Spring break in Europe with two teenagers
 

Hello fellow travelers.

This question might be a little broad. II would like to spend spring break in Europe with my two teenage children. Would prefer to stay in one city, possibly with a short day trip or two. Have already visited Paris and Madrid with them. Considering London (worried that it will be very $$$) and Rome (wondering if I should save Rome for a longer, more comprehensive trip to Italy). Am I overlooking anything? (Of course, I am!) I traveled around Europe as a student in the 1990's, but the kids have not been anyplace except France and Spain.

Thank you for your suggestions.

hi khor,

when our "kids" were older teens, we went with them on a succession of weeks in Rome, florence and Venice. Each stay was about the right length for us; 6-7 nights in an apartment with one day trip in each place.

of the three, Rome was our favourite, then venice. we were glad we only had 6 nights in Florence, but that might just be us. Rome was also the cheapest, with, IMHO, the best food.

the advantage of doing just the week is that you are not tempted to cut down your time in the city - if you're doing a two week trip, the temptation is to cut the time in the city down, which can mean selling it short.

you won't run out of things to do in a week [or 6!] in Rome. you can always do a day trip or two - Ostia antica, Tivoli, Orvieto, even Pompeii, are doable on the train.

Thank you, annhig. Was there anything in particular your kids enjoyed while in Rome? Wondering what we can do when museum/cathedral fatigue sets in.

Was there anything in particular your kids enjoyed while in Rome? >>

what didn't they/we like?

im no particular order:

the colosseum [you can get a tour of the basement and upper layers at some times of the year but even if you don't, it's fabulous]

St. Peter's and the Dome [we didn't much go for the Vatican museums, but that might be because we got lost and went round the Egyptian mummies twice]

the scavi tour under St. Peter's [there is an age limit of 15 i think]

gelati

any number of churches [just walk in any one you happen to walk past and have a look]

galleria doria pamphilli [a wonderful collection of paintings, and hardly anyone there]

the food - everywhere

the Ghetto and the synagogue

gelati [did I already say that?]

going out in the morning to have breakfast in the same cafe every morning

walking around the centro storico

the markets,

sitting and having a drink - the spremuta d'arancia [freshly squeezed orange juice] is brilliant especially in the blood orange season - and watching Rome go past,

shopping [try the area called Monti, or the via coronari]

practising our italian [or not!] in the cafes, markets and shops

the odd day trip or two,

gelati...

and I'm sure that there is loads that I've missed out.

honestly, our two are NOT the sort to go to museums voluntarily, but we had no problem filling our weeks - one with both of them, and a 2nd with DS alone who was then 19.

Spring break implies a week. Exactly how many days will you have? Can you maybe squeeze in an extra one before or after?

When is your children's spring break? And where are you coming from? And how old are your teens?

Assuming this trip will be in March, Rome's a warmer destination. You can do daytrips. On the other hand, London has an awful lot to do, more in bad weather than does Rome. The bonus of it being English-speaking means the kids could do some on their own, and you could all go to plays at night. Now that I think about there are some good sidetrips from London, even in not-so-good weather. Like Oxford or Bath or York. For Bath or York you might want an overnight.

travelforkids.com/Funtodo/Italy/venice.htm
www.venice-tourism.com my teen son's fav also
www.ostia-antica.org Roma. Have fun!

I always thought that spring break was an event without parental control.

Did you there was another thread going on about kids on Rome? http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm

Rome or London would be great, but mostly I wanted to reassure you that London doesn't have to be expensive. There are lots of threads here about ways to save money. Also, in my experience, plane tickets to London tend to be cheaper than to the continent. This isn't to say that London would necessarily be a better choice than Rome or anywhere else, but don't rule it out solely because you're afraid it will be expensive.

Where do the kids want to go?

Mimar - We are coming from the Portand, OR, end of March, and thanks to budget cuts and furlough days, spring break is March 22-April 1. We would probably go for 9 days. Kids are 12 and 16. London is closer for us, but Rome would probably be sunnier. Being fromOR, sunny is good.

Any other ideas, or should I hash it out between the two?

Thanks, jent103 for reminding me that London doesn't have to be expensive. Like any major city, I suppose, wide variety of eateries and good bargains for museums, especially for kids.

Saw the post about Rome+cruise. Have never done a cruise

London's museums are mostly free for everyone, actually. Going to New York was rather a rude awakening for me - twenty dollars for a museum ticket seemed like a lot! The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's all have entry fees (unless you're going for a worship service), but the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate British, National Portrait Gallery, Victoria & Albert, Natural History... all free. West End theatre tickets tend to be cheaper than their Broadway equivalents as well. And yes, there are tons of restaurants at different price points.

Again, not to say London is the best choice for you (hard to tell that without knowing more about you and your interests), but there's a lot to do without spending a lot of money. Lodging will probably be a bit more expensive in London (though there are also tons of ways to find deals if you do a search here), but otherwise I haven't find it more expensive than Rome at all.

Food is cheaper in Italy than in London. Though in either case you could rent an apartment and do some take out or cooking in. With teenagers, it's nice to have the extra room.

If you choose Italy, you could fly into Venice, spend a few days there getting over jetlag, then take the train to Rome and fly home from there. Open jaws tickets (multi-city on the airline web sites) should cost about the same as round-trip. But there's plenty to do in Rome with excursions to fill 9 days.

I'm having a hard time thinking of alternatives to London and Rome. The weather in northern Europe will probably be not so good so for that you need a city with lots to do. Southern Europe is warmer but it's too early for the resort-like destinations. And I get the impression you are city-oriented.

One thought is the French Riviera and inland Provence, flying into Nice. But I'm not sure this would appeal so much to teenagers, at least not out of high season.

Altogether I think London and Rome very good choices.