We have the outline of our trip and now looking to fill in all of the blanks- hotels, things to do/things to skip, favorite restaurants... We are doing a whirlwind of London and Paris then relaxing in Italy.
As much as I have wanted to go to London forever, I don't actually have any must see places. I just kind of wanted to be there. I bought a guide book to help me narrow down even where to stay but feeling overwhelmed. Thinking of staying in the West End but that's just totally a random guess.
Paris- 7 years of French classes in school/college so I at least have more of a sense of Paris but still drawing a blank on things we really want to do. Definitely no idea where we want to base ourselves. We don't have a Four Seasons budget. Healthy budget but not in that realm.
Dh would probably be happy to do museums, churches and such...ds2 and I are less interested but will do some. We just don't want an itinerary filled with those. More looking to just soak it in. No interest in shopping. Shows, guided tours or other structured ideas would be great because I like to have something to anchor each day otherwise we sit there and stare at each other saying "what should we do next?". I guess for all of my talk about just wanting to soak it in, I am being dishonest. I guess I mean I don't need to do a punch list of the common tourist sites but I do want to have a plan each day.
We don't have time for renting a car and doing side trips so we are staying in and focusing exclusively on the city centers or parts conveniently accessible via public transportation.