Mumsy and Guvna take on Europe: A 2016 Europe Trip Report! updated 5/29/2017

[Denovagirl]

Take me with youuuuuuuuu!!!!

Seriously, I keep thinking a certain day is my fave until you post the next one, but gotta say, today HAS to be my fave!! Omg the studio tour!! I won't even try to convey my excitement, as I know you know, lol... And Downton!!! EEEEEEP!!!

I want to follow your exact trip one day. I would love to know a rounded out amount for your estimated total expense on this trip, with air, lodging, travel and admission to all the sites, if you are open to sharing. Planning a trip like this has always seemed so daunting, and you're helping so many out, I'm sure, by posting this!!

 

[annegirl]

Take me with youuuuuuuuu!!!!

Seriously, I keep thinking a certain day is my fave until you post the next one, but gotta say, today HAS to be my fave!! Omg the studio tour!! I won't even try to convey my excitement, as I know you know, lol... And Downton!!! EEEEEEP!!!

I want to follow your exact trip one day. I would love to know a rounded out amount for your estimated total expense on this trip, with air, lodging, travel and admission to all the sites, if you are open to sharing. Planning a trip like this has always seemed so daunting, and you're helping so many out, I'm sure, by posting this!!

That's why I keep having a hard time when people ask me what I am most looking forward to! I kind of stammer and say, I don't know... hard question. Everything?
But these two destinations are definitely two of the most anticipated activities.
I will definitely add in some prices as I go.
It is quite expensive but we set a budget for $5-6,000 but that includes airfare, activities, lodging, food, souvenirs, activities, rental cars and other transportation, etc.
It would be more than that if I wasn't sharing the cost of rental cars and lodging with my mom. I will do a rundown probably at the end of the ptr on what we have pre paid and then on the TR about what it ends up costing in the end since it is hard to know for sure what we will end up paying for food and gas for our rental cars.

 

[annegirl]

Our next big thing to figure out and get booked now that we have our flights, all of our hotels, and our ferry to France is our rental cars.
This is one of our big budget areas but at least we get to split the cost.
We are planning on going through Enterprise because my brother in law works for the company. He doesn't work in an international dept or anything so there are limits to what he can help us with but he does have an employee code that will save a little bit of money.
We will be renting a car in England. We are planning on getting one in Bath and then returning it in Oxford 9 days later.
THis one will be the most expensive of our trip not only because we will have it for so long but also because I want an automatic. I can drive a stick and do often since Doug's mini is manual....
But I don't really want to add learning to shift with my left hand to the already nervousness I have about driving on the opposite side of the car and road!

Then we will be renting another car in Cherbourg in France that we will then return close to Paris two days later.

Our last rental will be picked up in Freiburg, Germany and returned in Munich on our last day. That will also be a relatively short rental of three days.

I went back and forth on rentals since the countries we are visiting definitely have good public transportation options but we felt like it would end up being so much more convenient and easy considering all of the places we want to visit in a short time.
However we won't have rentals when we are in bigger cities like London and Paris and will be using public transport in those areas!

I have rented cars before but I am kind of nervous about doing so internationally.
I have never got the full extra insurance before just opting for whatever comes with the price of the car and I have been diligent about taking before and after pictures of exterior and interior to be on the safe side... and I have never actually had a problem with anything.

But it only takes so many reviews of people saying they returned a car somewhere to then be charged for a little dirt on a tire before you start to get worried!
We have already decided that we will just pay the extra for whatever full coverage insurance they have so we don't have to worry about anything... but I am having a hard time finding out how much that will be and if there is anything else I need to know about it all before booking. So, my brother in law is going to talk to some people and try to find more answers for me.
Hopefully we will get some answers soon and be able to get this to-do item marked off.

Have any of you had experience renting in Europe? ​

 

[missangelalexis]

Your first day of this leg of the trip sounds nice (if it works in your favor). The Harry Potter tour will be fun!

Sorry I can't help with rental cars

 

[morgan98]

Our next big thing to figure out and get booked now that we have our flights, all of our hotels, and our ferry to France is our rental cars.
This is one of our big budget areas but at least we get to split the cost.
We are planning on going through Enterprise because my brother in law works for the company. He doesn't work in an international dept or anything so there are limits to what he can help us with but he does have an employee code that will save a little bit of money.
We will be renting a car in England. We are planning on getting one in Bath and then returning it in Oxford 9 days later.
THis one will be the most expensive of our trip not only because we will have it for so long but also because I want an automatic. I can drive a stick and do often since Doug's mini is manual....
But I don't really want to add learning to shift with my left hand to the already nervousness I have about driving on the opposite side of the car and road!

