European travel with 6 children

"2-3 weeks to see France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium"

Come on - get real. You couldn't do a reasonable trip to all those places in that short a time even without any kids along. Even if you were spending money like there was no tomorrow.

You need to start with a clean sheet of paper and be realistic. Your original thoughts as described above are not.

If you're footing the bill for 8 people economical is relative, especially if you want to travel through 7 countries.

One of the biggest money savers you can get with that many people is to rent a house/villa/apartment rather than using hotels. Not only will this reduce accommodation costs but it will allow you to save money on food by cooking yourselves. Problem is most rentals of this type have a minimum stay, sometimes a week sometimes 3 days which will be a problem given the amount of travel you intend to do.

In your shoes I'd be very tempted to cut at least half the countries out of your list, not only will it save you hundreds in travel costs but a lot of time. I'd guess-timate your travel time will add up to the best part of 5 days at the moment - that's a lot of time to sit in a car/train/airport

Excellent advice from Peter. Pick places to visit where European families vacation and "kid-friendly" is part of the set-up. Stay in a rental for 3-7 days where you've got a kitchen and some room to relax. If you're going in summer, avoid Italy and Spain to avoid heat/humidity extremes.

Southern Germany is a nice area with many vacation rentals. The Black Forest, Lake Constance, and the Bavarian Alps are possibilities that put you within striking distance of Austria, Switzerland, and France. Staying on the Mosel River allows you to jet into France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Check the listings at www.accommodation.de to get an idea of what's available for your large family.

In Germany, a special family bargain exists for train travel - the "Länder Ticket" is a daypass that allows parents to travel with an unlimited # of their own children for under 30 Euros per day within a "Land" or state; here's info on the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, good for traveling the Rhine/Mosel region, as an example:

http://www.vrminfo.de/vrm/english/sites/tickets/rp-ticket.html

We just return from a 18 day trip with two teenagers. We went to London (nothing outside of London), Paris, the Loire Valley in France and Germany (Munich, Hohenschwangau, Rothenburg, and Cochem). We had been to Italy summer 2007. I really don't think we would have enjoyed the trip nearly as much had we tried to pack more destinations in, and even though my kids are very good travelers and loved the adventure, they were tired by the end and ready to head home. Everyone in our family loved Hohenschwangau and the castle area. I liked Cochem (we day tripped to Trier and Burg Elz), but that was not a favorite part of the trip for my kids. Could be because it was right at the end. My kids both loved London, and they loved Italy. Our trip in 2007 was about the same length, and we toured Italy for two weeks and ended with a couple days in Paris. A money saving tip: pack light so that everyone can handle what they bring. That way you can use public transportation at places where you don't need/want a car.

Follow RS's excellent advice and assume you'll be back. Therefore pick two (or maybe three, but I'd do two)countries you really want to see, and visit those. This will give your children a taste for travel without wearing them out, and they'll be motivated to come back some day, preferably on their own dime.

I agree with cutting down on the number of places you want to go to. Keeping it to Germany/Austria/Switzerland would be quite doable. In those countries, you can get apartments or houses by the day, instead of having to rent them by the week, as most other places do.

My family (my husband and I and our 2 kids) traveled with my sister's family, including their 5 kids. Finding accomodations that would fit that big of a group is a challenge, but it can be done. You'll have to do a lot of research online.

Do yourselves a favor and book a farmhouse stay for at least part of the trip. There's lots of farmhouses in those countries where other families are staying and they have lots of activities for the kids there. It's a great way of having a unique experience and meet other families, too.