Seize the Day trip rough itinerary: can you help smooth it out?
Apr 19th, 2013, 04:52 PM
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Seize the Day trip rough itinerary: can you help smooth it out?
Hello again,
I've been busily researching and following links suggested by so many fellow travelers, and have started to rough out a plan for our trip this summer. DH and I will be traveling with our two sons, ages 17 and 15. They are fairly experienced travelers after trekking through Italy last summer. Nothing has been booked yet, and I know I have to move quickly so any guidance would be most welcome.
Here's my first thought:
-Fly into Brussels, and either stay 1 night there before heading to Bruges for 2 nights, or just take a train to Bruges and stay 2 nights. (Leaning toward just going straight to Bruges, unless people really feel Brussels deserves a night)
-Train to Paris, stay 4-5 nights.
-Train to Loire Valley to see chateaux, or just rent a car somehow in Paris (this would seem challenging) and drive to the Loire Valley. Stay 2 nights or so
-Train to Avignon, rent car at station (we've done this before) then drive to St. Remy de Provence. Stay in St Remy for 6 nights or so, using as a base to see various towns and sites.
-Somehow get a train to Geneva and take another train to Vevey. We'd probably stay 3 nights in Vevey, since we've never been to Switzerland. We could do a little touring around the area.
The reason for going to Geneva is to save on our flights. Even with train fare estimates, it looks like we'd save about $500+ by flying home from Geneva. However, not sure if it would really be less expensive when figuring other costs of touring through Switzerland. This is where I really need some help.
Would people recommend that we omit the Switzerland leg of the trip and just fly home from Nice? We could spend a couple of nights in St Paul de Vence (loved it a couple of years ago), or somewhere else in Nice.
As you can see, this is all still in the beginning stages. Please let me know if you'd spend more or less time in any of these places. I'm so grateful for any advice!
I've been busily researching and following links suggested by so many fellow travelers, and have started to rough out a plan for our trip this summer. DH and I will be traveling with our two sons, ages 17 and 15. They are fairly experienced travelers after trekking through Italy last summer. Nothing has been booked yet, and I know I have to move quickly so any guidance would be most welcome.
Here's my first thought:
-Fly into Brussels, and either stay 1 night there before heading to Bruges for 2 nights, or just take a train to Bruges and stay 2 nights. (Leaning toward just going straight to Bruges, unless people really feel Brussels deserves a night)
-Train to Paris, stay 4-5 nights.
-Train to Loire Valley to see chateaux, or just rent a car somehow in Paris (this would seem challenging) and drive to the Loire Valley. Stay 2 nights or so
-Train to Avignon, rent car at station (we've done this before) then drive to St. Remy de Provence. Stay in St Remy for 6 nights or so, using as a base to see various towns and sites.
-Somehow get a train to Geneva and take another train to Vevey. We'd probably stay 3 nights in Vevey, since we've never been to Switzerland. We could do a little touring around the area.
The reason for going to Geneva is to save on our flights. Even with train fare estimates, it looks like we'd save about $500+ by flying home from Geneva. However, not sure if it would really be less expensive when figuring other costs of touring through Switzerland. This is where I really need some help.
Would people recommend that we omit the Switzerland leg of the trip and just fly home from Nice? We could spend a couple of nights in St Paul de Vence (loved it a couple of years ago), or somewhere else in Nice.
As you can see, this is all still in the beginning stages. Please let me know if you'd spend more or less time in any of these places. I'm so grateful for any advice!
Apr 19th, 2013, 05:14 PM
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I am one of the Brussels proponents - shame to go all that way and not at least see the Grand' Place, which is one of Europe's finest squares. At least stop at Central, drop off bags and walk down to the Grand' Place, then go to Dandoy and have a waffle
http://www.maisondandoy.com/en/home/)
Trains to Bruges are very frequent and you would not be missing one of them by stopping off.
If you had longer you could go to Place du Grand Sablon, which is the chocolate shop area and just investigate that; very pretty. If it were a Saturday or Sunday there would also be the antiques market, which attracts people from all over Europe.
Lavandula
http://www.maisondandoy.com/en/home/)Trains to Bruges are very frequent and you would not be missing one of them by stopping off.
