PalenQ

2 days in each of the big three if you factor relocating and travel time means about one good day - not enough IMO to even orient yourself to the place.

Less can indeed be more!

Sassafrass

Agree 100% with PalenQ! Trying to see Rome, Florence and Venice in six days would be nuts! Take away travel time, and it is even less.

When it gets right down to it, exactly how many days and nights do you have from the time you depart Frankfurt to the time you must be in Düsseldorf?

Be as precise as possible because even one day or night more or less can make a difference.

If you have early meetings, you will need to be in Düsseldorf the night before. Will you be able to leave Frankfurt in the evening or have a late meeting or dinner and have to wait until morning?

My suggestions before were based on a little more time, at least 7 days. If you have only 6 whole days (7 nights), the most you can do is Paris and Amsterdam (travel to Paris, travel in between and on to Düsseldorf) and that even is tight. You could do Rome and Venice, but would have travel in between and a couple of flights - stressful.

If only 6 days, forget Paris together with Rome. Just not enough time with travel to Paris and flights from Paris to Rome and Rome to Düsseldorf.

You begin to see the logistics.

I am beginning to think your best bet would be 4 nights Paris, 2 night Bruges. Good logistically. You see Paris and a bit of one other country, and good connection with Dusseldof.

suze

If you truly think you will never return to Europe (sad thought) I would go with the Italy itinerary or Paris/Amsterdam.

suze

I personally don't consider Bruges & Amsterdam "must see cities".

ticino

I'd say Paris is the only must. In Paris I'd rent a car and head to Venice, via the Alps and Lake Como. You'll see a France, a Switzerland and Italy, my favourite countries in Europe. Drop-off fees France-Italy aren't that bad and worth it if this is a last trip. 10 days are plenty of time.

To me Belgium and Holland sound crazy for a last trip to Europe, unless you have a special interest in those countries.

Sassafrass

Suze, I completely agree. I don't think Bruges or Amsterdam are "must see" cities either, but with Paris and only one, perhaps two, extra days, what other "must see" could she reasonably do? I was trying to think of what would work logistically and give her a taste of something else.

I thought of London, but if she has to be back in Düsseldorf the evening of day 6, it would not work.

OK, just went back and re-read original posts. I am so sorry!
Somehow, I thought the OP had only a week, don't know where I got that, but she said she had "almost" 2 weeks, with 3 days tied up at the beginning and 3 at the end, so I guessed at about 8 days left.

If she really has 10 days, that is plenty to do much more.
You could easily visit Rome, Florence and Venice in 10 days.
You could easily visit Paris and Rome.

So, back to the question. Exactly, how much time to do you have?

suze

<which means I have remaining 10 days in Europe>
<what is the best cities to visit in this duration>

10 days is plenty to visit:

Paris / Venice (5 days each)
Paris / Amsterdam (5 days each)
Paris / Venice / Florence or Rome (3 days each)

FHurdle

If there are 10 days available, I would suggest she start with a quick train ride to the Rhine/Mosel region and spend three nights in Bacharach, Cochem, Bullay, or another village of her choosing. Enjoy this wonderful region, tour the castles, perhaps rent a bike for the day and bike on the Mosel.

Then on to Paris for four nights, then to Amsterdam for two nights, then to Dusseldorf. She should be sure to make a day trip from Dusseldorf to se the cathedral in Cologne. If there isn't enough time, add a day to Dusseldorf to make time.

Most of these train tickets can be purchased in advance on bahn.com at ridiculously low prices.

Now, as for not being able to afford the "expense" of visiting Europe, what balderdash! For those who keep their eyes open, there are frequent sales of tickets in the sub-$800 range. I've bought several in the $650 range over the past few years. I also have a Delta Skymiles card that generates "miles," and have managed to get summer tickets for 60,000 miles per ticket repeatedly. In a few weeks I'll be flying to Amsterdam on Skymiles tickets that I bought for 54,000 miles during a special.

The Choice Hotel group (Econolodge, Comfort/Quality Inn, ect.) has a perpetual promotion offering 8,000 miles for two stays. They have also had a "sale" on Italy hotels for about four years now where you can get a room in a very nice hotel for 10,000 points.

You can buy Choice Hotel points once each year for 4.5 cents each in the Daily Getaways promotion (Google it). I buy a couple of hundred thousand every year. I've booked really nice hotels in Europe at a cost of $38 per night, based on my point-purchase cost. I currently have a couple of nights booked in Paris at double that, or $76 per night. The hotel is in Montrouge, the south end of the metro, but it's an affordable option for me and will give me the opportunity to see a more residential portion of Paris.

The thing that causes the expense of a Europe trip to explode is the idea that you have to see or do everything. So you spend a fortune on transportation traveling all over the continent, and you pay high prices for hotels instead of taking advantage of deals.

Instead of this, get a really cheap flight over, stay in hotels that are free or almost free, confine your travel to a relatively small portion of Europe, and restrain your spending a bit. If you do this you can visit Europe every few years, every other year, or every year. I will be taking my third trip of the year in just over a week. It's affordable so why not?