Need you input! Not about the picture, but about a "problem" we are having.... As many of your know, our family is moving back to the US at the end of July, but before that we have two more school-free weeks in the second half of May that we could use for our last travel in Europe. With the vacation time coming at us quicker and quicker, we are kind of failing to make a decision - too many options! And then I thought - there is the whole 365-world right at the end of my fingertips, with people living in so many interesting places and knowing so many more wonderful travel destinations! Where in Europe would you travel with a couple of kids (8 and 3 years old) before moving overseas????
Thanks in advance for any great ideas - even if we don't go for them this time, I will be sure to put some onto our bucket list for the future!
P.S. I should add - they are pretty good and curious travellers, with last trip to London and castles in Warwickshire being the highlight on their list. :)
an excellent shot to capture your dilemma. I am not that well travelled so don't feel qualified to call, although French châteaux are rather beautiful . Venice perhaps or maybe Barcelona
Kids and castles and photography? Try the Romantic Rhine. We spent a week based in Oberwesel, halfway between Koblenz and Mainz and although ' castled-out' there was such a wide range of castles and styles it was fascinating driving around and exploring each day. Lots of turrets and dungeons and history. Enjoy your travels wherever they lead.
Ah Phil @phil_howcroft I was about to suggest Barcelona as a good option - lots to see! Kind of depends what kind of things you all enjoy - sun? Beach? History? City sights? Lakes? Mountains? Food? Museums? Art? Nice 'problem' to have!
@pistache@phil_howcroft We are off to Barcelona in July after a month in USA. Getting very excited and busy planning the best way to spend our 6 days there. Any recommendations?
@pistache Oh, Clare - you got just to the heart of our problem right in your reply - We kind of like it ALL! :) For this particular trip I would gladly skip the "beach" and the "sun" - although kids enjoyed their beach vacations before, they can do something like this on the shores of Lake Michigan later :). Otherwise, all of the above :) . We were thinking of Barcelona, but we've been there in our "pre-kid" time and immensely enjoyed it, as it has a lot of it all - history, city sights, food, museum, art and much more. :)
@kiwinanna Oh how exciting!!!!! It is a beautiful city - of course all the main touristy things, but also just being in the city itself was great! I so much enjoyed the food, especially all the fresh seafood and the wines. Word of caution - were traveling with friends, and independently from each other, two of the friends lost their purses to thieves in two different parts of the city, so watch out (like in any big city, I guess). @taffy and @jyokota went to Barcelona not so long ago, I am sure they would have some suggestions too and you can see their wonderful pictures for inspiration!
@kiwinanna And your trip along the Rhine sounds wonderful - we have been doing weekend trips to German castles and yes - they are great for kids (and adults too! :) )
Decisions, decisions. We lived in Cyprus for three years over 30 years ago and when we left we drove from Cyprus to the UK taking a few weeks on the trip with two young children. We did the full length of the then Yugoslavia and loved Croatia, Dubrovnik especially and the Postojna Caves in Slovenia are not to be missed.
I agree with Babs @onewing. Great coast,... Idea: Venice, Portoroz, Postojna Caves (amazing caves!), Lipiza (Horses), Croatia (not a lot of sand, but beautiful coast), Ljubliana, Bled, Plitvice Lakes (photographers delight)...
Or in France Guedélon. Guédelon Castle is a construction project located in Treigny. The object of the project is to build a castle using only the techniques and materials used in the Middle Ages. When completed in the 2020s, it should be an authentic recreation of a 13th-century medieval castle. Quite interesting for the kids, as they can help. Ok, and then there is Switzerland,... for the Mountains it is a bit early and the cities are a bit crowed because of Pfingsten und Fronleichnam. I would love to meet you in person as long as you are here, so if you really go "at least ten more times" ;-) in the Ohmden quarry, I would not mind to join you in digging the dirt, for a chat and some fun.