If you had longer you could go to Place du Grand Sablon, which is the chocolate shop area and just investigate that; very pretty. If it were a Saturday or Sunday there would also be the antiques market, which attracts people from all over Europe.
Lavandula
Apr 19th, 2013, 05:27 PM
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Thanks Lavandula, I am interested in seeing the Grand Place. Do you think it would be easiest to stay overnight since we'll be jet-lagged? I'm wondering how else we'd manage with our luggage, even though we do travel light, it's still a nuisance to drag them around. DH & boys would definitely be complaining about that!
Apr 19th, 2013, 05:43 PM
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Our family (me, DH, DS17 and DD14) really likes Brussels, so I would recommend that yes, you spend at least one night there. Check out Hotel Welcome - a very fun hotel, in a good, central location.
DH visited Brussels about 25 years ago, and talked about the Grand Place. I teased him, because I couldn't see why or how it would be so a great place - but it really is. Huge but somehow intimate at the same time. We love to go to several of the chocolate shops, buy a couple of chocolates each, then sit at a cafe with a glass of wine (or whatever) and eat the chocolates.
DH visited Brussels about 25 years ago, and talked about the Grand Place. I teased him, because I couldn't see why or how it would be so a great place - but it really is. Huge but somehow intimate at the same time. We love to go to several of the chocolate shops, buy a couple of chocolates each, then sit at a cafe with a glass of wine (or whatever) and eat the chocolates.
Apr 19th, 2013, 09:39 PM
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Well, you can whisk through the lower town in a day and be on your way, but I think spending a night in your first destination is not a bad idea from the point of view of recovery and not pushing yourselves when you are jetlagged. There is also enough to fill a couple of days In Brussels, depending on your interests. I don't necessarily want to distract you from Bruges, though, if that is your main objective. There are lockers at Central where you can leave your luggage if you just want a quick visit, so don't worry about having to drag it around.
What are you and your family interested in? Do you do museums? Medieval armour? Castles? Beer? Mussels and frites? Are you prepared to leave the Grand' Place area? Your boys might be interested in the Atomium, which is out of the centre a bit. Let me know and I can make some suggestions.
Lavandula
What are you and your family interested in? Do you do museums? Medieval armour? Castles? Beer? Mussels and frites? Are you prepared to leave the Grand' Place area? Your boys might be interested in the Atomium, which is out of the centre a bit. Let me know and I can make some suggestions.
Lavandula
Apr 19th, 2013, 11:10 PM
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We love Switzerland and the French Alps around Chamonix. Yes, Switzerland can be expensive. We stay at a great hostel at Stechelberg just out of Lauterbrunnen. The Jungfrau & Schilthorn are both there. i would try to include Switzerland if you can.
We have driven from Paris to Loire with no problems, or you could train to Blois, then car hire. We loved driving around the many chateaux - Chenonceau, Amboise, Chambord, Cheverny & Chaumont were all great. Three or 4 nights would be good.
Enjoy planning
We have driven from Paris to Loire with no problems, or you could train to Blois, then car hire. We loved driving around the many chateaux - Chenonceau, Amboise, Chambord, Cheverny & Chaumont were all great. Three or 4 nights would be good.
Enjoy planning
Apr 20th, 2013, 03:24 AM
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I think your itinerary looks good. I'm not a huge fan of Brussels but I'm glad I saw the Grand Place. Brugge is wonderful but might not be all that interesting for your sons so a full day and a couple nights would be plenty. Ghent and Antwerp are really interesting Belgian cities are are very close to Brugge and Brussels, very easy train connections so you might want to consider stopping in one of them.
Unless you have a very high interest in Loire Valley chateau I might skip that on this trip. For one thing I can't image it being high on the list for 15 and 17 year old boys, but also renting a car for only two days seems like a lot of bother. I'd go straight to Avignon from Paris and use the extra couple of days in Switzerland. I guess I'd ask your sons if they'd prefer a coulple days looking at the Alps or chateau. Switzerland is expensive but not that much more than other places and you can save on meals by having picnics, etc. I do remember sticker shock on restaurant prices, but then we did a lot of buying food in grocery stores and having picnics.
