Amsterdam, Italy and... with 17 and 19 daughters
 

Well, my family decided they didn't want to include Paris this summer. We were in Paris and London last year. Never been to Spain. Switzerland would be possible. I don't think we want to do Germany this trip.
Is it hard to take multiple flights within Europe? We have always taken trains. Would Rome, Madrid and Amsterdam in 14 days be silly. We could also travel through Italy (we have been there many times, but LOVE it) and fly from Pisa or Milan.

Flying within Europe isn't difficult. Of course, it depends on from where/to where. At this stage you can plan around flight schedules. It's usually cheap too!

---When are you going?

---Where have you all been (or not been) in Italy?

---Do you mean 14 hotel nights?

There are several airlines that flybetween Rome, Madrid and Amsterdam. Go to www.whichbudget.com and figure out the most sensible order in which to do them. Then book your transatlantic flights into one city and out of the third. I would probably do: into Madrid - then fly to Rome - then fly to Amsterdam and home from there. In fact I'm considering a similar trip for next summer (but I'll have three weeks, not two - I think two is "doable" just won't have as much time in each). Intra European flights are quite reasonably priced and faster than trains. But it will still take you the bulk of a day to fly, when you consider getting to and from the airports, waiting, etc. So figure you'll loose most of two days traveling. On the other hand, each of those three cities have enough in the way of day trips to close by towns that maybe two, rather than three would make more sense.

I paired Amsterdam and Geneva once on a 2 week trip (stayed in the smaller towns along Lac Leman outside Geneva).

You've certainly got a lot of daughters!

I think 3 capitals would be silly.

Do you need to go to Rome? It's very hot in the summer.

Amsterdam/Switzerland is appealing, although that is 2 weeks of a lot of food I don't particularly enjoy. Is your family fussy about that?

<Would Rome, Madrid and Amsterdam in 14 days be silly>

I don't know I'd say "silly" but I would not want to do two flights, and change cities twice in such a short time. But certainly it can be done.

If you fly between the three you mention allowing 2 days for arrival & departure Europe + 2 days travel time between cities would allow 3 days in each city = approx. two weeks.

Why not consider a night train? That way you don't waste precious site-seeing time. Get on the train, sleep, wake up at new destination.

We loved Switzerland! It is incredibly beautiful and there is so much to see & do.

Sorry, I was at work and couldn't get back on. We will have 14 or 15 nights and we have to go to Rome which I realize make the itinerary more difficult. We have been to Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena, Lucca, Cinque Terre, Santa Marg., Stressa the hill towns in S. Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast, but I would still consider staying there then flying to Amsterdam. It does seem like Spain is too inconvenient. Howabout 7 days in Italy, maybe doing the farm, cooking class thing. Continue to maybe Zermatt or someplace else in Switzerland for 4 days then fly to Amsterdam 3 days?

Italy: 7 nights, Rome and Lake Como
Germany: 3 nights, Baden-Baden and Koln/Cologne
Netherlands: Amsterdam 4 nights

Total 14 nights, 5 stops, 4 trains (1 very scenic, which is advantage over flying)

Breakdown:

Rome 3 nights
Rome to Milan/lake Como by train
Lake Como (scenic, hiking) for 4 nights

Como (San Giovanni) to Baden-Baden, Germany (1000 train arriving 1560 with 1 change).
This is a scenic train passing the alps and Lucerne, Switzerland, while Baden-Baden is a spa town, very pleasant with wonderful bathing complexes.

Baden-Baden for a couple of nights;
Train to Koln (3 hours) for a night;

Koln to Amsterdam (3 hours) for 4 nights.

Would this work for you?

Sue, that sounds really interesting! At first I wasn't sure about Germany but it is more appealing every second. Would Baden-Baden be a good place for teens? I will look it up also. I love how you included the travel times, it makes it so much easier for me. Thanks!

panucci, glad to be of help.

I'm almost certain that your girls would enjoy the Caracalla spa, here's the link:

http://www.carasana.de/home/en/caracalla.html

I heard it was closed for renovations in July 06 so you should check to be sure it has reopened.

If your girls are adventurous enough, there are also the Roman-Irish baths at which clients don't wear swimsuits.

There is also the spa at the Dorint hotel for which one can apparently get a day pass if one isn't staying at the hotel. If you do a search on Baden Baden on this board, you should find out more info as I don't know if it's the au naturel or swimsuit type of spa.

If you want more info on train times, a good site is www.bahn.de where you click on "International Guests" to get the English version of the itinerary planner for train journeys anywhere in Europe.

Bon voyage!