In the past our family took a decent trip every few years, but unexpected expenses have caused us to cancel the last three attempts at a family vacation, so it’s been awhile. Other than a Disney Cruise, we’ve never left the U.S., although we’ve talked about England, Ireland, Greece, etc.
Both girls will be in college next fall, so we’ve saved for a blowout family trip over the next winter break. Criteria: family of four, 10 days - two weeks, can stretch over Christmas and/or New Year’s or not, up to $13,000 available to spend.
We live in the Midwest, and Chicago airports are closest. Our family is quite Nerdy (thus the moniker) and we love Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Mythbusters, etc. An example of a museum that interests all of us would be the International Spy Museum. D1 (age 21) is a Lit major and D2 (age 18) plans on Aerospace Engineering (and H and I had the same two majors in our day) so some interests are vastly divergent. None of us are athletic, so hiking or other similar trips are out. Three of us love, love, love plays and musicals.
We’re seriously considering England just to see the Harry Potter Studios, (and the Globe, and the Rosetta Stone, etc.) but I’m very open to other options. We might even consider an overnight stop in NYC on the way home to catch “Hamilton”!
Does anyone here at CC enjoy planning trips / have suggestions or international travel tips?
We have spent Christmas day to New Year and Thanksgiving week overseas. Paris and some Italian cities are not that cold and you could get some decent values on hotels or Airbnb. Hotel rooms tend to be a lot smaller than US hotels. You would most likely need to get 2 rooms for 4 of you. You may want to look into Airbnb to get better value. If you want to go to London, I would also take a train over to Paris. I would also look into going to Florence, Rome and Venice.
No need to buy your airline tickets too early. Emirates are having some great 2-1 fares to Milan. You could fly there and take trains to get around or rent a car. It is actually quite easy to drive with GPS.
I would also suggest for you to book a private tour guide for cities you are visiting, especially for a city like Rome. Florence is quite small, so you would be able to get around by yourself.
Dollar is very strong right now, so you should be able to get very good value.
I just planned a trip to Taiwan for 13+ people with private bus, villas, hotels, private tours, etc.
Nerdy things in England off the top of my head: Stonehenge, the Prime Meridian and dropping ball and Longitude machine at Greenwich, Churchill Museum and underground War Rooms, Bletchley Park, Jane Austen home at Chawton, Roman baths in Bath, Oxford (setting of many books and movies), Stratford-on-Avon.
My daughter is doing her study abroad semester in England this spring and her cousin and two uncles are going to London for a week with her this January (before she starts). The costs seem to be reasonable for airfare (RT Denver to London non-stop $600). They have on their wish lists - Stonehenge, Jack the Ripper tour, a ‘football’ game, the Rosetta stone, the Churchill bunker/war room, and maybe Wimbledon. Through her program, daughter just signed up for a trip to Bath, to Stonehenge, for a Harry Potter tour in London (doesn’t know if she’ll do the studio yet as it is $50+ per person), and I think a trip to Brighton (so Downton Abbey). She wants to go to the Downton Abbey home.
I think if you can push your trip to the first two weeks of Jan prices will be cheaper. My sister was in Rome for Thanksgiving (not a holiday there) and there were no lines for a lot of things, like the Vatican and even seeing the Pope at his Wednesday audience.
I generally book 3 months ahead.
I went to Stonehenge with D2 and it was a trip worth taking. We did it in Sep. I imagine it would be rather cold (damp) in Jan. Bath is also worth going. If you are going to do London, I would just add Paris and do day trips from both cities.
All the things that @FrancescaBennett#3 said, although some of them are rather far afield unless you’re willing to drive. When I read your post and saw the reference to plays, I was, “Why go anywhere but London?” As Samuel Johnson said, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” We never tire of London. Get a flat. Google self-catering, or just check with A Place Like Home, which often has Christmas specials.
We used to go in and out of London, but we did get tired of it. I didn’t go for 15+ years except for business. I went back 3 years ago when D2 was studying abroad and remembered all the good times we had.
We’ve done flats in London and Paris and it’s nice to have your own spot, cook when you wish, not have to go out for a coffee or some light meal/snack. (And shop the local markets. I love doing as the locals do. No fanny packs, ha, doschicos.) And you’re usually among other residents, not tourists. One frequent flat-renting comment is no maids expect you out of the room at certain hours. You do want to be sure the location is convenient to transportation. Of course, you won’t have a concierge or front desk to answer questions or give directions.
For a first trip out of the county, England is certainly easy, no real language challenge. Shorter flight.
But Hamilton tickets could eat up a chunk of the budget, if things stay as they are.
Some rentals do offer concierge type services and even maid service.
With Hamilton in Chicago and London, in addition to NYC, it’s easy to make it part of the trip - or not, and just go to Chicago to see it another time.
We loved London…and there is plenty to do there. An overnight on the train to Paris would be a nice addition.
We are not world travelers by any measure or means. But in 2011 we stayed for a few days in Brussels…and really liked it. We took the train to Brugge for the day. I didn’t realize how easily we could have gotten to Amsterdam and Paris from there…or I would have stayed there longer. Very easy train transport from Brussels.
We went in December when the holiday markets were still in full swing in the plaza.
D and I have spent the last two weeks in London. We found a flat using HomeAway and it’s been wonderful. This is our first trip abroad and it’s been very easy. We took day trips to Paris, Bath and Oxford and have had plenty to do in the city. We are seeing a show NYE. I booked everything first of November and my RT ticket was direct $650. I’d highly recommend this as a destination.
@lookingforward Sign up on the show’s website to receive notification of ticket releases. I’ve scored blocks of tickets twice now at face value this way. (I don’t think Boston tickets have even been sold yet, have they?)
