We need Europe experts!

Parent Cafe
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We like doing a walking tour and/or boat tour on the first day to help us get our bearings. There are plenty of side trips – DH went to Versailles on the Metro. I really liked the Musee d’Orsay. Notre Dame, Sainte-Chappelle, Arc de Triomphe…and walking along the Seine is an experience in itself.

If you were going in mid-late April, I’d send you to the Netherlands, hands-down. Keukenhof is an easy side trip (lots of walking through glorious gardens), Mauritshuis in Den Hagg (home of The Girl with the Pearl Earring – our B&B host said to go there no matter what, and she was right – easy 20 min train trip from Amsterdam), Van Gogh Museum, etc…

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OP–As you can see–you can’t go wrong no matter where you choose!

Two bits of advice–pack LIGHT (go light carry-on, less the better) and wear good walking shoes.

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We are going to Europe this summer. First 6 nights in southern France ( St Remi and Cassis) and then three days in Prague and three in London. So basically three places in almost two weeks vs 5 places in one week.

H and I went to Spain a few summers ago. We visited 4 cities in 7 or 8 days and felt it was too many in this short time.

I suggest, as others, you narrow it down op.

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It’ll be a ton of fun! Get Rick Steve’s book. Good start and go to his site for travel tips.

Pack very LIGHT (go very light carry-on, less is best).
Don’t go with more than you can easily carry yourself and still be happy.
This will keep you mobile when faced with stairs with no elevators (or only big enough for one person), rough streets (where roller bags are next to useless), tiny car taxis, makes train travel easy, makes it easy to go places when luggage storage isn’t readily available, etc.
We have a thread on tiny houses but I like tiny luggage!

Wear a money belt.

85

Hey there! I can tell you that Paris is very confusing. A lot of the locals don’t speak English, and food that you don’t want to pay a ton of money for is hard to come by (from my experience). Here’s what we visited while in Paris and pretty much my entire trip (it was two and a half weeks - so you don’t have to do all of these):

  • NOT IN ORDER

PARIS (we only did 3 days, so I mean, you can do it too ;):
Sacre-Couer Basilica
The Eiffel Tower (iconic)
The Louvre (YOU HAVE TO GO HERE)
Champs-Élysées
Notre Dame Cathedral (absolutely stunning)
Père Lachaise Cemetery (absolute geniuses are buried here: Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, etc.)
Montmarte
Latin Quarter
Versailles
Arc de Triumph

LONDON:
Big Ben
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace
British Museum
St Paul’s Cathedral
Highgate Cemetery
Westminster Abbey
Kensington Gardens
Hyde Park
Royal Observatory, Greenwich

STAUFEN:
Cute German town with iconic German architectural style. It’s in the Black Forest and once again, the place we stayed at was amazing. The people were very friendly and we had breakfast at an amazing restaurant with literally outside seating just chilling out. Not a commercial place to visit, very relaxing and almost inspiring.

BADEN BADEN:
We just stayed here for a night, so we didn’t do much, but we did visit the casino. Pretty place to visit, but not a top priority.

SALZBURG:
Bike tour of the city
Hohensalzburg Castle
Mozart’s home
Schloss Klessheim
Mirabell Palace
Mirabellgarten (one of the scenes in the Sound of Music)
Mozartplatz (pretzels are to die for)
Schloss Leopoldskron

REUTTE:
Neuschwanstein
Linderhof Palace
Ehrenburg Castle
Festung Schlosskopf
Heiterwanger See

  • Honestly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in my life. The air is like amazing and the water is crystal blue. It’s surrounded by mountains and the locals are very friendly. The hotel we stayed in was amazing as well. Also, it’s in the Black Forest.

MUNICH:
BMW museum/plant
Olympic park
Englischer Garten
Marienplatz
Karlsplatz
Nymphenburg Palace

  • Other than this we pretty much chilled. There were some cool markets and we also went on a bike tour, which was dope. If you end up going to Munich (highly recommend), I can give you the name.

I hope this gave you some ideas of where to go. Go to Germany. There is so much culture and it’s absolutely beautiful. I have been to Amsterdam and Brussels, and I can honestly say that they’re slightly overrated. London and Paris are a must.

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@ab2002 All I can say is WOW and THANK YOU! What a list!!

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@cardinal2020mom No problem! I would say for your trip, go to London and Paris. Remember, you’re in Europe, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Use it to your advantage. :slight_smile:

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“I can tell you that Paris is very confusing. A lot of the locals don’t speak English, and food that you don’t want to pay a ton of money for is hard to come by (from my experience)”

But we did very well pointing to the pastries we wanted in the case. No problem there!

