Family Europe trip

Have you already booked your tickets on Eurostar for the trip to London? If not, I'd strongly recommend you cut this as you've really only got 2 days in Paris as it is.

Your choice of course since it's your vacation.

Is your lodging in Florence within the ZTL zone? This is the zone where you can get a huge fine for entering in a car. I've not rented a car in Italy so others can tell you if renting as soon as you arrive is a good idea or if you should pick it up on the way to Pisa.

I think you realize you've got a very aggressive itinerary with not much time for "soaking it in".

Hi there, yes we have the Eurostar booked for the third day in Paris. I have studied the bejesus out of everything of where we are going and have booked all accommodation (bar one night) and all activities that need to be booked in advance I think :D Is there activities that you can see that definitely need to be booked now?

In Florence yes the accommodation has organized our parking for us at Garage Michelangalo. Actually picking the car up on the way to Pisa is a darned good idea though, will look into that!

Yes its a full on adventure, we want to see as much of the countryside as we can rather than just flying place to place, and as mentioned, we love roadies and have a lot of fun.

I can't speak to Croatia because I've never been there, but the rest of the trip is super fast. It feels like you will spend more time traveling than seeing anything. For example: Paris. You have three nights, which means two days. (The day you arrive will be a partial day and you are likely to be tired.) You are going to spend one of those two days in London, which is a large city with a zillion things to see. And you'll be spending five hours on a train, not counting the fact that you need to travel to the train station and get there early. That leaves very little time to see much in London and it will be a tiring day only a day or two after you've flown across the ocean. Then there's Florence. You're going to fly there from Paris and spend the time after you get there soaking it all in before leaving for a lot of driving the next day, which will presumably require an early start since you want to stop in Pisa.

I don't know if you are looking for feedback on your itinerary, but if you are, I would say you should eliminate half your stops. Whatever you decide, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family. I do think it is not the best idea for the driver on narrow hilly roads to be sightseeing instead of driving!

"Actually picking the car up on the way to Pisa is a darned good idea though, will look into that!"

You'd have to weigh up the pros and cons...Con..getting everyone and their luggage to the car pickup point, lol!

If you intend to see your listed Paris sites on Day 2, then you'll want to get reservations for the Louvre ahead of time. They go with timed entries and do sell out. Hopefully Day 2 is not a Tuesday. Arc de Triomphe doesn't usually need a reservation. Eiffel Tower does as well. Seine cruise does not need to be booked ahead - you can just walk up to one of the non-dinner ones, so able to make a last minute decision on who has the interest in that activity.

Thanks, yes it is a fast trip and we are aware of that. We will be in Paris 2 days before the kids arrive. They arrive at 7:30am so we have that full day, plus the next full day. Then on Day 3 we are going to London for the day. Hubby and I have been to London and I myself could very happily skip it lol, however the kids and hubby want to see it so off we go :) Part of the appeal for hubby is the Eurostar so sitting on a train is not really a "pain".

Florence to Pisa is only an hour, then Pisa to Montepulciano is only 2hours. Thats not a big day of driving for us. A big day of driving which we used to do every 6 weeks to pick up our son is 12hrs in a day, thats tough :D. 2-3 hours of driving each day is, in our experience, not big.

I may have slightly exaggerated how bad hubby is at driving/sightseeing, however he does like to peek at the ocean and as someone who has a horrid fear on high roads, to me that is unthinkable lol.

Thanks Pam. The more I think about it, the better the plan of the car the next day sounds. That way when we get to Peretola airport (Florence) we can just taxi to the city straight to the door of apartment. The next day taxi back to airport and pick up car then be on our way.

Re: Louvre, we are actually more than happy to take a pic by the triangle lol. None of us are really hugely into museums :D I think we would rather sit at a cafe and look at the triangle and view than go in, weird we are, yes. We would like to go up the Eiffel tower, I see the "skip the line" tours on TripAdvisor so may look at getting that as we would prefer not to wait in a queue for hours on end given our limited time to enjoy things.

The skip the line tours are not really skip the line in many instances. You do need to get your tickets ahead of time so look to see when they go on sale for your target date. Look at the official ET website. ONly go with the tour if you miss out on the purchase online. They go quickly.

