feyla

Hi all,

I am planning a 4 month round the world trip of a lifetime with my 12 year old son and would love any feedback and advice. I have roughed out an itinerary - i would rather just explore as we go, but since it will be summer holidays in Europe, it seems we need to book everything now! A little about us: We are from Australia, and are both vegetarians. We love exploring, and have no problems roughing it - in australia we usually camp. We want to see as much as we can while there, as getting back to Europe is not a small trip! Not including airfares, our budget is max of $1000 per week. 3 weeks in Israel, then 8 weeks through Europe, finishing with 3 weeks in Britain and Ireland before heading to USA and Mexico for last 4 weeks.

I need to decide wether to buy a select rail pass, or just individual train journeys.

We are planning to start our trip with 3 weeks in Israel, to visit family, in late June 2012.

I am thinking to fly to Mykonos around 8th July. 3 nights there then ferry to Athens for 3 or 4 nights. Then bus or train to Delphi for 2 nights, then bus to Patras to catch ferry to Bari, Italy.

In Italy I figure o catch train to Naples, and spend 3 nights there, with day trips to Pompeii and Vesuvius (my son is fascinated with volcanoes)

Then head to Rome, by train, for 3 or 4 nights. Then Florence for 3 nights, then Venice for 3 nights ( yes, the pattern is 3 nights! 1 day for traveling, 2 days for exploring each place!)

After this I am thinking about staying in Milan for 3 nights with day trip to Lake Como, is this possible? Or should we stay less in Milan and stay overnight in Como?

Train from there to either Nice or Cannes or something? Really want to see this area! Again, 3 nights here, then train to Barcelona around 5th august to spend a week with family.

From there I want to be in Paris on 16th August, so I figure to travel by train but stop somewhere nice on way for 3 days. By this time my son will be fed up with churches, museums etc. I would love something rural, and pretty and relaxing - with great cheese! (as vegetarians, the only real goody thing is the cheese, lol)

4 nights in Paris, then train to Calais (should we stay overnight here?) and then ferry to Dover, and onwards to London for about 4 nights.

3 weeks is not enough to see everything I want to in Britain/Ireland! I want to see Stonehenge, Bath, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and the lakes district! I don't know if we should go by train, r hire a car or campervan? Suggestions welcome

Then flying out from London to New York on 15th September.

I know this is squeezing a lot in, but I've been planning this trip for decades, and this is the maximum time we can get away for. It's not like my so. Would be willing to traipse through every museum and cathedral anyway, so I'm just going to have to see the top highlights in each place, and hopefully find things he will enjoy as well. As long as he gets his city boy screen time at night and on the train journeys, he will cope! As for me, I figure I'll get my down time on the trains as well - principle reason for not driving any of it!

Thanks in advance for advice

feyla

Jean

Your $1000/week budget covers food, lodging, transportation, entry fees, incidentals for two people??? I don't think that's realistic for most of the itinerary you're contemplating.

This isn't a trip I would enjoy, so I'll leave the discussion to others. But I'm curious as to when/how you plan to do laundry.

Heimdall

The Greek portion of your trip sounds okay. If the reason you picked Mykonos as your only island is for a base to see Delos, I can understand. However, it is one of the most expensive islands in Greece, and very busy in high season. Travelling with a 12 y.o., I would choose Naxos or Paros and take the one-day excursion to Delos/Mykonos.

feyla

Thanks Heimdall, I will look at those islands - Im not attached to Mykonos - I know almost nothing about any of the islands, just know we should see at least 1!

Thanks for your view point Jean. My son and I have done a number of road trips at this pace, though never in Europe! As to the money, this is excluding transportation, so just food, lodging and incidentals. Since we are vegetarian, we will probably do the majority of our eating from supermarkets, so food wont be a big part of the budget (and we have whole weeks with family in Israel, Spain and USA, to relax, do laundry, and not pay for accom etc)

I do appreciate the feedback

tarquin

Most people travel Paris to London on the Eurostar which takes just over 2 hours. Do you have a special reason to spend the night in Calais?

bilboburgler

just checking your $s are they US or Oz?

bilboburgler

You should find good italian vegi food even in restaurants without having to survive on pisa and pasta.

Uk you are coming in high season and you look like you want to get out of London (wise) I think a camper may be the solution, also you really don't want to be in the South East or south coast of UK in the middle of the olympics or paras-

You know to book flights, ferries and trains early to get the best prices? You may also want to look at discounters for ferries.

feyla

Hi Tarquin. Its mostly the romance of it - the books I grew up on always had travel from France to London by boat, with a glimpse of the white cliffs of Dover - not a fast train through a tunnel! I also figure it'll give me a glimpse of coastal France and England.

Hi Bilboburglar, they are pretty much the same thing these days, but in case the aussie dollar drops, Im about to send some money over to US. Im ready to book hotels etc in next couple of weeks, just gotta confirm family dates and flights (and thus the rest of itinerary). As to ferries - the Greece - Italy is free with Eurail, and I believe the Calais - Dover is discounted. But I'm not yet sold on the eurail pass! Can't buy any train/ferry this far out anyway - and thats a separate budget, I'll work it out closer to date, by which time my hotels, and thus dates, will be locked in.

For UK, Im now thinking train to Bath then Cardiff, then stay with family friend in North Wales, with hire car or camper. Not sure whether to head straight to Southern Ireland (without the hire vehicle), or drive north to Scotland and then across to Northern Ireland. No particular desire to spend time in South England or any cities. Aaargh, so many decisions!

Heimdall

There are lots of good vegetable dishes in Greece, so you will eat well there. Many tavernas welcome guests into the kitchen to choose their meals, more fun than ordering from the menu.

