Traveling on a budget to Europe
Oct 21st, 2005 | 02:30 AM
#21
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 11,236
Likes: 1
April and weather: Bring raingear and warm clothes. It's not the best month to travel
Legoland: They are not open every day in April. Please check their opening days and times on their website. http://www.lego.com/legoland/billund...sp?locale=2057
Youth hostels: The hostels in Switzerland are very family friendly. Please book in advance if possible.
Why don't you visit Legoland and Europapark in Germany? They are just approx. one hour away from each other. Be careful of the opening times. They aren't open every day.
Legoland: They are not open every day in April. Please check their opening days and times on their website. http://www.lego.com/legoland/billund...sp?locale=2057
Youth hostels: The hostels in Switzerland are very family friendly. Please book in advance if possible.
Why don't you visit Legoland and Europapark in Germany? They are just approx. one hour away from each other. Be careful of the opening times. They aren't open every day.
Nov 28th, 2005 | 10:48 PM
#22
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
Hi Merlix,
Sounds like a fun trip! Since visiting France & Ireland w/ my 11 y.o. son, I recommend traveling with your kids to all the parents I know.
One thing I wish I had done differently tho, was slow down and see fewer places. My son SEEMED to be keeping up with the pace of travel but I realized later he was tired and overwhelmed. Most kids need more time to relax and adjust to changes than adults do. So for that reason, and budget, I agree with recommendations to prune your itinerary (rather than the number of weeks), i.e. Legoland's great, but choose one closer to other destinations and you'll minimize time and $ spent travelling between places. Otherwise intra-Europe travel could cost way more than the intercontinental flight. So my biggest piece of advice is do yourself and your family a favor and decide to halve your list of places to see this trip, and plan to go back anther time to see the other half.
An apt, gite (France), or agriturismo (Italy) will save tons of money, but you need to stay a minimum of a week in many of them; and an official gite in rural France costs maybe half the price of a commercial gite or apt. (See www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/)
Basing yourself for a week in one place is perfect with a family, and you'll find more than you can possibly do within a two hour drive of Venice, for instance. (According to viamichelin.com Venice to Maranello is 200 km, 2 hrs 36 min, and 21 euros in gas & tolls - stretching it but still a fine day trip.)
For excellent advice about relative cost and merits of car, different types of railpass, point-to-point rail tickets, flights between cities, or a combination of the above, contact Europe Through the Backdoor (see ricksteves.com)
Also check your library for books about traveling with kids - we got great ideas and advice from "Take Your Kids to Europe," by C. Harriman and other books. Some list kid-friendly sites your sons can look at too. It's fun to plan travel with kids, and it helps you prune the itinerary if you only choose places that they (and therefore you) will find fun & interesting.
Enjoy the planning and the trip, Kate
Sounds like a fun trip! Since visiting France & Ireland w/ my 11 y.o. son, I recommend traveling with your kids to all the parents I know.
One thing I wish I had done differently tho, was slow down and see fewer places. My son SEEMED to be keeping up with the pace of travel but I realized later he was tired and overwhelmed. Most kids need more time to relax and adjust to changes than adults do. So for that reason, and budget, I agree with recommendations to prune your itinerary (rather than the number of weeks), i.e. Legoland's great, but choose one closer to other destinations and you'll minimize time and $ spent travelling between places. Otherwise intra-Europe travel could cost way more than the intercontinental flight. So my biggest piece of advice is do yourself and your family a favor and decide to halve your list of places to see this trip, and plan to go back anther time to see the other half.
An apt, gite (France), or agriturismo (Italy) will save tons of money, but you need to stay a minimum of a week in many of them; and an official gite in rural France costs maybe half the price of a commercial gite or apt. (See www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/)
Basing yourself for a week in one place is perfect with a family, and you'll find more than you can possibly do within a two hour drive of Venice, for instance. (According to viamichelin.com Venice to Maranello is 200 km, 2 hrs 36 min, and 21 euros in gas & tolls - stretching it but still a fine day trip.)
