De Lyon by 16:00,reach Switzerland by evening, check in the hotel.

If you arrive at 11am you will need to store your luggage somewhere, this takes time and then you need to allow for time to get to the Eiffel tower and then get back to Gare de Nord, get your luggage, then you still need to get to Gare de Lyon. All in 5 hours – just to see the Eiffel Tower?

These two first days make next to no sense and the trend continues into the rest of your days – all you are doing is spending money and sitting in transport for a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and a couple sites in London.

You have not considered transit times, waiting for transit, waiting in line for luggage storage or to see sites, delays, eating etc. What if your flight to London is delayed by several hours? What if its cloudy the day you have set aside for Jungfrau and you cant see it anyways?

With 11 days pick 3 locations max. Your first and last day are transit days so you really only have 9 days. You also have to get back to London for your flight home so one of those is going to be eaten up by getting back to London. If you can book your flight into one location and home from your final destination.

I'd go back to the drawing board and rethink this so that it is more realistic.

Don't forget that they are arriving after a very long flight, then they need to be ON the train at 8am. All 6 of them. You have to check out, get everyone's bags together, get to the train station, get the tickets, etc, etc. I really think the OP is under estimating the REAL time to get from on place to another with that many people, bags, etc. It takes lots of time to get all 6 people together in the same place, same time, ready to go.

In general, I'm more tolerant of flash tourism and if it were 1 or 2 people only, I'd say... maybe. But in this case it's just too much with too many people.

I do like the tour idea that Bhavana mentions. That could work well with this group. Then someone else deals with the organization issues. You all just have to be on the bus at X time.

You "say" above that you want advice from expert travellers--and then you completely ignore it!! LOL
This is a silly trip. I have to ask what it is about travellers from India that this is always what they want to do--drive by tours. It is notable from many threads we have had.

Gretchen good observation. I think it may be the feeling that you may not return to these places again. You can say....... Been to France.., been to Italy etc..
I am Indian and notice this with many tourists from there. An organized tour is the best suggestion for such a trip.

Thank you. I meant absolutely no disrespect but have wanted to ask for a long time.
and I agree about the tour--has been recommended for other such threads.
BUT I live in the US, and it may be the same thing--it's been 'way too long since we returned. You never know.

IMHO - I simply cannot begin to say and ridiculous and undoable this trip is.

If there is any sort of problem, plane delay, a rail strike, bad weather, etc - the entire schedule is thrown off and you will have nothing.

Also you seem to have a budget of 1600 euros per person. Have you looked at the costs of some of the things you are proposing to do? Ascending the Jungfrau alone will cost about 165 euros per person. Skydiving in Interlaken will cost about 300 euros per person. So you have now reduced your budget to about 1100 euros per person - or about 100 per day. And this includes transit from one place to another. You will either be sleeping on park benches or going without food. (Switz is VERY expensive - hotels, food, etc).

Besides the fact that you will be spending about 3/4 of your time just getting from one place to another I think you will find you have run out of money several days before your trip is done.

And while I appreciate that you are young - and perhaps think you can do without sleep for several nights in a row - no matter your age - there are still only 24 hours per day.

"@mamcalice: nobody is forcing you to , i am just trying to take expert opinions from the experienced travellers...."

And you have received the SAME advice/information from many expert/experienced Fodorites. The trip you are planning is ridiculous.

Just a FEW of the problems w/ your new, 'improved' itinerary:

• If you are arriving at LHR from India at 1PM you likely won't be to your hotel until 3:30 or 4 PM or even later.

• If you are leaving on a Eurostar around 0800 you will have to be at St Pancras by 0715 (they have advance check in just like flying). So all of you will need to be packed/checked out and in taxis or on the tube before 0700 - jet lagged no less!

(BTW - London Bridge is just a modern concrete bridge. I assume you mean TOWER Bridge - which is in the east end of London)

• Your London stop makes no sense at all. It you want to see Paris- then FLY from LHR directly on to Paris on June 20.

• As you've laid out your new plan, Paris also makes no sense. At least if you sleep in Paris on the 20th, you would have a chance to see something.

