Traveling to Europe Spring Break 2011

Old Jun 14th, 2010, 05:05 PM
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Traveling to Europe Spring Break 2011

Hi All,

I am planning a trip for my daughter (9-years-old) and I during her Spring Break next year, with an additional week taken off so we will have two weeks to see the sights (March 11-26, 2011). It will be the first trip to Europe for both of us. I know that we definitely want to spend time in London and Paris, but would like to add a 3rd (or 4th) city into the visit. What are your suggestions? Any suggested itineraries would be appreciated. I don't have an idea of how many days to devote to each city.

Thank you, thank you!
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 05:22 PM
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There are many options -- What sorts of things interest you?

One very easy way to do it is to do one week in each city - renting small apartments - spend most of your time in the cities but also do day trips to outlying areas.

From London - places like Bath or Oxford or Windsor
From Paris -- maybe Giverney or Chartres.

OR - you could spend 5 days in London, 5 days in Paris and 3+ days in one other town.
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 05:38 PM
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I would do as janisj suggested and only stay in London and Paris and do day trips from your base OR add one more destination at most. For the third base choose a smaller town or village to get a feel of something different than the flavor you will get from the big cities.
Ann Marie
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 06:17 PM
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Oh, I probably should have included our interests. I enjoys the arts and history... I would like to spend some time in museums and some time outside looking at all of the historic buildings. My daughter is very easy-going. She loves to learn... she was part of an Art History club at school so she is has a base knowledge of famous artists and paintings. She would appreciate and enjoy most experiences, but would probably most enjoy places where she has some established background knowledge. For instance, she has mentioned wanting to visit Pisa, Italy during our trip (Leaning Tower). Would it be too hectic to add a city in Italy as the third leg of the trip? Which city?
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 06:20 PM
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Oops... I enjoy... not I enjoys. : )
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Old Jun 14th, 2010, 10:40 PM
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It's possible to add Pisa--but then I'd advise you to center yourself in Italy.

Going back to your original idea, which sounded wonderful, you could create a really interesting trip for your daughter by doing a London, Amsterdam, Paris trip. They are not far apart, have excellent transportation between them, and each are VERY unique. The art in all of them would be right up her alley.

Although you could easily fly to London, then take Eurostar to Paris, and then take Thalys up to Amsterdam, what would be REALLY neat would be to...

...take the evening train from London, board the "Dutch Flyer" night ferry, and then wake up the next morning in Holland.

The site www.seat61.com maps this out beautifully. You would leave central London on an evening train, have a nice private cabin on the Hoek van Holland, and arrive next morning by train in Amsterdam. Here's that page link:

http://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm

There's a ton of info on that page, but you could quickly scroll down to "London to Amsterdam Without Flying" and read under that. He has alternative suggestions, but quite frankly, after reading it, I myself would LOVE to take this night trip. My girls would have adored it.

Trip timing:
Figure you have to add a bit extra time in London because you'll have a jet lag day there AND because everything tends to be a bit more spread out in London. I think five days would be wise.

Amsterdam is very non stressful whether or not you even walk into a museum, but I think your daughter would like the Van Gogh Museum, would possibly enjoy the Rikjsmuseum and would also be interested in Anne(sp?)Frank House. Everything in the town is central and easily accessed by tram or on foot. Three days there would be quite nice. Figure that you'll miss a few morning hours arrival day (ferry docks around 7:45 a.m. and then you'd be in Amsterdam Centraal train staion by 10:00 a.m.) and you'll need around four hours departure day to get to Paris. So you might want to figure 3.5 days there.

And then you just hop on the train at Amsterdam Centraal to Paris. Five days in Paris with possible day trips (Versailles) would work beautifully. Giverny does not open until April 1, if I recall correctly.

So if you did this basic itinerary, you'd book open jaw flights: arrive London and fly out of Paris.

Note: It's a shame the Keukenhof (think tulips!) gardens near Amsterdam don't open until March 24 in 2011. But I'm sure you and your daughter will then have an excuse to return some day.
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Old Jun 15th, 2010, 02:36 AM
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We have been dragging our daughter around for Spring Break vacations to Europe since she was 4 (she's 10 now). I think Italy has the most recognizable art/artifacts for kids. I would suggest Rome as a base with travel to Venice and Florence. March is usually great weather in Italy and no crowds.
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Old Jun 15th, 2010, 09:59 AM
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Thank you for your suggestions!!!

London, Paris, and Amsterdam sound nice... and closer together.

Part of me keeps looking at Rome as a third leg to the trip; however, London, Paris, and Rome seem like a lot of time will be taken up in travel (getting there, getting back).
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Old Jun 15th, 2010, 11:41 AM
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Kmt0778--You are so right: "legs" on the trip are crucial to best use of time. Keep telling yourself you'll come back, because you will.

To be fair, I don't want to discount a possible Florence (with Pisa), Venice and Rome itinerary.

It would not be wrong to ask your daughter to choose between:
Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Amsterdam canals and all their art
or
Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colleseum, and Venice canals and all their art.

At the same time, I must respectfully disagree with the statement that "I think Italy has the most recognizable art/artifacts for kids".

I took my girls to Paris (their first European trip) when the little one was in second grade and the older one was in sixth grade. They asked me to take their picture (no flash! ) beside every art work they had studied in school. Between the Louvre and d'Orsay, I easily took 30 such pictures.

When we went to Florence a year later, they requested the same type of picture. I only had to take seven.

