Need help for itinerary with 4 yr old
Jun 28th, 2015, 10:20 AM
#1
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Need help for itinerary with 4 yr old
Hello again everyone, it is time for another Europe trip. This time we r gonna have our4 yrs old with us for fun company ��. Here is our itinerary we planned but any suggestions, input very welcome from my fodorier friends..
Flying from Chicago to
Paris 5 nights
Nice 5 nights
Chamonix 5 nights than flying into weather Prague or santorini
Santorini 5 nights
? Accommodation , things to do or don't then
Prague 5 nights
? Accommodation, things to do or don't then dying back to states.
If you have any thoughts on the itinerary, or can provide any help with the following, it would be very much appreciated. We can change our whole itinerary but need ur help guys...
Thank you all...
Flying from Chicago to
Paris 5 nights
Nice 5 nights
Chamonix 5 nights than flying into weather Prague or santorini
Santorini 5 nights
? Accommodation , things to do or don't then
Prague 5 nights
? Accommodation, things to do or don't then dying back to states.
If you have any thoughts on the itinerary, or can provide any help with the following, it would be very much appreciated. We can change our whole itinerary but need ur help guys...
Thank you all...
Jun 28th, 2015, 11:58 AM
#2
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What time of year are you going?
Assume you are taking the train from Paris to Nice - but have you looked into flights from Nice to your third destination. I'm thinking that getting to Santorini might be a trek - and then you lose a day at the end getting from Santorini to wherever you flight home leaves from.
I think Prague would be less hectic in terms of transit. But obviously won;t work if you want a beach (has no interest for me but may be your thing).
Are you doing suite hotel or apartments (you really need one or the other with a 4 year old so you can do snacks and breakfast in your room - and don't have to sleep with the tot does.
Assume you are taking the train from Paris to Nice - but have you looked into flights from Nice to your third destination. I'm thinking that getting to Santorini might be a trek - and then you lose a day at the end getting from Santorini to wherever you flight home leaves from.
I think Prague would be less hectic in terms of transit. But obviously won;t work if you want a beach (has no interest for me but may be your thing).
Are you doing suite hotel or apartments (you really need one or the other with a 4 year old so you can do snacks and breakfast in your room - and don't have to sleep with the tot does.
Jun 29th, 2015, 07:27 AM
#3
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Hi, thanks for ur reply.we are,planing to rent a car so we can hop to small villages. We are probably gonna do both either renting apartment or suite.any other idea then instead of santorini?we have been Swiss and Italy.
Jun 29th, 2015, 09:39 AM
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I don't understand, do you want to go to either Prague or Santorini, the first post sounds like both? I think that is way too much flying around all over Europe on a vacation, and when coming from Chicago, to boot. Santorini is pretty far away from France. Doing all that with a 4 yr old sounds worse.
If you mean to choose either Prague or Santorini, I'd choose Prague for sure as it's closer.
It's hard to know what to suggest without knowing what time of year and how much time there is for the trip. Or Why you are going to Chamonix to begin with? I'd say Switzerland or Italy made more sense in-between, but you say you don't want to go there. I'd drop Chamonix myself, but you seem to want to go there for some reason. Otherwise, Easyjet flies from Nice to Berlin or Hamburg, for example, Germany could be combined with Prague. Or Austria, at lest it's next to it.
Actually, Easyjet flies from Lyon to Krakow. Lyon wouldn't be a bad place to go to from Chamonix to get an airport, it's not that far. Then you could take the train from Krakow to Prague, it just can take most of a day to do that, but you seem to have plenty of time.
If you mean to choose either Prague or Santorini, I'd choose Prague for sure as it's closer.
It's hard to know what to suggest without knowing what time of year and how much time there is for the trip. Or Why you are going to Chamonix to begin with? I'd say Switzerland or Italy made more sense in-between, but you say you don't want to go there. I'd drop Chamonix myself, but you seem to want to go there for some reason. Otherwise, Easyjet flies from Nice to Berlin or Hamburg, for example, Germany could be combined with Prague. Or Austria, at lest it's next to it.
Actually, Easyjet flies from Lyon to Krakow. Lyon wouldn't be a bad place to go to from Chamonix to get an airport, it's not that far. Then you could take the train from Krakow to Prague, it just can take most of a day to do that, but you seem to have plenty of time.
Jun 29th, 2015, 10:07 AM
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We travel to Europe every summer with our two young sons (currently ages 2 and 4.5 years old). We find it very rewarding overall, although of course we have had a few "we must be insane" moments over the years.
Your itinerary, if I am reading it correctly, involves an awful lot of moving around with a young child. We stick to one country only, and honestly, we pretty much stick to one region of a country or two adjacent regions. We try to stay in most places for 7-8 nights (choosing our bases carefully so that there are plenty of nearby day trip options).
With kids, we vastly prefer apartments to hotels. You'll have more room, often you have a courtyard or garden for the children to play in, and the kitchen and washing machine can be invaluable. Having a living room is also really nice because the adults may not wish to go to bed at the same time as the child needs to, and when you have only a hotel room... well, speaking from experience, it's not much fun silently eating a take-out dinner in the tiny hotel bathroom because your little one is asleep in the bedroom.
Re: scheduling, we plan for 1 time-consuming "adult sight" per day (museum, archaeological sight, etc). Max 3 hours. Then we do something fun for the kids in the afternoon. Playground, hot springs, nature park, beach, pool, etc.
