We go to France most summers (my husband is French) and we’ve had the best luck buying tickets around thanksgiving.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did a similar trip and here's my advice:

Fly to Rome and rent a car: drive to Tuscany and stay in a more pastoral setting (if this sounds like something your family would enjoy). You can take the train to Florence for a day.

Return car (we returned at airport) and taxi to Rome (we did a car service, it was only about $100). Spend time in the city for a few days.

Hit London on your way back. No car needed.

Enjoy!

Oh I like this itinerary!! thank you!

Can also save the (long) drive to Tuscany from Rome by taking the train to Florence and picking up rental car there. Siena also, depending on where your rental is. It's a 3 hour drive with no traffic from Rome, and the train is 1:25.

Anonymous wrote:We did a similar trip and here's my advice:

Fly to Rome and rent a car: drive to Tuscany and stay in a more pastoral setting (if this sounds like something your family would enjoy). You can take the train to Florence for a day.

Return car (we returned at airport) and taxi to Rome (we did a car service, it was only about $100). Spend time in the city for a few days.

Hit London on your way back. No car needed.

Enjoy!

Oh I like this itinerary!! thank you!

We did a similar trip and here's my advice:

Fly to Rome and rent a car: drive to Tuscany and stay in a more pastoral setting (if this sounds like something your family would enjoy). You can take the train to Florence for a day.

Return car (we returned at airport) and taxi to Rome (we did a car service, it was only about $100). Spend time in the city for a few days.

Hit London on your way back. No car needed.

Enjoy!

I would monitor flights— my guess is that somewhere around November is when you’ll see cheaper fares but anytime you see a fare that looks good to you take it (also remember the US airlines are much better about cancelation penalties now).

With a family I’d suggest airbnb for the space

Not sure when to book, but for Italy we saved a lot of money flying into Milan. Much cheaper than Florence and Rome airports.

Book your airfare and anything else available right now. We always book our trips as soon as flights open. You get the seat and class you want, hotel options (or wherever you want to stay) and your guides before things start to book up. We have always done it on the front end and I can say with certainty that more and more people are booking in advance. Not sure whether or not you’re saving money but you definitely have the best opportunities to get the things you want if you don’t wait. Everywhere seems to sell out now so there is no point in waiting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Fall - New Year you should have a good range of open bookings (if they're taking them that early) for both flights and accommodation.
Paris is always a good stop, and it's between London and Italy. You could always take trains, at least between London and Paris and then fly, as the further south you go the worse the trains get, but the Eurostar is excellent.

Uh, that's not correct. In fact other than High speed 1 which was built for the Eurostar, the UK trains are slower than most on European mainland. And the TGV from Paris to as far south as Bordeaux and Marseille and Montpelier is ridiculously fast and comfortable. Spain has significantly revamped their trains and they are great now between the major cities. Finally, the mainline routes in Italy are excellent as well, with super frequent fast service all the way from Naples-Rome-Florence-Milan, as well as most of the way from Florence-Venice, and across the north from Venice-Verona-Milan-Turin.

OP here - We wanted to add Paris to the list with the idea of using London as our hub and taking the chunnel to Paris, but then remembered the Olympics are there next summer. As I mentioned we're looking at early June so maybe it won't affect us that much since the games don't start until late July?

I think you will be totally fine at that time. There may be some minor issues/closures/etc for the preparations- things like maybe you can't walk over one of the bridges over the Seine because it's being used to stage/prep for the opening ceremonies. I would stay away from Paris probably within 2-3 weeks on either side of the Games, but other than that it should be fine. In 2012 the total number of visitors to London actually dropped compared to 2011 because so many people booked away from London altogether for that summer, and there are normally so many "normal" tourists that the Olympics folks just basically replaced them during the period around the games.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the Fall - New Year you should have a good range of open bookings (if they're taking them that early) for both flights and accommodation.
Paris is always a good stop, and it's between London and Italy. You could always take trains, at least between London and Paris and then fly, as the further south you go the worse the trains get, but the Eurostar is excellent.

