QUICK ITINERARY
Aug 30th, 2004, 01:53 PM
#1
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QUICK ITINERARY
Hi,
I would like to have a quick itinerary for a family trip with 2 teens (12 & 15) for 20 days: england (london), france (paris)and rural, italy (venice, rome, florence, tuscany) and switzerland - with a rental car
staying in cheap, clean and safe accommodations.
I would like to have a quick itinerary for a family trip with 2 teens (12 & 15) for 20 days: england (london), france (paris)and rural, italy (venice, rome, florence, tuscany) and switzerland - with a rental car
staying in cheap, clean and safe accommodations.
Aug 30th, 2004, 02:03 PM
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First, I must say that you may be attempting to do too much in 20 days. I could see you doing london for 4-5 days, paris for 4-5 days and maybe Italy OR Switzerland for the remaining time but not both.
You are talking about at least 7 cities/areas in just 20 days. That's just not reasonable when you factor in travel time from place to place.
You are talking about at least 7 cities/areas in just 20 days. That's just not reasonable when you factor in travel time from place to place.
Aug 30th, 2004, 03:13 PM
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..whoa..please some more specifics. What time of year, family interests, previous travel, languages spoken ect!..agree with betty..appears far too busy unless you wnat a quick "bus tour" of europe as a first trip..in which case take a bus tour..would suggest speaking to your children and involve them in planning ect.
Aug 30th, 2004, 04:35 PM
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Well, I think a fun - - albeit whirlwind - - trip can be had, covering these destinations in this length of time. In fact, I did very much a "copy" of this plan with 11 teenagers in 1998 - - except that we had a few days in the south of France in place of your choice of Switzerland, and our whole trip was <i>shorter</i>!
But there is nothing "quick" about assembling an itinerary like this - - it's like asking "Can someone draft a quick blueprint for a 4 bedroom house, with x and y and z and q and r and s and..." for us?
Having said that, here is how we did it. I managed to do it for about $2800 per person (6 years ago, mind you), but you may have very different budget considerations.
Day 0 (Tue) - - fly to London
Day 1 (Wed) - - arrive London, highlights, stay there night 1
Day 2 (Thu) - - more London, stay there night 2
Day 3 (Fri) - - 4:30 am car(s)/driver(s) to Stansted for flight, 8 am to Milan, whirlwind visit to the Duomo, and some shopping, before picking up rental cars (3 for 13 people), drive onward to Venice, arrive there by nightfall for late dinner and gondola ride; night 3 there
Day 4 (Sat) - - half day in Venice (note: biggest mistake of the trip; this was NOT enough of even a "taste/glimpse" of Venice); depart early afternoon for our villa in Tuscany, one hour south of Florence; nights 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 there. Picked up a minimum of groceries en route to villa (another mistake; hard to find anything open on Sunday the next day).
Day 5 (Sun) - - "crash" day; time by the pool; some kids went to mass; drove around in the vicinity of Siena.
Day 6 (Mon) - - San Gimignano day
Day 7 (Tue) - - Florence day, and cooked out at the villa that evening
Day 8 (Wed) - - Rome day; left the villa at 4:45 am, driving to Rome to Papal audience, also saw Vatican Museums and Colosseum that day; almost pushed everyone too far that day; long day, very intense.
Day 9 (Thu) - - departed our villa, stopped for 3 hours in Pisa en route to San Remo on the Italian coast; night 9 there.
Day 10 (Fri) - - turned in our Italian rental cars; took the train from San Remo to Nice; picked up French rental cars, drove to Cavalaire sur Mer; night 10 there.
Day 11 (Sat) - - half day at the beach; drove onward to Montpellier, with a late afternoon picnic en route; flew from Montpellier to Paris; nights 11 and 12 there; Eiffel Tower and dinner that night.
Day 12 (Sun) Paris highlights: Arc de Triomphe; Notre Dame, Montmartre; portaits.
Day 13 (Mon) Musee d'Orsay and lunch there before flying CDG to Stansted; picked up rental cars there (2 minivans; very crowded for 13); drove onward to Windsor for the night; night 13 there.
Day 14 (Tue) full day in Windsor; night 14 there with "high tea" and theater that night, our last night in Europe.
Day 15 (Wed) flew home from Heathrow.