Then we will be renting another car in Cherbourg in France that we will then return close to Paris two days later.

Our last rental will be picked up in Freiburg, Germany and returned in Munich on our last day. That will also be a relatively short rental of three days.

I went back and forth on rentals since the countries we are visiting definitely have good public transportation options but we felt like it would end up being so much more convenient and easy considering all of the places we want to visit in a short time.
However we won't have rentals when we are in bigger cities like London and Paris and will be using public transport in those areas!

I have rented cars before but I am kind of nervous about doing so internationally.
I have never got the full extra insurance before just opting for whatever comes with the price of the car and I have been diligent about taking before and after pictures of exterior and interior to be on the safe side... and I have never actually had a problem with anything.

But it only takes so many reviews of people saying they returned a car somewhere to then be charged for a little dirt on a tire before you start to get worried!
We have already decided that we will just pay the extra for whatever full coverage insurance they have so we don't have to worry about anything... but I am having a hard time finding out how much that will be and if there is anything else I need to know about it all before booking. So, my brother in law is going to talk to some people and try to find more answers for me.
Hopefully we will get some answers soon and be able to get this to-do item marked off.

Have any of you had experience renting in Europe? ​

We rent a car in Italy or France for about 3-4 weeks a year (on average). Italy has the highest car rental fees and insurance requirements in Europe. The fees are expensive. We usually always use Hertz or Avis as I have known two separate people that went with European rental agencies and have had nightmares. We have had no issues.

We usually rent from Kemwel or AutoEurope that are consolidators for the big rental agencies. Renting cars in Europe can be very expensive. Online you can see what the rate is with full coverage.

 

[TLSnell1981]

We've used this company for years. Easy, reasonable, and no surprises. It's a short term lease, brand new car, unlimited mileage....totally inclusive, tax-free rental. You also have zero-deductible insurance....no extra charge.

http://www.ideamerge.com

 

[Denovagirl]

I'm no help to you with the rental car questions, but again so thankful you're writing this out for my own future reference!!

That price is actually lower than I expected. That's actually about what we end up spending on our Disney vacations! Love that you intend to write out about where the money's being spent, the things you pre bought, etc. it really is hard to find this kind of info all in one place!

 

[annegirl]

Your first day of this leg of the trip sounds nice (if it works in your favor). The Harry Potter tour will be fun!

Sorry I can't help with rental cars

Thanks! I am very excited about Harry Potter.

We rent a car in Italy or France for about 3-4 weeks a year (on average). Italy has the highest car rental fees and insurance requirements in Europe. The fees are expensive. We usually always use Hertz or Avis as I have known two separate people that went with European rental agencies and have had nightmares. We have had no issues.

We usually rent from Kemwel or AutoEurope that are consolidators for the big rental agencies. Renting cars in Europe can be very expensive. Online you can see what the rate is with full coverage.

Thank you for the information! I will check out their sites.

We've used this company for years. Easy, reasonable, and no surprises. It's a short term lease, brand new car, unlimited mileage....totally inclusive, tax-free rental. You also have zero-deductible insurance....no extra charge.

http://www.ideamerge.com

Thanks! It's always good to get info to look at with recommendations!

I'm no help to you with the rental car questions, but again so thankful you're writing this out for my own future reference!!

That price is actually lower than I expected. That's actually about what we end up spending on our Disney vacations! Love that you intend to write out about where the money's being spent, the things you pre bought, etc. it really is hard to find this kind of info all in one place!

Oh good! It really is hard to find a lot because everyone travels so differently.

 

[annegirl]

I have a change to the last day I posted about!
That day we might still be able to do Highclere because whenever we can get tickets to Highclere we will work it in! But we won't be doing Harry Potter tour that day because
I GOT OUR TICKETS!
Over the weekend I decided to check their website. The last time I looked they only had tickets through the end of the year. And they had our dates open!
So I grabbed some and was able to get the very first tour of the day at 9am just like we wanted! I am so excited about it but I am changing our day around a bit.
The last day I posted about... our first day in the Cotswolds area we will instead be heading to Stratford-upon-Avon first thing in the morning.

Here we will be seeing the house where William Shakespeare was born, his grave, and Anne Hathaway's cottage.
We plan on spending the whole morning here.

When we have seen all we want to see we will head out and travel to Oxford.

I can't wait to go to Oxford. We will be touring a few of the colleges at Oxford and seeing lots of libraries!
There is just so much history here and literary connections!

