1

I'll let the others advise on the layover.

Honestly, go for the best price and schedule and remain flexible about the destination. Where else are you going in Europe? Where will you spend the most time? Eastern Europe? The Med? Nordic countries?? Paris is probably the best central location but it depends on where else you'll be going.

Logically, you'll probably have a R/T ticket so where you arrive will be from where you'll leave. Keep that in mind too.

Just as a side tip, for planning purposes; Recently, a few low cost companies have sprouted up here, like EasyJet and Ryanair. If you will be bouncing around, this might beat the train in some instances. Many of those tickets are sold point-to-point, a boon for independent travel around Europe (in other words, not locked into R/T's for deals).

This might work for you if you wanted to include the U.K. in your itinerary, flying in from say Germany or Italy. It also means you have more flexibility in where you start your trip, and/or getting back to your departure city at the end when you head back.

Research the actual airport they use because sometimes it's in the middle of nowhere and other times, it's actually better. Low Costs tend to use "alternate" airports. Campinio in Rome, for example, is much closer to the center of Rome than Di Vinci (which is a good hour out). Also, never mix separate tickets on the same day. I've seen this go really wrong quite a few times. Be sure to fly in at least the day before you're long-haul (or vise versa).

2

I'm from Europe, living in Australia for the moment.
For the flight schedule: I recommend to just fly without having a stopover in a hotel. That only stretches out the traveling time, it is extra money spend, and you may not even sleep anyway in the hotel cause of the jet lag. Of course, if you are have plenty of time, you may consider spending a few days in Asia before continuing the flight to Europe. But 1 night, no, wouldn't do it.

For the city in Europe to arrive: I agree with the previous post, better look at the price of the tickets. It doesn't really matter if you arrive in London, Paris or Rome. These are all cities that you will probably visit anyway if you are doing the BIG Europe Trip.Just depends on the countries you want to see anyway. If you are going straight to South Europe, better not have Amsterdam as your arrival point.
But Manchester,indeed, that could be a bit disappointing...
Just thinking that London has the advantage of the language!

3

Flying overnight is a lot easier with little kids. From Melbourne to London, Paris or Rome it's at least a night and a day though.

I'd start in London, it's much more familiar - language and food might be a bit easier.

If you're interested in stopping over somewhere I'd do it but for 2/3 nights, not 1.

You could do something like the Etihad or Emirates flight which departs Melbourne at night and arrives in Abu Dhabi or Dubai in the morning.

How old are the kids? My toddler sleeps well on night flights if we keep him up until an hour or so after take-off, he'll sleep 8-10 hours and wake up in the morning with only a few hours to kill with breakfast and a few cartoons before the flight lands. I don't think he'd cope getting straight on another flight though.

4

Any of the big European travel hubs, Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Frankfurt, are easy to fly into. All the signage is in English and most people you encounter will speak English. What I would look for proximity to where you want to start your trip and the cost. As for flight schedule, I would look for flights that have you arriving to your destination at a civilized time of day. Arriving in an unfamiliar place and taking care of basic necessities is so much easier during the day.