My wife and I along with our two children (ages 21 and 12) would like to go to Europe the last week in December. This would be our first trip abroad and would like to stay within a budget of around $5000.00 Any suggestions on a destination. Thanks

Do you have an objective? Are you taking this trip to relax or to sightsee or a combination of both? Do you want snow? Do you have anyplace in mind that you've always wanted to see? With a budget of 5 grand for a week, I believe your options are WIDE open!

Hi
keep in mind that in London and some other places Dec 26 is also a holiday, and so is Jan 1, and there may be some early closings on Dec 31, though primarily the smaller shops.

That said, the Xmas glow will still be on in Paris, London, Vienna, Rome, Venice,and everywhere else.
Paris and London could make a great combination, make one of the holidays your travel in-between day, though each city has plenty to see for an entire week.

We would just like for the children to get a taste of Europe. So this will probably be a sightseeing trip. Snow is not a must even though we live in the deep south and they haven't experienced that either.

Hi
As I said, Paris and London are both great for kids of all ages,and certainly your 21-year old will have a blast in the evening in either place.
Ditto Rome.

Venice is also one of my favorites and it is unique, but not much on nightlife.

How about getting your family to vote?
There must be things that each person has always wanted to see.

Going from one place to another, even by plane, even if all goes smoothly, will eat up most of one day, so staying in one place and possibly doing a daytrip or two can also be a less stressful and more time efficient idea.

I have trip files on the cities I have mentioned; if you'd like to see them, email me at
[email protected]
but let me suggest that you make some decisions first.

there is great general info here at fodors.com on each of those cities; click at the top of the screen on
Destinations.

This sounds like a great family project opportunity. You should narrow it down to four choices, each one with its own advantages and drawbacks, and have one member of the family research one of the places--each person can research hotels, restaurants, activities, costs in "their" spot. Give everybody one to two weeks to do their research, then take a few hours one evening (over a nice fresh cake or pie and ice cream), have everybody give their "report" and then take a family vote.
My four suggestions would be
London+Paris (you may be able to fly into London and out of Paris or vice versa for only a little more $$ than flying in and out of the same city and your family could ride the Eurostar)
Rome or Rome+Florence
Vienna+Prague or Vienna+Salzburg
Switzerland (Luzern, Bern, Bernese Oberland--snow guaranteed for this one!)

Thanks for all of your suggestions. For this trip we have narrowed it down to two choices. Two want to do the Paris+London trip and two want to go to Rome. Would ya'll suggest that we use a travel agent or try to make the arrangements ourselves?

we did 10 days in rome last christmas. it was fabulous. this year we aere going to paris. i would suggest that wherever you go stay in one place instead of two cities. you will just get a better feel for the area. everything in rome closes on christmas eve but that is what rooftop gardens and wine cheese etc. are for. everything was open on christmas day though. i recommend that you go to the christmas day papal blessing at st. peters. i got pictures of the pope from about 10 feet. the weather was great while we were there. email me with any questions. [email protected]

For what it's worth: average December temperature is 40 F in Paris, 45 F in London, and 50 F in Rome. These three are absolutely the choices (equally) for a first time visit to Europe. Also, they are all COMPLETELY different and each have their own good points. If this is to be your only trip there, then you all need to talk some more....
Even if you don't plan to return, I would agree with the idea of picking just one place - you'll all get so much more enjoyment from your trip that way. Keep researching and discussing, keep an open mind and maybe you'll reach a concensus.

I would recommend that you pick your own hotel even if you use a travel agent for airfare. That way you are guarenteed to be in exactly the neighborhood that's right for you.

Now it seeems Amsterdam has been thrown into the mix because of Christmas and Boxing day. Would a couple of days, possibly three be enough in Aamsterdam then go to London?