Please help a novice with a 3 week Europe trip!
 

My Husband and I are blessed to be able to travel to Europe for 3 weeks (21 nights) in July celebrating 30 years together! It seems the possibilities of where to go, where to stay, what to see, and how to travel are endless! I am overwhelmed and would be grateful for any and all advice with the planning process. We're already booked on an American Airlines flight to and from New York to London/LHR due to a great deal we found so that part is set in stone.

Our only European travel to date has been a canal boat trip in England including one full day/night in London and the same for Stratford-upon-Avon. Our wish list for this trip includes London, Paris, Rome, Florence, and Venice. Considering some kind advice, we are trying to arrange to be in Paris on June 14 for Bastille Day. We've been advised to leave southern italy for another trip because of the crowds. But isn't it high season for Dublin and Amsterdam as well? Our thoughts are to visit the cities that are at the top of our wish list first as a second trip to Europe is not guaranteed.

We hope to use air mile awards for most of our flights, utilize high speed trains when appropriate, and hotel award nights and points to keep our expenses within our 4kish budget. For hotels we can save this way with Hyatt, Marriott, Club Carlson, Hilton, and Starwood. Hotel suggestions based on this would be welcome indeed!

July 4 RDU to JFK (hotel for fireworks booked)
July 5 JFK to LHR Arriving LHR 10:10pm local
July 5 - 9 London hotel in convenient location to the tube and main attractions (5 nights)
July 10 Eurostar to Paris
July 10 -14 Paris Hotel in a convenient location to the main tourist attractions (5nights)
July 15 Early morning flight to Rome
July 15 -18 Hotel in Rome (4 nights)
July 19 Train to Florence
July 19-21 Hotel in Florence (3 nights)
July 22 Train to Venice
July 22-24 Hotel in Venice (3 nights)
July 25 Flight from Venice to London LHR
July 25 Hotel near LHR for flight to JFK on the 26th (1 night)

Thanks in advance for helping! Hotel thoughts, attractions not to miss, best airlines for our award miles, travel –plane or train, packing suggestions….you name it, they’re all appreciated!

A little fast and not enough time in London IMO but not terrible.

However the last two days are a waste. Fly open jaw (multi city) into London and home from whichever city you is last in Italy (I'd personally do NYV > London > Paris > Venice > Florence > Rome > Home . . .

>>best airlines for our award miles,<<

Those are some very popular destinations at very busy travel times, so you may not be able to find award tickets this late. Or you might luck out, who knows. You list a specific arrival time at LHR - but then ask which airline is best so it seems you have not booked yet. That day time flight to London is VERY coveted and books up, and unlikely you can get a non-rev ticket.

My only suggestion would be to subtract a night from Florence and add it to either Rome or Venice. Unless Renaissance art is a priority, either of the other cities are, for me, more entertaining.

I agree with Mme Perdu. Crowds will be fierce in Florence and you can see a lot in 2 days. We were there last year in March and had only 2 days. I booked Walks With Italy to tour The Duomo, David and the Uffizi. We did the Duomo and David in the morning and the Uffizi in the afternoon. We don't normally do tours, but these were great. The group is capped at 10 and they have earpieces so when the tour guide talks, you can hear her/him and not have to try to be upfront in order to hear.

We liked them so much, that I also booked tours in Rome which was great for passing the lines and getting an incredible history. I would highly recommend doing this.

I would suggest checking out the sights you want to see and then booking a hotel closer to them. We were on the Colosseum tour in Rome and a couple from Houston was staying in one of the chains and they had to catch a bus that took 45 minutes to get into Rome. I would so miss the freedom to walk out of the hotel and wander around.

I would say -- for now don't even start planning your itinerary. Nail down your flights NOW. You may find you have to fly into Rome, or Paris instead of London -- or maybe Munich or Geneva - who knows . . .

I would also suggest subtracting a day from Rome and adding it elsewhere. But here's my crazy idea: instead of staying in Florence, stay in a smaller hill town nearby and visit Florence as a day trip. I have several reasons for this suggestion:

- Tuscan hill towns are awesome. They offer a distinctively different Italy experience than the typical Rome-Florence-Venice plan. They have a small town charm you can't get in a big city. San Gimignano is one possibility but there are many others to choose from in that region.

- Buses and trains make it easy to visit Florence or Siena from a Tuscan hill town.

