whitehall

Thank you for confirming your passport status as I suspected. I am glad you weren't turned off by the speculation and conclusions reached by some here.

Only you know YOUR travel style and that of your entire family. We travel hard, with only carry-on luggage, up early, out late, walk 10 miles a day, so we can do a lot in short period of time. Our tempo allows us some useful time even on travel days. We set out a few years ago to do 16 countries in 30 days, and it was largely a success for us. Others will say they can only do 3 or 4 places in the time you have.

For example, we spent two nights in the Jungfrau region last fall with our daughter. Our gamble paid off. The weather was perfect, so, given our own time constraints, it was wonderful. We had planned a night in Lucerne but cancelled it so we could spend more time in the German castle country. We have also visited Venice numerous times in two night increments, and it was fine for us.

If this were MY trip, and it isn’t, AND I wanted to see all those places, I would consider one less day in Paris (even though you are visiting friends), one less day in Venice and one less day in Switzerland, allowing you three nights in Rome. Again, you will have to be on the move since our style of travel is not for everyone.

tcreath

Like whitehall, we too tend to travel faster than most would recommend on this board but it works for us. We are up early and travel lightly, so I never consider the travel days to be wasted. We are either driving and make stops along the way, use overnight trains or get up really early to get to our next destination at a reasonable time so we have the remainder of the day in that location. We pack up the night before so checking out takes but a few minutes. But everyone is different in their travel styles.

By looking at your wish list on your last post, I think it would be easier to cut out Rome since it's further away. With that being said, I absolutely love Rome and have been there a handful of times so I get wanting to visit. You could do 3 nights in Venice, Rome and the Jungfrau region and then the rest of the nights split up in Paris (since you have to be there at least the last night before your flight). Lucerne is close enough to the Jungfrau that I would be inclined to make a long daytrip instead of breaking it up into two separate stays, although if you did that I would consider adding an extra night in the Jungfrau. I would definitely look into overnight trains or flights as otherwise you could kill the better part of a day traveling from Paris to Switzerland and from Switzerland to Italy (or vice versa). For a family of four you may be able to cut the cost on an overnight train by booking all four of you in a couchette instead of a private car, as we did when traveling with friends a few years back.

Good luck!
Tracy

ToujoursVoyager

Rome would be important to me on a first visit to Europe because I love Ancient Rome. One destination I would drop is Lucerne, because you cannot beat what you would already have experienced in the Jungfrau region (Murren or Wengen). With your destinations listed, you do have long travel days. What about:

3 nights in Rome
3 nights in Venice
4 nights in Wengen or Murren (Jungfrau region) -to get there from Venice, you need to fly to Basel or Zurich, and then train for another 3 hours.
5 nights in Paris ( 7 hours of train)

I would also put all my nights in Paris all together (at the end) since the itinerary is already complex as it is. But it is your trip and it is about what you want to see. If you feel inclined, please let us know what you decided at the end.

Sberg

I've been to Italy twice and still haven't made it to Rome. My best advice for travel is to not worry about what you don't see and truly enjoy what you do. Rome would be great for another trip when you could pair it with the Amalfi coast or a trip to Tuscany (I have been there twice and absolutely love it.) Once you go to Europe you will be going back so...If you leave Rome off this trip you can enjoy your other stops. Your kids will love Paris and Venice. I have yet to make it to Switzerland but some day I will get there!

kerouac

I don't really understand this thread. Is there something wrong with me? There is a list of 4 cities and one entire country. There seems to be a request for us to choose a city in Switzerland, but I am not really sure.

It seems that the OP has not yet told us the nationality of the passports.

This is all quite strange.

tcreath

kerouac, the OP and her husband hold Mongolian passports. "I appreciate everyone helping me clear my confusion. Since I am a new OP, I didn't realize I couldn't post more than 2 times per day, my apologies for the delay. To address everyone's questions about the Schengen visa:
My husband and I have Mongolian passports, so they require a Schengen visa to visit European countries minus the UK (you need a separate visa). So, unfortunately, we can't go to London (maybe we'll save it for another trip sometime.)"

whitehall

Although it wass assumed by some that the OP's passports were US, they are Mongolian passports. That should have never been an issue here. A lot of hysteria over nothing.I think the rest of the OP's post is clear. She wants to go to several cities and to the Jungfrau region and Lucerne in Switzerland. As usual, some think it CAN be done with some tweaking; others think it is too much. Some of us have made suggestions about ways it CAN be done DEPENDING on the OP's travel style.

apersuader65

Also, there are four travelers, M,D, two kids. M and D needed visas but not kids. Clearly means different passports to me. This isn't about clearing up confusion, it is about looking at the questions they've asked versus answering the questions you wish they'd asked.

