Hi a family of four with teens.

Starting off two nights in London, England
Flying to Milano picking up car rental
Driving to Lake Como staying there for two nights.
Than driving to Venice for two nights. I guess we park the car in the garage for two days From Venice we move on to Cinq Terra (Italian Rivera) for one night.
Than two nights in Tuscany (Chianti).
From there we drive to Rome for two nights.
Than we drive to Pompeii for a stop over tour continuing on to montescaglioso (which I sure few have heard of, family roots). We are parked here for 7 nights.
Than we fly out of Rome into Paris for two nights.

Anybody care to share any thoughts on what they would do while in those areas from London to Italy and than to Paris?
One thing we're not really into Museums. Churches are O.k.

But we are more into the WOW factor.

Thanks in Advance

Your planned itinerary reminds me of a trip I took there years ago. I wanted to see as much as possible. I thought that the more I saw, the better the trip. I was wrong. Just as I was starting to enjoy London we were off to Paris and ect. The entire trip seemed more like work than a vacation. I would think both you and your teenage children would like London and Paris, both very hip and youth oriented. You would like Rome, they could be bored. Tuscany is so beautiful you would all love it.
I would try to narrow down what you want to do. Remember, a road trip in Europe is MUCH more difficult than a road trip in US, especially in or near cities. We tried to drive out of Rome, never again.

Have you been to any of these places before?

2 days in London when one the first day is (probably) a jet lag stupor. 2 nights in Paris, 2 in Rome - you won't even get a taste of those cities in that short a time.

I usually count 3/4 of a day lost every time one moves from one city to another. Even if the flight is just 90 minutes or a 4 hour drive, by the time you get out of one hotel, travel, find and check in to the next place most of a day is shot.

To break it down - besides the 7 days in Montescaglioso - you are visiting 7 major cities/regions in just 13 days. When you factor in travel times you will barely have a free day in each place. Not much time for museums or churches or "WOW" except for maybe "Wow, I'm exhausted"

I meant to say - " . . . don't worry about not loving museums since there isn't much time for museums, or for churches or . . . ."

I'm going to echo the other posters' comments - you're trying to do far too much. in the 2 1/2 weeks you've got, if my maths are right, you might just manage 2 out of the three destinations, [counting London, Italy & Paris as one each] but you'd have more fun and a better experince if you just picked the one you want to see most.
Your itinerary for Italy is quite enough to fill the time you've got by itself.
alternatively, London followed by paris would make a great trip. But please not all three! [your kids won't thank you either for spending all that time travelling instead of seeing].

I also agree. All you will remember from this trip is the time you spend in the car, which before Montescaglioso will be half the time. As Janis said, don't worry if you don't like museums, there won't be time to go to any, nor will there be much time to do anything else.

I know what you’re all saying. The way I'm looking at it is if I'm on the road by 8am I'm in Venice at 11am.
Than the longest drive would be from Venice to the Italian Rivera, which is approximately 4.5 hours. Than from the Italian Rivera to Tuscany is only an hour and a half. And from Tuscany to Rome is 2 1/2 hours. From Rome to Pompeii its 3-31/2 hours. Most days I would be getting in at 11 am to our next destination. Some tourists don’t get up till 10am. And its not like we're only staying one night in most of these places.
Now getting back to the WOW factor
The way I figure it in
London, the bus tour should be a WOW factor but I'm not sure what else that’s going to WOW us beside the cost of everything!
Lake Como, I figure the WOW factor will be the incredible boat ride between the towns and Bellagio will be a WOW factor.
Venice the canals and Saint Marco square along with a gondola ride will be our WOW factor.
Cine Terra again the boat ride connecting the 5 towns will be our WOW factor.
Tuscany, The ride down Chianti road, along with a vast to Sienna and a drive thru Pisa and a stop over in Florence will become our WOW factor.
Rome, the Coliseum and the Vatican along with a general tour of the city will be our WOW factors.
Also we're attempting to keep our costs in check. So far it’s not bad for the four of us including our accommodations and car rental and flights between Canada and interflights between London & Milano and the return flight from Rome to Paris is approximately $6,000 US Dollars
3200 flight to Europe
+800 Car rental
+2000 Accommodations, which includes Hilton in England
+500 Inter Europe flights to Milano & Paris
= Total is 6500 Canadian dollars includes flight insurance

My biggest expense will be Gas & Tolls I figure approximately $600-$800
Sightseeing & attractions $1500-$2000
Eating on the run no expensive places mainly pizzerias and bakery shops the odd fast food place would cost $800-1000 this would only be for places outside of my hometown
So total cost of our trip should be around
6500 + 800 + 2000 +1000= $10,000 Canadian or $9,000 US DOLLARS. I figure that’s not bad for the four of us for 24 days!

Any tips or thoughts, thanks

WOW! Okay, to get on the road by 8:00am what time do you have to get up to shower, get ready, eat breakfast and pack? Are your teens up for that almost every other day? $1000 budget for eating in Europe for 24 days? That is just a little over $40 a day for all 4 of you (just over $10/person per day). Where does that leave the gelatos and espressos in Italy??

Please, please listen to what others have said. I know it seems like you can see it all, but your family will thank you if you cut some things out. Then they will remember a wonderful family vacation and not being moved from one place to another.

&quot;<i>Any tips or thoughts</i>&quot;

You have already heard from several veteran European travelers who have been to all or most of the places you are going. The thoughts were all the same - You are planning waaaaaay to many places and waaaaay to much travel for your short time.

