anica

Hello,

I will be taking a 2 week trip to Europe with my parents and my sister. The only child going will be my sister, who will be 15 at the time. We plan on going in two years and would like to begin planning now so we can come up with some sort of budget. Our main issue is deciding where we should visit. For the most part we are not too interested in visiting the UK for this particular trip, but all four of us have agreed to visit France.

Any comments, links, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

tonfromleiden

»Our main issue is deciding where we should visit.«
Don't get tempted »to see as much as possible«. If all of you want to visit France, why not limit yourself to France? A few days for Paris and surroundings, a few days castle hunting in the Loire region and a few days for the Provence, and you've got a wonderful trip. Everyday some interesting things to do, without senseless running around, spending half your time on transport and changing hotels.

sandralist

Not every 2 week trip that takes in more than one country is "senseless running around." Train connections in Europe are excellent, and many people visit more than one country in a way that is just as reasonably paced as visiting one. In fact, a lot of people go to France and exhaust themselves running around, trying to see cities and beaches and castles and stressing out driving.

People here will be able to help you more if you include more information:

1. what time of year you are going

2. do you prefer to avoid expensive destinations

3. are you considering renting a car?

4. Have you agreed where you want to go in France?

5. In general is your family enthusiastic in visiting museums and monuments of history, or would you prefer lots of beautiful places with outdoor activities and small villages?

tonfromleiden

My point is that you can have a wonderful, worthwhile trip with limiting oneself to one country or a region. It's not only much more relaxing, but gives also the opportunity to get a feeling for the place.

bilboburgler

good questions from Sandra, also do you have any diet limitations or religious needs

2 weeks would be fine for a light visit to France but you could equally look at a border region and visit either side of a border. It really depends on clarifying the questions above.

Oh yes, sleeping are you looking for 3 rooms or will 2 rooms do? Do you like to have a bathroom each with silk sheets and a butler or will the simple things in life do? I guess an idea of how you travel when in your home country would help.

sandralist

Sure, but you can also have wonderful worthwhile trip visiting more than one country or region -- and it is a matter of where you choose to go and individual personality. A lot of people pick one place to plop down and then spend HOURS dealing with public transport or in their cars doing "day trips" , and still other people spend their two weeks in places so overloaded with foreign tourists that the "feeling for the place" they get is how amazing it is that it's such a small world because they spend all their time bumping into people from Des Moines, Portland, Cleveland, Charlottesville, etc. A lot of people can't relax unless they rent a big apartment and a car and don't get too far out of their comfort zone. Other people take to travel like ducks to water and are not so easily rattled --- plus, they enjoy visiting great sights, they don't find it exhausting.

Two weeks is nice long time to either enjoy France and France alone or to experience at least some variety of cultures in Europe, depending on what the family wants to do. One way is not better than the other -- I know I won't convince you, but maybe others will benefit from having that emphasized.

Gretchen

Two weeks in France would be wonderful. Different areas of France are as enticing as a whole 'nother country!!
Time of year is nice to know.
Of France, Paris,Normandy, Provence, etc. Lots of possibilities.

sandralist

Post is tagged "France, Italy, Spain" and poster seems to have an interest in "Europe" so I really do think it would be wonderful to visit other countries beside France during the 2 weeks if that is their interest. Maybe few people here will be willing to help them in creating a wonderful trip, but no guarantee that a trip trying to see far-flug parts of France to create variety will be wonderful for these travelers.

But I think if they provide more information about basics -- like whether or not they want to rent a car -- people might back off this idea that the more wonderful trip means staying in France the whole time -- unless they jump on it and say: "Great plan for all of us!"

StCirq

You have two years to figure this out and only a vague notion of what you want to do, so the obvious thing is to start reading guidebooks and history books, pore over maps, and research websites of every place that interests you. Your request at present is too vague for anyone to be able to help you.

Excluding the UK still leaves you with a vast swath of territory to discover. Start narrowing it down, and include the 15-year-old in the planning. I don't see how anyone on a travel board could be of much help to you at this point.

janisj

IMO StCirq is 100% right. You have a LOT of time and really no ideas where you want to visit, what you want to see and do so the ONLY thing that makes sense right now is for the 4 of you to get a few guide books and see what calls to you.

You ask 15 different Fodorites where you should go and for how long and you'll get 37 different answers. So start by narrowing things down for yourselves and the we can help you refine/modify/maybe improve your plan.

But one thing -- do be realistic about your time. if you mean two weeks total (i.e. exactly 14 days) that will only net you 11.5 days free on the ground to see/do things after accounting for travel to/from Europe. And then travel within Europe will also eat up time so don't assume in 2 weeks you can visit 6 or 7 places.