• The plan from June 22on is no better (and some of it is even worse)

So you can listen to experts/experienced travelers (even the non-'experts' have posted how bad your plan is) - OR -you can spend a fortune dragging your family along on this crazy trek.

Your choice.

I honestly think this is the worst itinerary I have ever seen in about two decades of participating on travel boards. The absolute worst. A prize winner.

yup

Double yup, break out the blue ribbon.

hmm..almost everyone has ridiculed this itenerary, so we have decided to increase the number of days...

so our tour starts on 22nd June , reach at 11:30 (LONDON) and return back on 6th July from London by 11:30 flight.

CAn you all please suggest a itenerary so that we can maximize these 15 days...

Glad you are willing to accpet some well meaning advice.

What I would recommend is to prioritise what you want to see, picking 4 locations as your bases, London being 1 as you are flying and out of there.

I would fly immediately on arrival to your farthest away location and put my time in London at the end as you have to back there the night before for your flight anyways and this will save you a change of hotel. Also if you visit Rome first it is likely to be cooler. I might choose something like this:

22 June – arrive in London and fly to Rome
23 June – Rome
24 June – Rome
25 June – Rome
26 June – Rome - Venice
27 June – Venice
28 June – Venice to Paris
29 June – Paris
30 June – Paris
1 July – Paris
2 July – Paris to London
3 July – London
4 July – London
5 July – London
6 July – fly home from London

Or you could:
Substitute Florence for Venice OR
Switzerland for Rome or Paris

You will need to prioritise and this is just an example.
Lots of options, but you need to give yourself time to see the places you are visiting and also the time to travel between. I think you will be surprised at how long it takes to move between cities – especially since you have 6 people. Budget in at least ½ a day lost to travel every time you move. I have done a trip with that many people and it is like herding cats – next to impossible to get places in a timely fashion.

Good luck!

I'm glad you've added extra days! The plan jamikins suggests is a good one. Your original plan included seeing several places in Switzerland in a small amount of time. I just want to help you understand that if you do choose to go to Switzerland (though it would make sense to drop it from your itinerary), you should only go to one of the locations you suggested (Zurich, Lucerne, or Interlaken) and plan to stay there several days.

I don't recommend Zurich, as it is primarily a business city. Lucerne is a pretty and quaint city, that offers the chance for a boat ride and visit to Mt Titlis. Interlaken and its surrounding area would be truly in the mountains, and offers more hiking opportunities and the Jungfrau and skydiving experience you seem to want. Keep in mind, though, that all those beautiful mountains make travel in Switzerland slower and more expensive than you might expect. So you would need to pick one-- either Lucerne or Interlaken-- and plan to stay there 3 or 4 days. You can't just pop to Interlaken from Lucerne for a day.

So, if your itinerary will definitely include London, Paris, and Italy, my suggestion would be to drop Switzerland from this trip. If you do choose to include Switzerland, I'd suggest dropping one of your other countries, and then choosing only one place to enjoy in Switzerland for several days.

Another point I'll also add, is that you are flying to London, but seem not to want to spend any time there. I'm sure flights to London are cheaper than to other cities, but consider flying directly to a city you actually want to visit. Train ticket prices can add up quickly, so it may not actually save you money to fly to London then train to Italy. If you can't get a direct flight, consider flying to London, then immediately transferring to a flight to Italy. Also, you may be able to fly into one European city and home from another city. Check the airline websites (usually called "multi-city" rather than round trip).

What a relief! I was worried you would actually try to do your initial plan. Take jamikins itinerary - set it in stone, book your flights - and then start asking about specific things to see/do in each stop.

(Is jamikins' plan your only option - no. But it is VERY good, ticks most of your boxes except Switzerland, and doesn't have you hopping around Europe without taking a breath)

I hope is he has added days he has also added money to the budget.
Switzerland is EXpensive. Getting all these places is also expensive.
I like Jamikins ideas--might not spend so much time in Italy/or specifically Rome. I'd add Florence, but they aren't "doing" museums.

Yes jamikinsm plan seems to be good, and yes we have increased the budget as well.

But we cant drop Switzerland, in that plan we will drop Paris and substitute Swiss, as we all have visited Paris and seen it extensively.

