desertgirl

In a year and a half, my daughter will be going off to college and I would like to take a memorable family vacation this summer while we are all still living at home. Europe looks like a choice everyone in the family will agree to; what places can anyone recommend? We have two kids, 17 and 14, and are open to new ideas. Travel budget somewhere around $2-3,000/week, excluding airfare. Thanks,
Barb

risab

Do your daughters have any particular interests- history, art, fashion, cultures, or religion? Have they studied a European language? Have they expressed a specific country that they would like to visit...there are so many options it is good to narrow it down to what might appeal to your kids?
...Italy is a place I think is a wonderful and a country that I think is a marvelous place to first experience Europe because of the history, art, fashion, food, gelato, beauty, and wonderful people...fly into Venice for 2 nights- train to Florence for two nights- then to Rome for a week- with a day trip or a few days in thesouth (Sorrento - to Pompeii, the Amalfi coast, Naples and a ferry ride to Capri)...then there is Prague (another favorite place of mine). Or you could do England for a few days and then take the train to Paris for a few days.

cjacob

I would recommend Italy as well. My first trip to Europe with my family was to London which was great, the next to Paris and Amterdam whih I loved also and the third was 10 days in Italy.

Italy was by far the best trip. Each city has its own unique characteristics, the food, the fashion, the people, the architecture. I would do Venice (3 days), Florence (3 days, with a day trip to Pisa/Cinque Terre) and Rome (4 days). It's also a good mix between museums and just wondering around the city.

sallyjane3

Venice gets my enthusiastic vote.

nytraveler

With that budget I would be looking for somewhere either more off the beaten track - or less expensive than Italy.

Of course it depends on what your special interests are - but $2,000 per week is only $285 (around 230 euros) a day - very little for room, food, transport and sightseeing for 4 people. $3000 per week - $428 dollars or about 350 euros per day - is still pretty basic for 4 people. There are ways to save money - stay in convents, limit restaurant eating etc - but how modest are you willing to be? (For example, a coke will set you back at least $3 at any cafe.)

In Italy I think you would need to live very modestly indeed. You might do better in central or eastern europe - unless you're willing to do very modest hotels/hostels and a lot of supermarket eating.

I would vote for Prague, Budapest, Warsaw etc - to get more for your limited budget.

Another option is to spend a week in each place in a modest apartment and do most of your own cooking - but apartments for this summer are renting now - so you would need to move quickly to have any choice.

dutyfree

I don't know if your family has been to Europe before but I personally would not go to Prague,Krakow as a first time to Europe trip with teenagers.How long do you want to be away? London(and other parts of England),Paris(parts of France) or Italy would be where I would start if this is a first time trip to Europe.If you could fill us in as to what type of things you enjoy and languages that the kids have taken in school -I think that you will find alot of help.

margyb

I second the suggestion to stay in an apartment...especially with teens!

I would spend a week in Paris and a week in Amsterdam...each in an apartment. I find that if we stay for more than a few days, we really get to know the neighborhoods and surrounding area. The kids would be old enough to go off on their own a bit...which can give everyone a break from too much family "togetherness".

Another advantage to an apartment is that it will be much easier to keep within your budget. I always stock up the fridge with drinks, snacks and breakfast items...this saves a ton of money. Plus you'll have a lot more room than two hotel rooms.

Have a great trip!

Margy

craiginowensound

This past summer my family (wife and myself) and two girls (ages 12 and 16)took a 6 week trip to Europe. Our total spending was $21000 CAN, including flights and Eurail passes. You can follow your budget amount suggested if you plan well and carefully and keep your accommodation costs down.
The best thing I did to reduce costs was to purchase (this might be heresy on this site) the Rick Steves Europe guide. The suggestions re. accommodation in this book reduced our costs substantially. There are a wide variety of prices and qualities of places listed, but we researched all the suggested possibilities, and looked for places in the Rick Steves book with a web site listed.
We visited (in the following order) Munich, Berlin, Konstanz, Bern, Interlaken, Paris, Cinque Terre (highly recommended as a place to relax in the middle of a longer trip), Florence, Venice, Rome, Vienna (my personal favourite destination), Salzburg, Fussen, Bacharach (Rhine cruise), Rothenberg aub der Tauber, and finally, Munich before our return flight.
In the end, we made good (and relatively cheap)lodging choices and bought groceries when possible to keep food costs down. The biggest challenge re. costs was in Switzerland, where we stayed in hostels (family rooms), and cooked in the communal kitchens to keep costs lower. Our Swiss restaurant reality check came with a $45 family pizza in Bern -- the most reasonable item on the menu. We still managed to take the day trip up the Jungfraujoch, in spite of our budget constraints. You will find that you can have a once in a lifetime family vacation for a reasonable cost.
By the way, the Rick Steves tours you might find on his web site are likely too expensive for your budget. Do your own research, listen to people on this forum, and you will plan a super family vacation.
I can provide our list of accommodation, with related web sites, if you would like it.
Good luck with your travel planning.

SloJan

Start in Venice and explore the Friuli region, then head into Slovenia--do some adventure sports, hiking and go to the caves. Next, head to the coast and work your way South down through Croatia with a quick jump over to Plivitce. End in Dubrovnik (or even down into Montenegro where the pics look fascinating and beautiful).

Anyway, that's what I want to do next summer (minus the Italian part!)

