Europe trip - 9 days - suggestions please...

Parent Cafe
1

<p>OK, I have BOOKED the tickets. Sons 1, 2, and 3 are off to take on the continent for 9 days this summer. Sans parents.
They’ll be arriving and departing from Frankfurt because that was the cheapest ticket (528 RT from Miami if anyone else is feeling insane.)</p>

<p>I think they should hit Paris, first because it’s Paris, second because they all speak a little French, and last but certainly NOT least, because they have no money and they have someplace to stay there for free. There’s also a direct, fast train from Frankfurt. So they could kind of start there.</p>

<p>What are your recommended itineraries for these 18, 20, and almost 22 year-olds. Please include the WHY’s. They are super excited, and just starting to plan, but really don’t know what they want to see or do.</p>

2

<p>How are they getting from city to city? Fly? Drive? Train?</p>

<p>Well, to go in the complete opposite direction from Paris, Prague is pretty interesting. Because it was behind the iron curtain and never bombed in WWII, much of the medieval architecture is intact. On the outskirts of the city is the communist architecture, so it’s a educational juxtaposition. </p>

<p>Culturally, it is fascinating. There is a Jewish cemetery there, where in the 1400s, because they were only allowed to bury their dead in their own district, Josefov, they are buried 12 deep, and the stones are almost on top of each other. The cemetery now has a haunting beauty.
[Prague</a> travel guide - Wikitravel](<a href=“http://wikitravel.org/en/Prague]Prague”>http://wikitravel.org/en/Prague)</p>

<p>We didn’t speak a word of Czech, but we were fine, as long as we were armed with our dictionaries and phrase books. Many people speak English there, especially in the tourist areas.</p>

<p>A short trip outside of Prague is Český Krumlov, a UNESCO site. Worth the trip.
[Cesky</a> Krumlov travel guide - Wikitravel](<a href=“http://wikitravel.org/en/Cesky_Krumlov]Cesky”>http://wikitravel.org/en/Cesky_Krumlov)</p>

<p>Czech Republic is known for its excellent beer, if that’s one of the experiences they are looking for…</p>

3

<p>They’ll be traveling by train. Depending on where they decide to go, they’ll either have Eurail passes for the countries/days they’ll need, or just buy the tickets they need.</p>

<p>I think Prague would be cool, too. Two were in Paris a couple of years ago, but the oldest hasn’t been there since he was 12 and may want to go back. It’s their trip, and I’m just going to help them get what they want out of it. Planning isn’t their forte (UNDERSTATEMENT!!!) and I know that to get the most out this they have to have a plan, even if it’s just the countries they want so we know which Eurail pass to get.</p>

<p>OK - just looked into Easyjet prices… CHEAP! Maybe they’ll be flying around the continent instead of using the train… If my currency converter is correct, it’s around $40 to fly from Prague to Milan.</p>

4

<p>Well, you can’t argue with Paris. </p>

<p>The Czech Republic is still on the Crown, not the Euro. When we were there, the exchange rate was really good, so Prague was almost cheap. I think the exchange is still favorable. </p>

<p>If they are going in the direction of Paris, have them think about Barcelona, too. Very historic, but also very modern. The Sagrada Familia is really a site to see. It’s one of those “must see” things on the list of life.</p>

5

<p>Years ago when we did Paris, our favorite meal was to go to the market and buy fresh bread, strawberries and wine. Go to a park and people watch. Cheap and very good! Our kids still talk about that meal.</p>

6

<p>If they only have nine days, they shouldn’t try to go everywhere. They should go to Berlin and explore that. And then, if they have time, they should consider Prague.</p>

7

<p>What are their interests and what types of things are they looking forward to? Three guys in that age group could get ‘museumed out’ fairly quickly. They might be more interested in seeing some castles and cathedrals than a number of art museums for example. I recommend they go to RickSteves.com or buy some of his books and research some there as well as online to think through the types of things they want to do and what they want to see.</p>