And that will work for the Louvre. There is not really a restaurant with a pyramid view that I can think of. There are some food kiosks in the Tuileries but I've seen pictures that there is some scaffolding up around the arch on that end of the garden and that might obscure some view.

If someone else posts regarding the car pick up thing...go with their suggestion over mine as mentioned, I have NOT driven in Italy.

Excellent, thanks Pam. Looking at ET website now, looks like the date we will be available in the next couple of weeks so shall nab those tickets :) I just spoke to hubby and he thinks the car the next day is a brilliant idea. Not sure if we will get our money back on dropping a day of rental, however it has to be weighed up with the stress of driving into the city centre, finding the "garage", paying €30 for it, and hauling all our bags to accommodation.

Might book the Anne Franks tour too as that sounds like tickets sell quick, though not sure whether the kids are keen on that hehe.

It sounds like you know what you are doing, so I wish you the best.

In Paris, my favorite site is Sainte-Chapelle -- one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. Champs Elysees is very unappealing, but it won't take much time if you feel you must see it. (I did.)

I enjoyed seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but I think it's skippable. In addition to driving time, you have to find a space to park, walk to the Tower, etc. If you like Florence, you could decide at the last minute to skip Pisa to give you more time in Florence.

I'm guessing you have thought of this, but make sure you get a car big enough to hold everyone and their luggage. It sounds like you have at least five people, and even if you travel light, a normal European trunk may not be big enough.

Thanks Carroll, we will primarily be visiting Champs Elysses to find my daughter a 21st party dress to wear, its only 10-min walk from our accomm, so easily doable :)

Yes skipping Pisa is entirely feasible if we would prefer to stay in Florence for longer :)

We have booked a 5-seater full size van (like Opel Vivaro) so there should be oodles of room for luggage as we really didnt want to go smaller and try and "tetris" our luggage in at each stop :)

My family have all done Euro trips, our travel agent lived there, so we have gotten lots of pointers from them :D

Day 1-3 --- 3 nights Paris (one day taking the Eurostar to London for the day)

Don’t, you need a week for both Paris and London, slow down!

Day 4 --- Fly to Florence, picking up hire car and staying central so we can soak it all in immediately

Spend three nights in Florence without a car. Buy tickets for the Uffizi Gallery two-months out.

**Day 5 --- Drive to Pisa, then down to Montepulciano, stay the night.

Instead of spending three nights in Florence change it to four nights in Florence and take a day trip to Pisa by direct train (1h).
Instead, rent a car in Florence and drive along the SR222 a.k.a. the Chiantigiana Road to Siena. From Siena get on the SR2 and turn left onto the SP146 to Montipulciano: https://lovefromtuscany.com/scenic-drives-in-tuscany/. This is why you go to Tuscany. The view is filled with rolling hills with many landscapes. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Day 6-7 --- Drive to Rome, park car at accommodation and spend 2 days/nights.

Drop off car in Chiusi and take a direct train to Rome. You need a minimum of four nights for Rome if you include Vatican City.

Day 14-15 --- Biggest day, drive from Split to Venice stopping at Plitvice National Park for 2-3 hours. Big day but we're up for it!!! Stay in Venice 2 nights

My understanding is this will be the most crowded time of day at Plitvice National Park unless you arrive first thing in the morning or the end of day. The bridges are very narrow and you’ll be accompanied with lots of other people and it’s possible you might fall into the water. Don’t bring your phone.

From there hubby and I head to Santorini for five nights

Five nights on Santorini, why? I suggest no more than three nights but two nights work too if you’re organized.

Thanks MaryPat.

Hubby and I have been to London before. Werent that keen on it to be honest. The kids just want to see the main sites so we will just do a HOHO tour whilst there.

We are not into galleries or museums. We have looked at all the popular things to do/see in each place that we are going to, hence our allocated days/nights. We may or may not go to Pisa :)

Why would we drop our car off in Chiusi, 2-hours away from Rome? We need the car to get to Ancona then onto Croatia??? are you saying we are better to drop the car there for "storage" then come back to it after a few days in Rome?

We will be at Plitvice on their opening, therefore nice and early.

5-nights in Santorini to rest and have a romantic time just hubby and I :)

are you saying we are better to drop the car there for "storage" then come back to it after a few days in Rome?

