thanks, ceb1222 for your input. I am thinking we are going to skip Florence.

I just wish I was 20-something. Oh, who the Hell am I kidding, I wish I was 40-something?!

Sometimes I like the hectic, do all you can vacation. Since you definitely want to go to London and definitely need to stay that long a time in Freiburg, I'd skip Florence, Lucern and Rome.

I don't know if this is feasible by train (I like a car in Europe), but what if you took the train from Freiburg to Grindelwald area? Stay for a couple of days (Sunday, Monday) in Grindelwald or Murren or Wengen. It seems like you guys like the outdoors, so there is a ton to do there.

On Tuesday, take the train to Cinque Terre (I don't know the best way to that from Switz, but somebody must). Spend the next couple of days in CT going on hikes, boat rides, drinking mass quantities of wine, eat a ton of cheese, soak up the sun and then take an early train to Pisa on Thursday, see the tower and head for London.

As I stated, since I drive in Europe, I am not familiar with timetables, so maybe this wouldn't work. I think this beats a day a long day trip to Rome and back. Take a long trip to Italy when you get more vacation time. Enjoy a couple of days in CT and experience la Dolce Vita!

Whatever you decide, if you have the right attitude (and plenty of wine), you'll have a great time. Have fun!

I think you've gotten some excellent advice from the previous posters and cutting out Florence sounds like a smart move for you (although I adore Florence.) No, it might not be an ideal itinerary, but sometimes life's circumstance's aren't ideal. To us the itinerary may not seem practical, but if you know you want to see certain cities no matter what and don't mind dealing with the hassles, go for it. If the choice is doing this now or waiting until you have more time, I say go and enjoy! Hopefully you will be able to go back sooner than later with a more leisurely schedule. I'm in my 30's and normally use up my two weeks vacation just for a city or two (though admittedly, I still tend to keep pretty busy. I haven't completely mastered the sit at a cafe for hours thing.) But last year due to a tight work schedule, my best friend and I did a quick London-Paris-Amsterdam-Barcelona-Paris-London trip instead. Yes, it was hectic. Yes, I experienced way more night trains than I ever wish to see again and yes, it did feel like we spent a lot of the trip feeling slightly grungy, waiting for the next hotel shower! But it was madcap, deliriously fun, and we still laugh about the Tour de Carol train station (do we stay on the train, do we get out? is this france still? shouldn't we have been in barcelona 3 hours ago? did we miss it?), almost skipping the Gaudi sights in order to spend 4 hours in Madrid (thank goodness we didn't -- turns out I love Gaudi), one too many mojitos and sangrias, and our daily strolls to the EasyInternet cafes while drinking cheap Fantas. So pack light like everyone has said, meet lots of people and have a blast!