i need a tavel plan
 

Hi,
i'm planning a trip in 17 September and the return will be in 2 October. I am going with my family (8 members: 3 kids and 5 adults) (kids age: 8,11,13)
our arrival flight will be in Paris and the return flight too.
I want your suggestions for planning this trip Please.
and what do you think of visiting another city in Italy or Spain or any other suggestions ?
thank you..

You need to look at guidebooks and decide what interests you. Keep in mind that unless you are a professional guide, time is lost the more people travel together; 8 is more than I would want to handle generally.

Without knowing anything about you - interests, previous travel, budget, ages of the adults (any seniors) - and even why you decided to got o Paris practically impossible to help.

Do you already have lodging in Paris? If not it may well be very difficult finding a place for so many people to stay at such short notice (many hotels in Paris are quite small and are unlikely to have 4 rooms available). Also can be difficult getting flight to another city.

Do you want only cities? Countryside? Beaches? History? Art? Architecture? Fine dining? Cafe sitting? Clog dancing? Kite flying? Give us SOMETHING to work with.

Suggest you quickly look at some basic guide books or tour brochures - or destinations section above - and pick out a couple of places which would be must sees for your group.

So that's two weeks in Europe. You shouldn't have booked a RT Paris unless you just intended to stay in France, it really complicates things a lot as any logical agenda is now out the window if you have to return to Paris, plus wasted time and money. Especially for 8 people. I can't even think of a local agenda by train that won't involve backtracking, at least not to those countries. You could do Paris-eastern France/Alsace-Switzerland from there is gets tricky as to how to get to southern France or Italy and then back to Paris by train. It can be done, but it's not straightforward. It is easy to get from Geneva, Switzerland to Lyon France direct by train (only two hrs) and then you could stay or go south a bit to say Avignon or Provence. And it's easy to get back to Paris from Avignon.

Of course in two weeks, you could just stay in France, but if you don't have a real big interest in that, nothing else is that easy with 8 people (Germany, Italy or Spain).

Paris and London are a relatively easy combination as you can just take the Eurostar train from city center to city center. You can easily enjoy a week in each location as there is plenty to do and see. You could possibly manage a day trip or two as well.

Moving 8 people from one place to another is expensive and slightly difficult as you would likely either have to rent more than one car or take planes, trains or buses.

Where else is everyone interested in visiting? What plans have you already made?

Hi, you're right to limit yourself to about 2 destinations - for 15 days with such a large group...

Paris and Rome/Venice or Paris and Barcelona could be a nice trip.

From these 2 (max 3) cities you can do daytrips - like Versailles, Bruges, or a lot of chamring towns around Paris, and no doubt the same around Rome.

Happy travel.

I'd suggest just enjoying a few days out of the city, not far from Paris in one location, given the complications outlined in replies above. Rent a house in a smaller town, the Loire or maybe Burgundy, for a change of pace that's easy to get to. It could be in the middle of your stay with a return to Paris. Or at the end, go directly to the airport for departure, possibly the evening before and stay the last night nearby.

As already mentioned, the first thing you need to do is secure accommodations in Paris and elsewhere. September is still high season and a popular time to visit Paris, for those who don't have children. I take it your own children will not be attending school until they return in October.

With two weeks on the ground, you can easily tour around northern France by rail; Rouen, Caen, Reims, and even take a day trip to Dijon.

If you wanted to visit Barcelona, there is a high-speed rail between Paris and Barcelona, but you would have to set aside at least 5 days of your 14 to enjoy the city.

Member since August 2015.

Fodors is extremely helpful but not a travel agency.

We all start sometime, or in some cases, start over when the answers we receive the first time are humiliating.

'Member since August 2015.'

So ?

I started on Fodors in march 2015.
Maybe we can define a new rule : the newcomers should be greeted by peopled joining in the same year ?

mvg

THANK YOU so much for your good suggestions.
i decided what to do and where to go, and i am gonna try to write a report about my trip whenever i return.
thank you again...

As others have said, it depends on your interests. However, Paris, London, Brussels and Amsterdam are easy connections on the train. Consider a combination of those.

Hi! I have a similarly ambitious plan with our family - we have six adults & two kids, and we're going - ready for this? Milan to Venice to Rome - then getting on a seven-day Mediterranean cruise through Sicily, Amalfi Coast, Florence, Genoa, Toulon(Provence) and landing in Barcelona for a few days before flying home. (phew!) I lived in Germany for several years and always arrange our own "package" tours - however I do a significant amount of advance reading both online & through guidebooks to see what's feasible and recommended - I suggest you do the same? If you've selected your destinations already have a look at day trips & package tours that cover those locations and the sites they visit, then see if you can get your group to cover the same ground? (assuming it's a fun itinerary!) You'll be able to do it for less, and with the flexibility a package tour wouldn't give you - the best of both worlds. Have a ball - the planning is half the fun!

Off to Milan in three days......... :-)