suze

You are saying 200 euro for 2 people, and they have only 220 euro for 4 people.

RogerM

Golfdude: Have you posed this question on TripAdvisor's France forum yet? Might be interesting plus once you're signed up there's the opportunity for private messaging.

ribeirasacra

all this advice and golfing-dud has not come back and responded.

adrienne

He responded a couple of times. He doesn't have the budget to do this type of trip so needs to consider the responses.

Gretchen

Yes, he has responded, and even answered some questions.

CollK

Have you thought about camping? I think they have very nice campgrounds all through Europe and you don't necessarily have to actually camp (like with a tent) but can rent cottages with bathrooms, kitchens, etc. Below is a blog from a family who has been doing non-stop long term travel for a number of years, they are currently living in Asia but spent several years traveling through Europe in their camper van. They claim (which I find a little hard to believe) that they lived on less than $75 per day for a family of three.

http://www.soultravelers3.com/

And here is a section where they are talking about camping:

http://www.soultravelers3.com/2010/0...avel-tips.html

adrienne

Camping is a great idea for families but are campgrounds in northern Europe open in April and May? Is this a seasonal lodging when children are out of school?

You can always find inexpensive lodging (camping, hostels). Apartments are not the way to go as outside cities there is usually a minimum stay and they have to move around a lot to get through 8 countries in 8 weeks.

Their major expenses will be transportation (car, gas, and tolls) and food for 4 people.

blh

As others have said, renting an apartment will cut those costs tremendously. A quad room is hard to find and very expensive especially in cities. An apartment, on the other hand, can be much cheaper. The money saved on eating out with a family will be huge. This is the only way to go on a budget. We rented an apartment for a week each in 3 locations in France last year. We stayed in three B&B's in between. Our budget for two adults averages about $200 - $225 a day depending on a few variables. The cost of sites differs quite a lot in different countries. The travel books can help you estimate those costs. It can certainly add up especially with four people - look at doing the ones that are free for kids.

As an example, an inexpensive quad at a hotel in Paris will probably be at least 225 euros a night. We stayed in a very nice apartment in the Marias for 800 euros for a week. It was large enough for a family of four. That is half the cost of the hotel, and the food savings would be half the cost (or more) as well.

AlysonRR

My family did a similar trip in 1976 (though only 5 weeks) - I was 11 and my brother was 8. After researching many options, my parents chose to limit the number of cities (we only saw a bit of London and avoided other major European cities) and the number of countries (we were mainly in England and Germany, with brief stops in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Austria).

They chose to rent a campervan in England. We enjoyed meeting other kids at the campground playgrounds and visited historic sites in between. It was the best of both worlds for kids on vacation - lots of time to play (playgrounds, grass-skiing, pony-trekking), local color (invited to fetes and street fairs), and just enough historic interest (NOT another 300-step tower, Dad, really???) to keep us engaged and interested in the different cultures and not overwhelmed by it all.

We would stop every day or two at local markets and pick up meats and cheeses and breads for sandwiches, eggs and cereal for breakfasts, and simple meals for dinner (or go out). It all seemed really easy at the time, though I'm sure my mom stressed about the details...

I don't know how economical campervan rental is nowadays, but I highly recommend it as a way to avoid restaurant costs and increase your childrens' exposure to the real national culture of the countries you visit. We enjoyed seeing the crowded campgrounds along the Danube or the Seine, where people would come to spend the summer while the breadwinner commuted to the city - they would set up fences, attach televisions and set up couches - a real "country home". Fascinating.

That said, my mother is treating me and her two granddaughters (one mine, one my brothers) to a trip to Paris next summer, and I'm really excited to spend time in a European city. The girls will be 11 and 12. Both are interested in fashion, my daughter is very interested in art - it's going to be amazing.

Have a good trip!

AlysonRR

Oh, and if campervan option does not appeal, look into renting apartments for 1 week each in the areas in which you have interest. Take day trips. Take trains or buses, rent or hire a car - just travel within a day of where you're staying. Your kids will feel like they have a home, you'll get used to the area and find things you enjoy, and perhaps you'll see things you wouldn't have seen if you didn't stay for quite so long.

One of my favorite memories from my childhood trip was being invited to a Fete by a local girl. It wasn't spectacular - just typical country stuff - but feeling exotic, being introduced to her friends as "my new American friend", was really fun, plus there were things that I hadn't seen before (odd highland games-type stuff, Maypole ribbon-dancing, folk dancing, etc.). We could barely understand each others' dialect, but it made it all the more fun

PalenQ

I don't know how economical campervan rental is nowadays, but I highly recommend it as a way to avoid restaurant costs and increase your childrens' exposure to the real national culture of the countries you visit>

hey hey - that has been my experience as well when my son was young we camped all over France (he's French) and he loved the cmap's playgrounds and swimming pools - many larger ones have a pool - and I loved being immersed in local family cultures - more than once invited to eat with others, etc.