Your itinerary, if I am reading it correctly, involves an awful lot of moving around with a young child. We stick to one country only, and honestly, we pretty much stick to one region of a country or two adjacent regions. We try to stay in most places for 7-8 nights (choosing our bases carefully so that there are plenty of nearby day trip options).
With kids, we vastly prefer apartments to hotels. You'll have more room, often you have a courtyard or garden for the children to play in, and the kitchen and washing machine can be invaluable. Having a living room is also really nice because the adults may not wish to go to bed at the same time as the child needs to, and when you have only a hotel room... well, speaking from experience, it's not much fun silently eating a take-out dinner in the tiny hotel bathroom because your little one is asleep in the bedroom.
Re: scheduling, we plan for 1 time-consuming "adult sight" per day (museum, archaeological sight, etc). Max 3 hours. Then we do something fun for the kids in the afternoon. Playground, hot springs, nature park, beach, pool, etc.
Jun 29th, 2015, 10:12 AM
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We also try to arrange a few kid-friendly highlights. On this past trip, we planned/arranged the following ahead of time:
Visit to pecorino farm near Pienza (kids got to see the sheep, watch the milking, see the machinery, and sample different ages of cheese at the end).
Pizza-making lesson in the early evening at a pizzeria in Assisi (before the restaurant was open). They each got to make a pizza and cook it.
Pici-making lesson in Montepulciano (hand-rolled, thick spaghetti-like pasta - if your 4-yr-old likes plah doh, he/she would love making pici).
Visit to pecorino farm near Pienza (kids got to see the sheep, watch the milking, see the machinery, and sample different ages of cheese at the end).
Pizza-making lesson in the early evening at a pizzeria in Assisi (before the restaurant was open). They each got to make a pizza and cook it.
Pici-making lesson in Montepulciano (hand-rolled, thick spaghetti-like pasta - if your 4-yr-old likes plah doh, he/she would love making pici).
Jul 1st, 2015, 07:07 PM
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We are planning to go in August.we were Planning to go both places Greece and Prague. But now it sounds like it's not a good idea to go to Santorini this trip. We like go to natural places like mountain, lakes...we already went to Swisterland and Italy. We loved Alps. We stayed on mountain in Switzerland and we loved it. That's why choose to go to Chamonix.but we can go to other small town if preferable.
What do you guys think about renting a car in France. Can u drive from Paris to Alps town or from Nice to Alps town.
I really appreciate all of your thoughts and comments.
What do you guys think about renting a car in France. Can u drive from Paris to Alps town or from Nice to Alps town.
I really appreciate all of your thoughts and comments.
Jul 2nd, 2015, 12:48 AM
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August is both hot and crowded on the Greek Islands, and if you plan to go in August 2015 you are running out of time to make reservations. While Santorini is beautiful, I wouldn't go to Greece just to see that one island.
Jul 2nd, 2015, 09:25 AM
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I think Chamonix makes more sense than Santorini in August, that's for sure.
Sure, you can drive from Paris to Chamonix, it's less than a day's drive. It actually takes longer to drive there from Nice according to mappy.fr
YOu might consider Annecy France if you want the lake thing. It wouldn't take as long to drive there from Nice (about 6 hours) or Paris. It is more accessible by train, also. You can get a direct train (no transfers) from Paris to Annecy for less than 100 euro each (adults) and it only takes about 4 hours. The train from Nice to ANnecy requires at least one transfer and takes about 7 hours, which may be about the time to drive.
http://en.lac-annecy.com/
At least it would be easy to take the train from Paris to Annecy and then you can do what you want, whatever that is, it's still easier than from Chamonix. Either take the train somewhere else or back to Lyon and get a flight or something. I suppose you could get to Geneva, also, to their airport in a couple hours probably. You might want a car in Annecy, though, not sure.
Sure, you can drive from Paris to Chamonix, it's less than a day's drive. It actually takes longer to drive there from Nice according to mappy.fr
YOu might consider Annecy France if you want the lake thing. It wouldn't take as long to drive there from Nice (about 6 hours) or Paris. It is more accessible by train, also. You can get a direct train (no transfers) from Paris to Annecy for less than 100 euro each (adults) and it only takes about 4 hours. The train from Nice to ANnecy requires at least one transfer and takes about 7 hours, which may be about the time to drive.
http://en.lac-annecy.com/
At least it would be easy to take the train from Paris to Annecy and then you can do what you want, whatever that is, it's still easier than from Chamonix. Either take the train somewhere else or back to Lyon and get a flight or something. I suppose you could get to Geneva, also, to their airport in a couple hours probably. You might want a car in Annecy, though, not sure.
Jul 3rd, 2015, 07:57 PM
#12
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I think I know my our trip itinerary now. Annecy sounds like good places. So that can be added in our list but I deffinetly want visit Chamonix. Thank you for all of my Fodorier friends for comments and advise.
Nov 2nd, 2015, 06:37 AM
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Hi guys, finally I got time to say my dear fodorier friends. We spent 3 weeks including 5 nights in London and 15 nights in France (5 nights Paris, 5 chamonix and 5 nights nice.) with our 4 year old son. He enjoyed each and every moment
S of this trip. Thank you all who helped me to make this trip wonderful..
See you until next trip...
S of this trip. Thank you all who helped me to make this trip wonderful..
See you until next trip...