Cheers,
Jan

wliwl

desertgirl:
We took that trip in June, to Paris and Rome. Son heading off to college, 16 year old still home. Your budget is a little low, our trip came to $12,000 including EVERYTHING, $4000 per week excluding all airfare. Here are links to my trip reports:

Paris:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34644730

Rome:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34645892

We had such a great time. It was truly a trip we will all cherish forever. Happy planning!

escargot

It would be nice to know where are you flying from/ east coast/ west coast - will you stay in pensions/ hostels/ camps/ would you drive for any part of it in a rented camper? Does family enjoy outdoors? architecture/ musuems ? theater? Is the budget set in stone, and you say it excludes airfare, but do you have a found figure for airfare? and you list budget of 2-3,000 a week is it for one week or for several? And as someone said, is your daughter likely to have a foreign language in college and if so go to that country her junior year abroad semester b/c if you know she is going to, you might all want to save whatever country that is for when she is there.


Those answers might help you get more

I'd love to say Italy, but I agree with nytraveler that the budget might restrict you there. We were in Prague and Budapest with our kids when they were late teen/early 20's and they loved it there, but without knowing some more, it's hard to say.

desertgirl

Wow--the response has been so quick; I just checked back and saw lots of suggestions and lots of questions. The budget can probably be adjusted upward if we shorten our stay or spend a week in London, where my sister lives. The kids have been to London once before so we were hoping for something a bit different. They have never been to Europe; my husband and I have been to Paris.

To answer other questions, we live in Arizona and my daughter is fluent in Spanish; the rest of us are not. My son, 14, really wants to see Italy and my daughter seems interested in Spain or Greece.

Thanks for all of the wonderful suggestions. I am trying to find a city that we can use our frequent flyer miles for as a starting location. Even 7 months out, there seem to be no milesaver flights available anywhere in Europe. That would free up the budget for lodging. Any recommended cities to try for easier frequent flier access?

dutyfree

Give us a clue which miles program you have so we could give you some suggestions? How long are you going to be gone?I think that you might be a little late for miles for airfare for the summer particularly since you are going at "high season" and need 4 seats.I think the last family vacation is a must but also want to stress that the "junior summer" is the perfect time to see all the colleges on your daughter's list before applications need to be mailed in.Most parents say they wished that they had done it the year before senior year as the stress gets quite high for all concerned.Quick note-in my personal opinion London is extremely expensive even if you are staying with your sister.)Can you go earlier in the summer? Could you do a week trip during their spring break?(sometimes cheaper hotel prices and less crowds)I think that you guys need to sit down as a family and everyone write down their top 2-4 cities that they would like to visit and why. Then narrow it down and go from there. You maybe surprised what everyone has on their wish list. We will all help you but you have to give us more to work with,okay?

desertgirl

Dutyfree:

Great advice! I had everyone write down their top three choices and got 9 different countries (diverse thinkers, we). Anyway, Italy shows up on three lists and Ireland shows up on two, as does Australia.

We have American Airlines frequent flier miles, enough for four milesaver tickets at 60,000 miles each. We could use a higher priced award and buy the other tickets. We are based in Tucson, so flights from here or Phoenix would work for us.

My daughter is interested in colleges in the pacific northwest, and she and I will probably travel there to see them sometime over the summer. (My daughter is pushing heavily for a latin american vacation, by the way. She spent last summer in Panama doing humanitarian work and wants to go back.)

An earlier summer vacation would work, but it would have to be shorter, as my daughter will be working until the middle of July.

Suki

desertgirl, we took our two girls of a similar age to Rome, Florence and Venice last year and to France a couple of years prior. They preferred Italy(although I really want to return to Paris!) You may be able to use your miles to get into another European city and then get a cheaper flight on Ryanair or a similar airline. If you can increase your budget to $3500 I think you can do Italy for a week.

dutyfree

Since American has such extensive Latin/South American routes,have you thought of going somewhere down there earlier in the summer for your miles? I have a feeling that you would be able to use your miles easier in getting there instead of Europe.How about Buenos Aires,Santigo or even a trip to Ecuador with a trip to the Galapagos Islands? South America would be cheaper too! My daughter did a college winter term in Ecuador this past year;took French and I thought would never be interested in that area. Wrong-loved everything about the region.It offers inexpensive hotels,easier airfare,shopping,history,outdoor things to do as a family and varied regions.Just a thought? Italy is fabulous but is also one of the most traveled countries and in the summer it really requires one to preplan months and months ahead of time in order to get the inexpensive hotels and milage deals. Let us know what you decide or what us we can help you with.

desertgirl

dutyfree:

With persistence and a creative American Airlines Advantage person on the phone, I have successfully booked a trip to Italy by flying through London on the way in and leaving through Dublin on the return flight. The reservations are good for two weeks, so I have a decision to make on the itinerary. The flight goes from Tucson to London through Dallas, and then a flight from London to Pisa the same day we arrive in London. This would be a LONG day of travel, but it does get us to Italy on the frequent flier miles we currently have.

We would get into Pisa on July 18, and fly out of Milan on August 1. The major places we would visit would be the Tuscany region, Rome and Venice.

Finally, We would fly from Milan to Dublin on Aug. 1 and back to the states on the 4th, giving us 2-3 days to visit Dublin.

After reviewing costs (and benefits) of the trip, I have revised my budget to abut $500/day, or $9-10,000 for the whole trip. This assumes I can find us a reasonably priced villa to rent in Tuscany that allows us to make some meals at home. Is this more realistic?

My question is whether this looks doable, and if so, how much time would you spend in Rome and Venice as opposed to Florence and the Tuscany region. Thanks again for your help.