So I see you have at least got your flights and car. So it sounds like you need to go in and out Zurich at least, right? I would be tempted to cut out either Vienna or Barcelona, since if you look at the google map with you current idea on it, these 2 cities are kind of the ones that take you most out of your core driving area if you will:

http://tinyurl.com/6jeq6q6

Another option would be to cut off either one or both of the north/south destinations i.e. Amsterdam or Rome. But really you will probably have a much better idea once you figure out which cities in general interest you and your familly.

Have fun planning. I hope to explore more of Asia someday. I spend lots of time in Europe but have only made it as far as Tokyo in your "neck of the woods".

We have done many, many road trips in europe.

Thre are a couple of problems with your plans:

Cars are useless or worse in citis in europe- many areas are pediatrians only and yuo wil have to garge the car at $30 to $40 per night.

In a 3 wek trip you have 2 anchor cities - where you spend 5at least 4 or 5 night each. In between you can have a mix of smaller towns and countryside - but should spend at least 2 nights anywhere and 3 to 4 night in smaler cities. (You need to cut out at least half of the destinations you have listed or you will have nothing but a drive by on the highway - not a visit - to most places.)

Also - do not plan on driving more than 4 hours in any one day - or you will feel you have done nothing else.

If all you want to do is see larger cities yuo are much better off taing the train - or flying - between them.

Finally - get a map and chec out the viamichelin web site - soyour order makes some sense and yo have a realistic idea of travel times between destinations.

I realize that with a company-paid car you want to get as much "mileage" out of the use of the car - however, planning a trip to Europe around mostly free use of a car isn't the best kind of planning.

As the others have suggested, think of where you would most want to visit.

Having a car makes a lot of sense in Europe if you do a <i>focused</i> trip out into the countryside. Pick a country. Germany, for example. It'll be great to be driving the Romantic Road - or Austria, up into the Alps and around the lakes - France, how about driving around Provence?

A car is for the countryside. You're trying to hit as many far-flung major cities as possible in a car. Not only are the distances between the cities impractical, driving inside those cities is a nightmare - on top of which, you can't drive a car in Venice anyhow.

So, your first decision is: drive around the countryside or hit the major capitals of Europe?

Or you could do a drive-fly or drive-train combo. For example, you could drive from Switzerland going through and spending time in the lake district of Northern Italy to near Venice, park the car, train a short distance into Venice, do Venice, then take a train to Rome. There's a rapid train from Venice to Rome that takes less than 4 hours; or, what would make more sense for you, there's an overnight sleeper train that leaves Venice at 11:30pm and gets into Rome at 7:00am with no need to change trains. Do Rome, overnight train back to Venice to pick up your car, drive to the French Riviera (Monaco, etc) and drive further into Provence. Park the car, Nice would be good. Take the fast TGV train into Paris - a less than 6 hour journey. Do Paris, then return to Nice, or, if you have the time, train to Barcelona from Paris. Do Barcelona, return to Nice, and return car in Zurich.

This way you're not wasting your time and energy combating the crazy traffic in the big cities. You're also saving time and energy by taking the rapid trains between major points.

Also check the costs of renting a car. if you do a drop-off in another country, costs go up.

Consider mixing car + train + flight to make better use of your time.

With the amount of time you have, keep cutting.

Europe is more than roads. I would pick three areas, and then either base yourself there and do day trips, or drive that region. Then move on to next via train/flight

Another consideration when you are looking at transit times between places: every time you pack, check out of a hotel, load the car, drive or train or fly out of the city, then after you arrive in another location find your hotel, and check in, you have used up half a day AT LEAST. That does not include the actual time going from one city to another. You need to ask yourself, "How much time will we actually have to see this town?"

That is why it is important to limit your moves. And to decide which things you really want to see. Also keep a map handy so you can see how far apart things are, and whether some destinations are too far out of the way to make it sensible to go there and back to the next.

And DO avoid using a car in the cities. It is really a liability to have one. You have plenty of time to plan this trip, and the time you spend now will make the actual trip go that much better.

It seems your rental car is being paid by your employer. Does that mean you must pick up one car when you arrive and drop it when you fly home? OR -could you rent one car for a few days and later on rent a different car for a few days?

Because it seems you are planning this entire trip around having a car and driving thousands of miles.

You really should plan your trip around the places you want to visit - not around the car. W/ just under 3 weeks even just hitting 3 countries would be VERY hectic. 10 days in Italy and the rest in Paris and Switzerland or Germany. Something like that would be doable

Soooo - which 5 or 6 places (7 absolute maximum) do you want to see? After you decide that, THEN you can decide the best way to get there.

I note that you are still working out what to do in each country, I guess it would help us know what you like to do

Visit Museums, Art Galleries in which case each of the cities you have mentioned have at least 2 good ones
Architecture, again lots to see
Shopping, loads
Food, oh yes
Landscape, canals etc

Even for a first visit you could limit yourself to Zurich, Venice, Florence, Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich. You really need a copy of the Rough Guide to Europe to get an idea of what available