No, do not use a car for storage. Have you checked the cost of rental cars?

The Sistine Chapel is not a stand-alone sight. It's part of the Vatican Museums. It's a long walk from the entry point, so this is not a 30-minute jaunt you are looking at.

Vatican Museum tickets are selling like hotcakes these days. I have no idea how far in advance you'll need go buy those tickets, but here's the website: Vatican Museum tickets. Note that St. Peter's basilica is a different place and involves a considerable walk from the point where you exit the Vatican Museums. I believe you'll need to line up for tickets to St. Peter's if you want to go inside.

You'll also need to get Colosseum tickets in advance (not sure how early) unless you just want to see the exterior (which is all I've done). Otherwise, you'll be in a long line, I believe.

You plan for Plitvice is going to result in a sub-optimal experience. The park has been truly discovered and is now swamped by day-trippers. To see it in its glory, you really need to spend one night in the area so you can visit the park late in the afternoon and/or early the next morning. I know your schedule doesn't allow for that, but I feel I must warn you to expect people walking shoulder-to-shoulder on the boardwalks. I'm afraid you're going to end up wondering why you've read such positive things about the park.

You'll need to buy Plitvice tickets in advance to be sure you aren't caught up in a long line, as I was in 2015, before advance ticket purchase was an option.

I wonder whether you've checked the estimated driving times for each leg of your trip on ViaMichelin.com. it estimates 9 hr. 23 min. for your Split-Plitvice-Venice day without any stops, navigational problems, traffic delays, etc. By the time you allow for meals, visiting the park, etc., that looks like a totally unmanageable plan to me.

I'm unclear on your plans for the rental car(s). I suspect you're going to face one of these two issues:

• If you plan to keep one car throughout, that means taking an Italian car on a ferry to Croatia. It's my understanding that many rental-car contracts prohibit taking the car on a ferry. And some have country prohibitions, so you also need to check on whether the company you plan to rent from will allow its car to be taken to Croatia.

• If you plan to drop the Italian car in/near Ancona and pick up a different car in Croatia for the rest of the trip, you're likely facing an extremely high international drop charge since you'll be returning a Croatian car in Italy. The car will not be rentable in Italy, so you'll have to cover the cost of repatriating it.

If you put your itinerary out there and ask for comment, then you shouldn't be surprised that you get comments. There is no reason to give rude answers to someone who has a different opinion than yours.
It is not a trip that I would ever want to take, but I hope that you enjoy it.

The word from our folks who live in London or know it well is that HO/HO buses are a very bad idea there because they get hung up in traffic. It would be a better idea to take a walking tour, self-guided from a book like Rick's or something offered by London Walks.

MaryPat - We have the rental organized and paid for :)

Acraven - I know the Sistine Chapel wasnt a quick "dip in". We havent as a group discussed whether we want to go to the Vatican/Sistine/Basilica yet. If any one of them isnt feasible then we wont do it :) As previously mentioned, we are not big on museums so happy to skip some things that are more popular with other travellers. To each their own.

We are staying in accommodation right beside the Colosseum, I have messaged them about best way to get tickets :)

We will be leaving Split at around early in the morning with the aim of getting to Plitvice around opening. In an ideal world yes we would love to stay there the night, however time just doesnt allow it, so we do what we can :)

I have of course checked the driving times of all our journeys. I am baseing all journeys on google maps with some added time. We estimated a possible 12-hours of journey time from Split to Venice that day so that sounds about right, totally manageable!! We find it odd that people find that unfeasible!!

Yes I most certainly have checked with regards to an Italian vehicle rental across the ferry with regards to prohibitions/insurance. The rental company have said it is no problem, our travel broker has checked as well. We have the van the entire time. We drop it back off in Venice, Italy, so yeh, same country as pickup lol.

Carol, there are some here who have helped tremendously without bagging our trip. In no way was one particular poster helpful with comments like "frivilous, absurd and ridiculous", which I find rude, hence my reply. If you cant say anything nice, please feel free not to comment.

