16 days, 5 countries, 4 children and 8 lessons learned
Despite their less-than-stylish appearance to my 13-year-old, they were much more comfortable and practical than tennis shoes. She wore them every day.
Rent apartments. Many hotels in Europe did not have family rooms or quads available, and we had trouble even finding hotels with three doubles to book.
Grin and bare it
Any traveler to Europe who’s visited a bath, hung out at a beach or channel-surfed broadcast TV late at night has noticed that Europeans are more relaxed than Americans about nudity. Full story
But apartments were the perfect alternative. In Paris, we rented an apartment for five nights, and in Munich, we rented another for six nights. The Paris apartment cost slightly less than hotels, and it was just a half-block from Notre Dame Cathedral, in the heart of the city. We had the convenience of a kitchen for breakfast and a few other meals, while also being able to regroup around the table each night.
Our apartment in Munich, which accommodated eight, was even bigger than we needed and provided the same conveniences. It also was near the train station, where all of our tours departed, and was within walking distance of most major sights.
To connect with apartment owners and preview our lodgings, we used two of the many on-line vacation rental sites: Paris Attitude ( www.parisattitude.com) and HomeAway ( www.homeaway.com).
Arrive early for train travel. We arrived 20-30 minutes before our departure times to make sure we could sit together. Trains with the most direct routes were especially likely to be crowded.
We took our seats early as well for the TGV or high-speed train from Metz, France, to Paris, even though we had reservations. We were thankful we had after another traveler showed us the same ticket for one of our seats; apparently the train had been double-booked.
Four things we had do differently next time
Trust train-station storage for those backpacks. In Luxembourg City, our first stop, my husband and I were not completely comfortable locking up our packs in storage because the building was separate from the station.
After checking out of our hotel, we had four hours before our train left for France. The six of us walked around the city with our packs, preventing all of us from checking out a store together or sitting down at a cafe in the shopping area because we were so bulky.
But in Munich, when we arrived about five hours before we could drop off our packs at our apartment, we stored our luggage at the train station. It gave us more flexibility and our kids thanked us.
Ask for children’s portions at restaurants. A number of restaurants offered children’s portions or even a children’s menu, even though the regular menu never indicated such. We learned to ask in part because waiters often were reluctant to take my 8-year-old’s plate if any food was left, even when it was clear she and the rest of us were done eating.
Carry small bills and enough cash to cover a meal. We used ATMs throughout Europe to get cash frequently in increments of 70 or 100 euros. We often received 50 euro bills, which some merchants would not accept unless our bill was close to that amount.
Also, some restaurants do not accept Visa or MasterCard. At a restaurant in Berchtesgaden, Germany, we were caught off-guard when we were told that credit cards were not accepted. We covered the bill for our meal by dipping into our 8-year-old’s birthday-present euros in my bag. We later repaid her.
Stick to traditional-sized postcards for writing home. We had sent e-mails updating family on our travels, but my kids wanted to send postcards to a few friends and their grandparents, mainly because the massive cut-out postcards of beer and pretzels at the Hofbrauhaus were so fun. The bigger postcards cost 6 euro, or almost $8, to mail in Munich, while regular postcards cost 1 euro. We spent 20 euros — $25 — mailing five postcards.
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Submited at Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 6:00 am on Family by john
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