Now we are opting to go directly from Mumbai to Rome , and we will be returning to Mumbai from London.

So trip goes like this Mumbai- Rome - Florence- Venice- Interlaken- Lucerne- Paris- London-Mumbai

and it starts on 22nd June to 6th July 2013.

Much better!! Well done.

That is much better Deepraj, you got some really good suggestions and good for you for listening and taking our ridicule in the manner in which it was meant.
I hope you all have a really great holiday.

I am a little bit confused - first you post "we will drop Paris and substitute Swiss" - that's fine.

But then you post "So trip goes like this Mumbai- Rome - Florence- Venice- Interlaken- Lucerne- Paris- London-Mumbai"

Confused here, too, since Paris is still listed.

yes as I told earlier, we had visited Paris earlier, and going to Paris for a short while is unavoidable, in jamikinsm itenerary Paris was for 4 days, which has been substituted by Swiss, Paris will be still a 1/2 day visit..

Also Skydiving will be done in Rome, than Interlaken, thats a small change....

22-Jun Arrive in Rome from Mumbai at 1800 and check in the hotel.
23-Jun Naples - Capri - Anacapri Tour
24-Jun Rome City Tour by Bus, Rome to Florence 130 hrs
25-Jun Florence excursion to Pisa, Piazza Michelangelo and Statue of David
26-Jun Florence –Venice 3hrs, Venice Gondola canal ride
27-Jun Venice
28-Jun Venice to Lucerne
29-Jun Lucerne, Mt. Titlis, train visit
30-Jun Lucerne to Interlaken 2hrs
1-Jul Interlaken Jungfrau
2-Jul Swiss ??
3-Jul Swiss to Paris by plane and then to London by waterloo train
4-Jul London City tour
5-Jul London warner bros studio
6-Jul Return to Mumbai from London

"Skydiving will be done in Rome"

Where in Rome do you plan on skydiving???

Or do you really mean 'skydiving' or something else? What are you actually doing (I'm pretty sure there are no airparks w/ jumping out of airplanes anywhere in Rome)

"3-Jul Swiss to Paris by plane and then to London by waterloo train"

This part really doesn't make sense. Flying from Switzerland to CDG or Orly, followed by a transfer into the city, then leaving your bags at a station, then whatever you think you can do in a couple of hours, then retrieving the luggage, then checking in for the train.

(BTW, the train does not go to Waterloo and hasn't for ages. It goes to St Pancras. Maybe you have some out of date guide books?)

http://www.romaskydive.com/en/directions is the place in Rome, for skydiving.....and Paris to London will be Eurostar train....

There is no place in your scheduled time in Rome that will allow for skydiving to take place. Romaskydive is more than an hour from Rome in the opposite direction from Florence. It will take a minimum of 4 hours for you to reach the location (Nettuno), train and skydive, and return to Rome, probably more since I am only guessing at how long it takes to travel between train stations, train for your jump, gear up, take flight, and actually skydive.

>>is the place in Rome, for skydiving<<

Just so you know they aren't IN Rome. They are just outside of Anzio - which is 50 miles from Rome. When will you have time to go skydiving? That is a pretty time intensive activity and you already have no time free in Rome.

• 22-Jun Arrive in Rome from Mumbai at 1800 and check in the hotel. (No time today)

• 23-Jun Naples - Capri - Anacapri Tour (You are out of town all day today)

• 24-Jun Rome City Tour by Bus, Rome to Florence 130 hrs (a bus tour and then you leave for Florence)

>>and Paris to London will be Eurostar train....<<

yes, I know. But it does not go to Waterloo. That is what I was trying to say. The Eurostar goes to St Pancras and has for several years.

was posting the same time as ellenem . . . .

Have you ever been skydiving? One does not just show up, get on a plane, take off and jump out . . .

First there are releases to go over and sign, then you get fitted for your gear, then there are ground instructions, . . .

Door to Door that is probably a 6+ hour excursion - and you have no unoccupied six hours

Can you please share why you have to spend a few hours in Paris? I am genuinely curious why you would spend the time, energy, and money doing this...?

