That is a great link, mirmar! Tons of info. Thanks again.

Hit too soon.

If you stayed a night or two, you could rent a car for a day. You could even stay in one of the villages and tour Bath for a day from there.

Some people tour Bath as a day trip from London, but that really does not give time for a good visit. Especially with kids and as a break from London, an overnight or two in Bath would be relaxing, but still interesting. Good restaurants too.

There are free walking tours of the city every morning. They are excellent, even for kids.

Northie-- yes I would love suggestions for small towns outside of Paris and London. I guess I'm still wondering if Germany (Rhine area) would help me find that diversity from the cities. It's been on my bucket list, but I hadn't really considered it for this trip, feel like I should. I'm guessing I'm going to be cutting time short if I try to get to Munich, though, looks like another 5 hours. And another major city.

Thanks again guys--lots of great advice, and I'm looking forward to reading through all these places!

Staying in one place for a week at a time and doing day trips out of the city a couple of times will the break you are looking for.
We find accommodation in the heart of London difficult and expensive and prefer a cottage up to an hour outside the city (by train)the best option. It also gives you the opportunity to experience the English village, English pubs and best of all the opportunity to walk through the fields in beautiful countryside. Daytrips to Bath, Canterbury and Dover( White Cliffs and Dover Castle ), or a trip to Brighton to see the famous beach and pier can be mixed in with the must-do London sites. ( try Home away or Air B&B for cottages)

Similarly in Paris. Stay in one place ( preferably with a washing machine), explore the sights of Paris and take a few trips outside - Monet's Garden and the nearby village will allow you time to wind down and relax a bit, Fontainebleau will also give you time to walk through the countryside if you choose to , Versailles, or further afield to Reims etc.

My strongest recommendation to you is to not rush from one sight to another. The kids will hate it, the packing and repacking and the lugging your suitcases around will drive you crazy and the whole holiday will all blur in your memory. Have fun, you'll LOVE it !

Sassafrass--Bath sounds really interesting, I'm looking into it.

This forum is an awesome reference, I'm so glad I posted here, and I'm somewhat surprised at the amount of help.

Helsie-I hadn't considered staying outside of town (we like to be in the middle of the action, come home for breaks), but then I've never spent a whole week in a big city, and we've come to appreciate condos and a little more space. Thanks, I'll look into your suggestions.

Neecey, London is a big city so dropping home for a break can take a bit of time. Paris, on the other hand is a lot more compact and we always stay in the Marais in an apartment (and yes, I know they are not legal so may not be an option in the future !)

" You said you don't like Bavaria. Can you elaborate? I picture Munich as being all the old german charm with cuckoo clocks and leiderhosen. "

Nothing wrong with Baveria, just find Munich, apart from the odd giant cherub, a bit dull. Been there a few times and there are many German cities with a bit more sparkle.

Dresden or Stuttgart for example.

Generally German cities are incredibly clean and well organised so very unlike American cities. But I much prefer the countryside and the small villages and towns.

cuckoo clocks can be bought in Baveria but more a Black Forest thing.

Leiderhosen, I give up. Suddenly my view is all Americans smoke cornpipes :-)

America was a backwood when Bath was being built, even at the revolution Jamaica was worth more than the whole USA.

Leiderhosen, I give up. Suddenly my view is all Americans smoke cornpipes>

For seeing Leiderhosen head to the beer halls! A pleasant aspect of German cities - outdoors in summer like the neat one in the Englischer Gardens at the Chinese Pagoda.

I love Bath; it's beautiful as well as interesting. But it is a city, a small city. My impression was that you wanted something smaller, more countrified?

Bath to me is the most beautiful city in UK outside possible Edinburgh - a harmonious Georgian beaut with oddities like Beau Nash's Sham Castle looming in the distance.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Nash

Neecey, look him up - quite a character and he was pretty much the dictator of society in Bath.

Day trips out from Paris are a nice option. If you decide to spend a couple days in the countryside, I might suggest the Loire Valley and touring a few chateaux.

Well, I am so intrigued--I need to put Bath on my list!

OK, I think for planning purposes, I'm going to take a good look at all your suggestions with a new mindset--I had been passing over all smaller regions with the mentality of having to hit all the major highlights possible. It does make sense to slow down the pace, and it looks like there are plenty of awesome places outside the city to soak in the culture and relax.

Several years ago, hubby and I were sightseeing day and night, trying to squeeze Chicago into 3 days, and too stubborn and cheap to take cabs or breaks unless necessary. On our last day, I was so exhausted I just spontaneously burst out into tears on the street! I can only imagine multiple countries over 2 weeks with kids!!! I think I have better perspective from processing all the advice. It's just so hard not to get caught up in it all.

So I'll try to sift through it and involve the husband and kids--lots more reading, but I feel like I have a clearer direction.

Thanks a bunch!!!

Gonna go smoke my corncob pipe!! LOL

When we plan trips with our kids (7,12,14), we go to the librrary and take out several books about the countries/areas we are considering. I leave them out for a few days and get the kids to look through them and bookmark pages that look interesting. We have done the same with the Internet too, getting them to bookmark places they think look intersting. Gives you good perspective on their interests. Often they surprise you! Then we come up with a wishlist and from there I usually go full steam ahead with the planning.

If you are from the US, I recommend seeing London and Paris on the first trip with one other place added. Ask your children for ideas. Then save Italy for a second trip. My rationale... The UK allows for an English language ease into international travel, which will be helpful with children especially with jet lag. (Unless your kids are fluent in a foreign language already.) Plus the idea of "seeing" 2 or even 3 countries will be cooler than "seeing" 1 at that age.

On our first European trip we did 10 days London with a side trip into the countryside to see Bath and Stonehenge and 4 days Paris with my then 10 year old son.

Paris being compact was easy to fit a lot in the 4 days.

England has much to see. London itself has many world class museums (The British Museum with all its acquisitions; The National Gallery; The Imperial War Museum; the Churchill Museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum; the often overlooked Museum of London to name a few). Not to mention time is needed to explore the Tower of London and Parliament and Westminster Abbey along with St Paul's Cathedral--climb to the top if you can! Our favorite day trip was to Hampton Court Palace with its magnificent gardens.

There is Bath and Stonehenge in one direction; Oxford and the Cotswolds in another. In addition the Southeast offers places like Hever Castle; Chartwell (Winston Churchill's home and gardens); Sissinghurst gardens, Dover Castle and Canterbury.

You can easily fill up a month.

Italy we have yet to explore so I can't comment but certainly would say that is a separate trip.

I was going to suggest Oxford. I haven't been, but my son was there and loved it. It has punting (rowing), history and the universities with students makes it seem lively and young.

Another suggestion no matter where you go is to go on a bicycle tour. It's such a great way to see a part of the city. There are companies which do these trips and you can inquire about taking kids. It's active, a relief from museums and churches and it's very cool to say one biked around a foreign city. A smaller city or a bike trip advertised as on pathways or quiet back roads would be a fun diversion.

I hear you about Chicago! Travelling can be very tiring and making decisions about every move is tough when you are tired. We often have a list of things we want to do in order of importance and work from that. Leave some blank time for sitting down and having a gelato or coffee. Staying in an apartment is good because you don't have to figure out where each meal is coming from. I agree with the above poster who cautioned about taking a break at the hotel or apt. You may be very far away from your lodging when the break is needed. In a big city, things are spread out. Have fun!