crazyfamilyof4

Hi
New to the site and have already got some great suggestions but decided to start a new conversation to see what advice is out there. So .... My husband and I are traveling with our daughter 2 and son 4 ... Call us crazy but we decided to live the dream

At this stage we are looking at London, south England, week in Ireland, then France, Spain,Italy, Greece, Prague and Germany.

We will be leaving in June and returning in August

Not sure if we should drive,bus,train,plane etc

Also any advice on great places to go or stay would be sensational.

Finally, my husband and I travelled Europe 10yrs ago so we have done a lot of the tourist hot spots. We are all very active but like the idea of 3 day stays in places as a min.

Looking forward to what everyone can offer! I'll also continue this thread so others can gain from it to.

Many thanks

bilboburgler

I might be aware of the heat in summer and the local school holidays so avoid Spain/Italy/Greece in Late July and August. I'd save those months for Germany/Ireland/England and Czech rep.

skyscanner gives a good range of routes.

crazyfamilyof4

Ooohhh thanks for that! So perhaps fly into where first???

bilboburgler

It depends on where you want to go and get a bit more of a plan together first.
To me Spain is out of the loop a bit in the West and of course you have cut Portugal out (for some reason??) but I might look at flights into Lisbon, Madrid, Rome and see if there are any great deals. I might open jaw these with Heathrow, Berlin, Frankfurt, Dublin or Schiphol.

crazyfamilyof4

My husband really wants to see Barcelona and Prague , I really want to do France and Italy and we have never done Ireland or any part of England besides London. I guess what I would love is to find bases and then do day trips from there. We are comfortable driving the countryside but are aware with how insane it is in the manor cities. Are there places just out of Rome that we could base at and train in for an overnight stay or would it be better to have apartments etc. thanks again for your help

crazyfamilyof4

Have to share this site

http://www.summerinitaly.com

In love in love in love!!!!

steviegene

I have kids that age and I absolutely wouldn't want to change places very often (all the stuff and the packing and their resistance to change). I'd stay AT LEAST a week in each place, and rent flats/houses to have access to a kitchen. With a pack n'play, a stroller, toys, bags, etc., I think a car would be easiest - plus then you can leave on the kids' schedule instead of the train's. You may need to check on pickup and drop off of car in different countries (as sometimes there are surcharges).

Depending on how much time you have altogether, Heres what I would do:

In June before summer holidays:

Start in either spain or italy
1 week in either Madrid or Rome
RENT CAR
1 week on the beach (either Spanish Coast or Southern Italy)

RETURN CAR (in either rome or madrid) & FLY TO PARIS

1 week Paris
RENT CAR
1 week French Countryside (I would choose Brittany for beaches, because kids love beaches, and easy travel distance to England)
TAKE FERRY FROM BRITTANY TO PLYMOUTH
1 week English Countryside (Cornwall area. Porthcurno beach is nice for kids)
RETURN CAR
1 week London

nytraveler

With two children that age I would organize your trip a week at a time and stay at an apartment or a villa/agriturismo - so there is more room indoors, you don;t have to sleep when the children do, you can organize breakfasts and some dinners inside (kids that age will probably fall asleep at adult dinner times in restaurants) and there will be opportunities for the kids to visit local parks and just be kids.

And agree that you need to consider weather. In the summer Spain and Italy can be excrutiatingly hot (high 90s and humid for Spain; 110 or higher and humid in Spain) so be sure anyplace you book has both good air conditioning and a pool.

As for travel - I would vote for car except if you are staying in city centers. With all of the stuff you need with two little ones - strollers, car seats, cribs, foods, toys, numerous clothing changes etc - I think moving from place to place by car would be much easier to manage than train.

steviegene

You should be very careful to not overdo it with 2 kids. It will NOT BE FUN to do too much and rush them. Kids hate being rushed. You have lots of years left to travel so keep it simple!

crazyfamilyof4

Thoughts?

http://www.summerinitaly.com/eng/ren...180!italy_.htm

crazyfamilyof4

So this brings me to the next question ... Lease a car or hire one in each country .. If hiring ...which company is best??? Again sooooo the kcal for your help!!! Being Australian ...the heat should be fine we have a heat wave at the moment of 37degrees plus so we are somewhat ok with it. Thanks again!