In Interlaken, I don't know if you've checked into skydiving or not, but FYI, they jump from the mountain and not from a plane, so it does take time to get up to the jumping site which are mountain roads in a car, then go through your training, and then you jump and fly down to where the town is. Looking at your current schedule, you look like you have a little more leisure time in Interlaken/Switzerland, than in Rome, so you might consider doing this. However, if its windy, they do not go. By the way, it is called "fluging". (spelling?)

You might consider leaving Switzerland earlier to get into Paris the night before. This way, you'll have a nice evening in Paris and can either try to see the Eiffel Tower at night, or go first thing in the morning. Remember, there are lines to go up the tower, unless all you're doing is looking at it from the bottom.

My husband and I did a 15 day trip, and saw Paris for 2 days, TGVd to Lausanne, saw Zermatt, then to Interlaken and Lucerne for a couple nights each, Innsbruck, then went north to Munich for a couple nights, saw Neuchwanstein, Heidelberg/ Speyer, wiesbaden/Koblenz, Frankfurt then hopped a late train to get back to Paris the night before we flew home to US. People thought we were crazy to pack things in, and we didn't get to Italy like I wanted, but we had a great time. We spent a lot of time ON trains using a Eurail Pass. The upside was being able to see the countryside during the rides, and meeting the locals and learning more about the area and taking in the culture. The downside was if you messed up and took the wrong train, and/or get off at the wrong stop (we did), then sometimes it takes a couple hours to get back on track. BUT, its when something went wrong, that we found how friendly people were despite a language barrier. We found a cute little German inn that offered the BEST food I've ever eaten along the wine region, (when we got lost) and once we were back on track, were glad that things happened the way they did. we only got to spend a couple hours in many of the places, because you don't realize how long it takes to walk somewhere, and you hope to save $$ by taking buses/rail, but you need to wait for them a lot and transfer to other lines. So, when you plan things, don't be too rigid. Make sure there's a couple hours built in to rest, or allow for an extra hour to get somewhere, and have enough things planned that you can switch things around if one thing doesn't work out. Lines may be long in a couple of places or weather might not cooperate which may not allow you to do something one day, but if you're flexible and open-minded, you can still do A LOT. Make sure you check on hours of operation. Have a fun trip! Sounds exciting!

I'm planning a return trip to Europe now, and will see the highlights of Paris and Italy in 9 days, so I understand what you're going through. I decided the places I really want to see, and figured I can do Paris and Rome in 3 days each, and Florence/Pisa in 2, then fly home. Unfortunately I can't take more time off, so instead of trying to get more places in and not seeing much of Milan and Venice, I decided to make a quality trip to Rome and Florence. Its not quite the same, but I live in Las vegas, so if I want a gondola ride that bad, I'll go to the Venetian...

I was so hopeful....

Flying to Paris from Switzerland is a waste of time. The train journey will take just about the same time (including getting to the airport, checking in, controls, waiting, getting out of the airport, getting in town, etc) as it will to take the train.

Take the train! The TGV is fast and convenient. You can pick up the TGV to Paris in Basel.

"I was so hopeful.... "

Me too

It looked like a reasonable new plan -- but then we learn Paris is still in the mix, and this skydiving in Anzio???

As I said above, I'm not totally against packing things in. But you have to _somewhat_ realistic. There's packing in and and then there's planning so that the only way to actually accomplish your trip is to first invent the teleportation device!

Don't forget:
Getting to places takes a lot of time. Getting 6 people to places takes even more time.

@Deepraj
1. You have to drop the idea of jumping off of or out of anything. You just don't have the time.

2. Since you absolutely positively have to go to Paris, I think you should leave on Jul2 in the afternoon to Paris via Basel on the TGV. Stay over night in Paris then leave again in the late afternoon for London. Unless something really bad will happens if you stay in Paris for more than 4 hrs.

I don't normally recommend this, but since you are determined to visit a large number of locations in a short amount of time with a group of 6 people, an organized tour is probably the best way for you to accomplish your goal. That way, transportation will be arranged for you in a relatively efficient and cost effective way. Try googling "Europe tours".or something like that, and you can probably find something that meets your needs.

