I'll admit, London and England was just a "throw everything up there and see what sticks."
The Potter stuff is for my kids, but I would rather do the tour of filming sites and not the studios, but again...

Stonehenge/Highclere/Bath: This would be the first to get cut for time.

Cotswolds: This would also be easy to cut if needed for time.

To be fair; MSM would be for my wife, Normandy/D-Day sites would be for my two oldest....but getting there and back may take too long and be too pricy.

In general, this is hard to do. What is overrated for one person is a must-see for another.

To be honest, MSM is, in my opinion, overrated. To others it is not. And to your wife, it obviously is highly rated - to her. Same with seeing a baseball game in London. While I love baseball, this would not be what I would want to do to spend my precious time on while overseas. But if it is worth it to you/your family - absolutely include it. Disneyland Paris: same thing. It is not like the parks in the US, you *may* be disappointed. But if you are a Disney family, maybe you won't.

My suggestion is that your family come together and discuss your absolutes, your "we can skip that," and your "if we have time" in each city. Then plot out on a calendar (note opening times and closed days) in each city/destination and then you have your baseline itinerary. Make sure you also plot out outlier destinations/sites such as DLand or Versailles- those will eat an entire day, leaving little to no time for other landmarks on those visit days.

Yes, we are Disney fans, and Paris crosses the last country where there's a Disney park off our list, so that's a must.

Baseball: Our hometown Chicago Cubs are playing, so we cannot miss that (and they're playing our arch rivals).

Versailles: I couldn't really care less, so this will likely be dropped.

MSM: My wife always said she'd love to see it, but she may not actually care the more we discuss it.

We're looking for people's opinions of their experiences visiting these places to adhere to the motto: "no one knows everything, but everyone knows something."

(Sorry for the Typo in my post -- of course it is Mont Sainte-Michel - not Mt Michel . . .)

Just some random comments -- IMO the Warner Brothers studio tour is amazing and should be included before considering a tour of the film locations. Then in Oxford you can visit Christ Church and see the dining hall, Bodleian Library, New College etc. etc.

There is sooooooo much to see in central London, and with one full day devoted to baseball you would really want a full week just in London.

Then with the other places on your wish list maybe another 6-7 days in England. This would still be rushed but not unreasonable.

The logistics for Normandy and M-S-M are not difficult - you just need to allow at least 3 days.

So again -- JUST France and England would easily fill 28 days.

Best I can suggest at this point is to read trip reports, then. I/we cannot tell you to drop something without knowing you or your interests. Trip reports will tell you what someone really thought of something at that time. Or maybe even peruse Trip Advisor for reviews of landmarks for other candid thoughts.

You've already made hard lines on things I personally would not include. There you go. You have to decide what is worth to YOU and uour family. To some, Eiffel Tower is overrated. If your family really does not want to go up it, don't go. Simple as that. But asking if others think is a waste is still not going to help you if your family wants to see it. I no longer, personally feel going on the tower is necessary and do think (now) it is overrated but I would never tell someone not to go IF they really want to. Do you understand what I am trying to say here?

In my opinion, drop Italy. You do not have the time with all that you want to do in England and France. Snd this is figuring in your must sees of the game and DLand. Include MSM, sure - that is your wife's must-see and apparently your older kids want to see Normandy, so include it.

I have been to every site/destination you have mentioned except for an MLB game (but have attended two NFL games in London so understand the festivities involved) - that includes DL Paris and Normandy. I have been to England many times and lived for about 5 years near the Cotswolds so am pretty intimately familiar with the English bits.

I personally would not cut anything from your England list and would add several more -- the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Theatre/concerts, Westminster Abbey, etc. I'd include a day trip to Oxford for sure. I wouldn't do the Cotswolds unless I was able to fit in at least a 2 nights/2.5 day excursion and had a car.

We are all posting so fast that there are 'cross posts' and it is getting confusing. I'm going to step away for a few hours and let the dust settle

I'm hoping the MLB game won't take all day....hoping.

Ask the moderators to combine this with your Paris thread.