Maybe Europeans do not like travelling in vehicles, or maybe they dont like "roadies", we however do. A 12-hr day of driving is absolutely not unfathomable for us, especially with two of us driving, and if we add the kids as drivers as well (they are all 20+), well damn we could all take a turn!! Some cannot fathom that we are not dying to get into museums, etc etc, but to each their own interests eh? We are all young and fit and would like to see all that we can in Europe in the space of only three weeks with the kids. At the end of the day we will have pictures and memories that we will carry for a lifetime and will have enjoyed it immensely, Im positive of that. I would love to skip London entirely, I was out-voted lol.

Also, as mentioned in a previous post, my whole family (siblings, parents etc etc) have done trips like this, and have also lived in France, Amsterdam etc. We have also used our travel broker for much of it who lived there for many years. Hubby and I do not plan on going back to Europe as there are other parts of the world we would rather see, so we will be seeing what we can see. The only place that we may possibly return to is Croatia one day.

I thank everyone who have made helpful comments. I have spent nearly a year now looking at everything and planning it.

ViaMichelin estimates the driving time from Split to Plitvice at just over 3 hours. The park website currently shows an opening time of 8 AM, though it appears nothing much is actually open in the park. Someone has suggested the park may open at 7 AM later in the year. Even if 8 AM is the starting time, that would mean getting on the road at 5 AM from Split two weeks into a very aggressive trip. I'd have long sense crashed and burned by then, but maybe you can pull it off.

Im 100% certain we can pull it off, as I say, we can take turns driving and love to drive and see sights rather than fly and miss all of the countryside :) We are only looking at doing Program A at Plitvice and from everything I have read it is completely doable in 2hrs, it also helps that we arent doing our trip in peak time of year.

On returning home of course we may have changed our mind, but we only have one life and we are living it :)

If you really must spend a little time in London, fly into London, take the train to Paris, and fly home from another city. These so called multi-destination itineraries are easily arranged on a multi-city search function for a single ticket. Saves time and should not cost much more than a simple round trip.

Burkes, please come on the forum when you’re back home from your trip, and write up a trip report story of what happened. From your replies, I think this is going to be an exciting, memorable adventure with some fun stories to tell! You sound very flexible with lots of planning behind it. Have a great time, and I hope your issue with heights (which I also have) doesn’t hinder any of your fun!

I always travel by train, so sorry, no help with the details about roads.

Oh thank you sooooo much Jean!! It sure is gonna be a hoot, theres gonna be some disaster decisions Im sure and a few booking hiccups, but we are prepared for it :) the odds of it going perfectly are practically 0% lol. I will certainly come back and update :) When we get home we have a month back at work and then off to Fiji Islands for a week for a nice relaxing holiday sitting by the beach! Yes I hope the heights isnt going to be an issue either. Our two weeks in Canada before we come to Europe is going to have some heights too so hopefully that will prepare me a little. Until then I might squash in one more session with hypnotherapist, and I have lots of Virtual Reality sessions to watch. Oddly its only in vehicles on roads where I have problems, flying no problem, rides no problem, up high buildings not fun but I can do it.

Again thanks so much Jean, I really appreciate it xxx

We live just south of the Canadian Rockies across the Canada/USA border, if you are visiting that area. They’re gorgeous!

Oh wow, thats awesome. We are doing the Reflections of Rockies tour which includes; Victoria, Whistler, Blue River, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, then leaving Banff on the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver via Kamloops. Very excited!

@burkes,
Welcome to the forum. I see this likely hasn't been the best experience. I see that you have received some very polite input and some not so polite. I once posted an itinerary and then quickly deleted it after receiving quite a few responses about how it was ill planned. What I realized was that I really didn't want any critical feedback. I wanted to share my excitement for the trip and I wouldn't have minded a pat on the back as it was my first independently planned trip in Europe. My trip was slower than yours and it still received criticism for being too fast. I hate it when people say "you need at least x days for y city". I agree it isn't helpful. It also seemed odd to me that one poster complained that you spending not enough time in several places and then too much time in another.

After I deleted my itinerary thread and after my trip, I returned and did a trip report explaining how successful the trip was. My only regret after the trip was that we scheduled too many days at our final destination.

I hope you have a great trip and I also hope that you come back afterwards and give a trip report with how everything turns out!