Hello All,

Thank you all for responses so far, and looking forward to lots of information to make this trip a memorable one.

22nd June Day 1: Arrive in Rome
23rd June Day 2: Rome City Tour
24th June Day 3: Trip to Capri Island
25th June Day 4: Sky Diving Rome , evening to Florence 1:30
26th June Day 5: Explore Florence
27th June Day 6: Florence to Venice 3.5 hrs , and then rest
28th June Day 7: Explore Venice, Night Train to Lucerne
29th June Day 8: Arrive Lucerne, Take a Cruise, and rest
30th June Day 9: Mt Titlis and surroundings , To Interlaken
1st July Day 10: Jungfrau Excursion
2nd July Day 11: Interlaken , Glacier 3000
3rd July Day 12: Zurich to Paris flight, and then Euro star to London
4th July Day 13: Explore London
5th July Day 14: London
6th July Day 15: return to Mumbai

I know I am going to get lot of flak , especially for day 12, but we have to do it that way...and we have worked it out..I have been to Paris( have been in Paris for 3 months), Interlaken, so have fair idea of trains over there and there timings.
This Itinerary we are trying to take care that at least we tour 2 cities Italy and Swiss , with time on our hands.
Swiss is going to be hectic, but we need to be bracing ourselves for it.

Looking forward to any tips and tricks, to make it more realistic...

Adding "and then rest" doesn't make this any less idiotic.

And the country is Switzerland. "Swiss" is the nationality of the people who live there.

It may be possible but likely very difficult to take a day trip from Rome to Capri. I would eliminate this trip and add the day to Rome.

Deepraj, Please post a trip report when you return. I think we will all be curious to know how this actually works out for you.

Please explain Day 3. You are going fom Rome to Capri as a day trip, and then back to Rome, in one day?

The sky diving at Anzio day makes no sense at all.

You can do what you want (and sounds like you will no matter how ditzy it may be). But do the other five people buy into this? Or are you telling them what a wonderful plan you have?

If this is actually for real and not someone pulling our collective leg, it is going to be some trip. LOL. I'd like to see the photos and actually I'd like to be a fly on the wall to see how it all unfolds...or unravels...or something.

Raincitygirl, I'm with you! Most of this isn't logistically possible. The guy is just messing with our heads!

There are day trips from Rome to capri, and back where the tour operator takes care of everything....
Regarding Skydiving, netunno is 1:30 hrs from ROme, where we can reach by early morning train from rome do the skydiving till evening and return to Rome....if Rome to florence not possible that day itslef , will go next morning to Florence....

Whatever.....

a simply ridiculous plan -- but you have an answer for everything.

BTW, why are you staying in Rome since you don't have time/plans to see anything in the city except for a bus tour?.

ok I accept , that the plan is ridiculous......can anyone please give me a plan which is realistic and practical...

Jamikins gave you a good/doable plan a few days ago. Since you don't want to spend time in Paris you could substitute one destination in Switzerland and then fly on to London.

We thought you were going w/ that one when you posted >>But we cant drop Switzerland, in that plan we will drop Paris and substitute Swiss, as we all have visited Paris and seen it extensively.<<

Don't try to fly into Paris for just a couple of hours 'on the ground'.

You've already had 64 (less your own responses) helpful posts which you've chosen to ignore.

Finally the tickets have been booked for summer trip to europe..we ill be going from Sept 14 to Sept 28 and will be visiting London, Switerland and Italy...very excited and waiting for the trip.

We have arranged this trip from the private operator.

This is the itinerary which has been finalized.

14 SEP - DAY 1 – Arrive London 08:00 am, post 1000 am / 13:00 Warner Bros Studio tour ( or something else) not yet decided..