Keep in mind that for many of these kids this was the first trip to Europe (half have been back in the six year interim; a few have not); they ranged from ages 14 to 22 - - and they were all family (our 3 daughters, six cousins and 2 boyfriends). I insisted on trying to do less, but they <i>begged</i> to squeeze in Rome, and Pisa, and the Riviera. So I cobbled it together, the way I did. It was my first "group" trip of this size, and I have since done seven more group trips - - some almost this ambitious; most considerably less so.
I spent almost 8 months planning this. The trip was in early-mid June.
Maybe there will be something of interest or help to you to read this, or maybe the sheer insanity of it will hit you as you read what we did.
Best wishes,
Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana
But there is nothing "quick" about assembling an itinerary like this - - it's like asking "Can someone draft a quick blueprint for a 4 bedroom house, with x and y and z and q and r and s and..." for us?
Having said that, here is how we did it. I managed to do it for about $2800 per person (6 years ago, mind you), but you may have very different budget considerations.
Day 0 (Tue) - - fly to London
Day 1 (Wed) - - arrive London, highlights, stay there night 1
Day 2 (Thu) - - more London, stay there night 2
Day 3 (Fri) - - 4:30 am car(s)/driver(s) to Stansted for flight, 8 am to Milan, whirlwind visit to the Duomo, and some shopping, before picking up rental cars (3 for 13 people), drive onward to Venice, arrive there by nightfall for late dinner and gondola ride; night 3 there
Day 4 (Sat) - - half day in Venice (note: biggest mistake of the trip; this was NOT enough of even a "taste/glimpse" of Venice); depart early afternoon for our villa in Tuscany, one hour south of Florence; nights 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 there. Picked up a minimum of groceries en route to villa (another mistake; hard to find anything open on Sunday the next day).
Day 5 (Sun) - - "crash" day; time by the pool; some kids went to mass; drove around in the vicinity of Siena.
Day 6 (Mon) - - San Gimignano day
Day 7 (Tue) - - Florence day, and cooked out at the villa that evening
Day 8 (Wed) - - Rome day; left the villa at 4:45 am, driving to Rome to Papal audience, also saw Vatican Museums and Colosseum that day; almost pushed everyone too far that day; long day, very intense.
Day 9 (Thu) - - departed our villa, stopped for 3 hours in Pisa en route to San Remo on the Italian coast; night 9 there.
Day 10 (Fri) - - turned in our Italian rental cars; took the train from San Remo to Nice; picked up French rental cars, drove to Cavalaire sur Mer; night 10 there.
Day 11 (Sat) - - half day at the beach; drove onward to Montpellier, with a late afternoon picnic en route; flew from Montpellier to Paris; nights 11 and 12 there; Eiffel Tower and dinner that night.
Day 12 (Sun) Paris highlights: Arc de Triomphe; Notre Dame, Montmartre; portaits.
Day 13 (Mon) Musee d'Orsay and lunch there before flying CDG to Stansted; picked up rental cars there (2 minivans; very crowded for 13); drove onward to Windsor for the night; night 13 there.
Day 14 (Tue) full day in Windsor; night 14 there with "high tea" and theater that night, our last night in Europe.
Day 15 (Wed) flew home from Heathrow.
Keep in mind that for many of these kids this was the first trip to Europe (half have been back in the six year interim; a few have not); they ranged from ages 14 to 22 - - and they were all family (our 3 daughters, six cousins and 2 boyfriends). I insisted on trying to do less, but they <i>begged</i> to squeeze in Rome, and Pisa, and the Riviera. So I cobbled it together, the way I did. It was my first "group" trip of this size, and I have since done seven more group trips - - some almost this ambitious; most considerably less so.
I spent almost 8 months planning this. The trip was in early-mid June.
Maybe there will be something of interest or help to you to read this, or maybe the sheer insanity of it will hit you as you read what we did.
Best wishes,
Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana
Aug 31st, 2004, 09:45 AM
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Bringing your message back up "to the top", since it is your first post here ever...
Newcomers here are sometimes perplexed how that can be so readily determined. Just click on your name - - it brings up (all one) of your previous posts (just this one, for now).
Newcomers here are sometimes perplexed how that can be so readily determined. Just click on your name - - it brings up (all one) of your previous posts (just this one, for now).
