BarbAnn

Several years ago we took our teen age son on a similar trip. We were gone about a month. Also did it in reverse. Flew into Zurich. Stayed 3 nights in Lucerne (visited Pilatus- there is a rope park on the way down to Kriens via gondolas), then on to the BO (we stayed in Wengen, but Grindelwald is fine). Lots of activities in the OB area for teens. We traveled on to Montreux on Lake Leman (Lake Geneva). From there you can visit Olympic Museum, Chillon Castle, Gruyeres (fantastic HR Giger Museum--man who designed the aliens for the movie Alien), Broc (chocolate factory). Also, from there you can visit Glacier 3000 (it is at 3000 meters altitude). Glacier 3000 has the the Peak Walk that is awesome. From there we went to Park via TVG. We spent 4 nights in Paris. One day was a trip to Disneyland Paris. I grew up in the shadow of the Matterhorn (Disneyland Anaheim) and Disneyland Paris was a very different adventure. Our son had a blast. Finished up in London for several days. Plenty to do in London.

I researched all the areas and gave our son a choice on several museums and activities. That helped him to become engaged in our travels. He also read up on the history of London and Paris with helped him to decide which museums or activities to choose.

Have a great trip to Europe.

KTtravel

You lose so much time (and money) taking a lot of transportation. Also, two nights in a location really only gives you one full day of sightseeing. I think your plan is too busy to be enjoyable. I would skip Avignon, Nice and Geneva on this trip if those aren't top priorities. You could fly non-stop from Paris on an inexpensive airline to Vienna or possibly take a night train. You could stay in Vienna 3 or 4 nights and then head to Switzerland.

Also, since you are flying from Australia (which is such a long haul) I would add another day or two to London. Those first days will be quite a blur with jet lag and acclimating to the new time zone.

neckervd

Now things become doable. But it's still a lot of train travel (at least 4 hrs door to door for each leg)l:
London - Paris: 2 1/2 hrs + 1 hr check in time + 1 hr for transfers hotel - railway station
Paris - Avignon 2 3/4 hrs + 1 hr for transfers hotel - railway station
Avignon - Geneva 3 3/4 hrs + 1/2 hr for transfer hotel - railway station
Geneva - Grindelwald 3 1/2 hrs via Bern (boring itinerary) resp 5 hrs 20 min via Golden Pass Express
Grindelwald - ZRH 3 hrs via Bern (boaring itineraqry) resp 4 hrs via Brunig - Lucerne

nyse

^^^“How do you intend do have library time? Does the reader want to just see the books or spend time actually reading some? I practically had to be dragged from the Library of Congress and the NY Public Library, but that is me.”

Good question from Travel_Nerd - OP says family doesn’t speak French……

janisj

The library bits are really going to be a 'London thing'. The British Library is a must -- the Treasures Gallery alone is worth an hour or two. Plus there have special exhibits (that sometimes require advance booking). The Reading Room at the British Museum is a must-see (it was the British Library before redevelopment -- the British Library is in a modern building just up the road from Pancras). Unfortunately - tours of the round Reading Room are only offered on Tuesdays.

aliviv

Thanks for your suggestions. I will definitely look into those places you mentioned.
wish our kids are into history (like I am!)
By the way which month did you travel? I am a bit concerned about the activities we can do if Grindelwald if the weather is bad.

aliviv

You are right …perhaps if we skip Avignon it could be like this:
train: london-Paris (stay 5 n)
air: Paris-nice (stay 3)
air: nice - geneva ( stay 2)
train: Geneva- Grindelwald ( stay 3)
train: Grindelwald-lucerne (stay 3n)
train: lucerne-Zurich airport (fly home late @22:00)

nyse

Oh yes, I see that now. I was conflating two statements in OP’s last paragraph.

aliviv

Oh I never thought of Vienna before but looking at the attractions, I am definitely considering it now.
Previously, I was thinking of doing a loop between Paris- Nice-Milan-Grindelwald but the train disruption made me plan the alternative route through Geneva instead.

