shortyb_17

my family and another family (8 people in total) are going to Europe one summer. We were thinking of going to France and Germany with particular focus on Paris and Berlin. We also wanted to experience some other, safe parts of each country.

There will be 4 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 kids (4 and 7).

Does anyone have any ideas as to a proposed itinerary for that? We were looking at around 16 - 18 days.

What about transportaton? Would renting two cars be better or would taking the trains be better?

Also, we dont mind moving hotels within either country and we are looking for accomodation which is nice but not pricy and that has individual bathrooms for each room.

Thank you!

ira

Hi shorty,

You can find all of your other posts, and the responses, by clicking on your name.

TransitBuddie

I think I may have responded to you already. Driving from Paris to Berlin is okay if there are several stop overs on the way (at least from a teenager's point of view). From Paris to Berlin, I used to fly Lufthansa Deutsche AG, www.lufthansa.com (they're first class seats are really nice - we got those when they ran out of coach seats). Train is a bit hard because you have to take a night train (for children, it's like an adventure, for the adults, you don't get any sleep). Easyjet has flights from Paris CDG to Berlin Shoenefeld, which is accesible by S-Bahn to Charlottenburg, AlexanderPlatz, Tiergarten, Zoolischer Garten, and other central locations.

rex

Bringing your message back up "to the top"...

Hard to tell if you have seen any/many of the replies you have recived.

Best wishes,

Rex

Intrepid1

&quot;...<b> safe </b> parts of each country&quot; ?????

shortyb_17

when i say safe, I mean places that are populated and are appropriate for younger children of the ages mentioned.

rex

&lt;&lt;We were thinking of going to France and Germany with particular focus on Paris and Berlin.&gt;&gt;

&lt;&lt;places that are populated and are appropriate for younger children of the ages mentioned.&gt;&gt;

I am sure that I do not understand what this means. Every part of France and Germany meets these criteria - - except <i>perhaps</i> certain parts of Paris and Berlin!

RufusTFirefly

I don't think there's much problem finding populated areas in Europe.

traveldawg

If you do two cars take a good set of walkie talkies. My sister and her husband did this with friends a few years ago and it really helped them to stay together and not get separated in heavy traffic.

Go to BAVARIA. Great area to visit in Germany.

Robespierre

If you use walkie-talkies, be aware that the FMS and GPRS ones used in the U.S. interfere with the <i>Emergency</i> frequencies in Europe, and are <u>very</u> illegal. The adjective means that they don't accept &quot;tourist ignorance&quot; as an excuse. The fines will ruin your vacation.

Find some RS446 models and be a welcome American.

Robespierre

(F)amily (R)adio (S)ervice

Mimar

You need to get some guidebooks to help you figure out what you want to see. You won't want a car in the cities, but, between and out of cities, the transportation costs will be less with 2 cars vs. 8 train fares.

The children, especially the 4-year-old, will significantly affect your sightseeing choices. Does s/he still nap? In general, you'll be better off with a centrally located hotel or apartment, easy to get back to during the day. Generally with children I think it's better to stay longer in one place, not move so much. And, with kids, I like an apartment in the city, a gite in the country. However, an 8-person apartment in Paris or Berlin might be hard to find.

Almost all parts of Europe are safe. If you rent an apartment, take some care with its location, but, if it's central, there'll be no problem.