pittsburgh

This will be the trip report for our family of 4 (two adults, a 6-year, and a 9-year old).

Our itinerary:
- Day 0: Fly into Frankfurt, Train to Strasbourg
- Day 1-2: Strasbourg
- Day 3: Strasbourg-->Colmar Train
- Day 4-5: Colmar
- Day 6: Colmar-->Basel
- Day 7-8: Basel
- Day 9: Basel --> Weggis
- Day 10-11: Weggis
- Day 12: Weggis-->Zermatt
- Day 13-14: Zermatt
- Day 15: Zermatt--> Milan
- Day 16-18: Milan
- Day 19: Milan --> Bologna
- Day 20-22: Bologna
- Day 23: Fly home

Will cover hotels, restaurants, and activities. Will not cover every trantrum and meltdown from the kids

Next post -- Strasbourg

Coquelicot

You are off to a good start. Looking forward to reading the details, tantrums notwithstanding.

pittsburgh

Actually, instead of starting with a city by city posting, let's start with a review of the hotels we stayed at.
General guidelines for us and hotel selection:
- Easy (walking preferred or public transit like subway) to/from train stations, main sites, etc.
- Single room that can accommodate 4
- "Reasonable" price (obviously in the eye of the beholder)
- We did select to include breakfast at each hotel -- figured it saves us some time vs. searching each day, we tend to eat healthier than going out to a cafe for a coffee/pastry, allows us easier mixing of times when people are ready to eat

Our choices/comments:
- Strasbourg -- Maison Rouge Strasbourg Hotel (Junior Suite) -- Great location in the heart of Strasbourg. Fairly easy walk from the train station. Room was one bed + a sofabed. WIth a divider between them and each side having their own tv. Breakfast was great -- only one we had on the trip that offered made to order items (like pancakes, waffles, eggs) in addition to the meat, cheese, vegetables, juices, pastries, etc. A great spread. Overall was a wonderful choice and would definitely stay there again.
- Colmar: Hotel Beausejour (Family Suite) -- This was probably the hotel choice we regretted the most. Was a long walk from the train station (which we obviously knew when we booked) but was actually quite easy to walk to the heart of the Colmar walking district which was nice. Room was a bedroom + a second set of beds in a loft with a very steep staircase to get to (we always walked it backwards to get down). The bathroom was tiny but serviceable. The big issue was the lack of air conditioning. The room came with one fan but on the hot days we were there that wasn't sufficient. We were able to get a second fan for our second day but the hotel staff then said they already promised the fan to someone else so they needed to take it from us on the third day. But that the room would be getting AC within the next year. Breakfast was again ok with a nice croissant/bread basket on the table + fruits/meat/cheese. Not a huge spread but enough to get us started. Would we stay here again? Probably not. The heat/lack of AC was too much for us.
- Basel -- Der Teufelhof Basel -- We booked a Courtyard Design Apartment. But when we arrived they said they ended up needing that room and instead moved us to two connecting rooms still the apartments section (which is across the street from the main hotel). The two connecting rooms was great and will make us start to look more seriously as that as an option for future trips. Each room came with a bed + bathroom separated into two distinct rooms (shower on one side of the room, toilet on the other side) plus a small kitchen. Having the two rooms was quite spacious. The hotel itself is right next to one of the tram stops which again made it super convenient to/from the train station as well as virtually anywhere else in town. Breakfast spread was ok. Overall we greatly enjoyed our stay here and would definitely stay again.
- Weggis -- Hotel Rossli (Family Room) -- Location was a short (< 10 minute) walk from the boat dock. No view of the lake from the hotel but the lake was only a couple of minutes away). Room was again a bed + sofabed. No air conditioning like Colmar but the room did have a built-in ceiling fan which greatly helped. Town is small anyway and the location was convenient so that was good. Breakfast spread was quite good -- press your own orange juice, make your own waffles, the broadest cheese offerings we saw, great local yogurt, etc. Would we stay again? Maybe. Nothing negative really about the hotel. But i could also see us exploring somewhere else as well.
- Zermatt: Carina. We booked the "Matterhorn Deluxe" but they upgraded us to the smallest of their penthouse rooms. Room had a sofabed downstairs (with a kitchen + toilet). And then a bedroom upstairs with the (incredibly tiny) shower room. Hotel was a short walk from the train station so was quite convenient. Breakfast offering was fairly sparse compared to others. But the overall service at the hotel was great, the room was incredibly spacious. And the gorgeous view (especially as the sun rose) of the Matterhorn from the balcony. Not a luxury hotel, especially by Zermatt standards, but we greatly enjoyed it.
- Milan: NH Collection Milano Porta Nuova (Junior Suite). This hotel is located in the Porta Nuova section of Milan. So very modern with shopping and restaurants but also not necessarily close to all sites. However, it is close to multiple metro stations and we used the metro extensively in Milan so that worked fine. One stop from the Central Station metro so not hard to get to from the train station. Room was a good size -- one bed + sofa converted to a bed. Breakfast was one of the broadest spreads we saw on the trip with various fruits, pastries, meats, cheeses, prosecco. Would we stay here again? The hotel itself was quite good and fairly convenient but I could also see us trying a different portion of the city if we visited again.
- Bologna: Phi Hotel Bologna (Deluxe Apartment) -- Similar to Basel, we were not in the main hotel but instead around the corner from the hotel and across the street. About a 1-minute walk to the hotel/breakfast so not a big inconvenience. Location was great, just off Piazza Maggiore, so close to many of the key sites and restaurants. Was a bit of a hike to/from the train station though which taxed the kids a bit in the heat -- took about 20 minutes. Apartment was very spacious. Two bathrooms, two bedrooms (one upstairs, one downstairs) plus a kitchen. Breakfast served in the restaurant adjoining the hotel. Was not the broadest spread we had seen but had a mix of meats/cheeses as well as sweet pastries, prosecco, etc. Would we stay here again? Probably. The room was great and so was the location.

pittsburgh

Our vacation philosophy:
- Lots of walking (even with the kids) + public transportation. We usually avoid taxis unless unavoidable
- Family loves to climb towers in the city and hike in the country
- Good food is a must

Coquelicot

That's similar to our trips--we tell people we walk and eat, walk and eat. And we hope the two will balance out.

Is real life interfering with your trip report? I hate when that happens. We are ready for more when you can find the time.

Melnq8

Signing on for more.

That's quite an ambitious itinerary with two kids, I'm impressed.

janisj

Still reading . . . but a quick suggestion. It would really help if you used paragraph breaks