Hi

I am taking a group of 10 students (13 yrs old) from NZ to France next year. We are planning a week long tour through the battlefields of Northern France (Arras, Les Quesnoy) and Flanders. We were going to hire a coach company and guide but it is too expensive and are looking at driving the students ourselves.

Is it feasible to rent a 15 seater van or must we rent two 9 seaters? Will driving and navigating be easy on European roads? - only one teacher (not me) speaks French. We are finishing our week with 2 days in Paris before we fly home to NZ - will there be parking available at backpackers and tourist attractions?

I would be grateful for any tips for this trip.

Thanks

Do you and your colleague have a driving licence that allows driving small buses - equivalent to EU licence class D1? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence
If no, renting two vehicles is inevitable.
Do the parents agree with your driving yourselves? How about insurance?

I can't help you with the van size thing, but as for speaking French. This isn't necessary for driving, but you definitely should learn what the basic road signs and words mean in France. Speaking French could come in handy if you have a problem and are separated and not in a main urban area, of course, but you don't need to speak French to drive, of course. Be sure to learn what the road signs are and what basic traffic words mean.

I also wonder about the legality of what you are doing, not just in terms of your license but whether parents would go for this idea, an amateur drive driving a huge van of students in a foreign country. How would that work in terms of insurance and your liability or your organization's liability, whatever that would be. If I were a parent, I would never allow such a thing because the school group thought it was too expensive to pay for a professional driver.

It sounds like you have not driven in Europe before. Some roads are very tiny, others, such as highways, are much easier to drive. However, I can't imagine trying to drive a large bus, or even large vans, of students. Why not, at least, hire a driver so you are free to manage the students and the site seeing?

If you mean in paris, No there will not be parking near any of the attractions or hostels.

It seems you are very inexperienced re tour groups, student travel or the legalities.

Trust me - even if it costs more, a driver/guide and furnished bus will be money WELL spent.

Or - use trains to get around and then arrange a private tour of the battlefields.

Hire a driver! The peace of mind will be well worth the cost.
There may even be tours already encompassing the specific areas you are interested in seeing.

Forget Parking in Paris - drop the vehicles when you get there.

I don;t know the licensing laws in France - but in many places anything except a large family van requires a special type of license. Also - there could be insurance issues - have you looked into that overall in terms of taking so many students - how many adults for you have for that many kids.

The areas you plan on visiting probably have a bunch of small local roads and you will need to do planning on where to stop/park the vehicles and also make sure the lodgings will have room for them.

Speaking French is not required but I would definitely spend the time between now and then - for teacher, parents and kids, to learn at least some basic conversational French - including how to read menus. (When we did Paris with our 11 and 14 year old Ds they were very happy to be able to use their French - esp ordering in restaurants.)

You asked for tips. One is that you should have temporary power of attorney/guardianship to take kids that age out of the country. You need that for any medical issues that may occur. One of my students got very, very sick and had to go to the hospital in Madrid. A student with another teacher was hospitalized in Paris. You are taking on a huge responsibility. Personally, I would use a student tour company to handle everything. It may be more expensive, but a whole lot less aggravation and safer for you. Certainly agree with those who say you should not be the driver for such a lot of driving.

One other tip. Unless these are students of military history, that is a lot of time touring battle fields. I took several trips with my HS students. They enjoyed seeing Paris (including Notre Dame, Eiffel Tour, the Louvre, Versailles, etc.) a few chateau, boat rides, trains, artists and eating new foods. One day of touring battle fields would have been "more" than enough for any of them. Just my experience with teens.