Europe in the Summer

Has anyone ever gone to Europe in the summer? I am thinking I would like to visit France, Spain and Italy sometime, but I have no idea how to even start planning. Should I research myself or find a travel agent?
All suggestions would be appreciated.

I've often thought about joining this forum, but never did. Today I found three topics I could actually respond to, so I took the dive!
I am currently in Europe and have done some of this traveling. The airfares are spiking for the summer already, so this would be a good place to start. I'd also purchase a good guidebook and use their tips to help. Once you get here there are lower costing airlines that could be helpful then there is the train...everything is pretty easy to get around on via the rail. I'd chat with a travel agent if you are unsure of this...I've been doing all our reservations for years now, but I love this kind of stuff. Happy travels!:twocents:

1) We have plants in Wales and France.
2) Have done vacations in Europe many times.
3) Some hints
. . . don't do August, as this is THEIR vacation time
. . . buy a Eurorail Pass, and travel freely
. . . traisn are frequent and on-time
. . . learn a few words of each language (goes a long way)
. . . ask for help, Europeans love to help lost Americans

Thanks for the replies. I decided to put Europe on hold as I need to do lots of research before planning that trip. Maybe a Meditarranean Cruise to sample the countries first.
Now we are considering a trip we know, WDW in May:mickey:

If you belong to frequent flyer clubs, or hotel points programs, or some of the credit cards, you probably have a concierge travel desk free through your membership - we have found them to be very helpful.