patylunafe

We are going to Europe in July in a large group of 12 and are planning on hitting as much as we can, arriving in London and leaving from Madrid. I am looking for the best way to travel around, maybe finding a tour guide to drive us and show us around. Any suggestions? Does anybody knows a travel agency in London that would provide this service? Our plan is to spend 2 days in each place and must go to London, Paris, Milan (or somewhere in Italy) and Madrid.

HG001London

Hey there, congrats on your trip!


ok, i woud definitely recommend to spend more than 2 days in places, or you will find a third of your trip will be travel time. How long do you have.

London to Paris via eurostar seems like the obvious start point.

Have a great trip.

(im not sure how easy it will be to find the tour you wanted but if you do it will be very expensive...after a bit of research you will find you really dont need a guide...Europe is very very well connected transport wise)

HG001London

ooh and i would definitely swap milan for somewhere else...unless you are major keen on fashion or have a particular reason to go there, venice or verona would be much nicer in my honest opinion. Or cinque-terre on the costs in July would be nice and scenic (although there will be crowds)

jamikins

2 days in each place with that many people is likely to be very stressful! Dont underestimate how long it takes to move everyone from place to place (count at least 1/2 day wasted in transit for each move), logistics are going to be important. Especially hotels etc so be sure you reserve way in advance. I also highly recommend more than 2 full days (3 nights) in each place or you will spend a lot of time and money in transport rather than seeing Europe.

4 locations * 2 days = ?? hopefully you have more than 8 days because you do need to include transit and if you only have a week I would recommend 1 maybe 2 locations. To do 4 locations you really need at least 2+ weeks (preferably more).

London to Paris definitely take the Eurostar - book as soon as tickets are available (4 months out) www.eurostar.com You should then fly to Italy www.whichbudget.com will give you info on cheap airlines in Europe that do the route you choose. Be very careful about extra charges and VERY strict luggage rules.

You can take a ferry from Genoa to Barcelona, or fly.

cmeyer54

With a group that large, you may have to scale back on the number of stops. perhaps do london, take the train to Paris, then to the south of france and on to Barcelona and Madrid to fly home. While Italy is one of my favorites, I think logistically, it could be difficult this time. Agree that if you are determined to add in one italian stop, I would do Florence, Venice or Rome before Milan (but I do like Milan a lot!). Its just a matter or priorities. Look at renting a villa for your group, plan well in advance and please, try to spend more than 2 days in each spot. We've done a week in paris, a week in Barcelona, a week in Florence, Venice, etc and still feel like there is more to see and do. Two days will be frustrating unless your goal is to just check the box that you've been there.

StCirq

That sounds like a nightmare in the making. Even if there were only one or two of you, spending just 2 nights in various places with all of the logistics of traveling to the next place, it would be difficult and expensive. With 12 of you, it's close to insane.

You don't need a guide to get around Europe. You just need to read and plan carefully. Get out the maps and guidebooks and get on the internet.

Why Milan?

chevre

Do you all still want to talk with each other after this trip is over? Traveling with 12 people seems crazy to me, but may be your only option. Also...staying in one place for only 2 days is nuts too. As someone else has said you'll be eating up a tremendous amount of time just in traveling.It would be very helpful to know how many days in total your trip will be. If it's only about 8 - 10 days I would pick one or two cities max to see. First timers to Europe want to see it all. You need to plans a trip with the notion you'll be back. Your memories will be much kinder to you if you focus on one or two areas instead of trying to see it all in one trip, ESPECIALLY when 12 of you are traveling. The suggestion of a villa is a great one. You can rent large houses through out Europe that will accomodate the number of people you are traveling with. These rentals are economic, they are often located in small villages that give you an opporutniy to really get to know an area AND you can determine how luxe you want to go. You can hire a chef to come in and cook you all dinner nightly if you want. With a rented van you can explore a local region at your own pace. If I was going to France I'd choose a rental property in Provence. Italy? either Tuscany or Umbria. Spain? San Sebastian Area, Andalucia or down somehwere along the Med. Actually, as I write this I think the only way to do a trip like this is to rent a large home in an area that you can use as a base. Tuscany would be terrific! You'd have Florence, Sienna, Multipuciano, Lucca, and on and on near enough that you could see way more without having to manage a large group ever other day onto trains, planes and automobiles.

grandmere

Agree with all the others; why do a Hit and Run of 4 countries? With a group of 12, first-timers and all those cities--a disaster in the making, IMO! If you can pare down your itinerary, it sounds like a wonderful time; good luck with your planning! How great that you were able to get 12 family members to come aboard for this; I've only managed to get 5 of us over there at any one time.

janisj

If you actually mean 2 full days in each city --that entails 3 nights each. Do you have that much time??