For excellent advice about relative cost and merits of car, different types of railpass, point-to-point rail tickets, flights between cities, or a combination of the above, contact Europe Through the Backdoor (see ricksteves.com)
Also check your library for books about traveling with kids - we got great ideas and advice from "Take Your Kids to Europe," by C. Harriman and other books. Some list kid-friendly sites your sons can look at too. It's fun to plan travel with kids, and it helps you prune the itinerary if you only choose places that they (and therefore you) will find fun & interesting.
Enjoy the planning and the trip, Kate
Nov 29th, 2005 | 12:15 AM
#23
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,571
Likes: 0
You can manage lodging and food in Paris for $200 a day. Not easily and not in luxury, but not in hostels, and with more to eat than pizza.
The Hotel Cosmos, a pleasant, family run hotel in the 11th arrondissement has a quad room for 68 euros per night:
http://www.cosmos-hotel-paris.com
The Bar des Artisans, on rue de Montreuil in the 11th arrondissement has a three-course dinner menu for 9.80 euros.
These are rare bargains. There are others to be found.
The Hotel Cosmos, a pleasant, family run hotel in the 11th arrondissement has a quad room for 68 euros per night:
http://www.cosmos-hotel-paris.com
The Bar des Artisans, on rue de Montreuil in the 11th arrondissement has a three-course dinner menu for 9.80 euros.
These are rare bargains. There are others to be found.
Nov 29th, 2005 | 04:29 AM
#25
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hi all!
With respect to rail passes -- please make sure that there are no surcharges for certain trains. I have, in the past, purchased a rail pass, only to find that the direct, fast trains require a supplemental fee. When I did the math, it was cheaper to pay for each train ticket than it was to have a rail pass. You might want to look into the costs.
With respect to rail passes -- please make sure that there are no surcharges for certain trains. I have, in the past, purchased a rail pass, only to find that the direct, fast trains require a supplemental fee. When I did the math, it was cheaper to pay for each train ticket than it was to have a rail pass. You might want to look into the costs.
Nov 29th, 2005 | 04:58 AM
#26
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
I would skip switzerland, if I was you. It is one of the most expensive countries. I woudl say Denmark also. Anyway, 200 is a veeeery tight budget for so many people. Still, hope you will enjoy the trip.|I would also take a railway pass if I was you, because trains are the way to travel in Europe and in the end you will not regret it. Example, I travelled serbia-norway and back for 430 Euro. Especially with kids, it will be cheaper.
Tatjana
Tatjana
Nov 29th, 2005 | 07:14 AM
#28
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
While I think a budget of $200 a day for four people is a bit tight, I do not think it's impossible given that you say it excludes airfare and car rental. I did a 22 day trip (Germany, Austria, Italy and France) with my husband and two daughters a few years ago and our budget was a little higher but not much. So it can be done. The key is LOTS of research and planning to get the best prices for everything. A lot of people are suggesting that you cut the number of days to have more money per day. That's fine, but if you really want to go for three weeks, and you don't mind scrimping, then you CAN do it.
Airfare - be sure prices include taxes, which can run up to $150 per ticket. Many of the big search engines don't show total fees till you are about to book it. Also be sure to check airlines own sites as in recent years they have been as cheap or cheaper than the Orbitz type sites. I've been finding airfare from NY to France/Spain in March to be just about $500 so the areas you are talking about in April should be only a little more than that.
Transportation within Europe: I definitly found that for four people a car was far cheaper than trains or flying. Yes, gas is expensive but those tiny cars get great mileage. Pack light so you can get the smaller size cars. For three weeks there are some leasing deals that are suppossedly cheaper than straight rental. I've always used AutoEurope. Do be sure to check on drop fees if you want to drop in a different country than you pick up in. Sometimes it doesn't add much, but for some countries it can add a huge amount (hundreds). If that's the case see if you can't arrange your itinerary to pick up and drop in the same country. Be sure that country is not Italy as you can't use your credit card for the insurance in Italy (although you can certainly drive in Italy, you just can't pick up the car there or you'll have to buy the agency's insurance). We picked up in Germany, drove through Austria and Italy before dropping in France.
Hotels: With kids that age I would go for a quad room which will be much cheaper than two doubles. It will probably also be cheaper than an apartment since I've rarely found an apartment that worked out to be less than 150/a night and I was able to find quads closer to 100/night. The exception was Venice and Rome which ran 150/night (but that was in July so we wanted AC which did raise the price). You could also look into hostels which sometimes have rooms for four. However, I found even hostels worked out to at least 25-35 per person per night which is the same or maore than many hotels. This is where lots of internet research will pay off. There are bargains out there, they just take lots of time to find.