Uh, that's not correct. In fact other than High speed 1 which was built for the Eurostar, the UK trains are slower than most on European mainland. And the TGV from Paris to as far south as Bordeaux and Marseille and Montpelier is ridiculously fast and comfortable. Spain has significantly revamped their trains and they are great now between the major cities. Finally, the mainline routes in Italy are excellent as well, with super frequent fast service all the way from Naples-Rome-Florence-Milan, as well as most of the way from Florence-Venice, and across the north from Venice-Verona-Milan-Turin.

OP here - We wanted to add Paris to the list with the idea of using London as our hub and taking the chunnel to Paris, but then remembered the Olympics are there next summer. As I mentioned we're looking at early June so maybe it won't affect us that much since the games don't start until late July?

Anonymous wrote:I'd start looking now. If you find something nonstop under say $1200/person at that time of year I would grab it. Remember you can search as an "open jaw" so you don't have to back track. Use the multi-city option on Google Flights. Something like DC-Rome, then London-DC will price the same as a roundtrip.

Definitely keep it to 3 stops, and think about mixing in some countryside or mountain time. I might do something like go to Rome for 4 days, then train to Milan and pick up a rental car at the train station and spend 4 days at Lake Como. Then drop the car off at Milan airport and fly to London for last 4 days.

And it's too early to book Airbnb's- a lof of people won't be setting their summer 2024 calendars/availability until probably October-November at the earliest, so if you search now you won't see what's truly going to be available. We have had a lot of success booking popular destinations like that 6 months in advance- seems like there is a type of owner who is more concerned with having things booked well in advance, and is willing to underprice a bit to make sure they are full.

I just did Rome in mid June. We booked about 6 months out and were still able to get highly rated Airbnbs. I prefer Airbnbs to hotels because we're a family of 5, but of course there's always the risk it's not very good, they cancel, etc. I try to pick places that reviews say provide you with snacks or a bottle of wine because I feel like those hosts must be pretty invested in getting good reviews and are unlikely to cancel last minute. Keep in mind a lot of places don't have a dryer, even if they have a washer, so you'll want a place that has a terrace for drying your clothes if you're the type that packs with the assumption you're doing laundry during the trip.

Our flights were booked by the beginning of February and there were plenty of open seats, but not a lot in rows together. We split up 3 and 2 for the flight back.

Anonymous wrote:In the Fall - New Year you should have a good range of open bookings (if they're taking them that early) for both flights and accommodation.
Paris is always a good stop, and it's between London and Italy. You could always take trains, at least between London and Paris and then fly, as the further south you go the worse the trains get, but the Eurostar is excellent.

Uh, that's not correct. In fact other than High speed 1 which was built for the Eurostar, the UK trains are slower than most on European mainland. And the TGV from Paris to as far south as Bordeaux and Marseille and Montpelier is ridiculously fast and comfortable. Spain has significantly revamped their trains and they are great now between the major cities. Finally, the mainline routes in Italy are excellent as well, with super frequent fast service all the way from Naples-Rome-Florence-Milan, as well as most of the way from Florence-Venice, and across the north from Venice-Verona-Milan-Turin.

In the Fall - New Year you should have a good range of open bookings (if they're taking them that early) for both flights and accommodation.
Paris is always a good stop, and it's between London and Italy. You could always take trains, at least between London and Paris and then fly, as the further south you go the worse the trains get, but the Eurostar is excellent.

I'd start looking now. If you find something nonstop under say $1200/person at that time of year I would grab it. Remember you can search as an "open jaw" so you don't have to back track. Use the multi-city option on Google Flights. Something like DC-Rome, then London-DC will price the same as a roundtrip.

Definitely keep it to 3 stops, and think about mixing in some countryside or mountain time. I might do something like go to Rome for 4 days, then train to Milan and pick up a rental car at the train station and spend 4 days at Lake Como. Then drop the car off at Milan airport and fly to London for last 4 days.

So we've decided to do Europe next summer. 10-14 days not sure yet. Probably early June. DH and I have been to Europe, teenage kids have not. We're targeting London, Florence, Venice or Rome - but I think a max of 3 cities. When would be the best time to start looking for airfares and lodging? Also should we do hotels or Airbnb's? Also open to any other suggestions, or critiques of our location choices as it's been a while since we've crossed the pond and I know a lot has changed.