3mkids

In Europe for 5 weeks with family - three kids 7, 11 and 15. Can anyone offer comments on this itinerary in progress: London 4 nights, Amsterdam 4 nights, Brugge- 4 nights, Paris 2 nights, Venice 4 nights, either Rome seaside resort or tuscany farm 5 or 6 nights, 5 nights Amalfi coast (sorrento or ravello) and Edinburgh 3 nights -. If we do a Rome seaside resort, we would do a couple of day trips into Rome. We want to go into Florence for about a day, and do not necessarily want to stay in Florence. DH and I have driven through Italy before, and hit all the major cities. We want to hit highlights with the kids but not drag them around to one museum, church after the next. We think Naples area/Amalfi coast could be a lot of fun, and this is one place DH and I haven't yet been. We're flying home from Edinburgh. No burning urge to spend a lot of time in Edinburgh, but could we get a taste of the Scottish highlands in 3-4 days? As for Brugge we thought it would be a good base for a few days to go to Luxembourg City and get a taste of Belgium. Is this too much time in Brugge? Grateful for any guidance. TIA.

ira

Hi 3,

Eight destinations in 35 days is quite a trek.

Keep in mind that you lose at least 1/2 day each time you move.

4 nights in Brugge and only 2 in Paris?

>No burning urge to spend a lot of time in Edinburgh,..<

Why bother? You could have a more satisfying visit without it.

Why a daytrip to Florence? You'll be on a train for 4-7 hr.

Please rethink this expedition.

janisj

I personally can't imagine not having a burning desire to see Edinburgh, but if you don't why go there? And 3 days stuck on the end of a European trek is not a great way to see much of anything in Scotland. As much as I LOVE Scotland you would be better off adding that time to Paris or Florence.

I agree w/ everything ira said. IMHO you should do some re-thinking. Dragging three kids on long day trips usually is a hassle.

3mkids

We are flying home from Edinburgh, which is why we are going there this trip - and why it is stuck at the end of a European trek. A couple of weeks ago I was able to get frequent flyer miles tickets that fit our timing this summer to cover the cost of air for all five of us. It was hard to pass up flying five people to Europe during summer break for free. The only caveat is we have to fly home from Edinburgh. The only constraints we have right now are our inbound (Manchester) and outbound (Edinburgh) flights 5 weeks apart. The rest of our itinerary is up for grabs. Our thinking was as follows: we love London and figured there was enough there for the kids- even if we don't do every last thing which of course there isn't time for anyway. We figured we'd do the Tower of London and London Eye, go to Stonehenge for a day, and just play the rest by ear. My kids want to go to the Ann Frank House in Amsterdam. Our oldest kid made a pitch to go to Benelux, so we figured a few days in Bruge would be OK. We have some concerns about what would keep the kids' interest in Paris for more than two days (We're trying to accomodate the age difference) We figured the obvious tourist sites in Paris - the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe- but honestly, we can't see the kids sitting around cafes and soaking up the culture as we do when we travel without them. Our Italy thoughts were - we love Venice, and think the kids would love the Doggiers Palace and just the novelty of being in that city. If we hang out for 4-5 nights in a Tuscan town (we preivously stayed in Lucca) we thought we could do a day trip or two into Florence and do the Duomo, no more than a couple of hours at the Pitti Palace, and get a look at the David. If we're basically just hanging out in a Tuscan town, swimming and do a little sightseeing around some nearby towns, then we are think our kids can easily handle some long day trips. (Our kids fortunately (or not) are latebirds and often when we travel stay up into the wee hours) In Rome we'd like to take the kids to the Collesium, and the Pantheon, Spanish Steps. We figured 5 or 6 nights on the Amalfi Coast could be fun. Right now we're really flexible as we try to figure out this itinerary. It is OK if we don't see every last sight. But I am really interested in what recommendations would you all have for 5 weeks in Europe with 3 kids ages 7-15? Should we look to spend more time in Scotland, and do the Highlands? How proximate are the Highlands from Edinburgh? Thanks for your insights - I understand the concern about cramming too much in - but I also recognize that this is not the same kind of trip DH and I take when we travel alone. Somehow I can't see the kids tolerating shopping, sitting at the cafes - things like that in the cities. Anyway - I'll look out for additional comments, and again many thanks!

chicagolori

YOu didnt get many replies which is too bad cause this is a fun one. A few suggestions. You might want to repost with something like "Itinery help needed: 5 weeks in Europe with three kids." Something more specific since people tend not to respond to posts that are general.

Also - maybe give us the dates. August is a big vacation month for europeans and it might change the advice you get.

Meanwhile - why dont you pick 5 places for 5 weeks and make it easier?

Do you kids like medieval stuff. There is a town called Provins that is a great example of medieval life and its not far from Paris.

nessundorma

You also need to break things up into paragraphs!

And you might think about breaking up your trip into manageable week-long chunks that would allow you to rent aparments, pack light and let the kids just settle in a bit.

You say you don't want to drag them through a lot of churches and museums, but you'll be dragging through an awful lot of airports and/or train stations, which they might adore, but doesn't seem very broadening.