Hi, burkesNZ. Welcome to the forum! While your trip does sound very packed with activity, only you know what you and your family are comfortable with! It sounds like you have paid attention to every detail, so I have no doubt that you will have a wonderful trip. I have not been to Croatia, so I don't have any comment on that, and I see that you dont plan to drive in Paris, which I would not do either. The only thing that I would comment on is that renting a vehicle in Italy, I think you said a van, you may have difficulty finding a parking space. Years ago, we had reserved an automatic vehicle, but they were unable to meet our request, and gave us an "upgraded" (larger) manual vehicle instead. It was about the size of a midsized car in the States, but it was extremely difficult for us to find parking for it, because spaces are extremely tight. I would just be prepared for spending a bit of time finding an appropriate spot.
Otherwise, I wish you and your family a wonderful trip!!

Thanks so much vandrabrud!! I will def be back to report :) Cant wait, not long to go now!! Hubby and I leave 3rd May :D Not particularly looking forward to the amount of flying but needs must :D

Thanks justsweets!! Yes we definitely do not plan on driving around Paris (that Arc de Triomphe roundabout looks manic, my dad got stuck in it for about half an hour lol). Our plan is to drive from Montepulciano straight to accommodation and park it there and leave it for the duration we are there. We only go back to it when its time to leave. Same with other places in Croatia so hopefully we dont have a problem. Hubby drive a small truck and trailer in his business so hes used to driving a large vehicle. Ive no doubt we will likely spend a bit of time finding comfy spots though :D Thanks again!

Hi!

I am thinking of a few things that could optimize your trip, I believe.

Paris
Be mindful of recommended check-in times for the Eurostar: now 90-120 minutes ahead in Paris and 90 minutes in London (thank you, Brexit!). This will eat into your time in London and into your energy levels, so you need to have your priorities set for the day.

Florence to Rome
I would reverse day 4 and day 5 so that you do not pay for a car in Florence and Rome.
You can fly from Paris to Pisa (it is usually cheaper than Florence) on day 4, rent a car at Pisa airport, see the leaning tower, then stay in a Tuscan village. It does not have to be Montepulciano (which is a bit far to the south); Volterra or San Gimignano could fit the bill.
Then, you can drive to Florence on day 5 (take SR222 as previously suggested), and immediately return the car at the train station.
Stay the night in Florence, and take the fast train to Rome on day 6.

Rome to Croatia to Venice
Does the Bari-Dubrovnik ferry route work with your dates? Even if it means taking the ferry on Day 8 rather than Day 9? It would save you some time.
In any case, I would consider taking the train from Rome to either Ancona or Bari in the same morning as the ferry date (your day 8 is a bit of a waste as it stands), and rent the car in Croatia.
Then, even though it requires a connection, I would rather fly from Split to Venice than subject myself to a 12-hour drive just for the sake of a crowded visit to Plitvice falls.

EDIT: actually, I'm seeing €500 drop-off fees on Autoeurope for a car rented in Split and left at Venice airport. So if you really want to drive all the way from Croatia to Venice with a Croatian car, it's not that bad. Especially since with an Italian car, you'd pay about €100 for the car on the ferry, and another €100 for a Florence-Venice drop-off.

Hey BurkesNZ!

I think you've already gotten lots of feedback on most things, but for London I would recommend considering something other than the HOHO buses.

We were in London last April and really thought we would do it, but once we arrived we saw all the buses stopped in traffic, not really seeing anything.

If you're not looking to tour the inside of anything on that day, you could show the kids a bunch with a well planned out walking loop. I'd also strongly recommend taking either an Uber boat or a tour boat down the Thames from Westminster Pier down past Tower Bridge.

London Walks could also help you see a lot in a short period.

I wish you all the best on this adventure!

PQ

I wish you happy and safe travels, please provide a trip report upon your return.
Venture to say most RS forum posters seek a tenor of "being there" in lieu of "seeing there". My perspective of your itinerary is importance of being with family while scooting along and seeing things.
I do recommend stretching your legs within the Old Town of Split.
Am interested in learning the boyfriend's perspective after the trip. ;)

I too look forward to reading about this trip! We tend to travel fast as well, and our adult kids (20's-30) go with us at times. So I get it and am excited for you!

No one has yet mentioned this but if you do a Sienne river cruise, think about an evening cruise when the buildings are lit and beautiful. The Eiffel Tower lights twinkle on and off but it has been several years since we were there and I don’t remember the timing of it.

