Family Travel - London, Paris, Ireland
 

I am in the very early stages of planning a trip for my family (children ages 8 & 9) for July 2014... London (7 days), Paris (7 days), and Ireland (7 days). For a summer trip, when is the best time to purchase air travel? Late fall? And, what is the best/recommended route? I am considering Paris first because it will get warmer later in the summer. Any must-do side trips for children? Any suggestions for family travel relating to these destinations would be greatly appreciated!

I'd wait til after the first of the year - unless some airline breaks a sale in Nov/Dec.

>> am considering Paris first because it will get warmer later in the summer.<<

You are talking the height of summer - a few weeks one way or the other or the order of things won't make any difference. Or actually, it <i>might</i> make a difference but you won't know what sort til you are there. It could be hot, warm, cool, wet in any of those places and which week you are in which place really won't change that.

Count on it being wetter/cooler in Ireland and drier/warmer in Paris - but even that is not guaranteed.

You can often get temps in the 90s in Paris in July - there is no way I would count on it being cooler than that. I would be surprised to get that in Ireland.

You are doing basically the same trip I did with my husband and two young teenagers a few years ago. We loved it. 7 days in Paris and London seems like a lot - I would definitely give more of that time to Ireland. 5 days was enough for us in Paris as the kids want to be busy. We did all the tourist stuff, traveling to Versailles was a highlight, seine boatride, wandering the neighbours, all great
Tower of London was the highlight of London.
We landed in Dublin, we didn't spend any time there, and rented a car and headed to Kilkenny (this was a bit too long of a day). Stayed in a B&B there for 2 days. We loved it there. From there we did the Ring of Kerry. We never stayed anywhere for only 1 night. The kids loved going to pubs at night in all the small towns we stayed in. All the live music. We ended up 2 nights in Dingle. An absolutely fabulous holiday

ooops forgot to say - we went in July - Paris was hot hot hot, London bearable and Ireland was nice (a few overcast days.

Sounds like the makings of a nice trip. It's good to throw some non-city bits into the mix for a change of pace.

See if our trips are of any help:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...andparents.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ids-photos.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

I did pretty much the same trip in 2010 with my then 15 year old daughter. We traveled in mid-June, and visited the west coast of Ireland, London, Paris, and flew home from Brussels.

When it comes to booking airfare, there are a lot of factors to consider. For example, my original plan was to fly home from Paris, but it wound up costing me a lot less to fly home from Brussels, even after the train fair from Paris. As an added bonus, we really enjoyed our 1.5 days in Brussels, too :)

From my experience, time of year is less important for purchasing tickets than time before travel. That is peak travel season, so you will pay a premium over traveling in late fall, but if you spend a lot of time on Kayak.com testing various travel scenarios, you will find some options that fit your needs. Start looking now, but think of it more as "training" and planning. At about 120 days out from your travel dates, start to look very closely, and expect to buy around 90 days out. At least that was my experience in 2010. It seems like the airlines will publish prices they "hope" to get several months out, and then as they get a feel for actual demand, they will start to drop prices in order to fill planes. As planes fill up, prices will come back up. Your goal is to find that sweet spot in the market.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, some flexibility with your routing and exact travel days can really help. It seems like departing and returning in the middle of the week can help with prices. Again, use this time now to test different travel scenarios on Kayak to learn some of the patterns and be ready to act in early Spring.

I'm in a similar situation again this year, but this time taking the whole family (wife and I, all 4 kids 18, 16, 14, 11). We're still narrowing down our plans, but soon I'll start testing scenarios on Kayak and keeping a spreadsheet of possible flight options to watch for trends in pricing.

Regarding any advice, be prepared to have a LOT of fun. For me, traveling with my kids is my favorite thing to do. When in Ireland, renting a car might be a good plan, depending on where you want to visit. Be sure you can drive a stick! Don't over-plan, leave your days open to do something spontaneous. This is especially true in London and Paris. Show your kids some of the things they would be interested in seeing/doing, and be sure to involve them in the day's planning. Get to know the London Underground and Paris Metro, too.

<< 7 days in Paris and London seems like a lot >>

Seriously?

London is catnip for the halflings. What manner of hobbits - boys, girls, both? You'll get better suggestions that way. But 7 days in London, with a day trip or two based on the kids' or your interests, won't seem like a lot at all.

Would put Ireland (or Scotland 'twere us - we'd go Scotland over Ireland) at the beginning because all the hopping around will be tiring at the end of the trip. You are not likely to go to Ireland and stay in Dublin for more than a couple of nights because Dublin is not equivalent to London or Paris.

I also don't think a couple weeks is any predictable difference in how hot it may be in Paris, so I'd go with what works out best. It isn't steady that it gets hotter and hotter every week. In fact, August is statistically cooler than July, and you just can't plan that much about which week will be hotter.

As for airfare, in general, I would think booking in the early part of the year will probably work out best (ie, Jan-Feb). I doubt if the prior Fall would be, but if you see some fantastic fare, sure, book it.

We spent a week in London and a week in Paris when our kids were 10 and 13. I definitely did not think that a week was too much time, particularly if you do a daytrip or two. In Paris we went to Normandy for the day and in London we did a daytrip to Oxford/Stratford-on-Avon/Warwick Castle. There is so much to see in both these amazing cities!! Definitely look into renting apts in each city. It will be cheaper and give you more room. Sadly, we have not been to Ireland yet.

Here are links to my trip reports along with pictures:
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/2012/05/london/
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/2012/05/a-week-in-paris/

The itinerary and amount of time is perfect. A week is never enough for Paris. We are returning for our 3rd week next summer.

Daytrips to Versailles or Giverny are a nice way to get out of the city; although not the crowds.

London has so many things to do and much of it is free which makes the cost of accommodation a bit easier to take. My kids loved Hampton Court Palace home of King Henry VIII.

I would get a guidebook for each city to start reading about sites and transportation, etc. I use Rick Steves because they are easy to navigate and give good basic information.

Agree about the airfare. You may get a sale in November/December. Set up some fare alerts on sites like Kayak.

Good luck and have fun planning.

Thank you to all of you who shared your advice, experiences, and links! All of the information is extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. It gives me a lot to think about in this stage of planning.