wliwl

Thinking about planning a trip to Europe for late June. Party would consist of 2 families - each with 2 cooperative and nice teenage boys (aren't we lucky?!) - so there would be 8 people total. Trip would be only 10 days. We've only been to Paris, but would certainly like to show it to the kids. I'm thinking of 3 days in some city in Spain (suggestions?), 3 days in Paris, and perhaps 3 days somewhere else (Luxemburg sort of interests me due to family connections - but suggestions are welcome). We will just visit museums, eat (lots of eating - did I say TEENAGE boys?), and generally walk around. All travel will be by rail. Have traveled with this family a lot so we know that will be fine.

So, if you only had 10 days and sort of wanted to expose teens to Europe where would you go?

Thanks!

Travelnut

Give the teens a guide book or some videos and let them have some input as to what places interest them. Just explain that it can't ALL be done in a 10-day visit but you'd like to know...

ira

Hi wl,

For 10 days, first timers, teenagers, I suggest either

10 days in Paris with day trips or
5 days London, 5 days Paris.

One advantage to having been to Paris is that it makes it easier for you to show it to the kids.

Have a great trip.

Michael

Barcelona and London come to mind. Barcelona has beaches, which they might like. But Travelnut's idea of getting the boys involved in the planning is excellent.

wliwl

Michael: Is Barcelona sort of THE city to visit if you can only visit one city in Spain?

I'll try the guidebook to the teenagers route, but 2 of them just got down applying to colleges and will almost certainly balk at anything that looks like a guidebook...(did I actually say they were COOPERATIVE? well...)

janis

I'd personally hate a 3/3/3 itinerary with that large a group. You basically lose about 3/4 of a day moving from city to city and the logistics get that much harder as the number of people increases. You'd be lucky to have 2+ full days to see each city.

Even the 3 hour train trip from London to Paris really takes 1/2 a day when you factor in checking out of your hotel, traveling to the train station, advance check in, the train ride, and getting to and checking into your hotel at the other end.

And your last day in Europe it really lost to packing, checking out and getting to the airport early.

So w/ 10 days I'd limit myself to two locations (at most). Whichever you choose will be fine - the most convenient would be open jaw flights into London and out of Paris w/ the Eurostar in between. With less than 5 days in each city, you probably wouldn't have time for day trips except maybe Hampton Court Palace and/or Versailles.

But any two city combinations would work -- if you can get reasonable open jaw tickets to save back tracking to fly home. It sounds like Paris is your one must - so consider London, Amsterdam, Luxemburg, or possibly Madrid as the other one.

Robespierre

I understand the points janis makes, but I respectfully disagree that it takes 3/4 of a day to move from city to city.

Most people seem to check out of the hotel in the morning and hit the road to the next stop, and I agree that does pretty well chew up a day. But by traveling in the evening or at night, the last day in a place can be almost fully utilized while the sights are open. Figure on getting the next-to-last or last train from A and you'll arrive at B late at night (or possibly the next morning) but ready to hit the streets for a full day of seeing. Supper on the train is often an attractive option, too, as it doesn't impinge on your time in the cities on your itinerary.

rex

The family connection to Luxembourg makes all the difference in the world as far as wanting to go there - - and there are a lot of excellent nearby destinations - - specifically - - Cochem, Trier, Burg Eltz, Cologne, Aachen and/or Maastricht. The distances are a little too great for one base and day tripping. Maybe some moving around for the middle three days?

And Barcelona seems like a great finish. Fly home from there. Mayve faster/easier/cheaper to fly to Barcelona - - see www.whichbudget.com

I totally agree about getting the teenagers involved in planning the trip as much as they can be stimulated to do.

Best wishes,

Rex

Michael

Barcelona has fine museums, interesting architecture, beautiful parks and a lively core. I find it more interesting than San Sebastian or Seville. I'm leaving out Madrid because I am not familiar with it, but I would say that Barcelona is better located geographically.

mamc

I think for a first trip to Europe with teenagers and a large group and only 10 days at your disposal, London and Paris would be great. It is an easy and quick trip between the two and there is so much in each city that would interest teenagers. However, I think it would be good to have your boys weigh in on the choice after they have done some reading. London and Rome or Paris and Rome would be good selections as well. Barcelona is great but I am not sure I would choose it for a first trip.

suze

With only 10 days & planning to travel only by train I would carefully check distances. Those 3 destinations you mention aren't particularly close together.

I'd pair Venice and Paris, flying open jaw into one and out of the other with an overnight train trip in between.

