Help us choose our next destination - family trip to Europe
 

We need to start planning for either next summer or spring break in April trip with children ages 12 and 14. I know many of you hate these open-ended questions but Europe is so huge..I'd really like some family friendly destination suggestions. Have already taken the children to London/Bath/Cotwolds, Ireland, and Italy. What European country would you recommend next? Don't want to revisit these just yet.

I am afraid we need more. What do the children like and dislike. Food, scenery, activities, art, music, theatre ? Best idea is to ask them. More subtly, what is their life of the mind ? their fairy stories or styles of make-believe ? forests, dungeons, palaces, fair princesses, Martian invaders, Harry Potter ? Then, on earlier tours what went well or what badly ? Also, can you write to their teachers and ask what history they will be looking at next semester ? what places, what times ?<BR><BR>Quite another matter, does anybody speak any language other than English ? Even a titchy bit ?<BR><BR>Armed with these lines of thought we shall all enjoy having a go.<BR><BR>Welcome back to Europe<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London<BR>

The answer - - est bien &eacute;vident - - to me.<BR><BR>La belle France.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

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Greeke Isles, of course! Santorini! The Greeke Isles are family friendly, have beautiful beaches, culture, history and are very affordable. My parents used to take me there as a kid- and I loved it!

Paris, of course. Everyone should go to Paris once in their life.

Switzerland, of course! :)

we did a trip with our kids to paris and amsterdam. both cities have lots that would interest kids. amsterstam is a few hour train ride from paris. we also did italy and were thinking a southern spain & barcelona trip sometime in the future. this year we did a road trip through arizona (gave the US our business) which was great.

I agree with Richard......everyone must see Paris once in their lifetime....if possible. I'd definitely go with Paris and the surrounding area. You could also do day trips from Paris, such as Versailles.

You know what? All of the posters preceding me are right. All of the places they suggest are great. So here's a twist on an idea that might help you make a decision in concert with the kids:<BR><BR>Get each of them a guide book (Fodors, Frommers, Steves, Lonely Planet, etc.) on a single country in Europe. Obviously, the books wouldn't cover where they have already been. Give them a long-term homework assignment to study the books, exchange with each other and study again, then write a short paper on where they want to go and why. Let them do the research; let them do the homework. Then you structure your itinerary around their desires, and come back to this web site to ask more specific questions when you have narrowed down your objectives. I can guarantee that if you do, you and your husband will have the best vacation ever, and so will the kids.

Some random thoughts - <BR><BR>If April, SW France - Barcelona area or Provence; or (weather may be poopy but the tulips don't care) around the Queen's Birthday in the Netherlands;<BR><BR>If summer, rent a cottage in the Scottish Highlands (and/or, late in the summer, "do" the Edinburgh Festivals); farm holidays in Denmark or Sweden (plenty of English spoken); or consider the Norwegian coastal ferry with a layover in the arctic; or the Savoy - Lake Geneva areas of France/Switzerland (history, alps, cheese, etc.) Paris or Amsterdam would be good for them for a few days but I keep thinking those cities are really better suited to adults for extended visits. <BR><BR>I'd definitely try to coordinate my visit with some local events or festivals, even off-beat ones. The mother of all such lists is at What's On When, http://www.whatsonwhen.com/

Wayne has an excellent idea! Even younger kids can read and decide where to go and what to do once they get there. My 8 year old read children's books about Paris and picked one thing in each museum to look for. Visiting the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay were much more meaningful experiences to her than if she had arrived at the museums without any preparation.

If you have a 10-day or so trip, then the Dordogne Valley in France - lots of castles, fortified towns and abbeys, caves and grottoes, monkey forest, eagle sanctuary, horseback riding, canoeing...and you are in the Bordeaux wine region for vineyard tours and samplings...you are also within a drive to the Basque region (Pyrenees and the Atlantic coast like Biarritz) or the Loire Valley for castles still in one piece.

My recommendation is Germany. The children are old enough to understand history and Berlin is the history of the 20th century. Then, you have Bavaria with the mountains and castles and good cheer, the Fairy Tale Road, the Romantic Road, Munich, the Rhine with the Lorelei Rock. You can go to the seaside, be in the mountains, take in lush valleys, and enjoyed great food and friendly people.

Costa del Sol. My kids loved it. So much to do and see - Ronda, Granada, Gibraltar, Puerto Banus are all amazing. The people are very friendly. The food is great too.

Rhonda,<BR>You and your kids will have a great time wherever you go, so long as you break up the day with stuff the kids enjoy and stuff the parents enjoy. Since we go every other year to Europe with my kid (now 12) and last time -- 2000-- with our niece (now 17), and without detailing the Italian trip, since you've already been, here's my son's top picks:<BR>1994: Luzern, Switzerland; Paris<BR>1996: Neuschwanstein (sp?) Castle outside Munich; Paris<BR>1998: The beaches (all of them!) in the South of France -- he particularly liked the "free" beach in Cannes, one in San Tropez (forgot the name, but you need a car to get there, and it has a Tiki motif), and Pirate's beach in Juan Les Pins; Paris<BR>2000: Barcelona (anything Gaudi & the Picasso Museum, which has Picasso's works from the age of 9); Paris.<BR>As for my niece, any place where she could shop.<BR>There's a common thread here, isn't there?!<BR>We're going to Scandinavia this year, and my son wanted to fit in Paris in the trip.<BR>As the poster above me said, try to organize the trip so that it coincides with any local festivals. When going to France, we generally try to be there for Bastille Day, because there isn't a kid (at least not mine!) who doesn't like parades and fireworks. It becomes festive everywhere during the world cup finals (i.e. dancing in the streets when France won in 1998); also great fun during the Tours de France in July, if you can coordinate being in Paris at the end of the race.<BR>Hope this helps.<BR>

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ttt

My parents took my brother and me to Europe when we were 10 and 15. It was unforgettable. As a parent, I would think that you would want your children to experience a trip where they would learn something about history and culture, expand their worldview, eat good food, and have fun all at the same time. So if that's the case, I would highly recommend London and Paris? From London, you can do a lot of wonderful day trips, like Hampton Court. The British Museum is amazing. Take the chunnel to Paris, which is quite enjoyable, and then see the most beautiful city in the world, in my humble opinion. I'm sure you don't even have enough vacation time to exhaust all the possibilities in those two major cosmopolitan cities in just one trip. If your time is really limited, then just choose one of those cities. If I had to choose, I'd say Paris -- but you would be happy with either one.

My husband is Italian and out of our 38 year marriage, probably 8+ months of it have been spent in Italy visiting family and friends. I've loved every minute of it but 2 years ago we finally went someplace else...Paris for a week (before taking the train to Italy!!).<BR>I absolutely loved Paris. I thought it was exciting, clean, beautiful, romantic and, yes, even friendly!! (IF we had a waiter like the one in European Vacation, at least I was oblivious!!). I think your kids would enjoy it, too. I hope we make it back one day. Another week to see the things we didn't have time for would be perfect!