Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to Europe over Christmas/New Years at the end of the year, and thought i'd see whether anyone could give me some help/advice in the planning.

So flights are booked, landing in Rome and travelling to the following cities; Venice>Paris>Lucerne>Amsterdam and eventually flying out of London. Each place we are staying between 3 and 5 nights at.

Rome, Venice and Paris accommodation is all booked, however if anyone has any suggestions on cheap 3-star/hostel (private room) accommodation in Lucerne, Amsterdam or London it would be greatly appreciated!

Whilst we want to do the "touristy" thing in each place (colosseum, eiffel tower, louve etc.) does anyone have any suggestions on what other things we can do which are more along the lines of what a local would do or "off the beaten track"?

Also we are wanting to do two days skiing in switzerland, does anyone have suggestions for ski fields close to lucerne which are an easy bus ride day trip? My partner has never seen snow, so she'll need a learners area, and i've skied a couple of times so will be needing something to accommodate us both.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read and respond to this, much appreciated!

Cheers,
Trent