You say you know what we are saying - but probably not since you seem to be set on this plan. I'm not really sure what other thoughts you want? If you want validation of your itinerary - I ain't gonna lie to you. This itinerary would be VERY difficult for one person traveling solo - and w/ 2 teenagers along, nearly impossible.

For just one example (and not the worst) to be on the road out of Venice by 0800 you will need to be up by about 0500. And don't count on getting breakfast served by 0630 or 0700. So you will start out w/ sleepy, crabby, hungry teenagers. THAT will be a fun day.

We weren't trying to be mean, honest. We really like to help.

Where did you get your driving times? www.mappy.com shows Como to Venice as 3-1/2 hours, Cinque Terre to Chianti s 3-1/2 hours and Chianti to Rome as 3 hours. And those times are assuming you zip right through, never run into any traffic, never get lost, etc. Then it takes time to find your next hotel, check in, get moved into the rooms.

And as jgg pointed out, do you really want to have to be up at 6:30 or 7:00 every morning to finish packing, eat breakfast, check out of the hotel?

As far as your food budget, even though it only includes the part before Montescaglioso, that's $1,000 for 17 days, which is less than $60 per day. That's going to be tough for 4 people including 2 hungry teens!

janis and I were posting at the same time. I agree with everything she says as well, including that you won't get your hotel breakfast at those early hours.

We just got back from Paris where my wife and I ate at informal restaurants for dinner - casual, Italian place, for instance, and the cost just for two for dinner was about $60 euro dollars. Your food budget is way out of whack.

Our best trip yet was a ten night trip to Italy where we spent five nights in Rome and five in Venice. It took us a while to understand the need to slow down, but now that we have I can only echo what all the other advice has been.

Slow down, please....

Hi tc,

&gt;I know what you’re all saying. The way I'm looking at it is if I'm on the road by 8am I'm in Venice at 11am....&lt;

You might know what we are saying, but you aren't listening.

This is not a vacation, it is a trek.

Since you have to do a week in Montescaglioso, I suggest that you spend the whole 3 weeks in Italy.

I would fly into Venice or Milan, pick up the car after leaving Venice (3 nights), drive through Tuscany (3-4 nights) to Rome (4-3 nights), drive down to Montescaglioso (about 5 hr), go back toward Naples via the Amalfi Coast, and fly home from Naples.

You could stay in Naples or Sorrento. You won't need a car.

Have a nice visit, and let us know how it went.

I am one of the teenagers of tcmazz. I want you to know that we are not slackers. We are used to getting up really early every morning. We are only bringing one carry-on each so packing won't be a big issue. We are planning on packing the night before anyway. This isn't the first time that my brother and I have seen a lot of things during one vacation. We are not the complaining, sleep-in-till-noon types of teenagers. This is our first (and probably only) chance to go to Europe and we intend to get a lot out of it. So back to the original question, what are some things that you think we would enjoy seeing? Thanks for any ideas.

I think the point is that you will get far more &quot;out of it&quot; if you slow down. Even if teens were not on this trip, it is way too ambitious. This forum has great advice from highly seasoned travelers, which is in part why you posted the question here. Please listen to the advice, as it is very sound...

Tcmazz, I do not understand why you continue to ask if you do not want to hear what ALL the people said.

I agree with all other that think that it will be not a vacation and you will remain with no beautiful memories. You only will be tired! It is exactlty like &quot;If it is Tuesday, it is Belgium&quot;.

In a so hurry, we do not know what to suggest you to do to enjoy your vacation. In my opinion, it is better to visit fewer places, but to enjoy and to have nice memories from them, than just to say: I was in Italy, and in France, and in...and in... and except this, to remember only that you run, and run, and run..

However you will decide, have a great time!

Dear tcmazz1:
I don't want to just reiterate what the other people have said, but wanted to tell you that we took almost-teenagers (11 and 12 at the time) on a similar trip (Paris-Bordeaux-Nice-CinqueTerre-Florence-Bologne-Venice-Milan) four years ago. I guess my point is that, like you, I felt like there were so many &quot;have to see&quot; places that I didn't want to miss any. And don't get me wrong, it was a great trip. But my new rule is no less than two nights on any location. And no driving in Italy unless we absolutely have to.
We are going to London-Paris-Switzerland this summer. The one thing that I keep reading about is the segway tours in Paris, so that will be one of our &quot;wow&quot; stops (that was what you were looking for in the original post, right?).
Whatever you do, have a wonderful time.

tcmazz1 and tcmazz teen who also posted: I did not mean to say you were slackers. You MAY very well be up and at 'em early in the a.m. - EVERY a.m.. But no one else in your hotels will be. You won't get breakfast, you will have to check out the night befor and so on.

But that is far from the biggest concern re your plans. tcmazz-teen said :<i> This is our first (and probably only) chance to go to Europe and we intend to get a lot out of it.</i>&quot; The problem is this itinerary almost certainly guarantees you will get next to nothing out of most of it.

I'm not exaggerating

- 2 days in London after a transatlantic flight -- might as well skip it since you will only have time for maybe the high level hop-on-hop-off bus tour and one or two other major sites. That's it. Why spend the money in London if you aren't going to see any of London.

- 2 nights in Venice -- by the time you stow the car and take water taxis in/out of the city and get settled -- you have basically 1 day.

- 2 nights in Rome -- will net you appox 1.5 days sightseeing time. And several hours of that will be meal time so you really won't see much at all.

- 2 nights Paris is again just 1.5 days in the city.

If you are the sorts of travelers who just want to cut notches in your gun handle and don't care about seeing/understanding/enjoying a place -- stick to your plan. If you want the family to actually get something out of it - take to heart what all the above posters are trying to tell you.