OT: European Trip....planning ahead

[SandraC]

Hi All ~ How long in advance would you plan a trip to Europe [mainly UK but might take Ryan Air to Italy]?

Where do I find info on hostels and castle accomodations?

How young would you bring kids to UK?

Thanks! S

 

[mejaie]

2 years before DD was born DW and I did a similair trip. We flew into London, and had the use of an Uncles place while we toured London. We then rented a car and went down to Bath, Stonehenge and into Wales. We visited a castle in Wales and then drove north. In Bath and in Wales we stayed at bed and breakfasts, really reasonably priced and you get good local tips, (to save money we got ones with showers every second night). We then crossed back over into England to go to Stoke on Trent home of China. We continued North and spent a night at a BB in Keswick in the Lake District. Then on to Glasgow for more relative visiting. We then took a bus up to Inverness, and Loch Ness, and back down to Edinburgh, again BB's. We rented another car and went to St. Andrews and Perth then back to Glasgow from where we flew home. We were there for 3 weeks.

We started the planning about a year in advance, and had a book by Rick Steeves (travel channel guy) His book made BB recomendatons and what was worth it and what was not. We never pre booked any BB but we went during the first 3 weeks of May so it was not that busy, and we wanted to have some flexibility.

DD will be 10 next month and we are planning on taking her after Grade 9, and doing a similair trip.

Have fun planning.

 

[SandraC]

My kids are 6 and 12 right now. I want to wait a few years before heading to the UK. We have family there too. I can't wait to see Stonehenge. I think I built it in a previous like....heeheehee. I'm going to try to visit for summer solstice. I'd like to pack light and travel lots. I figure a few hostels to save on cash and then spurge on castle stays. Thanks for the info! Blessings, S

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Gone are the days when the UK was not child friendly. We took DD for 3 weeks to England and France for 3 weeks when she was 4 years old. Everywhere we went we found child-friendly accomodations and child menus -- we saw nothing of the sort when we were there in 1996. Never mind child friendly meals then -- some of the meals were barely adult friendly.

Museums in London are free and also cater to the younger set with loads of child activity packets. The London Transport Museum is wonderful for children, and so is the much, much lesser known Bank of England Museum.

DD was given royal treatment everywhere we went. The museum volunteer at the Guards Museum (a retired Guards officer, if there ever was one) couldn't do enough to help get the Guards uniform coat and bearskin hat on her.

British Airways was A-1 for children in 2004. The child's meal (ordered ahead of time) was delivered in advance of the parents' meals to allow parents the opportunity to help their child eat without letting their own meal go cold. The Disney channel was one of the options on the entertainment system, IIRC and there were other child friendly shows on, as well.

As for DW, she watched the same episode of Blackadder II all the way to London, time and time again -- and can still quote sections of the script by heart.

I would suggest that if age is the only determination, then don't let it be a factor at all. Europe with children is wonderful!

 

[iluvwesties]

Hi SandraC

I have ventured to UK/Europe twice with my kids - first visit was in 2002 when my son was 12 and again this year (he is now 15)

We flew to Gatwick and were met by family members and stayed in Southern England (Wiltshire and Kent) and also had a few days in London before flying up to Glasgow and touring the Scottish Highlands.

My son absolutely loves the UK (dare I say, even more than WDW)

I find that the public transportation system is excellent. You don't have to drive if you feel uncomfortable about driving on the "wrong" side of the road.

I bought London Travelcards (via www.visitbritain.com website) for a 3 day period and we used the underground (subway) system extensively.
We also enjoyed taking the double-decker busses around town. You get a great view from the top deck and it is amazing how the large busses manouver on the small streets.

We booked B&B's for Scotland via www.visitscotland.com. They are checked-out and graded by the tourist board, we were not disappointed and the costs were very reasonable (approx 40gbp per night for 2 in July) each morning we had a huge full cooked breakfast.

