Family of 6- include senior and kids- to Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice for about 3 weeks in summer from SFO. Which country to start first (hope to use some frequent flyer miles for tickets or upgrades)? Best to travel via regional plane or train between Paris and Italy? Between Rome, Florence, Venice? Any recommendations on itinerary, hotels, etc?

Wow--do you have an hour--it would take that long to answer well. I have 2 ideas to offer. I would stick to one country with that gang---too far to travel within Europe. Also, if you plan to use FF miles start there--that may dictate your options.

Hi, AL94612!

You can certainly enjoy a trip to 4 cities in 2 weeks. I myself do it frequently.

As for an itinerary: fly far first, then start home. In other words, from your home airport of SFO fly to your farthest destination (Rome) and then work your way home from there through Florence, Venice, and Paris. That would enable your homebound flight transatlantic to be the shorter of the two.

Travel within and between the cities of Italy can easily be done on the railroads. Rome to Florence is only 3 hours; Florence to Venice, not much different. From Venice, you might consider the overnight train up to Paris (or a 1hr 15min flight).

Wherever your travels take you and your family, go forward and enjoy yourselves!

Hi Al,

Good plan.

I suggest flying into Rome. Two weeks in Italy ending in Venice.

Fly Venice VCE to Paris ORY on www.mayair.com.

Fly home from Paris.

See www.kayak.com for airfare

See www.trenitalia.com for trains between R, F and V. There are family fares for kids between 4 and 11.

I think with 3 weeks you can easily do all four cities. I agree with ira, 2 weeks in Italy and a week in Paris. We did a 2 week trip to Italy with our kids - 6 nights in Rome, 4 in Venice and 4 in Florence - it was perfect. Then the following year we took my parents with us and the kids and did a week in London and a week in Paris. We had another wonderful trip. Depending on the ages of your kids, I would strongly recommend you go to the Normandy D-Day Beaches from Paris. We did it is a daytrip from Paris and was the highlight of our trip.

Here are the links to my trip reports, you may find them helpful.http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34599242

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34786762

What a fantastic trip you get to plan!
Definitely start with your frequent flier tickets, as that will dictate your itinerary.
Then post back with your flight plan. And search this forum for ideas-- there are lots of itineraries posted.
Have fun planning.

I like to travel by train only once in Europe. Especially with a group of 6 you can visit along the way.

Start with the tickets and see where you can get. Try to book "open jaw" to fly into the first city and out of the last one.

Thanks for all given advice. We are working through the details still. Also, we are looking into renting short term stay apartments in Florence and Venice. I understand that Venice is small enough to be managed by walking. How about Florence? is there a recommended area (or to avoid) for florence or is it all manageable by walking?

You can walk everywhere in Florence and it is a beatiful city, also well located for daytrips.

I prefer not to stay near the station as a rule, although the area is not as bad as in other cities.

If you have miles that allow you to use Air France, you can do a stopover in Paris OR and open jaw, but not both.

Regional planes have very restrictive baggage allowances so be aware.

If I was planning a trip with your cities, I would fly in and out of Rome and do a stopover in Paris in either direction. Venice has far fewer flights so it is harder to get FF milesage tickets IME.

If you buy tickets, fly into Venice, then onto Florence and fly out of Rome with a stopover in Paris.

Personally, I agree with Bob and would spend all the time in Italy, perhaps alternating cities with a villa rental in Umbria or Tuscany and flying open jaw VCE/FCO.

al94612 - I will be traveling in April/May. Flying from Los Angeles to Rome. Train from Rome to Florence and Florence to Venice. I will then be flying to Paris. End of trip, Paris to LA. I will be gone a total of 16 days. Enjoy

Fly into Paris 6 days
Train or fly to Venice 5 days
Train to Florence 4 days
Train to Rome 6 days
Fly home from Rome
21 days

Hi AL94612,

I'm doing almost the same trip on pretty much the same headway as you are in June. I'm flying Toronto-Paris and de-stressing and touristing there for a week. I'd recommend that wherever you arrive in the Continent, you stay there for a while to adapt to the local time and all. It's bad enough coming from Toronto; I'm sure adding the extra 3-hour time difference from Frisco will only mulitply the effect.

We're flying Paris-Venice on MyAir and staying in Venice for 3 days which is pretty much as much as you need to get a good feel for the city. From there, it's train to Florence for a week and (if it's not too late) I'd suggest you spend a week there as Florence and its environs are really almost worth the tri alone. You can do day-trips to Pisa and Sienna and I'd recommend getting accommodations around the cathedral
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...amp;iwloc=addr

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildi...Cathedral.html

If there's anyplace in Italy where you can imagine yourself walking in the footsteps of the ancients, Florence is it.

Anyway, we're then going on to Rome for 3 days which I found from my first trip 12 years ago seems to be plenty. Rome's kinda bussling by comparison and while you're there, do make time for the Vatican Museuem and Vatican City in general, even if you're not Catholically inclined.

I found that the art treasures and historic aspects were what I enjoyed the most in the Rome area.

If you have the artistically-inclined in your group, you have the Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence and the Vatican Museum in Rome to keep them happy.

I'd say avoid Verona (unless you're really into Juliet balconies) and Milan.

HTH and hope your trip works out well.

Good advice already on the itinerary. I would definitely look into apartments try sleepinitaly.com and sleepinginflorence.com Even if they say a week minimum if they have openings they might let you have it for fewer days - they did for us in both Venice in Rome. For venice we used http://www.viewsonvenice.com/. Also when choosing Venice locale - with your crowd and the young and the old I would try and find something that is not too far from a taxi or bus stop. Carrying luggage across the cobbletones particularly when it is crowded and in the hot sun, is not much fun. If you do have a choice I would fly into Venice and out of Rome just because Venice is more laid back and you can re-group from the jetlag.

I would second Suze's recommendation, that is, fly into Paris, overnight train to Venice. Then on to Florence and Rome. Fly out of Rome.

One suggestion I would add would be to try to carve out some time for at least one small town for a few days. The cities you list are among Europe's greatest but all can be hectic and exhausting in their own way. It is nice to have some down time from the intensity of these cities on a 3 week trip. Sort of like a mini vacation from your vacation.

Somewhere in Tuscany or Umbria would fit well, or perhaps the Cinque Terre or Liguria.

Either way, I am sure you will have a great trip. Best of luck.