Can't really help you from here in Australia - but all i can say is what a really nice problem to have! I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you chose - and there are so many choices :)
Now I don't have kids so I maybe am not the best adviser... but do you have to stick to one country? If you don't fancy hoping on and off planes http://www.seat61.com/ is a great guide for getting about by train - which would certainly be memorable, maybe taking in 2 or 3 countries. You could go from the Netherlands & work your way down to Italy or Spain. Or if you like driving do a tour.
Country-wise, if I had to choose one it would be Italy, but then you have to choose where. I'd be tempted to look in the Pompeii area maybe on the cost somewhere. The ruins at Pompeii are big & it gets very hot so take umbrellas for shade & plenty of water, I liked Herculaneum more, you can catch a minibus there for a climb up Vesuvius & see the crater & the source of all that ash & mud. We actually stayed in the modern town of Pompeii for a few days as that was a nice place to stay, there is a great metro line that will take you to Sorrento, Herculaneum & Naples or you can take a ferry from Sorrento across to Capri or Naples. A lot of the good relics from Pompeii and Herculaneum are actually in the museum in Naples. Naples is, well, an experience. Very narrow streets, that cars make it up and down, even when they don't really fit. They had big issues with rubbish collections when I last visited, but that maybe resolved by now, but even so I wouldn't let that put me off.
Rome to is fantastic too. I've not been to Florence or Pisa so can't say how they would be.
I'm not sure I would go to Venice or Milan with kids maybe some parents could comment on that :-)
Love this shot of all the possibilities the pins represent... what a dilemma! I am quite biased with France, of course, so to me I would pick Paris. I'm dying to take my kids there. It's such a great walkable city with so much to see. With young ones it's harder to do the insides of museums but it's so fun to walk around the Louvre, Notre Dame, Montmartre, etc. There are so many carrousels, including the one next to the Eiffel Tower, and the jardins (Tuileries, Luxembourg) are wonderful to be in (for kids especially)... my daughter is obsessed with feeding city birds and I've had them come right to my hand for a crumb both near Notre Dame and at the Jardin des Tuileries. :) No matter where you visit, have a great time and I can't wait to see photos!
Thank you so much for taking time to view and comment! And thank you for all your thoughtful and inspiring suggestion to our "problem".
@onewing - good to hear that a longer road trip with kids is doable. We've never done a real "car" trip with them going from place to place, but we might just try it out this time to have more options.
@roulin You are absolutely right - we did some "mountains", but nothing as spectacular, so that is definitely something we will consider.
After reading all of your suggestions, I think, things might be looking "down" for us - sounds like maybe a trip to Italy through Switzerland... Then I will "just" have to decide on the route and how far south we will come in the time we have.
And @kerosene - we've got Paris covered. Leaving this afternoon for a long weekend :) (And by the way - I DO realise how obnoxious this sounds :) ) .
@mona65 If we do end up going south through Switzerland I will let you know when it is going to be - it would be great to meet you!!!! We will definitely go at least once to Ohmden, the only tricky thing is planing as it would be depending on the weather (very slippery in the rain for the little one). But I can keep you posted on how our plans will look like in that department!
@pistache@gijsje - I also love Amsterdam, and in the pre-kids pre-marriage time, I've been to Netherlands quite a few times and enjoyed it a lot!
Thanks again! I am sure you will see here in the pictures what we ended up planning for that time. But now.... off to Paris for a couple of days first :) (This does sound ridiculous with all that travel coming at us, but around this time, Germany has a ton of holidays and school vacation, so... my husband's work day count for May was exactly 10 days. Looks like there will be more traveling than being at home and at work! )
@kiwinanna liana I have not done Barcelona ☺ it is on my least of places though. My daughters have been there and enjoyed it. City meets culture meets beach . Perfect I think
I don't know what I'd do, but I love the shot! I've only been to Ireland (a long trip to a lot of places there), London, Paris, Rome and Venice, and I'd go back to any one of them with my kids given the opportunity.
Just wanted to thank you all again for giving so many wonderful ideas for our trip - this was really helpful to read all the input. And as a report (or bragging ;) - we now have an itinerary!!!!!!!
