Best Europe options for an adult family escape

Bill, I'm in the middle of planning a trip to the Loire valley for myself, my 86yo mother, and my sister and brother-in-law for next October and am relying heavily on the Gites de France website. For your trip, I just put in a random week in early July and specified rental with 8 people - it came up with more than 100 sites scattered across France. So there are still possibilities.

How long a trip are you planning? And what are the family interests - art? history? hiking? cities? small towns? countryside? The Loire area has lots of chateaux and castles and we are really looking forward to spending a week there - but only you can decide if that will interest your family, or if you'd rather be near the mountains, or Roman ruins, or the sea... The Strasbourg area might be another interesting choice and would give the chance of visiting Germany and Belgium, depending on whether you want to see other countries or just focus on one.

I'm sure others will weigh in, but it will help us help you if you can give a few more specifics about your interests and the length of the trip. Meanwhile, enjoy the planning!

Eight people will mean two cars or being close enough to public transportation to get around. So, this is the tricky part! Also, you need to narrow it down a bit! Any "old country" connections? Is your family Italian (who cares, it's the best country EVER), French, German? Any desires to see one of these countries in particular?

The website I've used renting apartments all over Europe has been: VRBO.com. Flipkey.com and Homeaway.com are also good
websites. I've rented apartments in Spain (several places), Florence, Italy, Rome, Italy, Paris, France, Sicily etc., using mostly VRBO and have never had a bad experience. I usually travel with four to six people. Below are some personal observations if you're interested.

You could rent a villa in Sorrento, as there are homes there that could accommodate all of you, and there is public transportation to get you to Pompeii, Capri, etc., You'll need to do a search on one of the above websites. Many people think a "villa" is some uberluxurious place, but that's not necessarily true! Many times they are just houses, some have pools, some don't, some are in the country some aren't.

My favorite place in the world is Sicily! There's a website: legendofcofsicily.com. He's based in Taormina (Google Taormina separately, as his website is relatively new and he doesn't have all those wonderful pics up yet,), it's beautiful, fun, and they take people on tours of the entire Eastern side of Sicily, including a wonderful Vineyard, Syracuse, Catania, etc, and Taormina is beautiful. I have NO financial connection with this company. I took two groups of friends to Sicily and both times we used this particular rental agency and everyone loved the trips. I would not go to Sicily in winter. Apri, , May June or September, & Oct, are the best months, especially Springtime! Christmas is also very beautiful, but of course cold. I'm mentioning this site particularly because I've taken larger groups to Sicily than I have to France, Spain and Florence, and they have quite a large inventory of rental apartments and also offer a driver/tour service if that interests you.

This sounds like a fun trip you're planning! I've unfortunately had a back injury -- so when I look at these rentals, I make sure there aren't a ton of stairs, or at least an elevator, and that the terrain is walkable for me! (If you're going in summer, make sure there's A.C. There are a lot of conveniences we have here in that States that are not necessarily "givens" in Europe. Have FUN!!!

These suggestions are just to get you started. I have no specific info for rentals of the size you would need in France, so, again, I would suggest using VRBO or Flipkey. I'm sure someone on here will recommend Airbnb.com, but they're more of a small apartment or individual room agency, and probably will not have places that will meet your needs for eight people . I'd love it if you'd follow up and let us know where you've decided on!

A villa in Tuscany. Definitely.

The website www.parkervillas.com offers a variety of villa rentals all over Italy. The are located near Boston, which is helpful to have an English-speaker on the other end of the phone of there is a problem. I haven't used them personally, but a travel agent friend of mine recommended them to me. I agree that the transportation will be an issue -you'll either need to rent two cars or stay in a place that has good train connections -this may impact you're ability to pick a villa far out in the countryside.

I always like the Orvieto in Umbria -it's about an hour from Rome if you want to do some day trips.

Have fun,

First, I have to say I saw Pink Martini in Jacksonville, Oregon about 5 years or so ago. It was a great show!

Transportation with that many people is an issue. I think you would have to rent 2 cars if public transportation is not an option. If cost is a factor, it's less expensive to rent cars in France than it is in Italy, but France has more toll roads. It's easier to drive in France. I think the Provence area would be good, and another poster had a good suggestion regarding the Alsace region. There you could easily day trip to Germany, Switzerland and maybe Belgium. Of course you can't go wrong with Tuscany either. I think you all need to discuss what you would like to do with your time and then decide.

bill,

It's late so this will just be a brief reply tonight. A few thoughts.....

• I'd quiz your father somewhat to find out more details about what he's considering. I'm sure he has a picture in his mind of what he hopes the experience will be, so you'll have to find out what that picture is.
• While a Villa in Tuscany may be desirable, you'll have to consider the realities of that scenario. For example, the "smart teenagers" may not be happy stuck in the Villa for several weeks with a bunch of "old people", so the ability to access rail travel would be an advantage so that it will be easy for all to take day trips.
• It would be a good idea to canvas the entire group, to get some idea whether there's a preference for Italy, France or wherever. I'm partial to Italy, so choosing a location from Rome and north would be my suggestion as that presents lots of possibilities.
• Once you've chosen a general area, have a look at guidebooks for that area. Your local Library should have copies. You could also access Rick's videos on You Tube or wherever. You could start with THIS selection of videos. All of your group can access the videos, so that should enhance their anticipation of the trip.
• It's getting a bit late to plan for this year, unless you travel in September or October (fall "shoulder season").

You're in somewhat of a difficult position, as undoubtedly not everyone will be happy with the choices you make.

Good luck!

You've had a variety of good advice above. To keep everyone interested, I would not stay at any one home base more than a week. Day-tripping can take longer than some people assume. You can get an idea of driving times and train travel times in any guidebook for the region, then get details at www.viamichelin.com and train schedules through DB. A 7-or more-passenger van costs just as much as two cars, so the two cars would be more flexible.

p.s. Our travel center staff loved Pink Martini at Zoo Tunes.

I am also partial to Italy. You could choose a couple of locations if you have two weeks or more. For the teens, access to public transportation will give them some options without traveling in a group of eight every day. There are great places in Tuscany (friends rented a place near Certaldo and took some cooking classes together), or the area in Campania near Paestum or the Amalfi Coast (ancient ruins, beaches, mozzarella farms, limoncello factories).

How much time do you have?