Have a great trip!

This sounds like an amazing trip. I look forward to reading your trip report. I only want to comment on the time estimates in Google maps. In 2012 we took a family vacation, all driving, which I love. We were in the Allgäu region in Germany. My son wanted to go see Italy, so he booked a BandB on Lake Como. Google said it would take 3 hours, but in reality it took 6, it also took us over the Splügen Pass, which was actually beautiful, but all switch backs on a double lane road. We loved it but just wanted to give you a heads up about the times.
Enjoy your trip!
Vanessa

balso - thanks, yes we will be nice and early for Eurostar after we have dropped our luggage off at storage. Unfort when I organized the holiday I based everything around the Bari to Dubrovnik ferry leaving on a Sunday which was when prevoius sailings were. Accommodation/flights all booked. Unfort this year they are now doing Tuesday/Wednesdays, so we would either have to skip Rome, which we didnt want to do, so we are now sailing from Ancona to Split then heading down to Dubrovnik on the A1. We are hiring in Florence and dropping off in Venice so no huge fees.

theplanningqueen - Yes I think we may reconsider the HOHO, thanks so much for the London walks referral!

Steven - yes we will definitely be exploring old town of Split :) The boyfriend is getting an all expense paid trip to Europe, so needless to say I think he will be happy regardless of speed travelled :)

carol - We have booked the Siene cruise, decided on a 1-hour non-dinner one, just an aperitif with music :)

Vanessa - thanks for that. We are hoping the roads travelled wont be many hours longer than google states, however we are prepared for it. We are pretty darned prepared for any eventuations really, its mainly the flights that we are really hoping we dont get hiccups on :) If we dont make it to a paid excursion then so be it etc.

You're not going on a trip to Europe. You're going on an odyssey.
When you meet up with the kids, you'll be traveling with 5 or more people. That's a very difficult size group to travel with as you're too large for a car and even pushing it for a van (which will be very expensive.) Luggage is an issue.
You obviously spent a great deal of time planning your long trip. Possibly overplanning. The more detailed the planning, the harder it is to keep up with your planned itinerary. Things happen along the way. You want to enjoy the trip and not be too pressured to perform (as a trip manager.)
Every time you travel to a different city, you are essentially losing a day. And it takes another day to learn how to navigate the new city. The arrival day and the day of departure are also essentially wasted.
Day 1-3 --- 3 nights Paris (one day taking the Eurostar to London for the day) Skip the day trip to London as it's a city worthy of 4 days to itself. Paris is also a minimum 4 day city.
Fly to Florence. Rental cars in the Florence center city are not allowed. There again, Florence is a 3-4 day city. Pick the car up as you leave town.
Day 5 --- Drive to Pisa, then down to Montepulciano, stay the night Skip Pisa and take in Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra instead.
Day 6-7 --- Drive to Rome, park car at accommodation and spend 2 days/nights. Rome is perhaps the most important city of them all--and worthy of 4 days or longer. Many turn the rental car in at Hertz in Orvieto and ride the 70 minute train into Rome Termini. Rome not a city you want to drive in or garage a car.
I used to do whirlwind trips to Europe--driving as fast and far as possible. But the ultra expensive fuel in Italy slowed us down. We like to take our trips in segments that are cities somewhat alike and in the same general direction. I'm talking London & Paris. Munich, Salzburg, Vienna. Prague-Vienna-Bratislava-Budapest. Madrid-Barcelona-Paris (fast train). Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris.

Your trip as planned will most likely be a blur. You'll need another vacation to get over this vacation.

david - not sure whether you read my replies on the post. Days allocated to each of the cities are set in concrete now. We chose them after much studying of what we wish to see. Others may think differently, but this is the route/days that WE chose. Im the only one that would be happy to skip the day in London, however the other 4 want to, so Eurostar tickets have been purchased :) The van is booked and is large enough that we can just throw the luggage in the back without having to tetris it in. This will make parking trickier given the size of it, however hubby is used to driving a truck and trailer so very easy for him. We have organized private parking through the accommodation, so we just need to drive there and park, then a few days later jump in and drive out of Rome. It is outside the ZTL zone. I have read many stories about people leaving their vehicles at different places and training into Rome, many break-in's and damage to vehicles.