Ludwigsburg (Germany) -> Lucerne (Switzerland) ->
Camogli (Italy) with a hope to have a lunch in Milan on the way -> Lake Garda (with a hope to take a train to Venice for a day) -> Südtirol Austria -> Ludwigsburg (Germany). All kinds of accommodations from hotels, to AirBnB, to a family campground :) This is going to be quite a trip. Kids are warned, cat hotel reserved too :)
Thanks again!
Or in France Guedélon. Guédelon Castle is a construction project located in Treigny. The object of the project is to build a castle using only the techniques and materials used in the Middle Ages. When completed in the 2020s, it should be an authentic recreation of a 13th-century medieval castle. Quite interesting for the kids, as they can help. Ok, and then there is Switzerland,... for the Mountains it is a bit early and the cities are a bit crowed because of Pfingsten und Fronleichnam. I would love to meet you in person as long as you are here, so if you really go "at least ten more times" ;-) in the Ohmden quarry, I would not mind to join you in digging the dirt, for a chat and some fun.
Sitting next to Swiss Alps and not going there - it's a shame! Go to Lucerne. http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/golden-round-trip/
Country-wise, if I had to choose one it would be Italy, but then you have to choose where. I'd be tempted to look in the Pompeii area maybe on the cost somewhere. The ruins at Pompeii are big & it gets very hot so take umbrellas for shade & plenty of water, I liked Herculaneum more, you can catch a minibus there for a climb up Vesuvius & see the crater & the source of all that ash & mud. We actually stayed in the modern town of Pompeii for a few days as that was a nice place to stay, there is a great metro line that will take you to Sorrento, Herculaneum & Naples or you can take a ferry from Sorrento across to Capri or Naples. A lot of the good relics from Pompeii and Herculaneum are actually in the museum in Naples. Naples is, well, an experience. Very narrow streets, that cars make it up and down, even when they don't really fit. They had big issues with rubbish collections when I last visited, but that maybe resolved by now, but even so I wouldn't let that put me off.
Rome to is fantastic too. I've not been to Florence or Pisa so can't say how they would be.
I'm not sure I would go to Venice or Milan with kids maybe some parents could comment on that :-)
Thank you so much for taking time to view and comment! And thank you for all your thoughtful and inspiring suggestion to our "problem".
@onewing - good to hear that a longer road trip with kids is doable. We've never done a real "car" trip with them going from place to place, but we might just try it out this time to have more options.
@roulin You are absolutely right - we did some "mountains", but nothing as spectacular, so that is definitely something we will consider.
After reading all of your suggestions, I think, things might be looking "down" for us - sounds like maybe a trip to Italy through Switzerland... Then I will "just" have to decide on the route and how far south we will come in the time we have.
And @kerosene - we've got Paris covered. Leaving this afternoon for a long weekend :) (And by the way - I DO realise how obnoxious this sounds :) ) .
@mona65 If we do end up going south through Switzerland I will let you know when it is going to be - it would be great to meet you!!!! We will definitely go at least once to Ohmden, the only tricky thing is planing as it would be depending on the weather (very slippery in the rain for the little one). But I can keep you posted on how our plans will look like in that department!
@pistache @gijsje - I also love Amsterdam, and in the pre-kids pre-marriage time, I've been to Netherlands quite a few times and enjoyed it a lot!
Thanks again! I am sure you will see here in the pictures what we ended up planning for that time. But now.... off to Paris for a couple of days first :) (This does sound ridiculous with all that travel coming at us, but around this time, Germany has a ton of holidays and school vacation, so... my husband's work day count for May was exactly 10 days. Looks like there will be more traveling than being at home and at work! )
Just wanted to thank you all again for giving so many wonderful ideas for our trip - this was really helpful to read all the input. And as a report (or bragging ;) - we now have an itinerary!!!!!!!
Ludwigsburg (Germany) -> Lucerne (Switzerland) ->
Camogli (Italy) with a hope to have a lunch in Milan on the way -> Lake Garda (with a hope to take a train to Venice for a day) -> Südtirol Austria -> Ludwigsburg (Germany). All kinds of accommodations from hotels, to AirBnB, to a family campground :) This is going to be quite a trip. Kids are warned, cat hotel reserved too :)
Thanks again!