Didn’t see Austria/Germany on OPs list–but it’s now on mine!

89

Talking about food in Paris, if you stay in airbnb you can buy a lot of yummy things at the farmers’ markets (which are awesome to visit anyway, try the Bastille one). You can also buy a lot of deli food in stores, and naturally bread and cheese. Many charcuteries sell cheap and tasty roasted chicken, and don’t even get me started on all the meats and pâtés. Paris restaurants are unfortunately hit or miss but it’s usually hard to go wrong with crepes (especially on Rue Mouffetard).

90

I ate so well and happily on my first cheap trip to France where we had bagged salad, cheese, bread and sausage for dinner most nights in Paris in our room. With pastries for dessert. This is traveling with D, who has lived in France at times. On a later trip we ate out for a lot of money a few times and were disappointed. Though in smaller cities I have had wonderful meals. What I do now is wander the less elegant area around Gare du Norde, where I stay, and find a place catering to locals.

91

We’d buy baguette sandwiches and drinks early in the morning, keep them for lunch. Though we also travelled last time in March, it was warm enough to eat by the fountains by the Louvre or in a park. We cooked in the flat we rented. (In addition to the street markets, I get a kick out of the small chain markets, for other things.) When we dined out, we checked the menus every restaurant has posted outside. (But tried to avoid tourist traps.) Often, you find these places on your day wanderings and can return later. Or there may be a little regional hole in the wall place near where you stay.

I’ve never been up in the Eiffel, but that flat was walking distance and we’d go out at night to walk around it. For city views without the wait and expense, go to Montmartre at dusk (by Sacre Coeur,) top floor of the Pompidou, or, of course, Notre Dame. Just walking along the banks of the Seine offers great views.

We didn’t take the girls to the Champs, either, but did get to Chartres, Versailles, the museums, and St Denis (the church.) It’s a magical city.

For me, I love being on the streets, doing as the locals do.

92

We skipped going up the Eiffel Tower and instead walked from our hotel (near Arc de Triumph) to this place:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_Montparnasse

There is a rooftop observation deck with unbelievable panoramas of Paris. The place was not crowded and it was a nice change of pace from being surrounded by hoards of tourists.

We also enjoyed walking around this place:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_des_plantes

http://www.jardindesplantes.net

Beautiful and peaceful.

93

Well, huge disappointment. Trip is off. The reason why we made the Paris trip plan was due to D16 needing to stop there on her way to Cape Town for a study abroad program starting on 4/3. Due to the horrible water shortage, the kids were informed last night that the trip was cancelled. Apparently, as of mid April there will be no water.

How the actual city will deal with this is another, more important story. However, on a personal level, our plans are up in the air.

She is going to attempt to get into the Santiago, Chile program that she was originally accepted into. But, logistically going to Paris to then have to fly to Chile makes zero sense.

I thank you all for your wonderful advice and hints. Hopefully, we will have another opportunity to visit.

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Sorry to hear this, @cardinal2020mom. Hope your daughter finds an alternative and that you have a great trip in the near future. This thread remains a helpful reference. (DS has a vacation to Cape Town planned for next month; don’t know how that will play out.)

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@travelnut, thank you. I agree. There is so much helpful info here. We will see what comes of the study abroad program.

Please make sure your DS gets updated info. Getting blindsided after all the plans have been made is no fun.

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Well that is really a shame. Have read about the situation in Cape Town and it really sounds dire. A younger brother of a friend of my youngest d had to change study abroad programs because he was supposed to be in Japan the semester after the earthquake/tsunami.
Another friend of younger d was supposed to be in a mid-semester Cornell ecology program in Nigeria and has to have several vaccinations as well as much coursework preparation… but program was cancelled because of religious riots. British Air not flexible in any refund. Program did get rescheduled the following year when area had calmed down.

97

I can feel your disappointment, @cardinal2020mom, and what a blow to your daughter. Here’s wishing Santiago, Chile pans out and that she has a wonderful, enriching time there.

98

And it gets worse. The travel ins. may be worth nothing. I don’t even know which way is up.

99

@cardinal2020mom, I’m so sorry. I thought of you immediately when I saw the article about Stanford cancelling their Cape Town program in the spring. What a disappointment for all of you, but especially your daughter. I can’t believe the travel insurance won’t cover any of this–ugh!

I know someone else whose daughter just left yesterday for a study abroad program in Cape Town, but I’m now wondering how that’s going to work out. The situation over there sounds really bad.

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@Mom2jl Thanks. She has a meeting with them Monday. We’ll see what comes of it.

I hope that student returns before mid April. Those poor people over there.