European vacation questions

epicstruggle

Passenger on Serenity
Veteran
Planning a trip to Europe with my brother and needed some help. Those traveling will be me, the wife and our 6 month old dauther and coming from south africa my brother, his wife and their year old daughter.

We have a timeshare of a week in one hotel/condo/... in almost any of the major cities in Europe.

What we needed to know is, where would you go with young children? We've narrowed it down to England (base in london), France (somewhere near Italy/Swiz), Italy (rome), or Swiz. I figure we can hire a car and travel from the hotel so we would only have to travel back to the hotel to sleep at night.

Any suggestions? This is the first time we will be traveling with our kids, anyone done something like this before?

We are planning on going some time in June.
 
I'd avoid large cities like London and Rome since you have small children with you. Either go for France near the Swiss border or Switzerland itself.
 
Epic what do you want to do there?

That is the important piece of info, are you going to hike around with the kid on your back?

Anyway figure out what you want to do and the EU people on the board should be able to tell you where is best to do them.
 
JR: I was thinking along those lines too. I liked the idea of southern france, because from there we could drive to Swiz or northern Italy. How friendly are the roads for those with hardly any french reading skills? Anyone know?

Sxotty: Sigh seeing, we would like to avoid hiking of any sort. We dont mind walking, just not anywhere rugged where we couldnt take strollers.

Food might be of concern, we are all vegetarians.
 
AFAIK there're special hotels accomodating the special needs of families in every major city in Europe so that shouldn't be such a major factor.

As for Rome, I have to say it's fairly unpleasant during the summer: It's hot and there's a lot of air pollution. So you might wanna avoid that...

Apart from that a bit more info would be useful, do you want to hike up a mountain, visit museums, etc.? What about language proficiency etc ?
 
JR: I was thinking along those lines too. I liked the idea of southern france, because from there we could drive to Swiz or northern Italy. How friendly are the roads for those with hardly any french reading skills? Anyone know?

It shouldn't be a problem. Just remember we drive a bit differently here than in the US :p

Sxotty: Sigh seeing, we would like to avoid hiking of any sort. We dont mind walking, just not anywhere rugged where we couldnt take strollers.

Southern France might be a good base then (Also the accomodation will be cheaper than hotels in Switzerland).

Food might be of concern, we are all vegetarians.

You should get some vegatarian dish in every restaurant. However, depending on the venue don't expect too high quality. There're of course special vegatarian / vegan restaurant in every major city.
 
Planning a trip to Europe with my brother and needed some help. Those traveling will be me, the wife and our 6 month old dauther and coming from south africa my brother, his wife and their year old daughter.

We have a timeshare of a week in one hotel/condo/... in almost any of the major cities in Europe.

What we needed to know is, where would you go with young children? We've narrowed it down to England (base in london), France (somewhere near Italy/Swiz), Italy (rome), or Swiz. I figure we can hire a car and travel from the hotel so we would only have to travel back to the hotel to sleep at night.

Any suggestions? This is the first time we will be traveling with our kids, anyone done something like this before?

We are planning on going some time in June.

First of all make a good plan on what you want to do. You are travling with small children that cant do anything on their own and get tired fast so you cant just go walking around. You need to pick activities up front. If you are going to france I can recommand visiting some caves (kids will like it and its nice and cool and not to crowded once you are in) and some old castels. Usually you can walk around there fairly easy with not to many people around and most of them are around nice villages where you can go see some local stuff. I personally dont like going for the major tourist attractions, i'd go to the more less obious things. They are often more fun because your not loaded with tons of other stupid tourists around you.

And remember that france and italy will be very hot in the summer. Now all my family members are old enough to take that (you will defenitly notice at the end of the day though) walking around in the heat all day by watch out with the little kids.

Also remember that driving a car in any major city is impossible. They are to big and you wont have a clue where you are going and getting anywhere takes forever. You'd want the metro/tube to get around in the city. The train is probably best for places not to far from the city.

Another thing about driving is that driving between the city's you named will easily take a day and that is if you keep on driving. So you will lose a day on that and the next day because you will be tired. So keep that in mind.

What places to go? I cant tell that for you, depends on what you want. However I do recommand to not stay in the big cities. Besides it costing a fortune if you do that you'd want to stay in the city which might be nice with the wife alone and go see shops and all but I dont think its the most fun/relaxing place for/with kids. I recommand staying a the smaller city/villages, maybe ones that are withing range of the big cities. This way you can decide to take public transport to the city to see stuff for 1 or maybe 2 days and spend the other days visiting the more ''cultural'' places like caves, castles, local markets etc that are more bound to the ''country side''. Atleast that goes for spain/france and that region.

