Our daughter will be studying in Spain in June. We would like to meet her in Spain when she has completed her studies. We plan to spend about 10 days in Europe. We would like to spend a few days in Spain and then go on to France and Italy. The flight over will be booked by our travel agent. Without any prior experience, can we do the rest of the planning on our own and if so, where do we begin? Thanks for any suggestions.

You can do the whole thing yourself. Even the airfare. If you want to scout prices, orbitz.com, travelocity.com and sidestep.com are good places to start.

Besides that, I suggest picking up a Western Europe guidebook. There are different ones depending on your budget and what you want to see e.g. Micheline Guides are great for sites/walking tours; Let's Go are good if you want to find a pub, etc...A great way to start is to familiarize yourself with your local bookstore's travel section - or better yet - your library. Once you chose your book you can narrow down your destinations and make reservations. (I highly suggest the south of France route via Nice into Italy...gorgeous by rail). Besides, once your daughter gets the swing of things over there, she'll know what to do.

For train info in Spain, check out www.renfe.es -you may want to look at www.raileurope.com for elsewhere.

Have fun!

Hi Linda,
Start by looking at maps and using a travel guide to find interesting places on your route through France and Italy. Then do a search for the tourist offices, they usually have all sorts of useful info.
I live in Alpes Maritimes and may well be able to help with info from Toulouse travelling east through Languedoc, Camargue, Provence, Var, Cote d'Azur to Italy.
You've chosen a gorgeous time of year, beautiful weather, sunflowers, vineyards, lavender the list is endless.
Have a wonderful time
Blue Skies