Hi everyone,
I am planning a trip for July 2020 with my husband and two teen daughters (13 and 16). We have settled on a river cruise combined with some extra time on land. We have narrowed it down to two very different itineraries. One is a Paris to Normandy trip with stops in Caudebec, Rouen, Giverny, Normandy beaches and Paris. The other is a trip from Vienna to Nuremberg with stops in Krems, Melk, Linz, Passau, Regensburg. I understand that river cruises can have a lot of older folks on board...we have already discussed this and are all ok with that. My kids don't tend to hang out in "teen clubs" or with other kids when we travel much anyway. We generally go and do our own thing. The purpose of the cruise is just to keep the logistics simple and a little more relaxing. But I am trying to figure out which trip might be more exciting for them. I feel like picturesque towns will grow dull after a bit for them. I am leaning towards the French cruise because I think that Versailles, Rouen, Giverny might be more meaning ful to them (as they are familiar with Monet, Joan of Arc, World War II, etc.) Nuremberg sounds fascinating with its WWII significance, but I am not sure about the rest.
I would appreciate any thoughts you all might have.
Thanks very much in advance!
Lisa

Of course you could always ask the kids to do a touch of research and help you decide.

I have never been to those places in Austria, but I have the feeling that simply calling them 'picturesque towns' is selling them short, and there is some serious wow factor in those places. Plus the terrain is not so flat and that there are things to see along the banks of that cruise. The landscape around the Seine in Normandy is totally flat for miles. Plenty of interesting places to go and see, but not necessarily from a boat.

However, you do have a point that the D-Day sites hold particular interest, and I have been to those places. Maybe save them for a non-cruise vacation?

If the shore part of going through the 'boucles de la Seine' does not include an excursion to Abbaye de Jumieges, for example, then you might be missing many of the highlights of that region.

My opinion is, that you should solicit the kids' opinions. Involve them in research of those towns/areas. Consider it an extension of schooling (do they still teach world history in high school?)

Separate from that, the Normandy trip would probably be better for teens, particularly to reinforce their knowledge of WW2. It's one thing to read that the GIs had to go thru a hedge once they landed, it's quite another to see how big and thick that hedge was. Likewise the beach and cliff. And Giverny would put Monet in excellent perspective.

Yes, Krems and Linz are pretty towns, but in one's memory they fuzzily meld together. Yes, Melk was a beautiful abbey, but that's one hour out of a week or more. Yes, the church in Passau is big, and has a marvelous organ, and 3 rivers come together, but our best memory of the town was a humoungous schnitzel (14" diameter) we had in a restaurant.

I am not at all sure that teen girls would be fascinated by a river cruise, even though you stop somewhere every day unless there are some really major highlights along the way and not just 'picturesque.'

You might also want to check the recent service history of these cruise routes. With climate change over the past few years, quite a few river cruises have been blocked by low water levels or else forced to skip certain places because of high water levels. Nothing is stable anymore.

I would opt for the French cruise as well, mainly because I suspect you and your girls will enjoy Paris more than Vienna. Do you plan to bracket the cruise with additional days before and/or after the cruise?

While I haven't been on a river cruise on the Danube, I've been to most of the towns listed as ports of call, and while they can be quite picturesque, my overall sense is that they're more museum pieces compared to the French ports. Maybe just my bias, take it for what it's worth.

Thank you for your input and opinions! I do agree that it would be great if my girls would do their own research and come back with an opinion. But, I am afraid I have not done a good job at teaching them how to do that. I love to plan trips for my family and that has landed me the job pretty much 100%. What I usually do is research things and then go back to the rest of the family and get their opinions. At this point my primary goal is to inspire a love of travel and exploration. Maybe one of these days I can work on the love of trip planning.

But I gather from most of your responses that you think the French ports might have more of a "wow" factor, which is what I am going for. They do still teach world history in high school, and my 16 year old is in World History 2 right now...so I am hoping that she will really get a lot out of this. And I thought perhaps there are movies we can enjoy as a family about some of the ports in France ahead of time. But I wanted to make sure my own bias wasn't creeping in and causing me to ignore the amazing sites on the other route. In my preliminary research I didn't come across tons of exciting things to see in those town. But I thought perhaps I was being too hasty.