15 SEP - DAY 2 - London – optional Hop on Hop off tour, visit Madamme Tussauds / London Eye / River cruise or Day free


16 SEP - DAY 3 - London – Paris – Train 07:01 am – 10:17 //

Paris – Lucerne via Basel - Train 16:23 – 21:30 (01 change at Basel)


17 SEP - DAY 4 - Lucerne – Excursion to Mt Titlis


18 SEP - DAY 5 - Lucerne – Excursion to Jungfrau


19 SEP - DAY 6 - Lucerne – Zurich – (50 mins) optional Zurich Trolley Experience or Day free


20 SEP - DAY 7 - Zurich – Mt Rigi, tour starts from Zurich at 0930 am duration 09hrs 30 minutes


21 SEP - DAY 8 - Zurich – Getaway to the Rhine Falls, tour starts from Zurich 0915 am duration 03hrs 15 minutes //

Zurich – Venice via Munich – Overnight Train 18:16 – 08:33 am (01 change in Munich)


22 SEP - DAY 9 - Venice – Arrive 08:33 morning BY train, Day Free


23 SEP - DAY 10 - Venice – Gondola Ride Experience

24 SEP - DAY 11 – Venice – Florence – (02 hr 30 minutes) Train 10:25 – 12:30 - optional Open Bus tour or Day Free


25 SEP - DAY 12 – Florence – Excursion to Pisa


26 SEP - DAY 13 – Florence – Rome – (01 hr 30 minutes) Train 11:04 – 12:30 – Day Free


27 SEP - DAY 14 – Rome – Full day Naples Capri Anacapri tour (Seat in Coach Tour), starts 0715 am duration 13hrs 30 minutes


28 SEP - DAY 15 – Rome – Bombay – Depart back home for your early morning flight

Please suggest if we can add anything to the same, especially in ITALY.

16 September Day 3 is hectic, but that is something related to emotions and cant be changed ( long story behind it).

Looking forward to suggestions from all the experts.

You are actually only spending half a day in Rome ???

And do you really want to spend 13 hours stuck on a coach tour the day before you are stuck on a looooooong flight to India ?

Totally agree with janisj. Skip,the long coach tour and spend the day in Rome. So much to see and do, it doesn't make sense to be sitting on the bus all day long when you could and should be spending time in Rome. A half day won't even allow you to scratch the surface of Rome.

14-Sep Sat DAY 1 Arrive London 08:00 am, post 1000 am / 13:00 Warner Bros Studio tour ( or something else) not yet decided ( please suggest)

15-Sep Sun DAY 2 London – optional Hop on Hop off tour, visit Madamme Tussauds / London Eye / River cruise or Day free

16-Sep Mon DAY 3 London – Paris – Train 07:01 am – 10:17 // Paris – Lucerne via Basel Train 16:23 – 21:30 (01 change at Basel)

17-Sep Tue DAY 4 Lucerne – Excursion to Mt Titlis and in the evening Lucerne Cruise ( can be either day 4 or day 5)

18-Sep Wed DAY 5 Lucerne – Excursion to Jungfrau, evening free

19-Sep Thu DAY 6 Lucerne – Zurich – (50 mins) Zurich – Mt Rigi, tour starts from Zurich at 0930 am duration 09hrs 30 minutes

20-Sep Fri DAY 7 Zurich to Lugano or some other option one day trip.

21-Sep Sat DAY 8 Zurich – Getaway to the Rhine Falls, starts from Zurich 0915 am duration 03hrs 15 minutes ,Zurich – Venice via Munich – Overnight Train 18:16 – 08:33 am (01 change in Munich)

22-Sep Sun DAY 9 Venice – Arrive 08:33 morning by train, Day Free

23-Sep Mon DAY 10 Venice – Gondola Ride Experience , Venice

24-Sep Tue DAY 11 Venice to Naples Early morning Train ( even before 6 ) and Day free

25-Sep Wed DAY 12 Naples Capri need to do Scuba Diving ( please suggest where) and Blue Grotto

26-Sep Thu DAY 13 Naples to Rome ( early morning train)

27-Sep Fri DAY 14 Rome Trevi Fountain, Colosseum and as time permits

28-Sep Sat DAY 15 Rome – Bombay – Depart back home for your early morning flight

Some changes has been made to accomodate more sights. Also taken care of getting some rest , like in Venice and mostly all evening will be free to explore the city night life.

My only comment is regarding the Switzerland part of the tour. I really hope the day you go from Lucerne to Jungraujoch the weather is good and clear otherwise you will have had an expensive wasted journey. Otherwise I hope you enjoy your trip and let us know how long it takes you to recover.

