Yes, another itinerary question!
We are planning a trip to Europe May 10 for 23 days. We are planning to fly into London, taking a side trip to Worcester for genealogy research; then take in Paris, maybe Nice, the Alps and parts of Germany (Halle, genealogy) before flying out of Amsterdam . We have eliminated Italy thinking it might be too much. Yes? No?
We have never been to Europe, nor do we speak anything but "southern" English!
Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.
Noel & Carol
Yes, eliminating Italy is a good idea - with 7 locations and 23 days that's a bit over 3 days per location - too many IMO.
One thing to bear in mind when planning:
Each change of location will eat up anywhere from 1/2 to a full day - when you factor in packing up/checking out, traveling to train station/airport, the trip itself and then travel to your new hotel and checking in. For example, Paris to Nice is about 5 to 6 hours by train - and not much less than that if you are flying.
My advice would be to figure out what you really want to see/do and prioritize the list - then look at transportation options and time required for those... and then prioritize some more!
If you are going all the way to Nice, you might as well go to Italy. 23 days sounds like a lot, but it's not. You need to figure out how much time to spend in each spot. With a large geographic range, changing locations can eat up a whole day. So keep that in mind.
And don't worry about speaking southern English, you'll get along just fine.
Sounds like a good trip! You have about 5 1/2 travel days within your 23 with all of your various destination. Also factor in your first day which will be overshadowed by jet lag! Make sure to consider both when deciding how many days you'll stay in each place. Even so you'll have 2 or 3 days in each of the various destinations. You're covering a lot of territory and your pace is brisk but the trip is certainly doable!
I definitely think that eliminating Italy for now is the right move. You don't have time.
Since you are moving around so much I would try to pack just a carryon if you can. Hauling luggage around can be exhausting and you want to minimize this, especially for your mom.
I have done genealogical research in Europe and it is more time consuming than you might think. Finding the right office, language barriers, and bureaucracy can eat up a lot of time. Do your homework before you go. Know exactly which office or church you need to go to and create maps from your hotel, make a personal contact with someone who works there, and let them know ahead of time exactly what you are looking for. That way they can, hopefully, find what you are looking for before you arrive. Many places that deal with genealogy aren't open every day and you'll need to time your trip to fit the times that they are.
Can you be more specific about which parts of the Alps and Germany you will be visiting? Contributors here will be able to give you better advice if you can pinpoint your destination.
Enjoy! I really treasure memories of trips with my mother.
You're doing a lot of moving, which costs sightseeing time. Assuming you want to keep UK and Germany for genealogy, maybe drop Nice, which is really out of the way, and possibly the Alps. There are wonderful day trips from London, Paris, and Amsterdam, in addition to the cities themselves. Those cities, plus the areas for genealogy could easily take the time you have.
You don't mention health/mobility, but when I traveled with my mother, things went best when I remembered natural differences in energy level, and built in some down time.
Have a wonderful trip!
Yes, DEFINITELY enlist prior help if your genealogy excursion to Halle is not to be wasted. Most public records from before WWII were written in a script known as Kurrent, which even most native German speakers now have difficulty deciphering. Here's an example. The Allies hit Halle pretty hard during the war, so first verify that such records even still exist. Then, find someone who can interpret them for you.
Where in the Alps? May usually isn't a great time to visit these mountains, particularly the high peaks of the western part of the chain.
Do you want to do actual genealogy research of baptismal records, etc? Or do you just want to go somewhere for a sense of where your ancestors came from? Do whatever option you want, just have an idea of it before you go.
(Tom-there's a reason they abandoned that Kurrent script!)
Hi Noel and Carol
My question is much like that of Karen....
I've done genealogy research in Worcester - I suggest that you get a good idea of exactly what and where you will be looking. County Hall is quite a long way out of town, and the other resources are in town. The counties around there have been reshaped over the years and the part of Worcestershire which reached towards and into Birmingham has been put into the West Midlands county, along with large chunks of Staffordshire and Warwickshire. Research for that area is conducted at Birmingham Library, now in its new location east of the city centre.
About Halle - do you mean Halle (Westfalen) or its namesake Halle (Saale)?
It does seem that you will be covering a few miles..... I hope you have a memorable trip for all the right reasons....
Thank you for all your responses. I will not try to do actual research but want to see the areas our ancestors lived. I will be able to picture where they lived as I'm doing my research at home. Will go to Nuremberg and maybe the Romantic Road and do more research on the Alps.
Thanks for your suggestions !
Noel. .... The Mom!
If you share where around Worcester I may be able to give further insights...
Go for it. My wife and her daughter (70/40) took a 14 day trip to Italy this past September for the daughter's 40th birthday. They are very close and they enjoyed it immensely. No problems anywhere along the trip.
