family tour of europe advice
Mar 7th, 2007, 04:05 PM
#21
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We always travel independently; however, there are many "independent" tours such as Monograms (part of Globus) and Gate 1, which will include your airfare (if needed), transfers to hotels, travel between cities, and offer optional tours in each city.This gives you the comfort of having the arrangments made for you, and the independence that will give you the freedom of movement at your own pace without the structure of an escorted tour.
Mar 8th, 2007, 01:25 AM
#22
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Take a tour. I can just see 5 in a car, deciding where to go. The 23 year old wants to go to the beach, the 21 wants to go to the museum and the 13 year old wants to play videos. A tour group will give you the option of going on your own if you don't like or don't want what they want to do. You could do the standard Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Or just take one country, like Poland or Ireland. Think of the logistics alone of going on your own - 5 bag dragging, if you were going to one place and staying two weeks and traveling out from there it would be a different story, but wanting to travel to see multiple countries - a tour for 5 seems to be the way to go.
Mar 8th, 2007, 02:29 AM
#23
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Why not consider a cruise? It caters to all age groups, you get to visit multiple countries and destinations, and you can do your own thing or join a guided tour at each destination. You have lots of choice as to countries, and of course between the Med and Scandinavia + Russia. Many offer free travel for kids under 18 sharing a cabin so the 13 year old gets a free ride.
Mar 8th, 2007, 02:44 AM
#24
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Check out http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours07/...rl/code/EPR07/
While there are the early morning starts, they do include a lot of younger people, no single supplements and a lot of free time to do your own thing. In fact, doing your own thing is encouraged. I can remember on my first tour with them that one couple wanted to see Salzburg while we were in Munich. They told the guide, who encouraged them to do what they preferred, and trained to Salzburg and back in the day. In Munich, my DH was able to spend his entire time in the Deutsches Museum while I shopped. Our tour that year had several families and sometimes the group was split with the teens and twenties going off with the assistant guide to pursue their interests.
While there are the early morning starts, they do include a lot of younger people, no single supplements and a lot of free time to do your own thing. In fact, doing your own thing is encouraged. I can remember on my first tour with them that one couple wanted to see Salzburg while we were in Munich. They told the guide, who encouraged them to do what they preferred, and trained to Salzburg and back in the day. In Munich, my DH was able to spend his entire time in the Deutsches Museum while I shopped. Our tour that year had several families and sometimes the group was split with the teens and twenties going off with the assistant guide to pursue their interests.
Mar 8th, 2007, 08:45 AM
#25
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We are also a family of five and we did the same thing when our kids were a little younger than in your family. Like you, we wanted to move around and sample different countries in Europe and ended up traveling through five countries in about 2 1/2 weeks. It was an awesome trip and we did it on our own, using a fair amount of train travel. I planned our trip with a lot of help from the Rick Steves guide books (if that's kosher to say on Fodor's forum!). His advice is good for affordable travel and itineraries that move around a good bit. He covers all of the major tourist staples, but also includes some smaller, more out of the way locations and activities (www.ricksteves.com).
My personal opinion is that tours don't always work as well for families. Planning and traveling independently gives more opportunity to account for everyone's tastes and ages and interests. But you'll need to consider whether anyone in your family has the time and interest to do the planning because it will take a good bit.
Just FYI, our itinerary went like this: four nights London; Eurostar to Belgium, three nights Brugges; train to Holland, three nights Haarlem (just outside Amsterdam); train to Frankfurt, boat cruise on the Rhine, rent car and drive Romantic Road to Munich, staying along the way in Rottenburg; night train Munich to Paris, four nights Paris; Eurostar to London; Fly home.
My personal opinion is that tours don't always work as well for families. Planning and traveling independently gives more opportunity to account for everyone's tastes and ages and interests. But you'll need to consider whether anyone in your family has the time and interest to do the planning because it will take a good bit.
Just FYI, our itinerary went like this: four nights London; Eurostar to Belgium, three nights Brugges; train to Holland, three nights Haarlem (just outside Amsterdam); train to Frankfurt, boat cruise on the Rhine, rent car and drive Romantic Road to Munich, staying along the way in Rottenburg; night train Munich to Paris, four nights Paris; Eurostar to London; Fly home.