I am of Janis' point-of-view, that you lose most of a day in changing cities and I personally go even further discounting the 1st and last day because they are pretty much dedicated to airport arrival and departure. So would look at my above suggestion as 4 full days being spent in each city.

Robespierre

Whether or not the first day is useful depends a lot on what time your flight arrives. We got to Heathrow at 09:00, for example, and had plenty of time to get checked in to our hotel, over to Waterloo, and out to Stonehenge and back well before nightfall. Also: for a "railpass" kind of vacation, taking your food on the train saves many hours over the course of a one- or two-week vacation. Some European rail lines have dining facilities on board, and for the rest you can brown-bag it.

I agree that the last day before departure for home is a different story, though, because of the check-in and security queues. So unless your flight departs pretty late in the evening, that day is usually a write-off.

Evening and overnight trains <i>would</i> allow you to spend three <u>full</u> days in each of three cities, but I wouldn't split evenly. Where would I go? Start with London for 3-4 days, 24 hours in Brussels for the family connection, then finish up in Paris and home from there.

The evening Eurostars get to Brussels about 22:00, and the Thalys the next evening takes 1h33m to Paris. Unfortunately, services to Luxembourg aren't very good, so maybe your family could meet you in Brussels?

rex

&lt;&lt;: I think for a first trip to Europe with teenagers and a large group and only 10 days at your disposal, London and Paris would be great.&gt;&gt;

I don't mean to be disagreeable, but this advice (given often here, and by a number of people) is akin to saying that any given person (or &quot;everyone&quot should have a Chevrolet as their first car.

London/Paris will make an excellent choice for a lot of people, as would a Chevrolet. So would Barcelona. Just as a Volkswagen might be an excellent first choice.

bill_daju

I am thinking to plan a trip for 12-15 days in Europe alongwith my 3 children(they made their HONORS!! to get rewarded, 7,10,11 years old). I have a family who visit me here each year want me to join them this June last. I wanna make 2 more destinations most prolly Paris and Rome. Can I make it ? This would be my first trip to Europe. What are the options if I can make or if I cannot make, what should be worth considering ?
You all seem pretty comfy on knowing things from Euro coins.
Thanks.

beachbum

bill, I suggest starting your own thread rather than piggyback on wliwl's.

wliwl, Even at my age, if my wife told me our trip to Europe would be to &quot;just visit museums, eat...., and generally walk around&quot;, I might be a bit reluctant. To sell that to a teenager, well.... It might work better if you pick cities that offer dramatic contrasts in culture, sights, etc. And, in that regard, I think Venice would be a good one to include.

On the other hand, you might think about including a village in the Swiss Alps. Not much in the way of museums, but plenty of other wonders.

OaktownTraveler

Wliwl:

What you lay out sounds fine. In Spain do the city that works best for your 3/3/3. Barcelona is good.

Rex: I am not sure what you are getting at in your last post.

Good luck with the college apps. How great that you can afford Senior year expenses, Europe and College Tuition...

rex

I'm saying that &quot;London/Paris&quot; has become the vanilla ice cream answer for all trips to Europe involving first-timers, kids or teens. I don't believe that there is an obvious &quot;first&quot; or &quot;training wheels&quot; trip to Europe that ignores the background of the travelers. I think that family origins are important, subjects studied in school, and perhaps most importantly - - what do you &quot;see&quot;? when you close your eyes and think, I can't wait to get to travel to Europe so that I can... (fill in the blank, finish the word painting).

Nothing in the original post from wliwl suggests that London is on the radar screen for this family. Why assume that it &quot;ought&quot; to be part of the trip that introduces their kid to Europe?

suze

I'm with Rex on that! Although English speaking, London is expensive, huge and hectic and to my mind not one whit easier than Paris to plan and navigate successfully on a first trip.

OaktownTraveler

Thanks...I get it.

Ok, so Rex...just for fun...I got a little time on my hands... what was your first Europe?

My (close your eyes) was Paris, France
(Pe-pe-la Pew...cartoon) followed by Switzerland( The Sound of Music)

I thought that Germany and Italy were someplace else. Greece and Spain were also someplace else in my mind.

All those childhood fairy tales do not bother to tell you exactly where snow white and her posse of little men really live...

SO glad that I grew up and taught myself some geography and stopped reading fairy tales before I turned 10!

LoveItaly

Actually I too have noticed what Rex has stated &quot;London/Paris&quot;.

Most families cannot take trips every year or so. I would think that going somewhere where the language is not the same (as London) where a combination of cities and small villages could be combined would be very worthwhile.

I would hope that at least some families traveling to Europe for the first time would take Rex's comments into consideration. Happy travels in 2005.