crazyfamilyof4

Thought I should post some of the finds I see in case others are in the same situation these are apartments in Italy I have come across so far

http://www.vrbo.com/159571


http://www.vrbo.com/102243


http://www.vrbo.com/417862ha

http://www.vrbo.com/53741

Barbara_in_FL

There are about a gazillion threads here on traveling with children; I would strongly suggest that you search for them if you haven't already. No need to reinvent the wheel. : ) Also second the recommendation of apartments for longer stays rather than moving around so often. With four people an apartment is often cost-effective and gives you so much more flexibility and comfort.

What are your "must haves"? I was about to suggest saving Italy for another trip but I see you are falling in love with the idea of renting a villa there. Of course you can rent something lovely in Spain as well. You could have a very full 8 weeks by going from Spain, to France, to Prague, then up to England and Ireland, without trying to squeeze in Italy and Greece as well. I would certainly recommend an apartment in Paris for a week, and a week in Brittany has lots of fun possibilities for kids as well.

bilboburgler

8 weeks might make it worth you doing one of the Ex-EU car leasing programmes rather than car rental.

janisj

eight weeks may seem like a loooong trip -- but it isn't for that many destinations. Counting the UK as two since you say London AND southern England you are hitting nine countries/regions spread over most of Europe - and in the hottest/most crowded time of Year.

Instead of 'countries' think of specific areas/cities. By 'Italy' do you mean Rome or Florence or the Lakes or the CT? One can't 'do' Italy in a week - but they can do a couple of major cities - or rent a villa for a week and not try to 'cover the country'.

In Ireland a week is really not long enough to do more than a bit of the W/SW scenic areas.

And so on.

So prioritize 9 or 10 regions/cities -not whole countries and rent flats/cottages/villas

Aramis

For 8 weeks leasing is a great option. Check out Renault's program. It's based in France and I think you have to pick up and drop off the car there.

janisj

leasing is a great idea . . . but also you need to figure out the full itinerary since cars are next to useless in many cities, and you probably don't want a LHD continental car for Ireland or the UK.

PalenQ

Not sure if we should drive,bus,train,plane etc>

Personally with kids that age I would try to do a car rental - one in the British Isles - then maybe fly to take the Chunnel train to Paris or Brussels and rent a car there and ultimately fly to Greece and fly home from there.

But trains could be viable as well - if interested in lots of stuff for planning a European rail trips check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

With two kids that young and if traveling that much check out the Global Eurail Flexipass - valid for X number of unlimited travel days over a 2-month period - use one day to move between bases - there are also many overnight trains on which you could book a 4-person compartment or a double since the kids are so young. 2 yr old always goes free on trains as long as he/she does not occupy a seat (can sit in an empty seat if there is one but not entitled to seat unless you buy a ticket - 4 yr-old would pay 50% of the pass price each adult pays - 2 yr old goes free.

But I think with kids that age I'd motor - consider renting a RV and staying in campgrounds - family-friendly campgrounds with swimming pools and kids play areas and tons of other kids to play with. Camps are everywhere - even in large cities like London and Paris, etc.

Michael

In your case a lease might make sense if you do not spend a week in Paris, a week in Madrid, etc. The cost of parking the car during the stays in the cities would offset the savings of a long term lease (I once figured that the break even point, assuming that you rent a car with manual transmission and carry the CDW on your credit card, is 50+ days for the lease--without taking into account parking costs). But car travel is surely more convenient than train travel with two small children, and a car is essential when staying in and visiting the countryside.

AndiM

We spent nearly 7 weeks in Germany, France, and Belgium with our then 4 and 6 year olds in summer 2011. We kept a blog about our travels if you're interested. http://familyineurope.travellerspoint.com/

Our favorites places were our B&B in Dordogne -http://lechevrefeuille.com/ and our farmstay outside of Bruges - http://www.bruges.eu.com/farm/index.htm

Some of our little pensions in Germany were wonderful as well. Please message me if you'd like any more information!