This is kind of funny. If someone is going to Europe, why in the hell would you want to go to Disneyland? You can do that here. There's only about a billion other things that are way better to do than go to freaking Disneyland.
Go to Italy!!! I loved it there. I visited Venice, Verona, Rome, Vinceza and San Marino. You definitely will like Italy.
What's the cost (if you don't mind the question)? I know there are peak times involved, so... what's low and high for a "euro" vacation for a family of four? Plane tickets, lodging, etc.?
There are infinite possibilities. Flying one place versus another can change costs ridiculously. We are going (IAH to Stockholm) in August and flights are about $1000 a piece. I haven't really looked at lodging since we are staying with the wifey's family. One thing to look at is Ryanair. They fly within Europe and it is hella cheap. We are going to take a mini vacation to France during our vacation in Sweden and the 4 of us can fly to Paris round trip for $400. We will probably rent out an apartment for a week and they can run from several hundred $$ a week to a couple of grand a week. It just depends on where you stay. Since we will not be spending muchmoney in Sweden, we can splurge on our little getaways more.
Was in Europe over Spring Break this year, and hit up Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, and Rome (MBAs get 2 weeks). All of those cities rocked, and are easy to get to from London. There are tons of value airlines where you can fly each way for ~30 to 50 Euros each way. The best one is EasyJet. RyanAir is a scam as they fly into airports like 50 miles away from the city center (i.e. Girona instead of Barcelona). BMI Baby, ClickAir, Thomson are some of the other value airlines.
When we were thinking of going to Europe last summer with our kids, we looked into getting apartments by the week. There are some killer deals out there that are a lot cheaper than a decent hotel. You can get a groovy houseboat on a canal in Amsterdam, a great apartment in Paris, a London flat. The problem is that most of them are weekly. Probably hard to find them by the night. Worth looking into, though.
I really, really, really want to spend a week in Paris but the wifey thinks that 7 nights may be too long for the kids (ages 10 and 7). I figure that if we were going to keep them busy and entertained, Paris would probably be one of the best places to do it. Any suggestions on stuff to do to keep us all busy that is somewhat kid friendly?
It depends on what your kids like. Are they easily bored or are they patient? If they are interested in some cool sightseeing, you can spend a few days doing stuff like the Arc d'Triump, Notre Dame, Eiffel tower, etc. You might want to prep them ahead of time. I did that when I took my 14 year old brother. I told him about some of the history of places, and he was stoked to go check them out. The art museums are fun, but my wife and I get tired of them after a day. I can only imagine kids would lose interest even quicker. At least do the L'ourve and hit the big pieces (Mona Lisa, etc.). Versailles is a cool day trip out of Paris. You might want to try one of the dinner river cruises for a fun evening. I have no interest, but kids would probably love EuroDisney. Some of my favorite things to do in France are read a book leisurely at a cafe while having some wine and grub. My wife and I also did some picnics with store-bought bread and cheeses. I'm not sure if your kids would like that kind of things.
Scribo had some great suggestions. They'd be hard to improve on. Kids that age would dig "stunning." Lots of stunning things in Paris!
Thanks for the ideas guys. I'd also like to take a day trip or two to the Loire Valley and check out some castles. I can't imagine a kid who wouldn't like that.
I went to Brussels last month - it's a good weekender city and you can take a day trip to Bruges for an afternoon. Good food & beer. Also cheaper than lots of marquee European cities.
One of those is "I will PM you my travel agent's number through the forum, SwoLy... " No, but seriously, send me some pointers/tips through my email, por favor, and I will owe you a beer again. I am starting to look for alternatives to United States destinations for my family for this year's summer vacation.
I enjoyed Brussels last summer and thought Paris was way over priced. Paris was beautiful, but good god man it was expensive! We went to the Norte Dame Cathedral in Paris and bought a coke at a corner store which was 11 us dollars. All I could do was laugh. On a side note I did not agree with the stigma that the French are rude. I found them to be very nice people.
I've been to France several times. I more or less agree with you. Thing is, as it is with a lot of stereotypes, there are just enough ass hats in France for the stigma to live on. They're plenty cool, generally.
Yes. Definitely on the list. We're tired of Disney World, Disney Land, Sea World, Fiesta Texas. We're looking to have the girls enjoy their summer. We usually alternate "big" vacations once every two years. Maybe a cruise this year?
Berlin is awesome! I've been to most major European cities, and Berlin is definitely one of my favorites
The girls would love a cruise man. They have plenty kids activities for them to do. You can leave them with a group of kids that they can play with for a whole day. That way you and my girlfriend can go gamble.