About the islands: since you have such wonderful beaches in Australia, I assume that won't be a priority on your trip. Naxos, along with its beaches, has a main town with a Venetian castle, small museum, some ancient sites, and interesting inland villages. That would be my choice for an island if I could choose only one.

Naxos has the advantage of being fairly close to Athens, and can be reached in five hours by ferry. It also has a small airport with one or two flights per day. That brings up another point: any Greek island with an airport is less than an hour from Athens, so that opens up other choices, e.g. Rhodes.

nona1

that works out to about £650 per week excluding transport so I think you'll be fine. Presumably you are looking at budget end accommodation.

Again flying or Eurostar are the best ways to get from Paris to London - unless you find a really cheap deal for trains/ferry and don't mind taking so much time. But usually the other options don't really cost more after you factor everything in, including food on ferry etc...

In the UK, you are right, you can't have much fun trying to cram everything into 3 weeks. It may be a small country but it's very 'packed' - both traffic-wise and with things to see. Cheapest way is to pick 3 areas and stay there, using public transport to get around the vicinity. Or you could hire a car and stay in hostels/camping barns/cheap B&Bs etc to keep within budget. I suppose a car and tent would also be an option for you? Wild camping isn't an option in much of the UK, you have to stay at sites, but it's still pretty cheap if you enjoy that.Camper vans are normally quite expensive to hire, plus then you have site fees, as in the UK you can't just pull over and sleep anywhere in them. I would suggest that with 3 weeks you pick only 2 of the countries of the UK and make the most of them.

qwovadis

www.eurocheapo.com www.backpackeurope.com good sites for you your budget quite tight budget hotels hostels best.Have done similar trips in the past usually just train like a local
hopping on regional trains works well everywhere.Pass is generally a rip off impossible to train enough to make money
many surcharges.For route I head south in early summer and
work my way north as things warm up.Always stay off beaches in
the south when things are blistering hot and chock a block.
Might stay flexible for best experience www.duinsure.com always wise a new volcano has started burping also financial
crisis in Europe right now.Happy Planning!

qwovadis

www.seat61.com best site for train usually fly my long legs booked in advance ryanair.com easyjet.com other econos.Not
as nice but great for budget www.eurolines.com

mariha2912

A few random notes:
I understand your son is used to fast paced road trips etc, but traveling for weeks/months is a different thing. Even for you. Do not overestimate your stamina. I would allow at least one or two "relaxing" days every 7-10 days of travel as a minimum.
Greece: (Have you find a flight from Israel straight to Mykonos, or you fly through Athens? )
I strongly advice adding 3-4 nights if possible, to take in one more island or mainland location in order to relax. Also coming all the way , I think Greece deserves a larger part of your itenerary. It is a personal call of course. Athens to Delphi there is no train. You have to take public bus. Then bus to Patras. Depending on bus shedules,time constrains etc you may have to alter your itenerary by one night here or there, so do not have everything set in stone on your itenerary (this is a general comment applying generaly, not only on this route). You can see related shedules here: http://www.ktel-fokidas.gr/?pages_id=4&lang=
I guess coming from Australia you are used to heat, but bear in mind that on July you may want to plan visiting outside areas/sites early morning and afternoon, while visiting airconditioned inside areas around noon or taking a very refreshing siesta.
I will let rest of your trip to others, but about your Ireland trip, depending on how long you'll spend there, you may want to fly in Shannon airport on the west which is a popular part of the country, making a loop either north taking in Northern Ireland and Belfast, either south taking in Killarney and Cork, before flying out of Dublin (do not cross out Dublin as some people tend to suggest, it is an interestign city!).

agent226

I agree with the others. traveling for longer periods of time is different. You don't want to burn out and miss out on sights because you've had enough of churches and ruins.

Sidny

I think this sounds like a lot of fun!! You say that you want to move fast and see a lot b/c Europe won't be a frequent destination, but you're missing most of central Europe. I would spend less time in Greece and Italy and experience Switzerland, Germany, and/or Austria, for example. I know most on this board recommend fewer destinations and more time in each, but I think your 3 night plan sounds pretty good. I would just hit only a couple of cities in Italy (Naples/Venice), rather than doing all the biggies.

If sticking with your current itinerary, I think the general wisdom (though someone please correct me), is that a pass isn't worthwhile in Italy due to high seat reservation fees.

mamcalice

I think your itinerary sounds wonderful, though a bit exhausting. I would change very little. While central Europe is well worth a visit I wouldn't try to add anything to your current itinerary. You can't see everything!

Perhaps cutting out the days in Milan and spending them in a more rural area such as Lake Como or Cinque Terre will give you a bit of a breather.

ParisAmsterdam

I'd avoid Mykonos in July and with a 12 year old. It's party central and will be jam packed.

Either spend more time on the mainland (Nafplion would be a good place to chill for a couple of days with sights like Mycenae, Tiryns and Epidaurus within easy reach) or pick another island.

PalenQ

For all that train travel investigate some kind of railpass - check out these fab IMO sites for lots of help planning the rail part of the trip - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. For schedules check out www.bahn.de - the official site of the German Railways with rail schedules for all European trains.

Take some overnight trains - your kid will love the experience and you can relocated over a large distance at night and save on a hotel cost to boot.

And my decades of incessant European railing makes me exhort folks on the trip of a lifetime to go first class on trains - so so much more relaxed in so many ways. Note that railpasses for folks over 25 only come in first class usually and that is a perk as compared to regular first class fares for the amount of travel you are doing they can be a great bargain.

charnees

You say your stays with relatives will allow down time and laundry. When are you doing laundry between Israel and England? that's weeks and weeks!!

Weadles

I agree with the others that you should skip Mykonos, which by the way, was my least favorite island. My kids, who are much older than yours, loved Naxos and Paros, which are more affordable, a bit quieter, and less enticing to party animals in the summer months.