momdivadawn

Help. 2 parents and 2 teen agers need all the advise we can get in planning our 1st Europian Vacation. London, Paris& Rome are the perferred cities. All under $5000 is the perferred budget. Travel dates are flexible from 6/25/06-8/30/06. Any takers? Thanx in advance.

wliwl

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34713095

Londonlover

You might want to tell us where you're travelling from, to give us an idea of the airfare costs as well as how many nights you want to stay in each city.

Personally, a European vacation for four people from North America in Summer 2006 all under $5000 is ..... not likely.

You might be able to do a week in Paris for 5 grand with airfare but for all three I don't think so.

janisj

4 people, 3 of the most expensive cities in Europe, summer travel, all for under $5000. Not likely - and I pride myself on traveling on a budget.

Does your $5000 include your airline tix? If so, then it is nearly impossible. Even IF you could get R-T tickets for $700, that is more than 1/2 of your full budget. (don't know where you are flying from - could easily cost twice that much).

If your $5000 is plus airfare - then it <i>might</i> be possible. But even w/ rooms at &euro;100 or &pound;100 (which is very cheap for quads), 2 weeks of accomodations would equal $1500 to $2500.

That doesn't leave you much money for travel between cities, food, sightseeing, public transport, etc. You are talking about $150-$175 for 12 meals per day plus all other expenses.

IF you cut back to just 1 and for only 7 days then there are a lot more possibilities.

StCirq

Ummmm... do you plan to travel the entire time from June 25 to August 30? For under $5000? If so, you must be joking.

Or are those the general dates within which you can plan a vacation? You need to give lots more information on what you like to do, plan to do, etc., before we can advise.

But generally speaking, $5000 won't get you far for a family of four in three major cities of Europe unless you plan really, really well. It CAN be done (in a trip of about 2 weeks), but it won't be easy.

janisj

oops - the end of my post should read &quot;IF you cut back to just 1 <b>or 2 cities</b> and for only 7+ days then there are a lot more possibilities.&quot;

bardo1

mdd,

I'll first say that your budget rules out London (except perhaps as a day trip from Paris). London is the 2nd most expensive city in the world (behind Tokyo) and your trip dates fall within the most expemsive time to go. Even though flights to London are usually $30-$50 cheaper than Paris and $200 cheaper than flying to Rome.

Rome is more expensive than Paris for: airfare, lodging, and meals.

Therefore, realistically, I think your best bet is a one week apt. rental in Paris (the least expensive of your three cities). You can squeeze in just under $5000 total, even if you are in the midwest or on the west coast.

Robespierre

With the $5000 constraint, I think one city is about all you should plan on. The only slack I can think of would be flying in and out of London (which tends to be the cheapest place for air), and spending every night in Paris but one. If you can get the lowest Eurostar fares to line up with your flight dates, that would be cheaper than flying in and out of Paris and day tripping to London.

You could see some of London the day you land, then take the last train to Paris. The day before you fly back, get the first train to London and spend a full day sightseeing.

This route avoids most of the expense of sleeping and eating in London while taking advantage of the airfare differential.

nytraveler

Without knowing if the $5000 includes airfare (I really hope not) it's hard to give andy reasonable recos.

But - for any super budget travelers - esp with kids - you're better staying in one place, renting an apartment so you can do most of your own cooking (this budget won;t allow for much eating out) and doing a lot of research on which attractions are free - or free on certain days.

If you can clarify air fare inclusion - and how long a vacation you plan to take maybe we can help more

But - as a first step I suggest doing a really detailed budget - including looking at the web sites of some of the places you want to visit - to get a feel for entrance fees, local transport fares etc.

WillTravel

We don't know where the family is leaving from. But assuming airfare of $800 USD per person, that leaves $1800 USD total for European transportation, lodging, food, and attractions. That is about 1500 Euros. A very budget-oriented figure is 50 Euros/person/day in Western Europe, and I'm not sure I can even recommend that. But presuming you do go for that, that's 200 Euros per day. Robespierre's plan sounds like it would work, but maybe you could squeeze out 2 nights in London and 7 nights in Paris. (If you use Priceline in London, and otherwise keep your costs low, you could split the days evenly or whatever. If you got a Paris apartment, maybe your costs in Paris could be low, etc.)

If you want to do all three cities, think reasonably about the transport costs (budget airlines would help - see www.whichbudget.com ) and so would upping your budget. Think self-catering and hostels if you want to get anywhere near your preferred figure.

momdivadawn

Sorry for the vagueness. The specifics are...flying out of New York City and traveling aproximately 10 days in total during the summer(I know this is the most expensive time). The air to &amp; from London will probably be $1200 for 4. That leaves $3800 for shuffling to Paris &amp; Rome and meals and attractions. How icky are hostels? And how expensive would it be to rent apt. in Paris? I am a babe in the woods. I haven,t been to Europe for 20 years and then only ventured to London &amp; Amsterdam. Hey if anyone needs NYC advise, I'm your girl!!! Thank you so much for all your valuable brainstorming!

Robespierre

<b>Correction:</b> The air to &amp; from London will probably be <font color="red">$3000</font> for 4. That leaves <font color="blue">$2000</font> for shuffling to Paris &amp; Rome and meals and attractions.

You need to cut the 10-day plan down to something like a week, and you must add &quot;lodging&quot; to your short list of expenses.

Therese

Agree, air fare to Europe in summer will set you back at least $3000 for the family.

And also agree that the best way to stay even remotely close to your budget is to rent an apartment. A hostel will not be nearly so convenient or so pleasant. Staying in one place will not not only be more economical but actually result in a much more pleasant trip.

I'd go for Paris. Apartment rental prices vary by size, location, etc. By getting one that's a little bit less central you'll save lots of money and also have less expensive dining and markets nearby. Paris is not huge and is very well-served by the metro, so it's not nearly so big a deal to right in the middle of things (and can actually be a nice respite from the crowds, especially in summer).

Lots of threads here on apartment rentals in Paris. Just plug your search parameters in to the box and get reading. Googling &quot;Paris apartment&quot; will also get you lots of hits. Slowtrav.com lists reviews of individual properties as well.

WillTravel

One possible difficulty with choosing Paris for this plan is that you will likely want air conditioning for the summer months and most apartments, particularly budget apartments, are not air conditioned. (Neither are hostels nor most budget hotels in Paris.)

janisj

OK - momdivadawn - what do you know that the rest of us don't (or what are you leaving out of your info)? Where did you get the idea you could all fly that cheaply?

$1200 for 4 R-T tickets in summer?? That would mean the base fare (before taxes/fees) would be less than $200 each. Not very likely. (not even very likely in Jan/Feb BTW)

Maybe a reality check is in order here . . . .

bardo1

mdd,

Look at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/

&quot;6/25/06 and 30 days later&quot; is your least expensive 30 day window. I still think you need to look at &quot;about a week&quot;. Pick ONE city.

Once you have chosen a city and you have your actual dates and have a more realistic idea of airfare for the four of you in high season, then come back and people on this board will bend over backwards to help you and your family have the best vacation possible based on your remaining budget.

By the way, depending on where you fly in and out of, $3000 is the MINIMUM you will spend for airfare.

ira

Hi Mom,

A. You can't get 4 people to Europe for less than $2500

See www.kayak.com, www.faremax.com, www.mobissimo.com

B. 3 cities in 10 days is a trek, not a vacation.

I suggest one week in Paris.

The Picpus has been recommended on this site for budget travelers.

See http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75012lux.htm