For either lunch or dinner (depending on how the day goes) we will be going to The Eagle and Child pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien hung out with their Inklings group.
Can't wait!
Then back to our cottage!
​

 

[Denovagirl]

So cool!!! Glad you got your tickets!!

 

[annegirl]

So cool!!! Glad you got your tickets!!

Me too!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Congrats on getting your tickets! Touring Oxford sounds like it will really be awesome!

 

[annegirl]

Congrats on getting your tickets! Touring Oxford sounds like it will really be awesome!

Thanks! I am so excited. I love Tolkien and Lewis and can't wait to see the places that inspired them and they spent so much time.

 

[annegirl]

The next day of our trip we will once again be waking up in our cottage. This is the day I was able to get the Harry Potter tour tickets for so we will be leaving our little nest very early to make the drive down south to the studio. We have tickets for the very first tour at 9am. I am planning on half a day here at least because once there I might not want to leave.
We plan on spending a few hours touring, eating lunch there, and perusing the gift shop for probably way too long.
I have to admit I am such a die hard Harry Potter fan. I was already an adult when I read the first book for the first time. It was already in paperback and was an impulse buy in the grocery store as it was right next to the cashier and I had had so many people ask me if I had read it yet. Amazingly I had NO idea what it was about when I started reading it. I was 21 years old. And I was hooked. Luckily because it had been out a while I was able to immediately get the second book and devoured that as well.
Then I was gifted the 3rd and 4th in hardback for Christmas. The third still remains one of my favorites in the series and it was just getting better and better. After those two I had to wait with everyone else for each book to come out and I have to admit that for a couple of them I was at those book stores at midnight!
Then the movies came out. As is usually the case I don't love them as much as the books but I still really love them and think they did a great job with cast and story.
My mom got into Harry Potter when I made her read them. Like me, she had no idea what she was getting into and immediately fell in love with them.
This summer I set a goal to read the books to Abi and Maddy for the first time and try to get through them before the end of summer. We are currently halfway through the last book with school starting next week! So we are going to do it!
Maddy really likes them but Abi is obsessed. She has really fallen in love with the books. I love reading them to her and feeling like I am seeing it all again for the first time as she reacts to things. After each book we watch the movie so she is also really into them and has re-watched a few times already as well. These are the first non animated movies that she has loved this much. It is really exciting and makes me wish I could take her to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter again right now! I can't wait until we can go to Disney again and take a day to do that!
Because of how much they now love it, they both have a wish list of things they want me to get them in England! Of course they know that they won't get a million things but I know it will be hard to resist buying myself and them a few things!

After we wear ourselves out in Harry Potter fan heaven we will be heading back to our cottage to the north but by a detour to the west and through some small villages that we can't wait to see.
We will, I'm sure, see many beautiful towns along our way but our main stops will be to the villages of Castle Combe (it is considered one of the most beautiful villages and is also a filming location for War Horse and Stardust):

Lacock (where they have filmed Cranford, Pride and Prejudice, and Harry Potter amongst many other things):

And to the village of Bibury which I have heard is one of the prettiest villages in England:

Depending on what time of day it is we may stop at a few more places closer to Chipping Campden but we know for sure we want to see these three!
​

 

[missangelalexis]

This day sounds like it will be so fun! I can imagine how excited you are. I love that the girls are into HP with you now too!

Those villages look so pretty, very picturesque!

 

[annegirl]

This day sounds like it will be so fun! I can imagine how excited you are. I love that the girls are into HP with you now too!

Those villages look so pretty, very picturesque!

yep. So excited! I wish I could take the girls on the tour with me!

 

[annegirl]

It has been a crazy couple of weeks!
Abigail started 4th grade last week and Madeline started Kindergarten this week.
So we have been crazy busy getting ready for school and getting used to the school year schedule again.
So far they are both loving it.

Also, as you can see, they got hair cuts. Maddy wanted a shorter cut. I love it on her!

​

 

[missangelalexis]

The girls look too cute on their first days of school! I love Maddy's new haircut- she looks like such a little lady!

 

[annegirl]

The girls look too cute on their first days of school! I love Maddy's new haircut- she looks like such a little lady!

Thanks! I love her haircut so much. It fits her personality so much!

 

[GAN]

Sounds like you've got a great trip planned! The Cotswolds are Soooo beautiful -you will really enjoy this area. I know you are planning a visit to Stonehenge, have you considered the Avebury Stones? You can walk amongst them and touch them ...and be subject to their mysterious powers!

Love Bath also ....that's a town I could visit more than once. Check the Rugby schedule before you leave.