Whether a camping car trip is cheap or not depends on how much mileage you put on these gas-guzzling vans - best to go to one place like southern France and just do some bases. Italians however seem to drive them all around Europe!

golfdude

Hello everyone,

I was digesting all the good, informative posts above thus the delay in replying.

I am thinking about doing 4 countries in 45 days to reduce the cost. Is that too few ? Are 4 countries a good number for 45 days ? Do I need to add to remove from the number ?

if I had to pick 4, which ones should it be ? It needs to be a mixture of culture and architecture, scenery and kid's stuff.

Can I include one off the beaten path country like Czechoslovakia (specifically Prague) or will it be too boring for the kids ?

I have never done traveling in a camper van but am open to the suggestion.

Thanks.

suze

Sure 4 countries in 45 days is an excellent plan. I doubt Prague would be any more (or less) boring for kids than cities like London or Paris.

Definitely keep Venice on your itinerary, because it is so unique and I think would be the most interesting for kids because there's so much interesting outdoor stuff to see and do. Paris also has a lot of parks, Seine boat ride, etc. that wouldn't be boring like museums might be.

Michael

The beginning of my trip report on our travels in Central Germany gives an idea of how much we spent for 9 weeks in Europe; click on my name to find the report.

Gretchen

Get your kids involved in the planning when you finalize the countries you will visit. They can google and give a report on this or that to the family.
Have you done any camping at all? I'm not sure what all is in a campervan, but be sure to be at least a little familiar with the possibilities. We LOVE camping and as several have mentioned, it is GREAT for kids to meet kids. But just get ready for the actual eating and sleeping arrangements.
I think 4 countries would be terrific==and a vacation to truly remember and treasure!!

Christina

Prague is a terrific idea, I'm sure kids won't be more bored there than other places, probably less. It is very attractive, for one thing, kind of looks more like a big fairytale (at least in the center), and has terrific parks, a castle, etc.. And I find it a little cheaper than some other places, also, although it has gotten more popular over the years so not quite as good a deal. But it's still not as expensive as Paris or London IMO. The cuisine is a lot of pork and potatoes, but kids probably like that.

welltraveledbrit

Golfdude,
IT sounds like a great trip and so lovely to have that much time. I'm not sure I'd cut down the days so drastically. Given that you're coming from India a lot of your costs are in the flights.

You can certainly afford this trip depending on where you spend the bulk of your time. If you rent an apartment for more than a week it may well be cheaper, though of course a month is the sweet spot. You'll find rural Italy (particularly the south) quite inexpensive (and warmer at this time of year) and rural France can be reasonable too. Air bnb is a good source and for apartments we've used vrbo.com and homeaway.com but be careful to confirm by phone and contact people with lots of reviews.

Instead of thinking about how many countries in x number of days I'd try to think of it as destinations. As several people have noted it's the moving around that tends to costs a lot.

If you use a combination of rentals and hotels make sure to spread the apartment rentals in between so you can get all the washing done easily and affordably in between hotel/bnb stays. With kids I would think it would be preferable to stay longer in each destination, think about what's the shortest and longest amount of time you'd want to spend in one place.

Bear in mind mid April can be quite cold inNorthern Europes. It was downright chilly for much of last April.

bigtyke

We just got back from 16 nights in Germany (no big cities). $94 each per day for wife and myself. This includes all attractions but not airfare (frequent flier miles).

Staying in apartments, not eating out much, taking train on cheap tickets (or free in Black Forest).

In Germany, kids don't usually add much to an apartment bill (5-10 euro max each in most cases). Often no additional cost to a group train pass.

golfdude

Folks,

I am thinking about one more option to save on costs. If I pick two cities in each country and stay in those cities for 5 days each then I can reduce costs because:

1) I cut down traveling costs
2) I can rent apartments through airbnb etc. which costs much less than hotel rooms.

Plus I will still get a taste of each country by staying in their major city. For example I can stay 5 days each in four or five of the following cities:

1) Paris
2) Berlin
3) Rome
4) Vienna
5) Prague
6) Brussels
7) Amsterdam

I can choose cities which are not too far from each other.

Please advice the pros and cons of doing such a thing.

Thanks.

sparkchaser

Staying in Berlin won't necessarily give you a flavor for Germany, and neither will Paris for France. And that definitely goes for Prague, too.

Would Washington D.C. or New York give you a flavor of America?


You need to decide what is most important about this trip.