Thank you to everyone who helped me plan my first trip abroad! I didn't take all of your advice- most notably we had, what I call, a "whirlwind extravaganza!" and went to 5 destinations in 2 weeks. It really suited us well, especially when it was just 3 of us (we got ds1 on the 2nd half when he finished up his European study abroad through his university). By that point in the trip, the 3 of us were in synch and had gotten really good at our schedule and transitions. Ds1 added a new dynamic but it worked out (after a rough first day together in Florence).
As a recap, we did London, Paris, the Amalfi Coast (Praiano), Florence and Rome. We had no choice but to travel during summer vacation and were fully aware that it would be hot and crowded. Ds1 met up with us in Rome.
A bit more in depth, in case anyone is interested:
Our flight got off to a really rough start with a 2.5 hour wait at the *ticket* counter to show our passports. The whole flight had to go through the line and only 2 of the scheduled 6 workers had shown up that day at British Airways. They held the flight as many of us were still in line to check in when the flight should have been departing. As we were in line, I was looking up how to buy my way out of the line (how fancy of a seat did I need to upgrade us to to get in that short premium line?) Answer- too much and it was sold out anyway. We almost upgraded just to the step above main cabin but didn't- we will never make that decision again. But, live and learn. The flight was fine (even though I could have done without the 1am dinner service ).
In London we loved our hotel, the Kimpton Fitzroy. Upon check in they say they had bad news and good news- I had booked a nice room (but not a suite) and they said the a/c wasn't working well in that room...so they upgraded us to a lovely suite. It was the perfect start to our trip. I would recommend this hotel.
We did the Tower of London, saw a show in the West End, ate some tasty food, did the British Museum, ate a meh dinner at the Sky Garden (but enjoyed the views; we knew the food would be meh too so no disappointment), walked around and saw the normal highlights and did the Warner Brothers Harry Potter tour. Loved that tour and glad my friends talked me into it. I bought tix in Feb. for a June trip and the tickets were already limited so be sure and book way, way in advance (as of now, September, all of December is sold out, for example). We used a combo of taxis (those black cabs are awesome!) and the Tube. Love that the Tube takes contactless cards for payment- so easy!
We did encounter a rail strike. We knew it was coming and were working on contingency plans as it affected our train to Paris. Somehow we got lucky enough that our train was not one of the ones cancelled (more than half were). We actually pulled out right on time. That morning, however, the Underground was also on strike so, we luckily picked a hotel less than a mile from the train station so we could walk and not depend on the Tube or taxis. It was the first strike in 20 years so no one knew what to expect!
Next up...Paris!