As for the OP, you arrive on the 8th from California on a non-stop. Thats likely a 10+ hour flight, so body clock rhythm and jet lag will likely be an issue, at least for the kids. While in Paris, you would have access to two cars and friends, but you won't need cars in Pars. They will only slow you down. So with the days on the ground, you arrive in Paris on the 8th. 5 days has you leaving on the morning of the 13th. Late afternoon or evening of the 13th, you arrive in Venice. You'd leave Venice on the morning of 17th. Arrive in the Jungfrau the afternoon to evening of the 17th. Leave that area on evening of the 21st and arrive in Lucerne. Leave Lucerne on the 23rd for Paris and leave Paris at noon on the 24th. Basically you have 3 days of travel between locations since Jungfrau and Lucerne are so close by car. For purposes of consolidating, I'd find a place to stay between Lucerne and the Jungfrau area, rent a car and make day trips to whatever you want to see. If renting a car isn't an option, then the train between the two areas is 2.5 hours, plus the getting to, and leaving from stations, etc. That puts your time to 4 days travel.

To each their own. I think you really need to make a list of what you want to do and see in these three areas, Paris, Venice and the Switzerland portions. Adjust your days between the three places to meet those goals, with the assumption that you will basically lose a day between each - Paris to Venice; Venice to Switzerland; and Switzerland to Paris again. This intercity travel is time you can't spend on seeing anything other than what is out the window of the train. Another thing to consider is opening and closing days of any places you may want to see, that can affect when you want to be in one city versus another. Lastly, the Paris potion I would consider breaking it up. Arrive and one or two days then off; then come back and leave your last day. Jet lag will be an issue, so the beginning of the trip will possibly be blurred, so use these first day or two to get out into the sun as much as possible and make the rest of the stops less drowsy.

5alive

Good to hear from you, Amy. I think it's great that you have friends in Paris. If you are all good friends, I would encourage you to stay in Paris the full five days or close to it. If they know the area, it is often more meaningful to have someone who lives there show you around, or even just give you some pointers in the morning before you set out for the day.

Depends. First, we don't know if the friends live right in Paris or on the outskirts. It may be useful to drive into some sort of parking area by a metro station, and pay to park the car. Then take public transit. If this is a possibility, you will want to get international drivers' licenses. This can be done at your AAA store for about $12-15. You do not take a driver's test. They are more like an international translation.

Second, will the friends be able to take a day off and go touring with you? Because it would be fun for you all to see something not in the city.

This is really, really true.

neckervd

" Wengen or Murren (Jungfrau region) -to get there from Venice, you need to fly to Basel or Zurich, and then train for another 3 hours"

....or you may board the direct Brig (Zermatt) bound train Venice dp 16.20 - Brig ar 21.16 and go on by connecting trains to Interlaken ar 22.34 - Grindelwald or Wengen ar 23.40. It's better to sleep at Interlaken and to meet the mountain villages the following morning, however.

thursdaysd

Or why not the 08:20 out of Venice? Change at Milan and Spiez instead of Brig and Spiez, but get into Interlaken at 14:28. Less time in Venice, but more in Switzerland. I hate arriving at new places after dark, although the OP may not mind.

RaleighTraveler

For an enjoyable first trip with your family, I'd probably scale back the number of places you wish to visit. Perhaps spending some time with a map, the Fodor's city guides online and the rome2rio website or app will help; you could see travel times and options between the places you're thinking about visiting. I enjoy riding trains in Europe but wouldn't want to spend the better part of a day getting from Point A to B (although I did love the six hours from Girona, Spain, to Paris). So perhaps a circle route that begins and ends in Paris and offers you different experiences in other countries could work.

neckervd

" Or why not the 08:20 out of Venice? Change at Milan and Spiez instead of Brig and Spiez, but get into Interlaken at 14:28. Less time in Venice, but more in Switzerland. I hate arriving at new places after dark, although the OP may not mind."

This solution (check in at Muerren for example at 4pm) is perfect if you want to waste a whole day.
......and as most people in this forum like to stay at Venice hotels far away from Sta Lucia station, they might not even get breakfast before leaving.

thursdaysd

PalenQ

Besides being scenic I liked all my train rides because each country has a different look - its cities - and countryside.