For my parents' 40th anniversary I'm sending them from Toronto to Europe on points next year (October 2013), and they'd like to do Glasgow to Rome by rail, with a couple stops along the way.

I'm brand new to Eurail and would appreciate any advice, questions, suggestions, tips.

Possible itinerary I've got:
- Glasgow Central to London Euston, 4.5 hours
- spend some time in London
- Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris Nord
- spend some time in Paris
- 3-country, 5-day Eurail pass
-- stop in La Spezia to visit Cinque Terre?
-- stop elsewhere, possibly at a common transfer point to avoid having to change trains too often?

Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions on things to check. FT is a wonderful resource so this was my first thought when planning began!