<p>Firstly and importantly they should think through packing. I recommend they each bring a backpack and put everything in it so they can ‘wear their luggage’. This will make them much more mobile. If they have extra suitcases then they’ll have the major hassle of toting/lugging them around everywhere they go which is tough when you’re on a freeform trip like it seems they’ll be on. Each of them should be able to fit what they need in a single backpack each.</p>

<p>In European cities/towns the most interesting sections are in the center of the city which is usually well marked as ‘zentrum’, ‘centre’, ‘center’, etc. Once in the center they can usually walk everywhere they need to go.</p>

<p>In some towns they might want to rent bikes and tour around that way.</p>

<p>There’s plenty to see in Germany/Switzerland/etc. so I wouldn’t recommend they just head immediately to Paris and skip Germany.</p>

<p>They should head up the Rhine from Frankfurt, either on a boat or the train. The Rhine valley is filled with castles and is very scenic. It also has some interesting little towns that are touristy but have places to eat, beer cellars, etc. The town of Rudesheim is one of these. They should stop and tour at least a couple of the castles along here. Marksburg castle is a good one.
<a href=“http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm[/url]”>http://www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The castle in Heidelberg, 35 miles or so south of Frankfurt is also a nice one.</p>

<p>In Frankfurt is an area called ‘Sachsenhausen’ that has a lot of restaurants/clubs. This is near to the center (zentrum) of Frankfurt.</p>

<p>Unless they’re vegetarians, they should have ‘wienerschnitzel mit pomme frites’ (breaded veal cutlets with fries) while in Germany.</p>

<p>I think they should head to the Alps. They can head south from Frankfurt to Zurich then Bern and then to Zermatt to see the real Matterhorn. Zermatt’s interesting in that there are no cars allowed. They could take the cable car up the mountain to some point and then hike back down to the town. It’s incredibly scenic. The cable car’s somewhat expensive though. Also in Switzerland in Jungfrau - another mountain area.
[Welcome</a> to Zermatt](<a href=“Zermatt: Holidays in Switzerland & the Alps”>Zermatt: Holidays in Switzerland & the Alps)
[Jungfrau</a> Railways - Top of Europe - Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe in Summer](<a href=“http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-8/183_read-808/]Jungfrau”>http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-8/183_read-808/)</p>

<p>There are some different areas in Germany and elsewhere that have toboggan runs they might have fun on - they can google it.</p>

<p>From Zermatt they’ll be pretty close to Lausanne and Geneva - on the border with France. Close to Lausanne, on Lake Leman, is a nice castle - Chateau de Chillon, which is right on the lake. From there they could head to Paris.</p>

<p>There are just too many places to see and things to do to list them all and regardless, it’ll vary depending on their interests and mode of touring (i.e. ‘laidback sipping coffee at a sidewalk cafe’ vs hiking in the Alps - staying a long time in one place vs getting around a lot to maximize what they can see albeit sometimes at the cost of getting ‘into’ a place). I tend to be the type who wants to go go when I’m on vacation vs sitting around sipping the coffee (plus, I don’t even drink coffee). I’d get bored quickly going to a single city or two for the whole 9 days but other people would rather stay in a single location the whole time. For young guys like them I’d think they’d be more interested in getting around than staying put in one spot.</p>

8

<p>I don’t think Easyget and the other discount airlines in Europe end up being that cheap for kids because many use secondary airports far out that require significant bus or train rides to get to the actual cities.</p>

<p>With only 9 days I would do a limited area where they could take relatively short train rides between their destinations.</p>

9

<p>If they are going to travel by train, they can sleep on the trains and there is also an extensive network of youth hostels in Europe. They can ask their Parisien hosts for recommendations. There is a lot to do in Paris, but Germany is also very nice and a lot of folks speak English. If it was me (I lived in Europe for six years), I’d fly into Frankfurt, buy a Eurail pass then go to Heidelberg and the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), then go to Paris, take a couple of day trips (maybe Rouen, Montmatre, Notre Dame, Versailles), then take the train to Amsterdam and take a couple of day trips (Vollendam is nice, especially in the spring) and head back to Frankfurt, maybe take the Rhein river cruise if there was enough time. Nine days will fly by and I don’t think I’d travel as far as Berlin or Rome because they will spend all their time on the train instead of getting out and experiencing the culture. There are so many great cities to see easily by train it’s really rather hard to pick…it would be nice if they have a focus on what they really want to see, Vienna, the Swiss Alps, the Romantische Strasse are also big faves of mine.) How exciting! I owe my DS a trip to Europe (I really need to start planning that!)</p>