If you go to London, you should take a ride on the London Eye and do the tour of the Tower of London. Another way of saving money for the attractions in London is called the London Pass (www.londonpass.com) which depending on how many days you purchase will give you free admissions to many of the top popular sights in London.

I had bought a 2 day pass and managed to get to do the Tower of London tour, the Tower Bridge experience, London Aquarium, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre tour as well as a cruise on the River Thames (which is a lovely way to see the skyline of London) The passes give free admission to over 60 different places (including The Royal Mews, Kensington Palace and other Royal places)

We also took a day trip by train (45mins) from our base in London to Windsor Castle. It too was a lovely day out.

Even though I was born in the UK, I have been in Canada for over 28 years, but I still love going back "home".

I have recently been doing some ancestral research in my family tree and discovered that from 1700-1900 my family lived in one area of southern England and I am now anxious to go to this area on my next trip to visit the area and see where my ancestors came from.

My favourite place is Scotland (in fact, I could easily live there) it is so beautiful, the people are friendly, and I just love the atmosphere.

If you could manage a visit to Scotland, I would highly recommend it.

The one thing that helps also is that kids under age 15 travel for 1/2 price (when you are paying in GBP this makes a big difference to your overall budget) this was another reason why I took my son this year.

If you have any Q's, pm me, I would be glad to answer if I can.

Hope this helps

iluvwesties

 

[tchan03]

We booked our hotels in Italy through www.venere.com . It's pretty good. Each hotel listing has some comments posted by people who rented their relative room before.

 

[bev r.]

I haven't been to Britain, but here's some things that might be helpful from my trip to Norway last summer with the family. My 3 kids were 10, 12, and 14 at the time.

Try http://www.hihostels.com/ for hostels. From there you should be able to find each countries individual hostelling association. Most of the time we stayed in hostels and found them to be family friendly. The hostels outside of major cities also tended to be less "institutional".

We found some great deals from SAS that allowed us to fly and cover more territory at reasonable costs.

As previously mentioned look for regional passes that may be available in the areas you are touring. We bought a pass in Oslo that included the local transportation (bus, trains, and underground) along with entrances to many attractions such as museums and swimming pools.

Our detailed planning started about 6 months before the trip. Our airfare we secured 10 months out as we were using aeroplan points for the tickets.

Just one comment about the planning, which I think holds true for any trip, is to realize that you won't be able to see everything. Do some reading and research and select what would be most important for you to see and do. Also, as the same with any trip to Disneyworld, alot yourself some days to just relax and do nothing.

For reading I would suggest the Loney planet guide books. I don't know about Britain, but Norway was very expensive and a found some tips in the guide book that helped us save some time and money.

 

[TimNDansMom]

Sandra, we have been contemplating a trip over to England too, possbily next year. I was born in Coventry and would like to go back to visit.

DH was over in London last year because his aunt left a home there, in her will, that is currently being dealt with. He wants to go back and see more. His sister just got back from spending 3 months in London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Cardiff and stayed in Hostels. Apparently she had a great time, although we haven't had a chance to see her since she's been home to get all the details.

I just bought Frommer's Europe By Rail to help plan. My brother had gone over a few years ago and had a EurRail Pass which he said he wouldn't do again for what it cost him, but book trains individually. I still have to investigate all that.

I also want to go over to Paris and Italy.

 

[SandraC]

Julie ~ We will also be taking a side trip to Italy and Paris [Disney of course]. My kids and I went for lunch this afternoon to chat about a European trip. We have tentatively decided on 2009....that's the year dh turns 50! My kids will be 9 and 15. I checked out Ryan Air for fun today and they are offering .99GBP tickets! I typed in Glasgow to Paris and the cost is $113GBP for all four of us! Paris to Rome was $168EU for the four of us! I don't mind hostels and B&B's. I hope to book a couple of nights in a castle too!

Thank you everyone for your input. You have all helped tremendously! THANKS Sandra