There's a logical reason: Impressionists (d'Orsay) are often shown to elementary school kids because it's very accessible for them. It was amusing that when the girls went to London, they immediately responded to the Turners in the old Tate--they made the Monet connection right off the bat without any real knowledge.

I am not taking anything away from an experience in Florence (or Rome or Venice). Our little family grouped considered Florence to be our opportunity to learn art, and we feel very lucky to have spent an entire week there. But as great as my kids were about visiting every church and museum, they had so much more fun finding "their" paintings in Paris and later on, in their teenage years, in Holland.

So in summary, you are so wise to consider travel time, and I still feel it's OK to let her choose between London/Amsterdam/Paris or Florence, Venice, Rome.
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Old Jun 15th, 2010, 01:23 PM
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I would suggest Amsterdam, also, it makes the most sense logistically. And lots of good museums there, as well as cute wooden shoes, Anne Frank house, etc.
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Old Jun 15th, 2010, 03:38 PM
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Christina--I forgot! Thank you for reminding me about the wooden shoes...

Kmt0778P: A common gift for "lunch table" friends are key chains which of course they do not use for keys but instead hang on backpacks or whatever.

I forget what my kids bought in London, but I'm sure in Paris they bought little Eiffel tower key chains, and I know they bought little leaning towers for the Florence/Pisa trip. In Amsterdam, my youngest was able to find wooden (not plastic) shoe key chains in Amsterdam for a very reasonable price (near the flower market). Even her friend from Belgium loved them.

Of course, as a teen, the piece de resistance was the "wooden" shoe fluffy slippers she bought for her boyfriend back home. Again, a big hit.
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Old Jun 17th, 2010, 07:34 AM
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Thank you for your responses! We are going to London, Paris, and Amsterdam for the two weeks and will plan an Italy trip in the future!!!

AlessandraZoe-- The key chains are a wonderful idea!!! My daughter will enjoy bringing back items for her classmates.
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Old Jan 2nd, 2011, 03:15 PM
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Hi,
I did a similar trip 5 years ago with my daughter, and am taking my youngest this spring break. I would recommend going to Venice. We had a cheap flight from Paris to Venice for something like 30 Euro on My AIR...It was ridiculously cheap, easy commuter bus to Venice from Marco Polo, and Venice is a have to see city. My husband and I were in Venice in September, and stayed at Hotel Arcadia...cheap, on the main walkway through the city to the Rialto and San Marco. Hope you have a great trip. PS. The last trip, we spent 3 nights in London, 6 in Paris, and 3 in Venice. That was a nice balance. Caio for now.
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Old Jan 3rd, 2011, 06:38 AM
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I think Amsterdam would be great for 2-3 days or even Brugges in Belgium, which is just as quaint as quaint can be, and totally empties out once the daytrippers leave. Neither one is out of the way for your trip, and have a variety of transport options.

Amsterdam-- canals, Anne Frank House (an absolute must), Van Gogh museum . You might be able to time a visit to the Keukenhof gardens as well.

Brugges-- it's mainly just the charm of the city itself. It might be a nice balance to see a small medieval city, compared to the big cities. (If you take the train, you could also see Brussels - I wasn't the biggest fan, but that's me; and depending on the train there are several cities in France, I think Lille being one.)

I like the idea of 5 days in London and 5 days in Paris, and 2-3 days somewhere else. You won't feel too rushed and have a great chance see most of the highlights, and enough to come back for!

Another option would be to spend a couple of days outside Paris - either in the Loire looking at Chateaus, or even Normandy, which we loved. I would recommend having a car for those though.
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Old Jan 3rd, 2011, 07:02 AM
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I think London/Paris/Amsterdam is a perfect itinerary for a two week trip. That's a good pace for traveling and the cities aren't that far apart.

Italy makes a two week trip easily, all on its own.
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Old Jan 3rd, 2011, 08:56 AM
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For an introduction trip to Europe for 2 weeks I'd do the following:
London, Paris, Wengen, Rome.

Now...for me those are the 4 must see items in Europe. But I realize that this may be too busy for some. This will involve 2.5 days of train travel w/in Europe which must be factored in the itinerary.

Some (OK...many) will say that 4 is too many in 2 weeks. But I've had multiple 2 weeks trips to Europe some of which had 5 or 6 stops. It all depends on how you like to travel, if you'll ever come to Europe again, etc. For me having a relaxing train trip every 3 days isn't a bad thing. Spend a bit more on your train pass and go in 1st class...relax and enjoy the ride.

I keep telling myself that the next time we go back we'll slow down...but we just don't want to yet. We're taking our children in May/June for 2 weeks and will do the itinerary above with Venice thrown in for a night. This will be our children's introduction to Europe. I do believe we'll slow down on the next trip...we'll see.

Either way you're going to have a blast. Good luck!
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Old Jan 3rd, 2011, 09:00 AM
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...to add a bit more...
11 fly into London
12 London
13 London
14 London
15 train/Paris
16 Paris
17 Paris
18 Paris
19 train
20 Wengen
21 Wengen
22 train
23 Rome
24 Rome
25 Rome
26 fly home

...perfect
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Old Jan 3rd, 2011, 09:19 AM
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kmt0778: If you need hotel ideas for Paris, I have a hotel thread. Just type in the Search Box, "Paris Hotels Left Bank Thread" and it'll pop up. The Right Bank Thread is linked to it.

I've just spent New Year's Eve and Day reorganizing the thread, so all of the recommended hotels are now listed by district which makes it a faster, easier read. Happy Travels!
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