Fammily Travel suggestions for UK/France trip Fall 2017

Eric and Stephanie

If you are from Orange, can we assume that the kids have grown up with a suburban lifestyle?

Have they ever visited a farm - milked a goat, or a cow, or dealt with chickens or sheep? Do you think these would interest?

How are you defining Fall? Taking them out of school for a month and going in October or November, or do you mean just before school goes back? It makes a difference, particularly with your more northern locations because the sun rapidly gets into a habit of setting pretty early as we approach winter.

Look for family rooms if you to all be together; better if you have maybe 3 apartments for a week each and keep each of these as a base. Then you may be able to have the kids in one room and you in another, and maybe even another for the maybe cousins.

You may have bitten off quite a lot for 3 weeks.

I guess after Mickey Mouse Land and all the others, LegoLand would seem quite tame. A narrow boat journey might not, especially if the boat were horse drawn....

I've just realised that this thread has a twin over in the France Forum. If answering here you might look over there too.

Nigel, thanks for the advice. We will travel later September/Early October. We are looking at some farm experiences. Our kids will love it. I worked in Ireland years ago and the farm visits I had were by far the most memorable. We are trying to pare down the list of stops...always the temptation to try to squeeze as much in since we'll be traveling so far. Thus looking for some recommendations/ideas. I do like the " home base idea" . Bath and Cotswolds will be definitely on list. I would like the kids to see some working sheepdogs, dairy/cheese makers. Any suggestions in that area for these activities?

Ps...we hear the Disney fireworks every night .....9:30 pm.

Sorry, but you significantly need to cut back on your itinerary. You can't cover the UK element alone in 3 weeks, much less adding in 12 + days of French itinery.

There are farm experieces, but you will need to hire a car for this, as none will be near a rail station. It will be easier to visit a farm rather than stay on one. There is more activity in the spring when there are newborn lambs etc to see.

Most B&Bs only have a few rooms and these will mostly only cater for 2 people per room. The chains Premier Inn and Travelodge have family rooms, but these cater for 2 adults and 2 children.

Combining Cotswolds plus farm experiences = the Cotswold Farm Park http://www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk/ It will be open then, is always fun and educational, and owned by the host of the biggest countryside TV programme in the UK. And in a most scenic area.

Great itinerary.

We have been to all the places in France that you mentioned and plan to visit the English and Welsh places next year.

I suggest 3 nights minimum in Loire valley (so many Chateau to see). Normandy is great, you could spend a week there, but since you have 3 weeks for the entire trip, suggest minimum of 3 nights. Don't miss the Bayeux Cathedral and Tapestry. Also, the WWII sites like Normandy beaches. Guernsey we did on a cruise and we did a great bike ride around about half the island.

For Wales, we are planning to visit Cardiff, Tenby and St. Davids as well as where my paternal ancestors came from in South Wales.

If you go to Bath, you can spend one day going to Wells and Glastonberry. For the Cotswolds, if you have a rental car you can stay in a small town and visit Oxford, Blenheim and Stratford on Avon..

Great itinerary.

We have been to all the places in France that you mentioned and plan to visit the English and Welsh places next year.

I suggest 3 nights minimum in Loire valley (so many Chateau to see). Normandy is great, you could spend a week there, but since you have 3 weeks for the entire trip, suggest minimum of 3 nights. Don't miss the Bayeux Cathedral and Tapestry. Also, the WWII sites like Normandy beaches. Guernsey we did on a cruise and we did a great bike ride around about half the island.

For Wales, we are planning to visit Cardiff, Tenby and St. Davids as well as where my paternal ancestors came from in South Wales.

If you go to Bath, you can spend one day going to Wells and Glastonberry. For the Cotswolds, if you have a rental car you can stay in a small town and visit Oxford, Blenheim and Stratford on Avon..

Thanks for all the feedback! Great travel advice and ideas. Keep the ideas coming. We are definitely rethinking our plans. We really appreciate it.

I'd just reinforce how much moving around you'll be doing and how little time in each area. You've listed 11 cities and regions over 21 days, including two of the biggest cities in Europe, covering a lot of ground. No matter how you travel it will take time, especially with three kids. My suggestion would be to pick England or France, and save the other for the next trip. Your kids may find it easier to start their European exposure where their own language (more or less) is spoken.

As suggested above, pick two or three bases and see if you can find apartments or houses in each, through Homeaway or VRBO or Airbnb or some other service. That will help solve your space problem and let you eat some meals "at home" instead of restaurants. London is one obvious base. Bath and/or York would also be good. Or, if you choose France, Paris and one of the Loire towns like Amboise.