Thank you for the suggestion about checking history of water levels along those routes. I had not thought of that. And the thoughts on the landscape along the route are something to ponder as well.

If we were to go on the French cruise, does anyone have any suggestions for what might make an interesting land trip either before or after? I think we might be able to scrounge up 7-10 days on land.
Thank you again!

What would be the approximate dates for the 7-10 days land portion? It might make a difference if it is early July versus early August for instance in the places I would suggest.

I assume the cruise starts and ends in Paris? If so, have you and your kids spent time in Paris at all before? If not then I would suggest at least part of those days include time there. If 10 days is to long for you in Paris you could take 4-5 days of that and go to Bordeaux which is a great city for families because it is kind of like a "mini" Paris in scale (not in ambiance just to be clear) so it is a city where your teens could explore and shop a bit on their own using the tram or walking. It is only 2 hours now by tgv fast train. Other nice cities that aren't too hard to reach via TGV might be Lille (just over an hour), Strausbourg 2h30 minutes ride. We love Toulouse as well but it is a much longer ride, 5 hours plus.

I can be pretty flexible with the timing. Don't have flights book yet or anything. This piece could be added on either before or after the cruise (although I think I prefer to add it on first...to allow the cruise to be a bit of a "rest" with less running around). So, perhaps the earlier end of July?

The cruise does start and end in Paris, with one full day allocated to that city. I fully intend to see some sights in Paris, but I generally don't love spending lots of time in cities. Even though it is Paris and that's amazing, my family and I tend to get a little tired of them. It happened with London and I suspect it would happen with Paris too. So I would prefer to see the best sights and then get out into a smaller area. For instance, we didn't love London that much, but adored Edinburgh.

Not sure whether I would do a river cruise at all. Europe has experienced a lot of drought and rivers that used to be fed by glaciers are now rain rivers.

What cruise line are you taking?

Earlier in July would be better IMO for most areas I would suggest. I totally hear you in terms of not necessarily wanting to spend time in big cities-but I will tell you that London and Paris feel very different in terms of scale. Paris is much more village like and smaller in population-2.5 million compared to 8 million so I don't think it is as exhausting in general and it is smaller and easier to walk than the core part of London.

But that said, if you have 2-3 days in Paris and want to escape then the next question I have would be if you are willing to rent a car? If so then with with the remaining 5-8 days I would be tempted to take the tgv to Bordeaux, spend one night there and then rent a car from the train station in Bordeaux a go explore the Perigord/Dordogne area. Most people like to base in Sarlat and in early July that would still not be too crowded. It is super scenic with lots to do, great food and lots of activities.

If you don't want to rent a car for any of the trip then my top picks would be either Bordeaux (although I think a week there might be too long for just the city for most people) or Toulouse or Strasbourg. To compare them to a city like Edinburgh in size which has a population of around 550K people, Bordeaux has 957K people, Toulouse just over 1M and Strasbourg around 475K, but all of them have pretty accessible city core areas with great tram and/or bus metro systems making it easy to get around

The France cruise is with Avalon. The Vienna to Nuremberg is with U by Uniworld.

We are definitely open to renting a car.

I am intrigued by the idea of Strasbourg. From what I see of it online, it looks so different from some of the other areas we would be visiting. I will also check out Bordeaux and some of the other areas you mentioned.

Just another thought I had...is there anywhere that you would recommend in the French Alps, even as a part of the land "escape"? We live outside of Washington DC and in July it is HOT! I love the idea of going somewhere that isn't beachy. And I think the scenery would be quite different from what we are used to here. But I didn't know if that area is mostly for ski vacations and not too lively in the summer?

Thanks again.

At the beginning, I would have been leaning towards the French cruise without any doubt.
Just when OP mentioned that she was not really into the BIG cities, I was wondering if Paris was that much of an upside as others imagine (and as I would have imagined).

And I wonder if ease of travelling back to DC is an issue. Obviously, you can go anywhere from Paris. The question just remains, how will you go back to DC from some cute village in the Alps?
Most flights to North America leave in the AM hours. So you must probably add one day/ one night of travel from that Alpine village to the next international airport (overnight), to catch the flight back home from that airport next morning. That nearest airport does not have to be Paris again, though. An open-jaw connection (DC> Paris, Geneva, for example > DC) could be more convenient, travelwise.