I've take 13 people to the UK -- and it was great fun. But we spent 7 nights in London and 7 nights in rentals in the Cotswolds. And everyone wasn't connected at the hip 24/7. We had 4 rental cars while in the Cotswolds so folks could do various things. We didn't pack up and move every couple of days.

I would never EVER have tried to do a series of quick city visits w/ a group that size. That would be an absolute nightmare. Some of your cities are so far apart - you are talking a full day in transit. Just nutty w/ 12 people. Every additional body complicates logistics/takes more time.

If you are set on something like this -look for a tour company (but hopefully the group is all adults and there are no children)

I personally would not try to do this w/ a large group. You won't see much except planes/trains/buses/and hotel lobbies.

cferrb

The original question was "does anyone know a tour guide." Are you asking about a tour guide just in London or in each of those cities? I personally don't, but there are probably people here who can point you to tour guides in some of your stops.

patylunafe

Thank you very much for all responses. I will take it all under consideration, and yes, will concentrate to hit 3 places for now, probably London, Paris and Madrid. We will be there only 10 days, so it should be great!

CathyM

With only 10 days and a traveling partyof 12 I'd strongly suggest cutting this down to 2 locations. London, Paris & Madrid are 3 places you could easily spend a week in each. With a party of 12 you'll travel much slower and also you'll loose 1/2 day each time you move locations.

StCirq

Three is still too much with that many people. A hit-and-run trip with 12 is not fun. I think this must be your first visit. Would you take this group to New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta in that short a time? If so, go for it.

janisj

Absolutely - cut back to <B>two</B> destinations. And realize even that will still be awfully rushed for a big group.

Aduchamp1

I would add more places and set up one person at each station like a supply line on an Arctic explorations.

We know someone who did a trip like this and some of them still speak to one another.

Besides limiting you trip to two or three places:

1. Agree ahead of time, everyone need not go together to all the same places all the time.
2. It may be hard to find restaurants that will feed 12 at once.
3. Decide how drinks and food will be paid. There are always two or three who will drink as much as the other 9 or 10 put together and a couple who thinks every meal is their last.
4.Designate a payer for the day. That person gets money to pay for museums, meals, etc. That may you do not have stand up in a Paris cafe and ask, "Who had the egg salad?" to have everyone wait in line at museum.
5. Realize that moving 12 people will always take more time than 2 and within a city cabs may be out of the question and traveling at rush hour confusing.

And good luck.

Ackislander

I know we all prefer to be independent travelers, but for a group this size and this ambitious, I would seriously consider getting in touch with one of the companies that specializes in small group tours, Odysseys Unlimited is one that comes to mind, to see if they could manage this.

You probably would not need a tour conductor, just bookings, transfers and a local guide in each of the cities you visit. They have had superb local guides when we have used them.

annhig

i agree that getting a company to do the organisation for you would be a shrewd move on the part of the organiser of this group, especially if that's you - do you really want the responsibility if things go wrong/hotel rooms aren't as promised [or just aren't liked by some of your party] food isn't acceptable, etc.

you might just get away with doing this yourself/yourselves if you have two destinations; if more than that, a helping hand is going to be essential.

qwovadis

Might pare back for better experience.
London Paris Venice Madrid for me self-guiding
easyjet.com skyscanner.net booking.com for DIY
ricksteves.com good tips for you affordabletours.com viator.com good help also
Sorry for the sarcastic reception by some.
As a newbie with a group like this I did a Globus Tour out of
LON under $2K pp had a WONDERFUL time with my group at great value.

Good luck!

zeppole

You can actually find tours that are London-Paris-Madrid.

http://www.travel-contact.net/tours/en_mlp.html

zeppole

Another thought is to look for a 6-day organized tour of London and Paris, then go on your own to Madrid. Or Paris-Madrid and add London if you are all English speakers.

Try some Googling.