And again keep in mind that being away with small kids all day wont work because you'll be carrying them around most of the time because a 1 year old doesnt have the energy to be on the move all the day.

Edit: Depending on the time you are going maybe change England for Holland? (gotta do some promotion here ;)). I've been to London and I dont think its such a interresting place. Ofcourse this depends on what you want to do but assuming you want to see something of the country and culture London isnt that interresting. Sure there are the major tourist things like the big ben and all but for the rest its not different from any other major city. Lots of big buildings and thats it so its not really different from what you might already be seeing. Holland on the other hand especially during the flower season has alot of stuff going on you will not find in any other country and its really nice if the wheater is good because its not to hot here so you can walk around and watch stuff all day without getting to tired. Also Holland is small so you can get almost everywhere pretty quick and its not so crowded even in the larger cities so its also pretty laid back and relaxing. You can just get a bike and ride around all day and watch the flower fields and I can promise you that if you are going to europe to see things you wont regret trading in London for Holland because its really something you wont see everyday unlike London that is just another big city.
 
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If you're into castles, then the Loire Valley in/near Tours, France is a winner. There's a ton of french castles and Chateaux around there to take in. Most (except the big one whose name escapes me) you can do in just a few hours without missing too much, or you can spend all day and explore the grounds. You'll definitely need a car to get around, though. Or take a tour bus, but that forces you into their schedule.

The Bordeaux region is nice. There's quite a few medieval towns in the area, plus its share of chateaux and the ever present vineyards. The weather, even in the summer, isn't too hot. Its not too far (an hour drive?) from the Atlantic coast and resort town of Arcachon (that hosts the largest sand dune in the world) and Lacanau-Ocean (which is one of the premiere wind surfing spots in the world, or so they claimed)

Driving in France is somewhat maddening, once you get off the toll free ways (which were pretty dang pricey, from what I remember). All sorts of round-a-bouts, and the directions only point to the next closest town. (so directions on the provincial roads are somewhat like: Town A to Town B, to Town C, then get off on such and such road.

Other possibilities (still sticking with castles, etc) are the Rhine River in Germany. There's a boat service up and down the rhine that touches a lot of the small towns and goes past a huge number of castles. Or, for a slightly more touristy, there's the Bavarian castle of NeueSchwanstein (and its 'sister' palace, Linderhof) in southern Germany (also close enough to visit Austria, I highly recommend Tyrol area for something cool, off the beaten path, and great if you're into hiking, which I don't think you are)

Rome definitely is not for the walking adverse. Its hot, crowded, cobblestone, and just far enough apart for all of the things you want to see that walking is a stretch, but too close (and parking impossible) to bother with the metro or renting a car (though taxis are abound).

Southern Italy is nice (the Sorrento/Amalfi coast area). You'd have to go see Pompeii, of course, and that isn't stroller friendly. You need a car if you're going further south than Sorrento, as the local train stops there.

You could easily spend a week in Venice, but that is a 'must walk' city (no roads, only canals and walking paths). June probably isn't too hot, but if there's a heat wave, there's little/no air condition and it's humid. It is, by far, one of the most unique cities I've ever been in (quick! go before the oceans rise and its all gone!)

If you just want to 'hang out', try some of the all inclusive resorts in Turkey. I hear the service is fabulous for a reasonable price (and might be on your timeshare list).

The greek islands (also another possiblity for timeshare spots) are fantastically beautiful.

And finally, you should look to see if your timeshare week can get you a discount on a cruise in the mediterranean or something. Scenery is great, you see a lot of neat places, and most of the excursions are bus/walking tours and are made for the stamina of old folks.
 
If you're into castles, then the Loire Valley in/near Tours, France is a winner. There's a ton of french castles and Chateaux around there to take in. Most (except the big one whose name escapes me) you can do in just a few hours without missing too much, or you can spend all day and explore the grounds. You'll definitely need a car to get around, though. Or take a tour bus, but that forces you into their schedule.

