Kamara

Hi (I am new to this Forum it is my first time)
Me my wife and our 3 kids are planing 4 weeks trip to europe June 28 t0 July 31. we like to see
Lisbon.
Rome .
Florence
Venice
Barcelona
French Riviera(Nice and Monaco) and any other place you ?
Paris
Landon our last Stop to come back home.

So I am wondering what is the best itinerary .where to start and trains or flights like ryan air ?

Any Help and Ideas
Thanks

PalenQ

If going by train here are some great sites for planning and getting a fix on the European rail system: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com - if doing most of that by train check out various railpasses.

You will want to fly long-distance like from Lisbon to Barcelona and from there to Italy as those are long long train slogs - the rest are easily done by train.

Jean

I think this would be a fantastic 5-6 week trip. I wouldn't enjoy it compressed into 4 weeks, but obviously it's your trip.

I would lay out a day-by-day itinerary, including travel times between points, lists of sights you want to see everywhere and possible day trips, and then decide if you have enough time to cover this many destinations.

IMO, you need to keep in mind that high temps and/or humidity could slow down your sightseeing some days, some places. Depending on their ages, your kids may have trouble adjusting to the time change at the beginning and may need a down or slow day here or there.

I also like to think about where and when I'll do laundry. In this many weeks (in summer) with this many people, you'll be doing laundry several times. If you intend to use hotel laundry services, you need to be sure the hotels you select offer it. If apartments, make sure there are facilities (which may not include a dryer or be a washer-dryer combo which means one load at a time). If laundromats, you need to identify them pre-trip and know their hours.

Kamara

Thanks for the replies.
My kids are 6. 10 and 13. i was thinking about 5 weeks.i haven't book my tickets yet so i can do 5 weeks.
i will start to build my itinerary then see how much i need each place.
thanks

nytraveler

IMHO you will want to fly from Lisbon to Barcelona, B to Italy and Italy to Paris - but take the train between other cities.

If you decide this is too much I would drop Lisbon - which is an outlier and IMHO not that much (one of the few places in europe I have no desire to revisit).

Also you need to consider lodgings, since even family rooms usually don;t hold 5 people. I would search for them as far in advance as you can to have the best choice unless you are going for 2 rooms. (When traveling with our DDs we got them their own room but they were 11 and 14 - and there was no way I was sharing a bath with them.)

PalenQ

While I love Lisbon it is very much an outlier - having to fly in there and then to Barcelona or you may consider taking the Hotel Train - get a private room for you all if possible - Lisbon to Madrid - kids may find that romantic and Madrid is worth a couple of day and is only about 3 hours by rail from Barcelona now with high-speed trains going nearly 200 mph - then fly to Rome and yes do the rest by train.

Booking tickets really early can save a lot of money - www.seat61.com is the Bible of discounted train tickets - telling you how to book them.

Like on the Eurostar trains Paris to London you can pay about $200 for adults or $50 if you book the same seat well in advance (www.eurostar.com).

Kamara

Thanks for the help. the link you gave me www.seat61.com
is really good i found good prices trains. like Florence To Nice only 34 euros.