crellston

There is only one person "harassing" on this thread and it is not hetismij2.

"I have a Masters of Science degree, which included years of study in advanced statistics." Really? maybe a few days studying taoist philosophy would have been well spent. "The longest journeys begins with but a single step" Lao Tzu.


Anyway, the train is a very valid option. not only does it help to reduce carbon emissions, the check in process is simpler and way quicker, train stations are usually in city centres rather than mile away which can have a significant effect on the total travel time. an added bonus is that one gets to see some of the countryside along the way. Not for everyone, but definitely worth considering. Something I am in the midst of planning for a trip around Europe.

zebec

Hi OPLR,
You obviously have a wide range of choices and can't go wrong. Maybe involve your teens in this decision-making?
There are valid arguments for 'mix-it-up' just as there are for 'stay in one place' (London is perfect for that).
We based in London for 18 days this past summer and doubtlessly could've used more.

Personally however, I wouldn't try 3 bases. Not worth it, given your time frame.
Bon voyage.
I am done. the ned

laurarick

My husband and I are excited to be taking our 2 teens (14 & 16 yr old boys) to Europe for their 1st time! My husband and I haven't been abroad since before having kids, so we're "rusty" with regards to traveling! We arrive in London on 5/30/2023

We would greatly appreciate some suggestions and feedback! Our flights are booked. We will be in London 5/30 - 6/6 AM. We have a fairly good idea of what we're going to do in London, so I think that part is ok.

What I am seeking advice about is where to go on 6/6! We're undecided if we should just fly to Barcelona for the remainder of our trip, and then visit Barcelona and use it as a home base to explore the area and take several day trips. OR we could fly/train from London to somewhere else for maybe 2 (or 3 nights), and then go to Barcelona for the remainder of the trip.

Since we know we will be visiting 2 big cities, if we go somewhere else, we don't want it to be another big city. We'd rather it be somewhere smaller with European charm =) We saw pictures of Bruges which looks lovely, but the logistics of getting there from London is pretty circuitous, as well as then getting from there to Brussels in order to fly to Barcelona.

So we would love to hear suggestions from others for an alternative charming small-city stop for 2 (or 3) nights in between London and Barcelona. And we would also like input about, instead, just staying in London and Barcelona only, and doing day trips from Barcelona.

Our itinerary is:


Fly : red-eye Mon 5/29/2023 SFO--> overnight to London

Sleep Night 1: Tues 5/30 (ARRIVE London 2:10pm)

Sleep Night 2: Wed 5/31 London

Sleep Night 3: Thurs 6/1 London

Sleep Night 4: Fri 6/2 London

Sleep Night 5: Sat 6/3 London

Sleep Night 6: Sun 6/4 London

Sleep Night 7: Mon 6/5 London

Sleep Night 8: Tues 6/6 Am –check out at London---> ????fly Barcelona??

Sleep Night 9: Wed 6/7 ??Barcelona

Sleep Night 10: Thurs 6/8 ??Barcelona

Sleep Night 11: Fri 6/9 Barcelona

Sleep Night 12: Sat 6/10 Barcelona (visit Girona or Besalu? & Cadaques?)

Sleep Night 13: Sun 6/11 Barcelona(visit Stiges?)

Sleep Night 14: Mon 6/12 Barcelona

Sleep Night 15: Tues 6/13 Barcelona

Day 16: Wed 6/14 Barcelona----> home

lavandula

I agree that Bruges would be folly with your plans. Save it for a Netherlands and Belgium trip in the future.

Had you thought about day trips from London? Richmond or Cambridge or even Oxford?

Lavandula

VANAARLE

Just in case things are not repeated here is what was suggested after laurarick posted their original thoughts.
Ideas -- London, Barcelona and ?? 16 day trip

lavandula

Ah, I see someone has already suggested similar daytrips from London. laurarick, did you not want to continue with your original thread? It would reduce a lot of reduplicated suggestions. What answers are you looking for, if not the ones from your original thread?

Lavandula

laurarick

Forgive me! I'm relatively new to all of this! Should I end this thread and post on the original?

lavandula

Yes - perhaps you could copy your first post and paste into the old thread if it represents new information or a new request, and ask the moderators to shut down this thread. It can be confusing if you start a completely new thread unless you are so far off the original request that it makes sense to start a completely new thread.