If the Danube cruise was still on the table, I'd say that you could easily extent that from Nuremberg with a few days in Munich. Which has no "big city vibes" at all, and is also an easy hub for day trips by train. And which has a major international airport.

My favorite parts of seeing the D-Day sites are: Ouistreham (Museum of the Atlantic Wall), the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, driving through the hedgerows (seeking out the Corridor of Death, "couloir de la mort"), seeing the remains of the mulberries at Arromanches, and the Pointe du Hoc.

I also recommend seeing The Longest Day, which is very unusual for a war movie as it is episodic and highly anecdotal.

Look at Annecy in the Haute-Savoie area. Drop dead gorgeous, on a fabulously scenic big lake surrounded by the Alps, and easily within day-trip range from Geneva, Lausanne or even Montreux in Switzerland, or Chamonix/Mont Blanc in France..






Annecy is around a 4 hour train ride from Paris, or a 5+ hour drive (depending on where you start) but I'd probably think about just flying to Geneva - an hour and under US$100 one way, and getting a car there. The drive from GVA to Annecy is around 45 min. You could stay in the old town, or anywhere around the Lac d'Annecy, settle in and do day trips. You might even think about flying home from Geneva; there's a United nonstop daily.

I too am from DC. I spent a week in the Haute-Savoie in le Grand Bornand, a rare traditional village halfway in between Annecy and Chamonix. We were there for a cultural festival, Aux Bonheur des Momes (For the Kid's Happiness) which is in the summer. The festival is fantastic. The Alps are certainly different scenery, but without history. A traditional village is rare. Of all the places to go, it's probably my least favorite part of France no matter how pretty it is.

Cool weather can be found in Auvergne or also La Theirache. Auvergne is an ancient volcanic region in the center of France with verdant mountains punctuated by black lava outcroppings. The mountains (Les Puys) have had their tops blown off from volcanic activity and form distinctive bowls which you can hike to. it is a land of deep cultural traditions, imposing medieval castles, and farms. Le Puy en Velay is one of the most stunning towns in Europe.

La Theirache, near Belgium, is a micro-region of about 60 red brick and black slate roofed villages with fortified churches. Each one is unique and would make a good tour. The climate is markedly different from other part of France and has more in common with Belgian weather.

Strasbourg is most definitely worth a visit.

https://anyportinastorm.proboards.co...ptember?page=1

Also look at a few nights in Bruges, Belgium!

Just to let you know-my brother in law lives in Annecy and it can be very hot and humid in the summer-it might be cooler in the mountains but not really a guarantee, so take a look at weathers averages as you decide. And I would only go there or if I could get an open jaw flight back from somewhere easy like Geneva as mentioned. Alternatively you can get good connection to most places from Lyon and the tgv from Lyon to Paris is just under 2 hours now. Strasbourg and Bordeaux are also only 2 hour tgv rides so I would avoid picking up a car until you get to one of those places depending on where you are going to head-the drive is kind of long and boring to all those areas from Paris.

I would never take young teens on river cruise nor anyone under 60!
. They will not have as real an experience on board as they would staying in the towns and cities you plan to visit. Our kids and grandkids loved getting up in the morning and going to the patisseries in France. . Memories are made that way. Kids are sponges so give them a real experience. Stay in Paris more than three nights. Rent a car and head to Normandy, stopping at Giverney and Rouen, Honfleur. so easy. Stay overnight in some of them along the way to Bayeux. If you need more ( probably won’t) , add Brittany. Use Bayeux as your base for the WWII beaches, not just the American ones but include the British and Canadian beaches as well. The museum at the British beach is so interesting. Everything is very well marked along the roads. We stayed in an historic hotel,
Hotel Lion d’Or, in Bayeux. Family owned for generations with stories of WWII the owner will share with you.
excellent dining room. Make sure you visit the famous Bayeux Tapestry too, c.1066, story ofWilliam the Conqueror. Audio guide as you you walk along and view this long piece of woven art.
We didn’t care very much for the Danube River Cruise except for a few places, Budapest, Nuremberg. Passau.