Dianne47

An addendum to my previous post. You might consider London, Amsterdam, and Paris. You don't mention (or I missed) whether you're using miles or paying for your air tickets. LON - AMS - PAR can easily be visited using high-speed trains. With that itinerary you're not wasting most of a day on air travel (Paris to Rome).

Also, if you're paying for your airfare you could book a roundtrip to London. That's almost always the least expensive fare to Europe. Take trains LON to AMS, then to Paris, then back to LON for the return flight.

Again, I totally agree with the others who suggest 4-5 days in each city. Everything will be a blur and you will constantly packing and unpacking if you visit more than 3 cities in 2 weeks.

JBord

Bonjour monsieur/madame/mademoiselle, Parlez vous Anglais?, and Je ne parle pas Francais, are probably the three most useful phrases I've ever learned.

Giggleswick

More than "Où sont les toilettes?"

ksu

Ah, the famous Walt Disney quote!

Ghentleman

If you want to get a taste of how diverse Europe is, I would include a city in Eastern Europe, like Budapest, Warsaw, Kracow or Prague. The're generally cheaper too.
And include a stay in the countryside, there's more to Europe than the major cities...

Romanianflyer

I highly second this!

Especially at least one stop/daytrip in a smaller town, or into the nature. Most of the gems are to be found outside big cities, be it old monasteries, stunning scenery, great food, or true national culture.

Besides, on any trip longer than a week, a city will tire you down and more rural surroundings will give you a different pace of life you might definitely appreciate!

rcross23

Ok, after taking all of your thoughts into consideration, and also checking the airline schedules for the dates that I am interested it, I have decided on a rough itinerary. To answer a few of the other questions I have gotten, we are flying from Florida, and will be paying for the flights with points.

With the way the flights worked out, it looks like we will have 15 full days, not including a travel day on either end.

Day 1 - Arrive in Paris in AM
4 full days in Paris
Day 6 - Travel to Amsterdam
4 full days in Amsterdam
Day 11 - Travel to Rome
4 full days in Rome
------
Day 17 - Fly home

For those of you checking the math, by allocating 4 full days to each of the 3 big cities, I still have one full day to allocate. So I have another question for you all.

Because my flight would arrive in Paris at 8 AM, I will have at least 4.5 days in Paris. And then since it looks like travel by train from Paris to Amsterdam only takes about 3 hours, I will have 4.5 days in Amsterdam as well.

My question is as follows: Since initially you all recommended those 3 cities based on my original estimate of 14 days, should I try to squeeze in a day or 2 at another city?

I was thinking about taking the extra day that I have not yet allocated, and then taking away a day from one of the other cities, and maybe visiting another city that would be a short train ride away from any of the 3 cities I am already visiting.

For example, if you all think 3.5 days in Amsterdam is sufficient, I could either fly to Venice instead of Rome, and spend 2 days there and then take the train onto Rome, or I could stop in Brussels or Cologne on the way to Amsterdam and spend 2 days there. Or should I just take that extra day I have and allocate it to one of the cities I am already visiting?

Thanks again everyone!

Non-NonRev

Easy compromise - do full-day day trip. Example is Amsterdam to Brussels 1 hour 50 minutes on Thalys.

Avoid adding overnights in a fourth city, not worth the time needed.

JBord

3.5 days in Amsterdam is sufficient. 2 days in Venice is sufficient (at least for me). 1.5 days in Cologne or Brussels would be fine.

Good advice. Also from Amsterdam, spend a day in The Hague or Delft perhaps. I'd also suggest Ghent or Bruges over Brussels, they are a short commuter train ride away once you get to Brussels.

OP - I would probably save Venice for your next trip. It would work well to combine it with Croatia, or even Austria.

brodielayne

I stayed a week in Amsterdam earlier in the year and it was a little too long. 4-5 days would be perfect and I would look at renting a houseboat for your stay. You can find numerous boats available on Airbnb and a great value compared to hotel stays.

If you are going in September you can also hop over to Munich for Oktoberfest. Beers and brats for a few days and finish up in a Spanish beach town.

TravelDream

Your itinerary seems fine to me. 4.5 days in Paris will be easy to fill, so don't worry about that.
If you're looking for a day-trip somewhere, you can't beat a visit to Brussels from Amsterdam (or even Paris to Amsterdam via Brussels. A stunning centre - very architecturally interesting. It would be a very long day though.

September is one of the best times to visit Europe. Generally still warm and sunny, the crowds really do thin out as kids return to school and it's cheaper than the June to August peak

helosc

Yes, day trips seem like a good compromise.

You have time enough in Amsterdam to do a daytrip from there - Den Haag and/or Delft as mentioned earlier would be a good choice.
You should be able to see both in a day if you wish as they are very close to each other and the train system in The Netherlands is very good.

And you can add the extra day to Rome and visit Florence for a daytrip (1 1/2 hours each way on the direct, fast trains).
Florence has a very nice Central Market with a fantastic food court on the first floor.

Romanianflyer

Or in Rome, make a daytrip to nearby Ostia Antica, the old port of ancient Rome. (How much I like Florence, I would say that one day only there as daytrip wouldn't do it any justice).

Ostia is a perfect getaway from the much more crowded sights in Rome - even in summer barely a soul in Ostia! It feels like a walk in the countryside. And the Roman ruins are just as great. As bonus, you can even bring your own food & bottle of wine from a local deli, and enjoy a nice picnic between the ruins!

Non-NonRev

Hoorn, Gouda... so many easy, close-in possibilities.

helosc

No, I know that a day trip to Florence of course doesn't do the city any justice, isn't enough time etc.
But it could be fun nevertheless.....
I have sometimes done day trips to cities and have certainly enjoyed it.
And sometimes I have come back to these cities for a longer stay (my first visit to Rome was a day trip from Terracina!!).