I am sure people want to help!!

Lavandula

laurarick

Thank you Lavandula and Vanaarle. I posted this to the original thread. I'm unclear how to contact one of the moderators to shut down this thread... Sorry to bother you, but if either of you know, could you kindly tell me. Thank you!

FTOttawa

As already suggested, Girona is an obvious smaller city destination with so much history. It is worth a few nights as a base itself, not just a day trip, particularly if you would like cycling into the countryside on its “Via Verde”.

See if this trip report whets your appetite:
Girona - yesss!

janisj

No - ask theModerators to merge the two threads. That way all the comments will be in the same place.

See the small orange triangle? Click that and a dialog box opens where you can send a message to the moderators.

laurarick

Thank you janisj. I contacted the moderators!

Moderator1

We have merged your two threads

additional note: We also deleted one post that seems to be duplicated on both threads.

laurarick

Thank you FTOttawa for the Girona trip report! I was thinking of Girona as a day trip from Barcelona rather than as another home base, but that's definitely a possibility!!

I know several people have asked what our boys (14 and 16) are in to. In their day-to-day lives, their main passion is mountain biking, but (selfishly), that's not really how I want to spend time in Europe. It's actually hard for me to know what is going to appeal to them! I think small doses of museums and cathedrals will interest them, but I think they will enjoy a mixture of seeing/visiting places they have no idea exist, along with "fun" things like sight-seeing on a segway tour or doing something else novel (whatever that may be!)

Do you think there is enough to do in Girona to keep teens interested for 2 nights/3 days?

janisj

You aren't really counting things incorrectly. You'll spend part of the first day just traveling to Girona, and then you'll pack, check out and leave the 3rd morning. So 2 nights nets ONE full day, not three (plus a few hours the day you arrive). So yes, plenty to fill the one plus day you'll have.

bilboburgler

Girona is littered with safe cycle lanes in the city but then have loads of radial mountain trails leaving from the city centre. I would think going to what is a world mecca of cycling and not letting the kids have a go is kinda unfair (well you could just not tell them). I've cycled through the town but seen tours (shouting in American accents) racing by so I would think a day or half day thing might be possible you would need to contact Girona (pron Hirona) tourist info I guess.

FTOttawa

At 14 and 16, could they participate in a group or even self-guided ride without you? There are bike shops that offer rentals and guided tours, or rentals and informal group rides, both road and gravel. The stellar Bike Breaks we used has had to pivot away to a different business, but The Service Course and Eat Sleep Cycle both seem to get good reviews. Here’s an overview of group rides:

https://nafentmagazine.com/cycling-i...-surroundings/

Or, you can judge whether the Dali theatre museum or Besalu Museum or Miniatures would be of interest to you as a family.

KTtravel

What about spending more time on locations not too far from London? You could rent a car and visit a few places for a few days and then loop back to fly out to Barcelona. There are many places to choose from such as: Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Windsor, the Cotswolds, Oxford, etc.

shelemm

My standard advice for a 2 week trip is to rent a car for three days. Do that upon arriving by plane in Barcelona and visit the countryside and explore villages and the landscape. Catalonia is wonderful.

laurarick

I wish we could travel for a month (or more!!). There is such beauty in the world.

We are planning to do a day trip to Bath and Windsor from London (maybe Stonehenge), so that's on our agenda. My husband and I would love to visit the Cotswolds, but I don't think our teens would enjoy being in a car sight-seeing as much as we would.

I'm definitely adjusting/altering my thoughts with the help of everyone's suggestions! Right now I'm leaning towards extending the stay in the middle of the trip and using either Giorna or maybe Callela de Palafugel as a home base for 4 nights instead of 2, and then exploring Giorna and the Costa Brava beach towns. And I'll have the boys research about 1/2 day mountain biking in that area (my boys love mountain biking, but are not fond of road-biking). With 4 nights in one of those places as a home base, we would head to Barcelona (4 nights) on Sat 6/10 --> fly home Wed 6/14. I appreciate the continued input of the community to expand, adjust, or further refine my current thinking!