- 21 days, all spent in a big city in peak season and peak temperatures, is going to grind on you. Italy in summer is like Florida: hot, humid, and full of tourists. You should plan a low-key break in the middle to recharge. A hill town can give you a break from crowds and incessant cultural demands. But not the heat and humidity.

Thus, my advice is: spend 4 nights in a Tuscan hill town: day-trip to Florence one day, spend two days sleeping in, reading a book, drinking wine, and avoiding museums. Then maybe day-trip to Siena.

janis, they have already booked their flights, so it won't be easy to change them.
I like Edward2005's suggestion of not staying in Florence but allowing a little downtime, and a day in Florence.

Also be sure to do your homework on how to save precious time by avoiding long peak-season lines at the biggest attractions. Often, these are lines to get tickets, not lines of people waiting to get in. Guidebooks can give you the details on avoiding such nightmares, but here are a few examples:

- The Louvre at peak times has a line 1-2 hours long. But that's a the glass pyramid entrance. There's another entrance at the metro stop with a much shorter line (or non-existent!). Or get a Paris museum pass that gives you free entry into almost all city-wide museums and lets you bypass all the lines.

- The Eiffel tower and Uffizi gallery can also have 1-2 hour waits just to buy a ticket. Or you can make a reservation and walk right in at your appointed time.

- City-wide transportation passes save you time and probably money by letting you hop on or off as you like, without having to buy point-to-point tickets repeatedly.

Edward's suggestions are good ones. And do note that in France it is not Bastille Day - it's La Fête Nationale or Le Quatorze Juillet.

Have you already secured the plane tickets (in and out of London)?

If not, I'd encourage you to try to do "open jaw" into London out of Rome, or whatever. No need to return to the place you started the trip (hopefully).

>>janis, they have already booked their flights, so it won't be easy to change them. . . <<


If that is so -- fine, But then why did she post >>We <u>hope to use</u> air mile awards for most of our flights,<< and >>best airlines for our award miles, travel ?<<

That would seem to say nothing has yet been booked??? :?

I took it to mean the 2 flights mentioned within Europe, to Rome and back to London. She does say clearly that flights to/from LHR are booked on AA.

Sorry - but we can't make hotel suggestions based on your award points. Have no way of knowing how many points you have, which are blackout dates (expect to have a lot of blackout dates in summer - unless you have so many points you can pay extra to buy them) or the rules/regs for your particular account.

(My DH has a corporate hotel points account that overrides all black out dates but my understanding is that this is quite rare.)

Thank you all for your kindness and gererosity in responding to our request for assistance!

Our flights to and from London are booked. Most of our flights and train reservations to other destinations are still in the planning stages. Today we found and reserved our train fare from London to Paris and have a reservation for our hotel in Paris. Progress has been made!

Edward - We love the thought of a relaxing break in a Tuscan hill town. What a wonderful idea! Do you have a special place in mind that would work well with day a trip to Florence?

St.Cirq - Thanks for the correction regarding Bastille day.

We have much more to research to do and we will enjoy the process but all the research in the world cannot replicate true experiences shared by those who have been there and done that! Thanks!

We're grateful for nuggets or volumes of advise...all are valued. We thank you all again so much! We will work better now with the information you have shared.

Edward - I see you did mention San Gimignno...we'll check that out...thanks again!

topeater - we agree, paying a bit more to be closer to where you want to be is well worth the money! Now, we just have to find those gems!

Does anyone have suggestions for a hotel in London where we could use some Carlson Hotel (Raddison) points and still be centrally located and within a short walk to the tube?

There are several radisson Blu Edwardian properties scattered around central London. Any would be OK - just depends how far your points go.

Glad--I'd use the directory from the Radisson hotel chain to see what lodging is available in London. As for location, anywhere between Kensington and the City (inclusive) would be good. The top criterion for us (and apparently for you as well) is the proximity of a Tube station.

I'd leave the Italy part as-is, particularly if you are art lovers. It's rushed but not too much so.

Bon voyage!

Thanks janisj and dwdvagamundo.

It looks like we have just enough points to stay at one of the Raddison Blu hotels in London...and yes, our preference is close to the tube! The first two legs of our adventure are shaping up nicely. Now we'll proceed with our delightful delimma planning Italy and home again! We considered staying north, but decided to proceed with our original plan.

It looks like we might be able to use some hotel points in Rome but will be looking for some nice hotels in great locations for Florence and Venice without points. Hotel suggestions for these (and Rome) are most welcome!