14 days in Western Europe - Need some help

[niravd]

I am planning a trip to Europe this May. Here's my plan

May 2nd : Arrive in London
May 3rd : Spend a day in London.
May 4th : Take Euro-star in the morning from London to Paris. Spend the day in Paris.
May 5th -6th : Tour Paris

May 7th - Leave for Switzerland.
Question: We are not sure if we should take a flight from Paris or take the train. Any recommendations?
Question: In Switzerland we plan to spend 4 days and are planning to visit Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken and possibly Zermatt(optional). We are not sure whats the order in which we should travel in between the cities. Any recommendations?

We are mostly planning to get the Swiss pass for traveling between the cities.

May 7th - May 10th: Tour Switzerland

May 11th: Leave for Venice. We are mostly planning to fly to Venice. Spend a day in Venice.
May 12th: Leave for Rome. Spend May 12th to May 14th in Rome.
May 15th: Fly from Rome to London. Spend May 16th and May 17th in London and then fly back.

Does this look like a good plan? I am mainly not sure about how to travel between the cities? If this plan looks good I will go ahead and book tickets and accommodations.

Many thanks in advance.

[herrbert]

With only 14 days the last thing you want is to race around Europe, spending more time on the train than spending times in the cities. And this looks like a formula1 race to me (or IRL if you prefer.)

With 14 days, you should be looking at about 4 cities for this trip. I don't think you will find a lot of flights between Switzerland and Paris and Venice, because the distances are too short. (which means these routes are not easy to turn into a commercial success for airlines.) I would skip Switzerland for this trip. And go London (4) - Paris (4) - Venice (2) - Rome (4). (for Paris to Venice, you should be able to find a flight.) For London to Paris and Venice to Rome, you should calculate a half day travel, for the travel between Paris and Venice, that would depend on the time you flight leaves Paris.

Also ... have a look at Open Jaw flights. This means you can start your trip in London, and fly back from Rome, without the need of traveling back to London to catch a flight there. Open jaw flights are in general more expensive but flying back to London, and the time saved should make up for that.

[Eagle]

niravd,

To answer your most recent questions:

We are not sure if we should take a flight from Paris or take the train. Any recommendations?

For travel from Paris to Switzerland, I'd definitely use the train! One example on the Paris to Zurich route, there's a TGV departing Paris Est at 08:24, arriving Zurich HB at 13:00 (time 4H:36M, no changes, reservations compulsory). Travel via budget air on that route would not be any quicker, considering you'd have to get to the airport (possibly Beauvais?), check in and clear security, wait and then get from the arrival airport into the city. This is NOT something I'd ever consider!

In Switzerland we plan to spend 4 days and are planning to visit Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken and possibly Zermatt(optional).

I really doubt that you're going to be able to visit four cities in four days in Switzerland. I'd suggest reducing this to perhaps one or two cities, or take herrbert's suggestion to drop Switzerland this time and add a few days in your other destinations.

My suggestion would be to limit Switzerland to one city, (perhaps Interlaken?) especially as it's a good intermediate point between Paris and your next destination, Venice. Visiting Interlaken for a few days will give you the opportunity for a few day trips into the Lauterbrunnen Valley, one of the most scenic areas of the country.

Good luck and happy travels!