2 adults and 2 kids (11 and 8) will be heading to Europe for 4-5 weeks. Below is our preliminary itinerary. We plan to travel mid June to mid July. Also need help with train/car rental ideas. Thanks!

Fly to Rome
Rome - 3 full days
Find a nice quiet hill town accessible by train - is this possible? - 4 days
Venice - 1 full day and overnight
Bavarian Alps/Munich side trip - 6 days, hopefully on a farm
Lucerne - 2 nights
Rust, Germany and Europa Park - 1 full day and night
Paris - 5 days
London and day trips - 5 days
Fly home to USA
= 28 days + travel between locations = 35 days total.

Thinking of using the train, but renting a car for the Germany portion.

You can easily travel by train in Italy (among other places). Orvieto is a nice town to visit and is about an hour by train from Rome but I probably wouldn't devote 4 days to it. Personally I would give it one or two nights and take the extra days for Venice. We traveled on the slower trains and asked to get the "amica" fare which can give you a break on the cost. The train from Orvieto to Venice is roughly 4 hours.

How are you getting from Germany to Paris and from Paris to London?

Once in Paris and London, the metro/underground is simple and easy to use.

If you use the search button, you should be able to pull up numerous threads on the subject.

Thanks.

I was thinking of a villa/farm type stay in Italy - someplace we could walk around the countryside a bit, maybe stroll into town - you know, like something I saw in a movie once!!

The plan is to rent a car once in Germany and drop it off in Offenburg before taking the train to Paris and then on to London.

I have been to Venice/Florence/Rome, but the family has not. I think you may be right about an extra day/night in Venice - it's a gem - a touristy gem - but a must see.

I agree. Venice needs more than one day. Check out the book Venice for Pleasure by JG Links for a different perspective on how to "tour" Venice. It may help take the "touristy edge" off.

As for Tuscany, I have been only once. We drove from FCO to Montisi a Tuscan Hill town as our a base of operations. You could find an agriturismo and with a car have the flexibility to do day trips. Check www.agriturismoitaly.it or www.agriturist.it for options. Best wishes and have fun planing

Good luck

Hi, a good place to stay is Anzio south of Rome This is a seaside place and the children can enjoy the beach after a day in a very busy city. takes about 45 mins on train and last October was about 6 euro return and a relaxing train ride to wind down also see the countryside and meet and chaat with the locals. Anzio is where in 1944 the American forces landed there to liberate the Italians and there is now a memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives on the beaches there.

I agree, more than one day in Venice and I also think, with the kids, they would enjoy more than one day at Europa Park.

For farm vacations in Germany, try
http://www.bauernhofurlaub.de/
or http://www.bauernhofurlaub.de/ for some ideas.
You may want to look for a place where you actually sleep in a barn in the hay!

Hi O,

I would add a day to Venice.

>Find a nice quiet hill town accessible by train - is this possible? - 4 days<

What will you do with 2 kids after the 2nd day?

I would add another day to Switzerland.

Enjoy your visit.

Great advice everyone!

Yes, we will add another day in Venice for sure. It's a good place for kids I think with no car traffic.

Maybe two days at Europa park is a good idea. We would then just stop for the night somewhere between the Bavarian Alps and Rust - any ideas? Meersburg? Tubingen? Switzerland may need to wait for the next trip

I was thinking Umbria or even another area like The Marches instead of Tuscany for a few nights. Opinions? I am trying to break up the City travel with time in the rural areas. My kids are fine with strolling around and drinking wine! Seriously, if we could find a place in Umbria with a pool, they would be in heaven for 4 days - but we would mix in some historic and gastronomic pursuits as well.

Anzio sounds interesting, I'll check it out!

Like most people, we will be doing this trip with an eye toward getting the most value for our money and spending as little as possible to have a great trip - we ain't Wall Street hedge fund managers!!! We are more in the Rick Steves mode of spend less and get closer to the people and simple pleasures of Europe!

Any ideas on lodging in Paris/London are appreciated!

Happy Easter and Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

I'd cut down on the moving around and driving and save Switzerland for another trip.

Somewhere along the Bodensee, like Meersburg, would be a good place to stop for the night. Then you can take the kids to feed the monkeys in Affenberg. http://affenberg-salem.de/

We are also a family of four spending June/July in some of the places you're visiting. I found this website helpful for the Germany part of our trip: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/

We're staying at a farm not far from Ludwig's castles in Bavaria. I started a blog about our trip - http://familyineurope.travellerspoint.com/

Hope that helps!

I thought you were taking the family to Mexico because Europe is too expensive.

This thread was before I started researching airfares/lodging/rail/car/exchange rates/etc for Europe. I switched to Mexico/Latin America after we realized we are not ready to drop 10k on a Europe trip, when we can do Mexico for less than half that. Of course, we could stay in Oregon for even half the Mexico fee. Hum....I do miss Europe though! I think I need to win the lottery or work for Goldman Sachs!

StCirq - you beat me to it. Perhaps the dollar to peso exchange rate isn't that good, after all!

You couldn't pay me enough to go to Mexico right now.

Umbria hotel with nice pool: Hotel Villa Paradiso in Passignano on Lago Trasimeno. Our spacious double, with breakfast cost $112 for the one night we stayed. Great restaurant in town, Il Pescatore.

The most attractive town in the area, in our opinion at least, is Orvieto. Hotel Duomo is the place to stay.

I´d rather stay in Oregon than go to Mexico, hehe..

"I´d rather stay in Oregon than go to Mexico, hehe.."

Me too . Given the choice I'd go back to Oregon over Mexico.