Europe trip

Well, without EU passports, you will not be travelling for more then 90 days . To stay longer you must obtain visas , you must do that here not there. You cannot get around the rule by leaving a country for a week and then returning as there must be a set amount of time that you leave, serveral months I believe.

So, now, you must decide if you are going to apply for said visas or plan trip for 3 months.

Ps. Really think finding host families willing to put up 7 people for free is optimistic. You could check to see if there is a homeschooling association in each country that would be willing to consider some sort of exchange, you let them stay at your home here in STates in return.. good luck on that.

Other cheap options are renting apt. but for the amount of people and the time you want I am going to assume you will be really watching pennies, so stay out of big cities for better prices. Places like Rome and Paris just assume an apartment rental of 4 or 5 days, then get out of city.

Another option for a group your size, is to buy a motorhome. You will at least save on food , and just bring a cheap tent to put two oldest kids in, or like we have done when kids were younger, either my hubby and I took turns sleeping with kids in tents( as the younger kids want to sleep out too, but we felt is wasn't safe to be alone when they were really young.

There is a book by Patty Campbell and David Shore called "Europe by Van and Motorhome" it could be a helpful and interesting read.

Good luck.

Adding to what Pat already mentioned about the 90-day rule: You can only stay in one or several of the countries in the Schengen Agreement area (basically all of Western Europe except the UK and Ireland) for 90 days in any 6-month period.If you want to stay in one or more of the Schengen zone countries for more than 90 days in a 6-month period, you should check with the consular office of the first Schengen country you will enter and probably will be required to obtain a Schengen visa or other extension of the 90-day rule. It's been reported here that these extensions are not automatically granted to tourists. The countries that are member parties of the Schengen agreement are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Links to prior discussions here of this question:http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/24844/visa-in-europe.htmlhttp://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=3377And here's a link to a discussion on another website:90-day rule

I already have five families in four different countries that are willing to accomodate my family. So, I don't think that's going to be impossible. Difficult, sure, but impossible, no.

As for the information about the visas, thank you for letting me know. I will definitely look into this further to see what we need to do for our trip.

Please continue to give ideas and input as I am always open to suggestions and advice!

Jessica

To add to everything so far, to buy a car, you will need a permanent address to register it and insurance. (And what do you plan to do with the car when you're finished?) YOu may want to look at long term rental instead.

Since you will more than likely be limited to 3 months, the rental vehicle (big for 7 as cars are smaller in Europe), will probably be cheaper than buying.

Jessica,

In order to get ideas on places you might like to visit, I'd suggest reading a few different Guidebooks, starting with Europe Through The Back Door. That will give you "the basics" for travels in Europe.

As the others mentioned, you're going to have a problem with the 90-day limit of the Schengen Visa. You need to be very clear on the terms of that, so you aren't deported!

Regarding purchase of a Car, one other aspect to consider would be the Insurance. There could be "issues" if you chose to drive in some countries, especially in the former eastern block countries. As I recall there was some mention of "leasing" in ETBD, but I don't remember the details. Be sure to budget for the cost of fuel, as Europe is expensive!

Good luck with your planning!

Yes, I think buying a car will not be as simple as you think. One does usually need a residency permit to do a car registration, license tags, and car insurance too. Go to the American Consulate websites for each of the countries you are thinking about for accurate information about visas, car purchase, etc. Consider basing yourself in several different large cities where you can either buy monthly passes for the public transportation systems or in cities where you can walk everywhere. Believe it or not, Frankfurt is a very walkable city. We live in a great, older neighborhood and though it has all the amenities (stores, cafes, groceries, produce markets), we often walk downtown just for fun if the weather is nice. European cities are set up differently than in America. Find a great neighborhood and you will never need a car. Better to buy a good stroller. The Germans have one were one kid sits or lies in the stroller and then there is a little platform with wheels that the 2nd child stands on. Creative! Or they have little bikes with no pedals and pretty much the smallest child 2 and up can navigate these. They learn their balance for later bike riding, they have fun and you don't have to push them around or carry them. Darn, I see I have digressed. Back to my morning coffee pronto!

Hello Jessica. I recommend : some days in Europe, rent a Volkswagon mini bus (or Micro Bus ?) or Vanagan (or equivalent motor vehicle)or a large van. Some days : travel in railroad trains. Driving a motor vehicle in a big city is not recommended.

"Driving a motor vehicle in a big city is not recommended."

Especially driving a motor vehicle big enough to accomodate 7 people! Driving between cities and in the countryside could not be easier in Europe, but the medieval street plans of many European cities are a nightmare to negotiate, much less find parking.

In the summer of 2006 we "bought" a 7 passenger van through AutoEurope. It couldn't have been easier. The price they charge is in dollars, includes all insurance, they pick you up at the airport and you drop it off at one of the many places they offer. It was fantastic. There is a minimum number of days to rent. I think it is 17 days. Most cars in Europe are small, and parking spaces can be very small too. I did have trouble parking from time to time. Also, as mentioned, some roads can be very narrow. Another thing, the van seated 7 passengers, but not much room was left for luggage. If you were to do a rental like this I suppose you could bring one of those car-top carriers that folds up.

Andrea: Just to clarify what you're saying, it sounds as if, technically, you entered into a long-term lease, rather than actually legally purchasing/buying the vehicle? I mention this technicality because another poster (on this or another recent thread) was planning to actually purchase a vehicle, and other posters were trying to explain that this gets into complications that are unnecessary and that the thing to do is what you did: a long term lease, if you need the car for longer than about 17 to 21 days. A long-term lease, such as you did, has been recommended by many posters on this website in the past, if the stay is longer than a certain number of days, generally longer than about 17 days/3 weeks.

I'd recommend getting Cynthia Harriman's book, "Take Your Kids to Europe". It's got a lot of information on the kind of traveling that you're planning on doing.

Yes, I did what Kent was referring to. All I had to do after telling them what I wanted was to fill out the forms they sent to me and then I sent them back. When I turned the car in I just had to sign a paper and that was it. All fees and insurance were included in the amount I paid. No hidden costs!

I second Maureen's suggestion to get the book "Take Your Kids to Europe (safely and sanely)". Its a great resource.I would also suggest posting a big map on the wall, and asking the kids where they would like to go and why. Just doing the research will be fun and educational for them, and take a lot of pressure off of you. Enjoy