If you did do Switzerland, even though you'd fly out of Geneva, you should go up to the mountains for a few of the days. There are about a hundred threads on Switzerland floating around here right now, mostly about which train passes to get, but you could get some ideas of places to go. The Bernese Oberland is considered 'the' place for mountain scenery. I spent five days in that area a few years ago. I'm going back this summer and sticking to southern Switzerland but for a first trip I agree at least a couple days in the BO is best.
Unless you have a very high interest in Loire Valley chateau I might skip that on this trip. For one thing I can't image it being high on the list for 15 and 17 year old boys, but also renting a car for only two days seems like a lot of bother. I'd go straight to Avignon from Paris and use the extra couple of days in Switzerland. I guess I'd ask your sons if they'd prefer a coulple days looking at the Alps or chateau. Switzerland is expensive but not that much more than other places and you can save on meals by having picnics, etc. I do remember sticker shock on restaurant prices, but then we did a lot of buying food in grocery stores and having picnics.
If you did do Switzerland, even though you'd fly out of Geneva, you should go up to the mountains for a few of the days. There are about a hundred threads on Switzerland floating around here right now, mostly about which train passes to get, but you could get some ideas of places to go. The Bernese Oberland is considered 'the' place for mountain scenery. I spent five days in that area a few years ago. I'm going back this summer and sticking to southern Switzerland but for a first trip I agree at least a couple days in the BO is best.
Apr 20th, 2013, 04:11 AM
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Another Brussels fan here. I would stay overnight to simplify logistics and give yourself more time to explore the city. There is a lot to see beyond the Grand Place --museums and different neighborhoods--but you probably won't be there long enough. Plenty of good food and beer of course.
Apr 20th, 2013, 05:31 AM
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Instead of going into Switzerland, you might consider visiting Annecy and the surrounding French Alps. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been to and there are opportunities to tour as well as hike and swim in the area. From there you can easily take a cab (about 50 Euros, I think) to the Geneva airport for your flight. It's about 30 miles from Annecy to Geneva.
Just another option. Have a great trip,
Eve
Just another option. Have a great trip,
Eve
Apr 21st, 2013, 02:08 PM
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I've been to Annecy, and yes, it is lovely and definitely worth visiting. But it's not a replacement for Switzerland. If you have an opportunity to get over to Switzerland, I would do it. I've been to Switzerland 3 times in recent years; this year I'm traveling to Bruges, Paris, Loire (first time) and Dordogne. I agree with the other poster that you might want to go directly to Provence from Paris, and then include Switzerland if you have the time. The Jungfrau region (Berner Oberland) is the must-see area of Switzerland.
Apr 22nd, 2013, 12:55 AM
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"The Jungfrau region (Berner Oberland) is the must-see area of Switzerland."
It's by far the most popular area with tourists from overseas. But there are many similar glacier areas in Switzerland (with much cheaper access railways!)
....and if you are not only interested in crowded,100 per cent English speaking meeting points of overseas tourists somewhere in the middle of ice and snow, but in Swiss culture, Swiss History, etc. there are tons of other "must see places", of course!
It's by far the most popular area with tourists from overseas. But there are many similar glacier areas in Switzerland (with much cheaper access railways!)
....and if you are not only interested in crowded,100 per cent English speaking meeting points of overseas tourists somewhere in the middle of ice and snow, but in Swiss culture, Swiss History, etc. there are tons of other "must see places", of course!
Apr 22nd, 2013, 09:50 AM
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You are right, Neckervd. On my second trip, I skipped BO in favor of the more remote eastern region of Switzerland. I found it to be lovely with mostly Swiss and European visitors. That said, I wouldn't rule out a return to the Berner Oberland, due to the sheer beauty of the area.
Apr 22nd, 2013, 10:38 AM
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If we are speaking about alpine landscapes and glaciers, I prefer Diavolezza, Gornergrat, Matterhorn Paradise, Riederalp-Bettmeralp, Zinal, Arolla, Vallee de Chamonix, Gressoney (Italy). But everybody has his own preferencies
