Family trip to Europe in 2022 w/2 kids

Sounds like you are planning to stop in Paris between the UK and Germany. A car in Paris doesn't make sense to me. So take the Eurostar to Paris. Then, rather than renting the car in France, use the train (perhaps via Strasbourg, FR?) to enter Germany. If Bavaria is your final destination - and you are flying home out of, say, Munich - you could pick up a car in your first German destination and use the car to reach Bavaria and for the balance of your visit. Drop it off at MUC airport upon departure? If instead you rent in France and end your car travel in Germany, you will pay a hefty foreign drop-off fee.

Unless your destinations demand a car, I would consider using the trains. Germany's rail system is extremely well developed and will take you nearly everywhere you might wish to go.

From our personal experience, I would make use of the trains and public transportation. I can’t imagine driving a car around Paris let alone trying to find a place to park one and we had a large additional expense when we rented a car in one country and then dropped it off in another.

You'll almost certainly encounter a shockingly high international drop fee if you rent a car in the UK and drop it in Germany. In addition, the car will have the steering wheel on the wrong side. I'm not certain how happy the rental company would be about having the car loaded on the train to go through the tunnel, but that part might be OK. Financially, I think buying Eurostar tickets is the way to go. They can be reasonably priced if purchased early, though I acknowledge that the uncertainties of the current situation call that strategy into question. Perhaps there are some reasonable cancellation policies at the moment; I haven't checked.

I would think your grandchildren would enjoy train travel more than sitting in a car--something I remember not liking one bit as a child in the US.

A car will be utterly useless to you in Paris, just an expensive anchor you must pay to park. You may well want a car for parts of Germany, but do some research on that after you figure out more precisely where you want to go. Germany has a very dense rail network, supplemented by buses, and there are regional one-day rail passes that are good deals for solo travelers and stunningly good deals for travel parties like yours. For example, the Bavarian day ticket costs 25 euros for the first passenger and 8 euros for each additional passenger. Even better, kids 6-14 are free, so the four of you could travel for a full day in the Bavarian region for just 33 euros. If the older grandchild hits his or her 15th birthday before the trip, it will still be just 41 euros for the four of you.

We have some serious experts on Germany on this forum. They can give you very good suggestions for an efficient itinerary that will allow you to see a lot of the highlights of southern Germany without spending all your time in hyper-touristy towns or covering more miles than you need to. When you're ready to get into that level of detail, I suggest posting in the Germany forum so you can be sure those folks see your inquiry.

The question about lodgings in Paris may draw more responses if posted in the France forum, but you might also take a look at recent threads on that topic. This is a question that comes up very often, but lodging for four people is a special sort of situation, something not everyone has experience with.

Hey DK, the further out you book your Eurostar tickets the cheaper it is (not true for air though). I recommend doing it when you buy your plane tickets. The same with hotels, the further out you book the cheaper it is. I would also fly into London and out of Munich or Munich to London, whichever way is cheaper.
There is a train from Paris to Munich that requires one connection taking a total time of 6h 30m. I would probably spend a couple nights in Munich and visit Dachau for a half day before exploring Munich’s Marienplatz. The next day I would rent a car and explore Bavaria. A good base to sleep in would be Füssen.

I suspect Dachau is unsuitable even for a child of 14, much less 9. It could be extremely disturbing to someone so young. I didn't feel quite ready to tackle it at the age of 20, though over the years I went to Mauthausen, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Treblinka and other Holocaust-related sites on later trips.

I agree with acraven - Dachau is not suitable for a nine year old. They have a minimum age for entry, and some sites are even off limits for the youngest visitors. Check their website for specifics. We brought our kids when they were 13 and 16, and I think my 13 year old was restricted from some areas.

For lodging in Paris, check out the Hotel Residence des Artes. We stayed there with our two teens in 2019. We booked an “apartment” which is actually two rooms next to each other. The hotel only has two rooms on each floor. There is a door that leads from the stairway/elevator area that can be locked if you rent both the rooms. Then there is a little hallway, with separate doors for each room. One room has one queen bed, a bathroom, mini fridge. The other room is a junior suite with a sitting room with desk, sofa bed, tv, mini fridge, microwave, electric stovetop; the bedroom is separated from the sitting room by a curtain and has a king size bed, desk, lots of closet space. The bathroom is off the sitting room and has a separate tub and shower. Very spacious, especially for Paris.

I researched TONS of options for lodging in Paris and couldn’t have been happier with the charm, location and size of the rooms. I didn’t want my kids sleeping on sofa beds, wanted a mini fridge, and wanted two bathrooms. I searched for apartments (budget around 350€/nt), and found a few but not a lot and not in a central area.

I agree to take the train from the UK to Paris, then to someplace in Germany (if that’s where you’ll be returning the car) to avoid HIGH drop off fees.

