Help! Planning a last minute trip to Rome Paris & London
 

Hello,
We are trying to plan a once in a lifetime vacation to Europe. My husband and I will be traveling with our 3 teenage children 17,19,&22. We are thinking about staying in Rome for 3 nights and possibly Paris and London for about the same. Our main goal for the trip was to tour the Vatican City of Rome and to also encounter some of the other wonderful areas that are close by. We know that this is not going to be one of our usual relaxing vacations, but that is ok with us. We would like to do the most we can within reason. We were thinking about taking the train from place to place so that we could see the beautiful scenery. What is your take on that. Originally I was thinking of staying in Rome for 3 nights and then move on to see fFlorence or Venice, and then make our way to Paris on ly stopping where it is necessary to see or stay. I saw where some trips leave Venice and head to Lucerne on the way to Paris. Then Stay in Paris for a few nights and then possibly go to London. For some reason I seem to be more interested in Rome and Paris. Can you help me with some sort of iteneray . If we take a day trip from Rome to the Almafia Coast can we do that by train. I hear that the trains or a nice way to see the sites. What is the best way to use the trains? Do we buy a mulit country pass ? Does this allow us to get on and get off when we want. How would you suggest we do that. Also, we are a family of five. Do you have any suggestions on hotels/convents that are nice for 5 people. Thank you for your help!!!

You can plan a wonderful trip with 3 nights in 3 locations and with older children, I thing that is probably your best approach. I would suggest you fly into one destination - for example, Rome and home from another, such as Paris. Why are you calling this a "last minute" trip? Do you already have airfare? That may help decide your itinerary.

The best itinerary would be simple as possible: Three nights in Rome, train to Venice, two nights in Venice, train (or flight) to Paris and spend the remainder of your trip in Paris. (This would assume flying in to Rome and home from Paris. Use point-to-point train tickets as none of the rail passes are going to save you much, and in fact may be a waste of $.

Another possibility would be Flying to London, spending 2-3 nights there, chunnel-train to Paris, spend 3 nights there, and flight (or train) to Rome for the remainder, flying home from there.

Remember, although you usually arrive in Europe in the morning, you will be jet-lagged that first day, and probably not ready for much more than one or two "highlights." Your flights back (I'm assuming you are from the US or Canada) will also usually leave in the AM. So I wouldn't try to see anymore than 3 major destinations on what appears to be a 10 day trip. You could add another if you are going for two weeks.

If you want to really see Rome, you will need all three (or four) days in Rome. Don't try a day-trip outside the city, except maybe to Pompeii.

But, first of all: what is your time frame, and do you already have airline tickets? Will you expect to stay in two hotel rooms at each stop? Are you traveling over the summer months?

How many nights total? What time of the year? Did you already buy airfare? If you haven't definitely go with an open-jaw ticket (fly into first location and out of last).

If you are most interested in Rome and Paris, then stick to those cities, maybe adding more of Italy and a day trip or 2.

You may want to check train travel times (Rome - Paris is around 12-15 hrs) and see of some of the routes you are thinking are direct. There are many airlines that travel cheaply between European cities and can get you from place to another quite quickly.