Fully aware cars are not allowed in Florence city lol. We are now picking up the car back at the airport the day after arriving in Florence so we can just pick it up and head to Pisa (thanks Pam above). Again, I could skip Pisa but everyone else wants to see it, its only an hours drive so easy peasy.

You obviously feel that Rome is the most important city, however we do not, of course we want to see a few landmarks and experience it briefly, but it is def not #1 on our list.

The main reason for my post was actually the roads and heights, which seems to have gotten lost.

This trip may not be everyones "cup of tea", europeans seem to do life at a slower rate than us it seems :) As mentioned in my last post above, we are fully prepared for things not to pan out as far as activities along the way, fine with that. Once the kids head home we go to Santorini for 5 nights and Singapore for a week, plenty of time to rejuvenate. However, we are actually doing a holiday after the holiday, heading to Fiji a few weeks with extended family after returning home :)

I’m sure you will have a great time. You’ll see a lot of landmarks and big sights but you won’t really have time to get a feel for any of the places you are going through. There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s just worth thinking about.

I think you’re probably used to road tripping around NZ where the towns are pretty characterless a lot of the time and you really do only want to stay one night, do the best walk or activity in the area, and move on. Also of course, the roads are so quiet and easy to drive which will be very different to European driving.

I have to say I am LOLing at New Zealanders living at a faster pace than Europeans…

Its not so much living at a faster pace, we just try to see many things where as europeans appear to require more time at places lol.

We will be trying to get a feel, just sit and stare at everything and try and take things in :) We will do what we can. Hubby and I dont intend on coming back as we would like to see so many places in the world. The kids have so much more time to see the world of course, they can come back. Im assuming you didnt drive in Auckland every day? most definitely not quiet. We live there :)

Thanks for your input Helen :)

How is the hypnotherapy coming along? I hope you’re getting some relief, and confidence sun dealing with cliff edges and the like. One thing to remember, even in the possibility that there aren’t barricades and guardrails everywhere, is that you don’t have to stand right at the precipice. Two or three meters (or more) from the edge will give you a cushion of space, and you’ll always be solidly on the ground - as long as it’s not so windy that there’s another thing to consider. Is ziplining something you’ve done previously, or is it going to be a groundbreaking activity?

Driving to Venice, you’ll be on the far (right-hand, eastern) side of the road, again with extra space between you and and edge. Revel in the additional elbow room! And if you’re doing the driving, I hope that you can rely on hubby helping with navigation.

Thanks so much Cyn!! I am mostly ok with walking/standing, its really in a vehicle that I tend to lose it. I have done ziplining many times and am okay with that, if Im scared of any part its the driving UP to where it starts lol.

So there are many road cliff drop offs between Split and Venice? The drive doesnt appear to be close to the ocean which is where I am most problematic (likely hubbys fault).

Thanks again for your encouraging words! My hypnotherapist has done a recording for me to listen to, not whilst driving of course lol.
I will listen to that many times and also do my virtual sessions. We leave on 3rd May.

Trip all done :) Had the time of our lives. If it had to go back and plan it all again with only a 3-week time-frame, I would do exactly the same again!! Actually, the only change I would do is take a couple of days off Singapore at the end (we stayed a week) and add them onto Paris and Croatia :) The 9-seater van was absolutely perfect, we had sooo much fun and laughs, it was easy to park too and absolutely no dramas :)

Amazingly, everything went near perfectly!! The only 2 hiccups were; hubby lost his luggage at Athens (Aegean) so we had to buy a few bits and pieces to tide him by for the week in Singapore. The luggage arrived back in NZ after a few days home. The other hiccup was our train from Amsterdam to Paris stopped 20min shy of Paris, we sat on the track for 1.5hrs due to an electrical issue on the track in Paris. Thank gods for AC. Actually, we did have one other thing, in Italy we went through the same tollbooth 3 times, hahaha, it was hilarious :D

The only thing we pencilled in and missed was Plitvice, it just wasnt doable. One day :)

So glad that you had such a wonderful trip! I read your other post which went into more detail. It really sounds like you had an amazing time! Good for you for trusting yourself enough to take on such an adventure!!