You don't say what the gender mix is (unless I missed it), but I would think a week in the Scottish Highlands, so long as you are not in midge central (mosquito-land) might be very appealing to kids. First of all, other kids speak their language. Secondly, the place is full of castles and perhaps more of the kind of history they could relate to easily.

I would suggest:

Either Amsterdam for a week or, even better, someplace just outside of Amsterdam where the family could do bike trips. It's the flattest country on the planet. Windmills? Pancakes? Sounds very kid friendly. The Netherlands is so small, it's easy to daytrip into Amsterdam to see the fab science museum, do a canal tour, window shop and one of the museums. Maybe the Van Gogh?

I would suggest for the second week that you do 2 nights Brugge and 4 nights Paris. There is plenty for kids to enjoy in a leasurely way: boat rides, renting little boats to float in the public ponds, up the Eiffel Tower, Ste Chappelle and one museum. The Cluny? Plus all the bakeries!

I would do Venice for a week, especially if you stay on the Lido.

Unless you very much want the kids to see Pompeii (not a bad idea), you might think of substituting Cinque Terre for the Amalfi because it's easier to get around from town to town, either by boat or a train, and probably has more swimming opportunities. You can hike in the Cinque Terre, or visit the acquairim in Genoa. I would suggest checking out the very family friendly Sestri Levante.

If you really want the Amalfi, I would pick Sorrento over any of the Amalfi towns. Then it is easier to get to Vesuvius and Pompeii (Do them on separate days) and take boats to Capri or Ischia.

I would divide the last week between Rome and Scotland.

3mkids

Sorry about the very long paragraph!

Kids are: boy -15, girl -11, boy -7. We will be going from June 4 through the first week of July.

Our oldest is incredibly well read, and a history and geography buff. Our daughter is also interested in history, and well a 7 year old in general might prefer Disney - but we are all Disneyed out. In general, they've loved the midwest, Las Vegas, doing the Grand Canyon thing - We do a lot of 20-25 biking trips as a family
and so the kids would probably really enjoy doing this.

What about London? We are flying into Manchester, and DH and I love London, and think the kids would really get into the Tower of London, and a day trip to Stonehenge. We just thought why pass up a few days in London.

It's funny that you mention Sorrento, because last night we pretty much decided to go to Sorrento as opposed to Positano or Ravello. I found a place I think everybody might really like, though the name presently escapes me. I'm really looking forward to this as this is one area we haven't been to in Italy.

We've done Cinque Terre, and we're not really interested in going back this trip.

Why 4 nights in Paris, as opposed to using a couple of extra nights in Italy?

Any thoughts on what to do in Scotland as we are flying home from there?

Again, thanks for the input.

nessundorma

If your youngest likes Disneyland, she'll love Brugge! Still, it's a very small town (much smaller than Disneyland, and apart from looking at its picturesqueness, there is really very little to do there.

I think you can find enough to do in Paris to interest all of you -- even if it's going to an American movie on the Champs Elysees! You can rent rowboats in the Bois de Boulogne. If you get hideously bored, you can take a train out to Fontainebleau. I think getting the feeling of actually living in a place is more enjoyable.

But if you think your kids would prefer the time in Italy, spend more time in Italy. But I wouldn't spend it moving about. Just tack it on to Rome.

However, I agree that London sounds much more like the kind of place kids might enjoy, and I would swap a week in Venice for a week in London.

3mkids

Venice is one of my very favorite cities - and probably not a destination I would give up this trip. I've been giving some thought to passing up Tuscany(we like Umbria better anyway) and spending more time in and around Rome. Funny, I saw a post about places people felt they spent too much time in and one that reappeared was Florence. When we were there I had that same feeling, so I am thinking maybe we'll pass this time.

When I step back and think about all of this it almost makes me laugh - we kind of got into this because I was tired of having to convince the kids to go to camp and I had all these miles available.

franco

Yes, do take your kids to the Anne Frank house - that's one of the world's best museums in didactical respects, and of course an extremely touching experience. Generally spoken, the museums are certainly Amsterdam's best feature, and this is maybe Amsterdam's best museum.

knoxvillecouple

Hi 3mkids -

One of your early questions regarded the distance between Edinburgh and the Highlands and what you might do with your time in Scotland. Edinburgh is certainly worth a day or two at a minimum, with castles and palaces being my idea of the hotspots. To get to the Highlands from Edinburgh, we rented a car and went "leisurely" to St. Andrews (I admit that I'm a golfer), to Aberdeen, and to Inverness. You CAN do a day trip to the Highlands from Edinburgh through a tour company, but I'm not sure I'd advise renting a car to do one on your own - depends on your level of comfort driving in Scotland. You could also go to other Highlands areas (i.e., not as far north as Inverness), such as Trossachs and Loch Lommond, and get a feel for the Highlands there.

I'm inclined to think that with an itinerary as broad as yours, you need to break it down into separate posts to get useful advice - otherwise the "experts" here will not try to respond to an itinerary as ambitious as yours is.

KC

nessundorma

It doesn't matter to us what you drop or what you add! I think the general reaction (or at least mine) is that your trip looks logistically very difficult and stressful, since you seem to be on the move every few days to far flung places.

Also, you don't say when you are going. I assume it's summer (with children that age) but there is a big difference between spending a week in Venice in June and a week in August, unless you know your kids to be happy campers no matter the heat and humidity.