I’ll also put in a plug for the Salzburg area, if you haven’t been. A car is very helpful for exploring Berchtesgaden, Hallstatt and Werfen areas. I can recommend an apartment called Landhaus Armstorfer, near Hallein. Wonderful place with gorgeous views from the patio. Salzburg is only 2 hrs from Munich, so you could fly home from there.

We started taking our girls to Europe when they were about that age. Their first trip was to London and Paris in 2004. They absolutely loved London but were a bit intimidated by Paris, after seeing their dad get scolded for touching the fruit at a market stand. . . . But they did appreciate the fresh croissants he bought at the corner bakery each morning. Since that trip we have been to Europe almost every year, but not always with them. Our younger daughter spent a summer working in Berlin, she loved Europe so much.

You might consider an apartment in Paris, to have more space and enjoy the experience of “living local” and visiting the different markets to buy produce, meat, cheese, and the wonderful breads. We rented one from Vacations in Paris, and I still recommend them.

https://www.vacationinparis.com/index.php

Vacation rentals in many cities (such as Paris) are highly regulated these days, for good reasons, and you must be very careful if dealing with rental sites like Air BandB or VRBO. Agencies such as Vacations in Paris have legal rentals and reasonable cancellation policies. A “plus” for us was that this is an American company that happily took our credit card (no direct bank deposit) and there was no language barrier. And no cultural misunderstandings.

What thoughts do you have for the UK? You will definitely not want a car in London, and may not want it elsewhere. The trains in the UK are great—-we have been all over England, Scotland and Wales and use trains rather than attempt driving on the left (but we are a bit older than you).

If you do choose to rent a car to travel in the UK, leave it there and do not drive it to France. The Chunnel can be unpleasant (delays with truck traffic), you will not want ia car in Paris, and you will incur huge drop fees by taking the car to Germany and leaving it there. Besides a right-hand-drive car is a liability on the continent. The Eurostar train from London to Paris is the way to go—-fast, convenient, and inexpensive especially if you buy your tix early.

Never mind about taking a field trip to Dachau, children under the age of 13 are not allowed.

Thanks to all for the great response! Based on your inputs I've gotten some more info from the France forum regarding lodging in Paris, as well as tips on use of the Eurostar. I've reached out to the Hotel Residence des Artes but haven't been able to verify any availability yet...looks like a nice place though. After doing some more research on my own I've come to the conclusion that it may make more sense to fly from the US into a more central location, such as Frankfurt, and then branch out from there using a combination of trains and rental cars (no rental cars in Paris--got it). Round trip flights are significantly cheaper into/returning from the same city than flying into one city and returning from another, too. If anyone is familiar with train connections from Frankfurt International Airport, please advise. Also, if we can we hope to add a 3-4 day trip to northern Italy to the itinerary--Pisa, Venice, maybe Florence. We'll likely have the rental car during this leg so transport shouldn't be a problem, but lodging advice would be helpful. Thanks!

"If anyone is familiar with train connections from Frankfurt International Airport, please advise."

Frankfurt is a pretty good choice for both in and out. It's actually fairly close to some good destinations in northern Bavaria like Würzburg, Nuremberg and Bamberg.

You can get anywhere you like by train from Frankfurt airport. What do you want to know about connections?

One point that comes to mind is that after a long red-eye flight from North America, one or more of you will likely be zonked upon arrival due to the time zone change. It's a smart idea NOT to make another long train or car journey immediately after arrival - partly because of the zonk factor, partly because the discounted long-distance train journeys require you to board specific trains, as a rule - and a flight delay might interfere. So I suggest you do as many do - find a nice place you wish to visit within an hour's ride on the local trains (a good bit cheaper, just buy on the spot at FRA) and spend a couple of nights there. Here's one popular option I can recommend:

Middle Rhine Valley: several small riverside towns to pick from. St. Goar has the best scenery and river-view hotels. Also a hostel - with a great view and family rooms with private bath - that is certified family-friendly. Rheinfels Castle towers above the town and can be toured. Bingen, Boppard (both with river-view hotels,) Oberwesel, and Bacharach are additional options, but of these, St. Goar, Boppard and Bingen are the most convenient towns if you are doing a river cruise - which most people go there for in the first place. Fare from FRA to St. Goar for your family will likely be around €40 or less.

Round-trip flights are not always cheaper; it really depends on the cities involved (some will just be cheaper from your origin than others) and whether they are served by carriers within the same airline alliance. It's always worth trying the multi-city booking. (You're not looking at two one-way tickets are you? That's different from a multi-city ticket.)

When pricing out round trip tickets v multi-city tickets, be sure to factor in potential transportation costs & time to return to the original city. For instance, if you’re in Vienna and need to return to Frankfurt for your return flight, how much would those train tickets (or rental car) cost (and how much of your vacation would you give up to get back there)? You just want to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. Sometimes there are great round trip deals that might be worth it but often the multi-city tickets are fairly comparable and help you maximize your travel time.