teapotmama

Hi everyone.


Am planning a trip with my family of 16(including 2 toddlers and a baby) at the end of May 2012 right till mid June 2012.


We plan to take the Eurostar from London to Paris. I have no idea where to start but I do know that it will probably be a 2 week trip, departing from Rome back to London via airplane.


From Paris we hope to hire a van(or 2) and drive down to the south of France. There is a request to also spend a day or 2 in Monte Carlo. We plan to travel free and easy and stop at any city to rest or stay a night or 2. Can you please suggest which cities to visit if we want to go from Paris to Monaco to Milan? From Milan we will either rent another van or travel by train from Milan and visit Venice, Florence and then onto Rome where we will fly back to London.


My brother in-law was thinking of France-Spain-Italy but I am unsure if this is possible and have no idea as to route to take.

I would be very grateful for any advise. Please let me know if there are any good travel
books on this road trip.


Thank you


I need help to plan a trip from Monte Carlo to Milan.

Michael

The Michelin Green Guide for France would indicate things to see along your route. Fodor's is another obvious choice.

StCirq

Oh dear.

First off, the plan to drive from Paris to the south of France is not a good one (why? It's a long, boring, expensive trip with the sun in your face the whole way. And you'll need several cars or several vans. Trains are easy and cheap).

Second, Monte Carlo IMO is an almost worthless destination unless you want to see a lot of rich people and fancy yachts, something you can see without traversing an ocean.

Third, 16 people just cannot travel "free and easy" in June. You need to have firm plans.

Fourth, why Milan?

Fifth, forget Spain or forget Italy.


The two things you need right off the bat are travel guides and a good map. Then you need to figure out how you're getting from one place to another - for example, you can't pick up a car in France and drop it off in Italy without paying enormous drop-off charges. With 16 people you have to seriously re-think this plan.

teapotmama

Thank you all for your feedback.

jamikins

With that many people, including children I would recommend 2 bases. Moving that many people around will be VERY time consuming! You will definitely need reservations, so you wont be able to easily roam freely.

Perhaps consider renting a few apartments in Paris for week in the same building and then picking one other place that you can train to or drive to, and then maybe each 2-3 people rent a car for a week and spend time in the countryside.

This would allow people to do as they please, but also for you to come together as a group. Also you can make dinners etc at home as a group.

You could do the same in Italy instead or a mix of.

With 16 people you really need to sort this quickly and also understand how much more difficult the logistics are going to be. Who is going to be the ring leader, who is going to sort all the travel arrangements and most importantly who is going to deal with all the money arrangements.

Good luck!

jamikins

Also agree to scrap monte carlo - cant imagine what would interest people there unless you have shed loads of cash to throw away at the casino.

Lexma90

I'll echo some of the comments already made. For two weeks (whether you mean 14 nights or 16), you've specifically mentioned London, Paris, Monte Carlo, Milan, Florence, Venice and Rome. And flying from Rome to London. I'm hoping that you live there, as opposed to flying to and from London from the U.S. or elsewhere. Assuming you live in London, that's 6 cities in 15 (let's say) nights, 2.5 days per city. And that's not including your travel time between destinations. (If you're coming from somewhere other than London, then fly open jaws, into your first city and home from your last city.)

That would be too many destinations for two light-packing travelers, much less a group of 16 that includes 2 toddlers and a baby.

I would suggest a more limited selection of destinations. I know, they're all wonderful, but you'll have to be disciplined and cut out places.

If you decide to stay within France, I would also suggest the TGV (high-speed train) between Paris and southern France. Or if you choose Italy, you could visit the "usual" Big 3 - Florence, Venice, Rome, and travel in between by train. For a group of 16, if you want to drive any portion of the trip, you may end up needing 3 vans, depending on how big the vans are and how much luggage and toddler/baby gear you'll have.

And in June, particularly for the cities you named and a group that large, you will need to book hotels ahead of time (as in, right now). Or apartments, which may work better for your group size and the little ones, if you can find some that allow shorter stays.

macanimals

Its difficult to take this proposed itinerary seriously. Divergent destinations, long transits, short time frame and a large diverse group--toddlers to gamblers? Pick a pleasant location--Provence comes to mind--and let your group branch out each day.

As one who has planned and travelled with family groups of your size, I recommend scaling back your group travels drastically from your outline. And it is none too early to make the necessary reservations. Good luck.

teapotmama

Thank you again your feedback. This is still just a plan as we have not made any firm decisions as to the destinations. I just wanted your ideas so I could discuss further with my family.


We will actually be flying in from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia into London and I was hoping to fly home via Rome. Unfortunately I just found out that the airline we will be taking willl no longer do the Rome-Kuala Lumpur route as of 31st January 2012.


I am used to traveling in Italy via the train so that bit of the trip should not be a problem. Yes we were thinking of getting a holiday apartment at the major cities where we would spend a few days.

I understand a holiday with such a big group will not be easy. The logistics of it all is already making my head spin!

nytraveler

With 16 people there is no way one apartment will fityou all. You will need 3 or possibly 4 apartments - depending on how the family groups are organized.
Agree that in the time you hae you should do 2 or at MOST 3 destination - getting aapartments in each place. If yuo decide to do one in the countryside then yuo will need to rent 3 or 4 cars for people to get around (youwon;twant to be joined at the hip every moment - esp those with little kids) - otherwise getting cars/vans makes little sense.

And agree that for you group Monaco makes no sense. It is very expensive, designed for the wealthy with the focus on adults, has little to see and do for kids. there are many other parts of the riviera that make much more sense for families.

teapotmama

Would it be more feasible to take a train from Paris to, say, Nice and make that our base for a few days and just make a day trip to Monte Carlo? We could explore surrounding areas of Nice. I was thinking of spending majority of our trip in Italy covering Venice, Florence and Rome perhaps 2 or 3 days each city. We would then fly back to London via Rome.

Why am I insisting on Monte Carlo? No gamblers in our group but would like to do some sight-seeing...more for the men..we ladies just wanna hit the shops in Italy as soon as we can!

jamikins

I think you are underestimating the amount of time, effort and planning that will be required to move that many people every 2-3 days. I would urge you to pick 2-3 places max in 2 weeks.

As for monte carlo, yes you can do day trips there from Nice.

tarquin

A group of 16 people isn't even going to be able to eat in a restaurant in June without reservations. Two week-long stays in apartments would be feasible, maybe one week in Paris for the city people and one week somewhere in Italy with cars rented locally.