wallawallakids
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2012
Anyone done both? Looking to see how they compare to each other. Prices are close, AA is a little less maybe. Thanks.
I realize that this is probably the wrong place to ask this question, but I'm curious how many of you have done a European vacation on your own? I'm having a really hard time deciding what to do. Since I'll be going solo and it will be my first solo trip out of the country I think going with a tour would be the way to go, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the cost. I'm debating either doing London and Paris on my own or Italy with ABD. The biggest problem is I KNOW that once I do an ABD I will become addicted and there will be no turning backI can afford it .maybe not one a year, but I could definitely do one every couple of years, and I KNOW I will love it. I love all things Disney. My husband does not like to travel so I don't force the issue. He will do long weekends with me in the US, but I'm ready to venture out and see the world. Traveling is definitely something I've always wanted to do. This trip would be to celebrate my 40th birthday in 2016. Just trying to see what everyone else out there has experience with their travels and hopefully help me make up my mind. I know I have plenty of time to make the decision, but what can I say .I'm a planner
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I have done ABDs and traveled internationally with my family and alone. I would say it isn't an "either/or." The ABDs gave me lots of great ideas on what I should schedule when we're doing trips without them, and helped me figure out how I like to travel. The on my own or just my family trips are fun and exciting in their own way, and I like to set my own pace.
London and Paris are definitely easy to do on your own, and you can easily put together a trip for yourself that hits many of the highlights that ABD does, for much less money. Especially London, where there is no language barrier and there are always other tourists around. I did Paris just myself and DD (11 at the time) and found that pretty manageable too.
We save the ABDs for countries where there would be a safety or language concern, or where we would want to see things in places far enough apart that the logistics would be a hassle. Italy counts as one of these for my family, which is why we are doing the ABD there this year.
After each of our ABDs, we've felt empowered to go back to that country on our own, if we ever have the time. (There are so many NEW places to go first!) We'd go back to Peru and stay at Sol y Luna in a heartbeat, and we definitely want to go back to the Galapagos and spend a whole week on a ship there.
One thing I learned from the Adventures though, is it is worth it to hire a guide for at least a half day or day, even if you are going mostly on your own. Learning about where you are from someone passionate about the area is a treasure and adds value to the rest of the trip.
I did a Med cruise in 2010 with the ABD add-on. It was the perfect way to do a cruise. We were able to get the equivalent of 2 or 3 amazing excursions in each day. And there is something to be said for only unpacking/packing once or twice for a cruise, vs 3 or 4 times for some ABD's.Thanks again everyone for all the comments. They have definitely helped and I appreciate you all taking the time to comment. I do have one more question that I'm hoping some of you can weigh in on. Someone brought up the idea of doing a European cruise. I like the idea because you can see more, but at the same time you lose the time to explore different cities. For those of you that have done both, what would you recommend for someone who has not been to Europe? More time in a couple of cities or a lot of stops in various cities for more exposure?
Thanks again everyone for all the comments. They have definitely helped and I appreciate you all taking the time to comment. I do have one more question that I'm hoping some of you can weigh in on. Someone brought up the idea of doing a European cruise. I like the idea because you can see more, but at the same time you lose the time to explore different cities. For those of you that have done both, what would you recommend for someone who has not been to Europe? More time in a couple of cities or a lot of stops in various cities for more exposure?
Thanks again everyone for all the comments. They have definitely helped and I appreciate you all taking the time to comment. I do have one more question that I'm hoping some of you can weigh in on. Someone brought up the idea of doing a European cruise. I like the idea because you can see more, but at the same time you lose the time to explore different cities. For those of you that have done both, what would you recommend for someone who has not been to Europe? More time in a couple of cities or a lot of stops in various cities for more exposure?