Ask the moderators to combine this with your Paris thread.

No, the game will be 'normal length' unless they go past 9 innings. BUT if you are going all the way to London to see the Cubs you don't want to be like Dodger fan and show up in the 3rd and leave in the bottom of the 7th They do these transatlantic transplant games up big in London. There is usually a rally - maybe in Trafalgar Square - the day before.

But just on the day -- there is a festival / fan experience sort of village outside the stadium. And lots of festivities pre-gam -- entertainment, both National anthems, maybe a fly over -- plus it is out in east London so all-in-all you'll want to plan around 5 hours door to door from your central London accommodations

. . . OR you can be like a Dodger fan . . . just sayin'

We haven't even started looking at lodging for our family of 5 yet. Blerg.

I told them they could handle it how they wanted and left it up to them.

My original idea was to keep the destinations separate so people could easily only participate in discussions about a destination with which they were familiar.

Ask the moderators to combine all of your threads. You are getting responses on all of them.

This is the Paris itinerary, but now getting advice and questions about London and England. Knowing you must schedule around the game is helpful because that dictates order of countries as well as time in London.

You have asked for personal must sees. I like seeing authentic historical places, eating local food, etc. that cannot be seen or enjoyed at home. Someone once asked what was the point of going to Europe when Las Vegas also had canals, gondolas, etc. I guess my feeling is the opposite. Why see the commercial amusement park stuff when you have an opportunity to see the real thing?

Since London is also being discussed here, I reiterate that Tower of London is a number one sight, followed by Westminster and Hampton Court. The stories these places have to tell are so incredible and real. In the tower, you can just about feel the presence of souls who spent their last days there. A morning walk in Bath and through the Roman Baths is to experience beautiful architecture, history, social mores of a past time, literature, and a design/engineering feat of heating water for the baths that was so unique, it inspires awe. The V&A museum is an all time favorite museum. Kids seem to really enjoy it.
Another thing your kids might really enjoy is actually doing something. Renting a boat and punting on the river in Oxford is a popular student and family activity. You can also rent a long boat in some places and do a canal trip yourself.

I'm pretty sure the Scavi tour has an age limit.

Agree that Milan is too far out of the way for this kind of trip, you'd be better to stop off in Florence on the way to Venice.
My teen/pre-teen kids liked Rome much more than Venice. They actually liked Pompeii/Amalfi Coast more than Venice.
I'd do Venice 1st then head to Rome at the end of day 2, leaving full days for Rome.

Your trip is all big cities, I'd consider doing something out of the city for a day.
E-bike the Appian way (can stop at catacombs), or day trip to Orvieto.
Pompeii is doable as a day trip but will feel rushed.

Instead of the Last Supper day trip, I would take a day trip to Burano (you can add Murano as well, if you like.) If you search for some photos of Burano you'll see what a beautiful place it is. If you are flying out of Milan, you could head to Milan a day early and see the Last Supper and the Milan cathedral (climb to the rooftop for a fun walk through the gothic spires.)
In Venice, visit St. Mark's cathedral and climb to the top to walk outside and view the square. The Doge's Palace is interesting and from there you can walk on the inside of the Bridge of Sighs. I also really liked the Peggy Guggenheim museum.
In Rome, the Vatican Museum is worth seeing, particularly the Sistine Chapel. You can combine this with visiting St. Peter's Basilica.

Yes, just checked and it's 15...my youngest will only be 12.

This is a continual struggle with us as well:

We want to live like locals (where do they eat? Relax? etc), but with our kids seeing so many of the "big" stuff in school, they want to do that as well. Hence, a clustered must-see list.

My favorite museum in Paris is the Musee de L'Orangerie. It is small and won't take long to see so your kids should be OK. It is a little jewel and has breathtaking Monet paintings. I loved it my first time there when I was only 12.
The Louvre, Musee d'Orsay and Rodin Museum are also favorites but your family will have to decide how many museums they would be happy to visit.

Another "must see" for me in Paris is Sainte Chapelle - the stained glass windows are amazing. Try to reserve in advance so you won't have to stand in a long line.