Yeah weather is the key, hence the booking for Lucerne Excursion will be done by going there itself, so that it can be flexible.
Regarding the tour and some places where we are still to decide, can you all please suggest...

some modifications have been made, based on some search.

Sat DAY 1 Arrive London 08:00 am, post 1000 am / 13:00 Warner Bros Studio tour ( or something else) not yet decided ( please suggest)
Sun DAY 2 London – optional Hop on Hop off tour, visit Madamme Tussauds / London Eye / River cruise or Day free
Mon DAY 3 London – Paris – Train 07:01 am – 10:17 // Paris – Lucerne via Basel Train 16:23 – 21:30 (01 change at Basel)
Tue DAY 4 Lucerne – Excursion to Mt Titlis and in the evening Lucerne Cruise ( can be either day 4 or day 5)
Wed DAY 5 Lucerne – Excursion to Jungfrau, evening free
Thu DAY 6 Lucerne – Mt Rigi, tour starts from Zurich at 0930 am duration 09hrs 30 minutes
Fri DAY 7 Zurich – (50 mins) Zurich – Getaway to the Rhine Falls, in Afternoon go to Lugano
Sat DAY 8 Lugano, and evening Lugano to Milan and Milan to Venice, with overnight stay in venice
Sun DAY 9 Venice , Day Free
Mon DAY 10 Venice – Gondola Ride Experience , Venice to Naples
Tue DAY 11 Naples Day free
Wed DAY 12 Naples Capri Scuba Diving and Blue Grotto
Thu DAY 13 Naples to Rome ( early morning train)
Fri DAY 14 Rome Trevi Fountain, Colosseum
Sat DAY 15 Rome – Bombay – Depart back home for your early morning flight

London- 1st time? Not sure why it has to be Warner Bros. for a 1:00. So many other things to do. After you arrive and freshen up, you"ll probably want a relaxing lunch, see Big Ben, Buckingham? If you can see changing of guards at Buckingham, do that before lunch. Check out Hyde Park. Doesn't sound like you would be interested in museums but most are free compared to other countries so this maybe where you may want to take advantage. Get some good sleep the 1st night. Check out the theater district on the 2nd night.

Venice- Hang out at San Marco in the evening when it is less crowded. The dueling musicians start late at night. Don't sit at the cafe unless you would like to think if it as $15-$20 per person seat with free coffee or gelato.
Go on the grand canal on a traghetto. Check out murano and Burano. Stroll around Venice and add getting lost to your adventure bucket list.

Rome- such a short time. If it were me, I would walk from Spanish Steps to Trevi fountain, see the Pantheon as well (free).With such short time, reserve the Coliseum and do that in the morning. See Trevi at night. Dine in Trastevere and hang out at Piazza Navona. If are up for it, see the Colisseum all lit up at night too. I am going to Italy 1st time in the summer but based on my research (so no expert) that's what I would do with just a day. Oh... And eat lots of gelato to make up for the little time you have there.

The frameworks from which people look at trips differ depending on where they are from and what influenced them to visit certain places. My European friends think I pack too much destination in a short time, but when I have to travel 18 hours one way and can only take two weeks maximum at a time, the value of time and destinations are different compare to those who can visit the same destinations with only one hour flight and can take longer vacations. I work with many colleagues from India, and all their trips are fast paced like this, yet they are content with the trips. I presume the commonality of certain destinations, especially in Switzerland, is due to the popularity of Bollywood movies shot in Switzerland and other destinations.

Ajnabee - Lucerne
An Evening in Paris-Switzerland, Paris
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya-Bern, Interlaken
Bachna Ae Haseeno-Gstaad,Venice
Deewana Mastana-Bern
Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke-Interlaken, Bern
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge-Interlaken
Hadh Kar Di Aapne-Rhine Falls
Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain-Montreux
Jeena Sirf Merre Liye-Zurich, Paris
Khoobsurat-Gruyères
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag-Lucerne,Bern
Sangam-Trummelbach Falls
Vaastav-Interlaken