Food: This is where you can really save. Most people on vacation want to eat nice meals in actual restaurants. On your budget you won't be able to do that (often). We ate pizza, sandwiches, picnic food,etc for both lunch and dinner many days. But we like that kind of food and I would rather have more days eating pizza than fewer days eating nice restaurant meals. Only you know if this will be acceptable for you.
Admissions: as you said, there is lots of free stuff. Just being in Europe is wonderful. But since you are going that far and spending a large amount of money (even on a buedget) don't scrimp too much and miss out on some wonderful sites just because they charge admission.
You CAN do it.
Airfare - be sure prices include taxes, which can run up to $150 per ticket. Many of the big search engines don't show total fees till you are about to book it. Also be sure to check airlines own sites as in recent years they have been as cheap or cheaper than the Orbitz type sites. I've been finding airfare from NY to France/Spain in March to be just about $500 so the areas you are talking about in April should be only a little more than that.
Transportation within Europe: I definitly found that for four people a car was far cheaper than trains or flying. Yes, gas is expensive but those tiny cars get great mileage. Pack light so you can get the smaller size cars. For three weeks there are some leasing deals that are suppossedly cheaper than straight rental. I've always used AutoEurope. Do be sure to check on drop fees if you want to drop in a different country than you pick up in. Sometimes it doesn't add much, but for some countries it can add a huge amount (hundreds). If that's the case see if you can't arrange your itinerary to pick up and drop in the same country. Be sure that country is not Italy as you can't use your credit card for the insurance in Italy (although you can certainly drive in Italy, you just can't pick up the car there or you'll have to buy the agency's insurance). We picked up in Germany, drove through Austria and Italy before dropping in France.
Hotels: With kids that age I would go for a quad room which will be much cheaper than two doubles. It will probably also be cheaper than an apartment since I've rarely found an apartment that worked out to be less than 150/a night and I was able to find quads closer to 100/night. The exception was Venice and Rome which ran 150/night (but that was in July so we wanted AC which did raise the price). You could also look into hostels which sometimes have rooms for four. However, I found even hostels worked out to at least 25-35 per person per night which is the same or maore than many hotels. This is where lots of internet research will pay off. There are bargains out there, they just take lots of time to find.
Food: This is where you can really save. Most people on vacation want to eat nice meals in actual restaurants. On your budget you won't be able to do that (often). We ate pizza, sandwiches, picnic food,etc for both lunch and dinner many days. But we like that kind of food and I would rather have more days eating pizza than fewer days eating nice restaurant meals. Only you know if this will be acceptable for you.
Admissions: as you said, there is lots of free stuff. Just being in Europe is wonderful. But since you are going that far and spending a large amount of money (even on a buedget) don't scrimp too much and miss out on some wonderful sites just because they charge admission.
You CAN do it.
Nov 29th, 2005 | 07:37 AM
#29
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,260
Likes: 0
Re the transportation piece. I agree that you should research this VERY carefully and I would add that sometimes the versatile renatl car comes with a price..for parking!
I usually travel by rail BUT a car gives tremendous flexibility. I would still look at every railpass possibility especially if you can get one that allows all four to travel together and compare prices.
If you are ONLY using a car to get from one place to another I somehow doubt this will be cheaper than rail. If you are using a car for more than that then I would say it might be the better deal.
I usually travel by rail BUT a car gives tremendous flexibility. I would still look at every railpass possibility especially if you can get one that allows all four to travel together and compare prices.
If you are ONLY using a car to get from one place to another I somehow doubt this will be cheaper than rail. If you are using a car for more than that then I would say it might be the better deal.
Nov 29th, 2005 | 07:59 AM
#30
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,755
Likes: 0
..I think you have had a lot of good suggestions but I would like to addd a few more. I would pick 3 locations and do day trips..mix city with countryside. You will not need or want a car in the city (or for day trips) but the opposite is true in the country. Have you thought about a home exchange? This can save $$$$ and give you a real feeling for the country. It is also great to have the extra space on a long trip.