The Bordeaux region is nice. There's quite a few medieval towns in the area, plus its share of chateaux and the ever present vineyards. The weather, even in the summer, isn't too hot. Its not too far (an hour drive?) from the Atlantic coast and resort town of Arcachon (that hosts the largest sand dune in the world) and Lacanau-Ocean (which is one of the premiere wind surfing spots in the world, or so they claimed)

Driving in France is somewhat maddening, once you get off the toll free ways (which were pretty dang pricey, from what I remember). All sorts of round-a-bouts, and the directions only point to the next closest town. (so directions on the provincial roads are somewhat like: Town A to Town B, to Town C, then get off on such and such road.

Other possibilities (still sticking with castles, etc) are the Rhine River in Germany. There's a boat service up and down the rhine that touches a lot of the small towns and goes past a huge number of castles. Or, for a slightly more touristy, there's the Bavarian castle of NeueSchwanstein (and its 'sister' palace, Linderhof) in southern Germany (also close enough to visit Austria, I highly recommend Tyrol area for something cool, off the beaten path, and great if you're into hiking, which I don't think you are)

Rome definitely is not for the walking adverse. Its hot, crowded, cobblestone, and just far enough apart for all of the things you want to see that walking is a stretch, but too close (and parking impossible) to bother with the metro or renting a car (though taxis are abound).

Southern Italy is nice (the Sorrento/Amalfi coast area). You'd have to go see Pompeii, of course, and that isn't stroller friendly. You need a car if you're going further south than Sorrento, as the local train stops there.

You could easily spend a week in Venice, but that is a 'must walk' city (no roads, only canals and walking paths). June probably isn't too hot, but if there's a heat wave, there's little/no air condition and it's humid. It is, by far, one of the most unique cities I've ever been in (quick! go before the oceans rise and its all gone!)

If you just want to 'hang out', try some of the all inclusive resorts in Turkey. I hear the service is fabulous for a reasonable price (and might be on your timeshare list).

The greek islands (also another possiblity for timeshare spots) are fantastically beautiful.

And finally, you should look to see if your timeshare week can get you a discount on a cruise in the mediterranean or something. Scenery is great, you see a lot of neat places, and most of the excursions are bus/walking tours and are made for the stamina of old folks.

I'd agree with Russ here, went to Grece (more specifically crete - Hania) last summer and it was absolutely gorgeous. Very family oriented, very "touristed" and generally cozy.

About vegetarian dishes, theres ALOT of beef in greek food but im pretty sure most places have vegetarian options!

A little more advertising for the northern parts of europe are absolutely beutiful. If you go in The norweighian mountain ranges, and the culture in the big cities of denmark and sweden. We've got alot of castles to as we still have monarchy. :) If you go here in june temperatures should be acceptable and nice (around 20-25 degrees).
 
Just googled some pics, and it is incredible. Will have to seriously consider it.

note: just got up, will be responding to the others posts soon.

If you liked lake Como, Salzkammergut (Austria) might also be worth having a look at.

If you're on a tighter budget, some of the new EU member states like Romania might be worth looking at, because your daily costs would be a lot lower in comparison to Italy, France, etc.
 
Driving between France and Switzerland is pretty specia. Some pretty fantastic roads and scenery going through the Alps.

The sand dune at Arcachon is just the largest in Europe I believe. I think Africa probably has the largest in the World. The one at Arcachon is definatly worth seeing, sitting at the top watching the sunset over the sea is stunning.

Most signs apart from place names will be symbolic, so you shouldn't have too much difficulty on the roads. Remember that most of Europe is fully metric, so distances and speeds will be in KM. But if you come to Britain we take pleasure in confusing foreigners by using an odd mixture of units e.g. distance in Miles , beer in Pints. Other measures mostly in Kilos, Litres etc. Also we drive on the left remember!

There are plenty of things to do in the UK. But in June you are probably going to get nicer weather in the South of France / Italy.

Enjoy your holiday!

I am off to Rio in just over a week. :)
 
Ok, it looks like we will just stick to one city for a week. We chose London, since it should be the easiest for us as a family.

Now I need to decide on a hotel in London that makes it as convenient as possible for traveling/visiting/touring around.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/shera...MM/DD/YYYY&numberOfRooms=01&numberOfAdults=01

We get a discounted rate for staying at Sheraton, so Im limited to those hotels. I figure the ones near Heathrow will only be good for the initial cab ride from the airport and then will become more expensive to use.

So what hotel location would you recommend?
 
A week in London? Wow, I'd rather be repeatedly punched in the face by a spastic clown. If you're still open for suggestions: rent a car, take a round-trip through Scotland.
 
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