10

<p>I did something a bit like this with my kid about 5 years for 10 days. We did 3 cities: Venice, Munich (during the Oktoberfest), and Prague. That was more than enough. </p>

<p>Obviously, a lot depends on the kids’ interests and what they have already seen, but I’d really suggest that they just pick one or two cities in addition to Paris. With the chunnel, they could do London in a day trip. Better yet, stay overnight if they can afford it. If they have not been to London, that would be my #1 choice for them. Pick one more city. Personally, for kids that age, I’d recommend Amsterdam or Prague. </p>

<p>As much as I love Heidelberg–and I do–if I only had 9 days, I wouldn’t include it. If I wanted to see Germany, I’d hit Munich and take a bus tour to see at least one of Mad King Ludwig’s castles, Oberamagau (sorry for misspelling) or one of the other bus trips offered from it.</p>

11

<p>They should buy Rick Steves (spelled correctly) books on the countries and cities they plan to visit. Absolutely excellent advice about things to do and see and ways to act that will encourage the locals to welcome you.</p>

12

<p>If they want to spend much time in Germany, Nurnberg is really great. There’s the Third Reich stuff, but then also a great old center of town with loads of shops and restaurants.</p>

<p>If htey want to do Germany-Paris + one more place, Antwerp is way cool. I can see guys their ages really liking it.</p>

13

<p>18, 20 and 22 year old guys? Summer? Cap D’Agde perhaps?</p>

14

<p>Sports fans? They’ll want to check out local soccer wherever they end up.</p>

15

<p>Another vote for Prague–it’s interesting, and quite easy to navigate without any Czech.</p>

16

<p>There’s no soccer in the summer. The earliest continental leagues start in mid-August.</p>

17

<p>A 3rd rick Steves recommendation. Buy them some CoolMax underwear and T-shirts that will dry rapidly if they wash them out in the sink. Lot of extra socks.
Rick includes lots of ideas for hiking and other active travel, like soccer. The Let’s Go guides are good for young tavelers,too, if you don’t mind that they list every disco in each town. My D went Paris for 3 months with side trips to London, Bruges and Milan, packing Rick Steves and Let’s GO</p>

18

<p>Son is doing study aboard this semester in the UK.
Spent spring break with a friend and traveled from Scotland to London to Amsterdam to Paris. They took planes and trains.</p>

<p>Paris was by far their favorite. (Not surprising. It is a great city with so much to see.)</p>

<p>My son booked all the hotels on Priceline.com. He got 5 star hotels in each city for about $85 a night (split between the two kids it was so cheap!!!) Your sons can do the same. All the hotels they stayed in were terrific and not much more than the cost of a hostel. (For your three it may even be cheaper than paying for 3 to stay in a hostel.)</p>

<p>I sent my son great flat maps for each city with sites that I purchased at Borders.</p>

19

<p>For those considering flying Ryanair, check out this new info. Ryanair is the airline that recently considered charging passengers for using the toilet, but retreated in the face of fierce criticisms.</p>

<p>[Now</a> Ryanair will charge £5 for printing your ticket at home… and fine you £40 if you forget to bring it to airport | Mail Online](<a href=“Now Ryanair will charge £5 for printing your ticket at home... and fine you £40 if you forget to bring it to airport | Daily Mail Online”>Now Ryanair will charge £5 for printing your ticket at home... and fine you £40 if you forget to bring it to airport | Daily Mail Online)</p>

20

<p>Crazed, 5 star Paris hotels for $85? Seriously? How exactly is that done? Can you bid on any hotel?</p>