Does planning a family vacation to Europe seem daunting? Although taking a package tour may be a good travel option, it may not necessarily fit your needs. When you are planning a trip for your whole family, a tour may be too expensive, not catered specifically to your family, or may not include the places you want to visit. There are valid reasons why you might want to plan a family trip to Europe on your own, but then where do you start? To Europe with our Teens and Tweens provides guidance and inspiration for planning your own trip.
First, make a list of the places your family would most like to visit. You may narrow the list or choose destinations based upon how many days you are planning to vacation and how long you want to stay in each location. If you are planning to visit a big city, you may want to spend three or four days there. Make sure you don’t plan to visit so many places that you cannot justly appreciate each location. You should also consider how much time you are willing to be in transit from one location to another while on vacation. When we took a family trip to Europe, we spent time in large cities but also spent a couple of days at a time traveling through smaller towns. We flew into London, traveled to Paris, through Germany, and then journeyed to Czechia, flying home from Prague. If you are traveling to several locations, think about what makes sense when you connect the dots. For example, you probably would not want to split time between Norway and South France, although it might be possible. A more logical approach might be to see Norway and Scotland, and then make South France and Italy a future trip. Still another option is to stay in one region or one country entirely. This way you immerse yourself more extensively in that culture and also spend less time actually traveling.
A second consideration is how you will travel from place to place. This is most pertinent if you are going to travel to several countries or regions. For example, if you plan to only see Scotland and England, you might decide to rent a car. However, if you travel longer distances, you will need to consider other modes of transportation. When we took our trip, we rode from London to Paris on the Eurostar high-speed train, took a train to Germany, rented a car to drive through part of Germany, and then took a bus to Czechia. Taking a bus for the last leg of the journey was due to the absence of train service between the towns where we were traveling. In advance, I coordinated all of our transportation. This allowed more time to enjoy being on our vacation and less stress!
While planning transportation, you will also want to be choosing accommodations. Will hotels, hostels, guest houses, or home rentals best suit your needs? The size of your family, your budget, and available accommodations will dictate your final decisions. In some cities a vast number of choices exist, but you may have to decide whether you want to pay more to stay in a walkable city center or choose to stay outside of the city center in a more budget-friendly accommodation. If you choose to be outside of the city center, you will want to include in your calculation the time and cost of transportation to the city center, whether the option is a taxi, a subway ride, or a rideshare service.
The final, and most rewarding part of travel planning, is the planning of and dreaming about the sites you wish to visit. You will want to consult your family members for input so that they each have the opportunity to visit places they enjoy. I have a daughter who loves art and history, and another that would put a higher priority on shopping. So, I tried to make sure that amidst the art museums and castles, we made time to purchase the perfect couture to take home. You will also want to check opening times and ticket options for sites you choose to visit. For example, some museums are closed on a certain day of the week. In addition, purchasing tickets for a specific day or time can alleviate the need to stand in a ticket line at an attraction. At many sites there will be a line for security screening, but who needs to stand in an additional queue for ticket purchase!
To Europe with our Teens and Tween details the trip planning process but also provides tips for parents and tips for teens. We share hints based on our own experiences. The book also informs the reader about the particular places we visited and stories of our experiences. For example, if you visit Versailles with your family, we highly recommend renting bicycles to explore the grounds. This was one of my family’s favorite activities on the trip. If you are considering making a family trip to Europe after it opens again to U.S. citizens, To Europe with our Teens and Tweens will be a helpful resource.
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