Our destination is Grindelwald and Lucerne before flying out of Zurich.
The cities in between are added because:
- Avignon : half way between Paris and Nice
- Nice: I would like to take a side trip to Monaco
- Geneva: nice to Geneva by air is so cheap and Geneva to Grindelwald is more straightforward by train

I guess I could start looking at what to do in Vienna and change the itinerary like this:
paris-Vienna(air)
vienna-Zurich(air)
zurich-grindelwald
grindelwald-lucerne
lucerne-Zurich

as you can see, Geneva was added because I didn’t want to backtrack Zurich-Grindelwald-zurich…

shelemm

I don't care for Avignon or Nice, though certainly there are marvelous villages and landscape within striking distance which are stunning.

aliviv

You are right about the final destination is Grindelwald and Lucerne.
I thought there would be more to do in Geneva compared to Basel. I checked the airfare from nice to Geneva and it’s incredibly cheap hence more the reason to fly there.
thanks for the tip on Versailles. We will only do a day there because unfortunately our kids are not as interested in history and French gardens as much as we are.

aliviv

Yep, my thoughts as well. They are more like a base for us to do day trips.

StuDudley

When we stayed in Murren in the Jungfrau for 4 nights many years ago, it snowed one entire day. This was in late September. We never saw the Jungfrau peaks during the entire 4 days. We took the train to the top and did the lookout thing - and all we saw was white nothing. Very disappointing. Next day we headed to Interlaken and did laundry - good thing to do on a rainy/snowy day. On 2 prior trips we saw "white nothing" once, and beautiful mountains once. Bern is our favorite large city in Switzerland. Never been to Zurich & Basel.

You still have waaaaayyyy too much travel in your itinerary, IMO. We visit Europe at least 2-3 times every year on 3-5 week stays each trip. You might be visiting two of my "most over-rated" cities in Europe - Monaco & Geneva. Closely followed by Lucern (but the surroundings are OK) .

Stu Dudley

aliviv

For London, we plan to visit the landmarks, ie Big Ben, do some shopping, see a musical, go to at least one museum and the British library.
We did enjoy the NY public library, and library of congress, and felt didn’t have enough time there!
We are not definitely wanting to cover as much as we can in each city. It’s more like just getting a feel of the place to plan for a return, or not.
In the past we have travelled to the same city twice or even three times just because we like it so much. Europe is a fair distance from Oz so it’s a bit difficult to do multiple returns but with children, sight seeing isn’t as attractive as actually doing some physical activities 😁

StuDudley

My thoughts are just the opposite. Although Aix is our favorite large city in Provence, Avignon is a close second. We've spent 26 weeks in Provence. Four weeks just last year. And we will be in Nice for 9 nights a week from tomorrow. And then in the fabulous Nice Hinterland for 2 weeks after that.

bilboburgler

I think that adding Vienna is kind of going against the advice we are all trying to give you which is, you have TOO MUCH travel already. Honestly less is more and this trip will end up as a route march.

janisj

Big Ben isn't any more than a couple of minute 'walk-by'. You will see it from lots of viewpoints. What about some more important landmarks?? Little things like -- maybe the Tower of London? I cannot imagine taking kids to London without including the Tower - or Hampton Court Palace -- a major kid friendly place including historical characters, the Tudor kitchens, maze, etc. The British Museum (mummies and lots of other great family 'stuff')? The Natural History and/or next door Science Museum? Buskers in Covent Garden? The Warner Brothers Studio. The Eye. London Transport Museum. All you mention are Big Ben, shopping and the Library?

It does seem you are just dragging the kids around from place to place.

KTtravel

I suggested Vienna because you listed it in your original post and I thought it was a "must." If it is not, I would then recommend focusing on London, Paris and Switzerland. It seems you have 20 days? A week in London would really help your family recover from the flight and enjoy more of the highlights.

Travel_Nerd

KT, the OP clarified in post numbers 13-15 that listed Vienna as a mistake and meant Geneva. Also clarified that they will be landing in London from Dubai for 2 days and hopes it will assist with jetlag.

To the OP, you seem to be set on your days and destinations. Many have provided advice, which is what we understand you're looking for. I am getting the impression that you really just want to carry on as you originally planned; and, it does not seem as if any of us can change your mind. It's your trip, you do you.

janisj

Dubai to London is still an 8 hour/3 time zones flight -- so less jet lag than OZ > UK but not no jet lag for a lot of people . . .