Family Europe Trip - 3 months - advice wanted!

Welcome to the RS forum. The first thing people will want to know is if you have a US passport are you aware of the tourist stay rules in the Schengen area? All 3 of your proposed areas are in the Schengen zone with visits restricted to 90 days (not 3 months) out of 120.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Between Frankfurt and Paris would be Strasbourg, France.

I'm sure Pam meant to say 90 days about of any rolling 180-day period. This is very important. And both your arrival day and your departure day count.

Personally, I think a month in one place is a long time unless you have already been to most of the top destinations in the target country/region and are just going to seek out non-touristy spots near the lodging place. I don't have children, but I wonder how excited they would be about a heavy dose of Tuscan hill towns. If economics is a major factor here, do not discount the cost of fuel and parking. The less you pay for parking on the outskirts of major cities, the farther out the parking lot is likely to be, and the longer it may take you to get into the historic area in the center of town by public transportation. If you use taxis, you're really cutting into your savings.

You could easily spend so much time getting to Rome from Tuscany that your time in the city per day would be about half of what a Rome-based traveler would have. There's lots to see in Rome. How many day-trips do you think you might need just to see the top sights there? Think of the hours in the car and the speed cameras you'll have to dodge.

Make ViaMichelin your first stop when you find an Airbnb that looks interesting. First, you'll need to find out exactly where it is. "On the outskirts of XXXX" might mean you have a 15-minute drive down an unpaved track before you get to the nearest road. Florence is about 3 hours from Rome by car; naturally, those major cities are connected by a freeway. Smaller towns may not have such good links to Rome. For example , Siena is well south of Florence but is still a 2 hr. 45 min. drive from the capital. It's also 1 hr. 12 min. from Florence. Those times are estimates from ViaMichelin, which doesn't allow for any stops at all, or traffic delays, or getting lost, or finding parking. Remember, those times will double for day-trips.

Also keep in mind that much of Italy can be very hot in the summer. I often suggest that folks who must travel at that time of year be sure their lodgings (air-conditioned, of course) are very well-located so they can take a break in an air-conditioned room during the hottest part of the day. If your Airbnb is up in Tuscany, you will not be driving back there for a mid-day break if you are wilting in Rome. In the summer, it's great to spend some time up in the Dolomites, but that area is not within day-trip range from Tuscany.

It looks like you are really wanting to be in Italy. What about splitting time between Tuscany and something by Lake Como. I agree with acraven about kids potentially become weary of drives to Tuscan towns. Or for other ideas, I have four kids and we tried to make sure the kids had lots of running around time. When the kids were young, our family would have enjoyed stays in the mountains, like the Berner Oberland area of Switzerland. My kids at age 6 were capable and very interested in short hikes. There would be plenty of day trip options from BO. Luzern and Bern, would be a couple. If Switzerland is too pricey, you could look at similar type of vacation in the Salzkammergut area of Austria. I think you'd want a car in Austria, in Switzerland you could get by with trains which also would be great fun for kids. Those areas would be cooler than Italy.

I like the travel slow from bases idea, but I think month long stays will just lead to day trips with very long transit times, or what really amounts to living abroad for 90 days. If you are willing to stay for just a week to two weeks per stop, then you really will both get to see things and reduce the stress of moving from place to place.

If I really were to spend 30 days each in three places on my first trip to Europe I'd do Paris, London, and Rome. Each city has a plethora of sites, and numerous possible day trips by public transport. And the are all quite different from each other.

If you are willing to move every week or two, I also reccomend: Amsterdam (many easy and affordable day trips by rail); Vienna, Barcelona, Prague, Florence, and Seville-although if you are traveling in summer Seville, Florence, and Rome are likely to be very hot.

I'd like to spend a couple weeks in Budapest. I can imagine a fine week or two in Madrid, Berlin or Istanbul as well. We are planning to use Bologna for a week of mostly day tripping this September. In addition you might spend a week with a car in Tuscany, Slovina, The Rhine, or Andulasia.

And I'm just scratching the surface here. There are many areas and cities worth a week or two of your time.

I’d be looking at maybe two weeks in a rural villa with swimming pool then a few days in a city and repeat. Doing loooong day trips from a base in Tuscany is no one’S idea of fun. If you want to go to Rome, be in Rome for a few days.

