annhig

Luis - dragging us back to the subject in hand, I'm going to add my voice to those urging you to cut back on the number of places you stay in. I suggest picking the 3 places that appeal to you most and building your trip round them.

[and frankly, who cares whether Neuschwanstein - don't forget the W, Fussgaenger - is a castle or not? I bet the OP's 7 year old doesn't!]

nytraveler

Everyone has given you excellent advice" fewer places, more time in each. And drop Frankfurt unless you have a very specific reason to go there.

For us to provide more specific information we need to know from you:

What month you will be traveling

What your budget will be (after you have deduced transatlantic plane fare)

What you see in your mind when you think of europe Alps? Specific sights like Eiffel Tower or Big Ben? Or even the dreaded Neuschwanstein (no more a castle than the one in Orlando but a pretty palace in a nice setting)

And do keep in mind that traveling with a 7 year old you will need to allow some time for just play and running around - or have the crankiest kid on the continent.

People here know a LOT about europe but can;t read your mind - you need to provide some input.

Luis15

wow thank so much for all the information and suggestions. We will be leaving November 29, 2015. We have been saving a lot of money for this trip because we know its expensive but we in no way want to spend a lot of money on expensive hotels even if we could. The reason we had Germany is mind was well 1. My husband was born there having military parents and he thought it would be nice to go again. 2. We heard that Munich has one of the best Christmas markets and it just seemed like a place we must see. We have done a lot of research and it seems like flying to London would be the cheapest and we have never been so decided to do 2 or 3 days there. In Paris we wanted to see the Eiffel tower and hit some must see places but didn't want to be there forever. My sister went to Switzerland and said she literally cried because it was that beautiful.

Switzerland: I know we might not see everything but I just wrote down a few places so we can have an idea.

Lake Geneva
Matterhorn
Swiss Alps
Jungfrau
Lake Zurich
Chateau de chillon Mount Pilatus
Jungfraujoch
Kapellbrucke
Eiger
swiss National park, Zernez
st. Moritz
Mt. Pilatus
St. Gallen
The Rhine Falls
Interlaken
Lausanne
Zurich

For London:

British Museum
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abbey
Victoria and Albert Museum
Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens
National Gallery
Imperial War Museum
Churchhill War Rooms
Tower Bridge
Tate Modern
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Natural History Museum
Houses of Parliament
Old Spitalfields Market
The London eye
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

I heard there are some night trains we can take not to have to travel during the day.

kraines

I agree with the all information given that you need to reduce your trip to fewer places. 2 nights in London and Paris will not give you any time to enjoy these beautiful cities. Personally, I would spend a week in London (you could do day trips to the countryside if you want) and one week in Paris. Happy planning!

Judy

The things you want to see in London cannot be seen in 2-3 days, especially with a 7 year old. In December you will have shorter days for touring as well.

Christina

I don't think you have to stay in a city a week when you want to see more, I never did that when I first traveled to Europe. But I would cut out one country -- either Switzerland or Germany, if you have no preference (say fly home from Switzerland). You want to spend the most time in Switzerland so it looks like that is a special interest. So either cut out Paris or Germany or London.

I think it's just too much given how far apart these places are, you'll have a child with you, and moving between them will take up a lot of your time.

Kathie

Take a look at what you have listed: Do you really think you could see all of those places in London in your 1.5 days there? If you revise your schedule and have 2 or 3 days there (which would mean 3 or 4 nights)? Could you see all of those places if you had 5 full days there? Your ideas are simply unrealistic. If you want to see anything of any of these cities, you have to spend time there. Expect that you will return to Europe. Don't think of it as what you want to see on Europe, but what do you want to see on this first trip.

You say "In Paris we wanted to see the Eiffel tower and hit some must see places but didn't want to be there forever." Believe me, with your schedule, there is no danger you will be any place too long. I spent a full 10 days (11 nights) in Paris on my first trip and didn't see all of the things I wanted to. But I enjoyed my trip and took time to wander the parks and the little streets and I will return.

janisj

Luis15:

I assume you know you couldn't see ALL of those London sites in your short visit . . . but did you realize that if you spent your ENTIRE 2 weeks in London you probably still could not see all of those?

Since there seem to be a lot of things you want to see in London, I'd stay there a full week. If you can cut your wish list by more than half - then maybe 5 days.

And your Switzerland list - you would need 3 or 4 weeks to see all that.

If you have 2 weeks/14 days in <i>total</i> - that is from home and back home - then you only have 11.5 days free on the ground (essentially 2.5 days are spent flying over and back). Plus you have a young child so you can't run run run and spend so much time in planes/trains. You will need to cater to her needs at least some.

Pick 2: London + Paris; London + Switzerland; or possibly London + Switzerland + a day in Frankfurt if that is where your husband was born . . . something like that

OR skip London and save it for another trip when you can spend a week there. Then you could do Paris + Switzerland.

annhig

Luis - you would need at least a week to see all the sights that you have mentioned in London - it's a big place and it takes time to get around, even if you group the places you are going to see on any one day together. a few of them are just walk-pasts [Buck House, the Houses of Parliament] but in the main, you're going to want to spend a couple of hours at each, so by the time you've got there, toured, had lunch, got to the next place, toured, and had a cuppa, it's time to go home.

and that hasn't factored in time for your 7 year old to run around, shopping, looking at places that you walk past and decide look interesting, etc. etc.

you say that you've saved a lot for this trip - do yourselves a favour and get value for that money by giving yourselves enough time to enjoy and savour the places you are going to visit.

nytraveler

Did your sister go to Switz in November. this is rally the worst time of year to go there. It's really early for the winter sports season (starts around Christmas) but all of the gorgeous sights of summer (beautiful meadows with wildflowers and cut cows with giant bells and visits to the top of snow bound mountains) won;t happen when you are there. the grass is brown and crunchy, the days short and grey, the cows in their barns and while most cable cars and mountain trams will have reopened, the weather at the top can be bad for days on end. Plus Switz is very expensive, esp in winter sports season.

If I were you I would leave Switz for May or June - unless you want to do winter sports - and focus this trip on London and Paris. Even with a week each you can't cover all of the sights you have listed in those cities - and the bad weather is much less important if you are doing things mainly indoors. And when you get days that are chilly but clear there are plenty of parks to visit or nearby day trips to do.