Driving (and parking) in Europe is very different from in the U.S. Most of the time it's faster and easier to take trains. The historic centers of most towns in Italy are off-limits to unauthorized vehicles (areas are called TZL's). You can inadvertently drive into one and get dinged with a triple-digit fine. That means you have to park (and pay) outside the TZL and walk or take public transportation.

What do you envision and what are your goals for this adventure? Do you want to "live like locals" - settle in to a small town, get to know the shopkeepers and cafe owners, do a lot of home cooking, learn the language? Then spending a month in one location with a car could be a good plan, your kids might get to know some of the local kids and you'd be able to take a few excursions for a change of pace.

Do you want to do a lot of sightseeing? I can't think of any large cities that I would want to have a car in. Day-tripping to them would be frustrating for me - too much time and money getting there for too little time for the sights. I don't even consider staying on the outskirts of a city to save $$$ and have a one-hour commute to the center/sights. In the summer heat of Italy, are your kids going to be happy being out and about in the hottest part of the day, without an afternoon nap, when sights are the most crowded?

Consider going for two months on the same budget and staying in cities and using public transportation.

I agree with This Person Who Writes Stuff that you should alternate between intense city periods and relaxing country side periods - and I am sure your kids will agree too.

A villa with swimming pool is a good idea. A camping site with a mobile home is a good idea - some will recognize my recommendation of Camping Serenella :-) But there are lots of other sites.

If Venice is on your list, you could combine it with a period on a camping site near Lido di Jesolo.

As others have mentioned a car is trouble in a city and no advance between cities (Trains are better), but can be an advance if you want to see the country side. When you calculate the cost of one lease buy back vs. several short term rentals, remember to include parking, ZTL, and Autostrada fee.

Thank you for all the advice so far!

Some more context around the trip - it's meant to be sort of a sabbatical so the idea would definitely be a more relaxing itinerary and spending time with the kids around the house and in smaller villages and then heading into bigger towns every few weeks (probably via train for those trips)

I definitely understand the Schengen requirement and will be careful not to stay more than 90 days in the 180 day period!

Definitely interested in more suggestions of areas where you would be happy to park it for a month.

thanks so much!

Between Paris and Frankfurt you have a few choices, how about Metz or Saarbrücken, if you don't choose some place else in mind? Staying in Alsace-Lorraine is well worth two weeks, visiting Metz, Nancy, Thionville, Colmar, Obernai, Strasbourg, and several other towns.

The Dordogne region was not on your list of potentials, but if I were to park it somewhere for a month, that is where I would go. We (hubby plus 2 kids aged 2 and 7 years) spent a week at a gite in St. Vincent-de-Cosse (near St. Cyprien) last summer and had the chance to slow down and relax, seeing at most 2 sights a day (one day, we saw no sights at all but relaxed while the kids jumped on the trampoline under the walnut trees at the gite, and went to the river to dip in the water) and visiting various towns on market days. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more details.

Sounds like a great family opportunity. I also think one month in one place is challenging. I understand the sabbatical approach, but you have a great opportunity to see a lot of Europe. I would suggest a move every two weeks. Here are some locations to think about home bases. There are more than 90 days worth of locations, but these are just options. Whatever you choose I think you will have a great time. Enjoy.

ITALY
Orvieto--You can be in Rome in 90 minutes by train and you can explores the Umbria region by car.
Lucca--You can drive or train to Florence in 90 minutes and Pisa in 30 minutes. You can explore the Tuscany Region by car.

SLOVENIA/ITALY
Ljubljana--Very Nice city in Slovenia. Easy access to Lake Bled.
Trieste-Easy access to Venice and a drive south to Plitvice National Park in Croatia which is an overnight.

AUSTRIA
Vienna--Easy trip to Bratislava
Salzburg--Easy Trip to Hallstatt

GERMANY
Fussen--Neuschwanstein Castle, Oberammergau
Bacharach--Day Cruise on the Rhine.

FRANCE
Paris

If you're spending at least 2 nights in Salzburg and want to do a day trip, then I heartily suggest Bad Ischl if you want to see a historical place, ie the Kaiservilla, ca 30 min walk from the station. Easy and direct.

The bus leaves from Europaplatz to Bad Ischl, the bus stop is across from the train station.

Thank you acraven. Yes, fingers and brain were not synced! I appreciate your correcting my typo!!

When we spend money for one apartment for a few weeks, I generally don’t like having to pay for a second lodging elsewhere at the same time. On the other hand, the money you save on month-long contracts may compensate what you pay out on these short trips. After you do the math, could you let us know.