How Far in Advance

A tour would be a great first trip for you, though you will have difficulty finding one that includes both Italy and Normandy. If you take a tour you won't have to worry about making reservations and transportation arrangements, and most meals are included, too. You'll learn a lot about the places you visit and meet some great people. Check out tour information from a variety of sources to find the package that suits you best. Oh, and reassure your daughter that there is coffee everywhere.

You might start with a tour & then do the 2nd leg on your own. I understand that the Rick Steves tours teach you to travel on your own. Others here would know about that. Also, I know there was a thread that discussed different tour groups. As regard to how far ahead, some small recommened hotels fill a yr in advance - it may be the same for B&Bs. I'm planning to wait until about 4 months before departure to book plane. Many book earlier than that.

Hi John,

Rose beat me to the punch! I think I would take a tour to Normandy first, then do Rome on your own. What a great first trip. I agree with you staying at a B and B's. We stayed near the Vatican with Max and Lavinia at www.romabandb.it ...great coffee!!
We researched different B and B's (look on the RS Heroic B & B site) and made reservations as soon as we new where we wanted to stay. We like to stay a places with just a few rooms so we can spend more quality time talking and getting to know the hosts. I think we reserved 6 months in advance.
Have a great time! Your wife will regret it if she doesn't go!
Take care, Monte

A few questions and suggestions:

1) How old is your daughter? Some tours skew older and she might get bored. If she's a teen or younger, you might think of taking the RS Famly Tour of Europe. There will probably be others her own age. This would be a good one because it goes from Rome through Italy, Switzerland and ends in Paris. From Paris you could easily either travel by yourself or take a tour to Normandy.

2) Whether you decide to travel on your own or with a tour group, I suggest you get a copy of "Europe Through the Back Door" and read it. That book will answer many of your basic questions.

3) B&B's in popular areas can book up quickly. So, as soon as you know your exact travel dates, start booking. Travel agents will usually not book B&B's. You book them directly.

Let your daughter know she will have no problem finding coffee anywhere you plan to go. Even Starbucks....if she insists (although the local stuff is much better.)

I'll offer a slightly different perspective: forget the tour. You don't need no steenking tour.

Yes, taking a tour (Rick's or someone else's) can save you some hassle, some time and/or maybe some money (although there's always some trade-offs). But IMHO, any tour - yes, even Rick's - tends to insulate you from the full experience (although admittedly not everyone wants the full experience).

From the way your question reads (to me) it sounds like you have not done much research into this whole thing. I would urge you to make an investment of your time now, so you will be better equipped to make sound decisions up ahead. That would include whether or not a tour is right for you, where to go, when to go, and a million other choices that you will make (or that someone else will make for you, whether you realize it at the time or not).

My advice is to go get Rick's general book ("Europe Through the Back Door", and maybe "Best of Europe", too) right away and start studying it - no matter what decisons you ultimately make about tour/no tour, destinations, etc. you will be much better prepared to make those choices, and you'll enjoy the planning, too. Also, start watching Rick's show religiously - it's probably on your local PBS station several times a week (if not, rent or buy the videos for the places you're thinking about going). Even if the day's show is on, say, Turkey, and you are not going there, you will still pick up useful info on how to travel and enjoy it.

You should be making some decisions (WHEN to go, where to go, etc.) as far ahead as possible, ideally a year in advance or at least 6 - 9 months. If traveling independently, you may be unable to book your first (or second or third) choices for hotels in popular places if you don't book 6 months in advance (or more in high season). It's not impossible to make arrangements with less advance time, but the shorter the lead time, the more your options will narrow.

Good luck, have fun!

Hello again group! Thank you for the answers so far. I have started to do some research! It's actually quite fun. My daughter will be 21, any idea for that age bracket. Right now I'm leaning turned taking a tour group first time...I am assuming I will be going back.

Unfortunately, the tour companies that cater to 21 year olds don't cater to their parents as well. (the old rule of thumb used to be the more expensive the tour, the older the crowd.)

Taking a tour your first time is a good idea. Many have done that and then returned on their own,and many have traveled on their own the first time. Both have pluses and minuses.

Whichever way you go, I suggest you get your daughter involved. The more she's involved now, the more she'll be interested in seeing once you go.

Decide where you want to go, read the books suggested, look at the videos, and start doing your homework. If just Rome and Paris/Normandy, you can probably do it on your own. If you want to make other stops, then you can go either way--tour or independent.

John, I have been travelling since I was 18 (first trip to Europe), and never took a tour. I understand that some may feel safer with a tour, or even prefer to have company via tours, but honestly, you can take a trip to Europe without a tour.

I see that you mentioned wanting to stay at B&Bs to get closer to the locals, and I think that's a fabulous idea. We actually did that a few times when we travelled to England years ago and quite enjoyed the experience. Now that we're more experienced, we tend to rent flats/apartments. Best of luck.

john,

My suggestion would be to combine a tour with some self-guided travel, as it will be a good way to experience Europe for the first time. The RS 14-day Family Europe tour would probably be a good choice, as there MAY be others there the same age as your daughter. Have a look at the tour description and the FAQ's on the website to see if this is something you might be interested in? The other alternative would be the RS 14-day Best of Europe tour. You will certainly get good Coffee in Italy, but don't expect a "bottomless cup"! If you just want "regular" Coffee, a Cafe Americano is probably the best to order.

One of the benefits of both of the above tours, is that they either begin or end in Paris, so it would be extremely easy to head to Normany for a week or so before or after the tour, and really have a GOOD tour of the beaches and other historic sites. As you will have probably noticed from other posts here, many of the group (including me) highly recommend the BattleBus tours. Their Guides are extremely knowledgeable about the history and they may even have some details about your Dad's outfit during the landings. It would be an excellent opportunity for your daughter to learn some of the details of her Grandfather's life! If you might be interested in something like that, plan to base yourselves in Bayeux for a couple of days (and see the Tapestry when there).

When standing on Omaha Beach, it's difficult to imagine what it must have been like on that morning, as it's so peaceful now. A visit to the American Cemetery above the beach is a very moving experience, and this is one of the places that the tours stop. Two of the brothers that were the inspiration for the movie "Saving Pvt. Ryan" are interred there.

Happy travels!

I really love this website, everyone is very helpful! Thank you!! I will get my daughter involved and am still working on my wife. Eventually I would like to see (and for the life of me I don't know where it took place, I want to say near Belgium), my dad also was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge. I don't know all the stories, he never talked about his time that much. I know we was also in Southern England after first wound on Omaha. I would love just to march where his company marched through, just to get the feel for it. Thank you all again!!

If you know what outfit your father was with, you might be able to find out where hew as in Belgium.

A good start would be Bastogne where the largest battle during the Battle of the Bulge took place.

Thank you Frank. I know dad was with Company B. My brother told me he thinks his top commander was Patton. I have his "yearbook" that he received after his discharge. It had his immediate C.O. and all that stuff. I know his Capt was a Daniel Moore. I guess I should look some more of this up.

I love this board and website!

Hi John! We had never travelled in Europe till we were over 60 and we did it all on the Internet. We had some trepidation teh first time, but all teh arrangements panned out. The accommodation we booked was allways at least adequate, they always recognized us when we arrived - about 11 hotels over a 6 week period. The train system was easier than we expected.

We have since taken a river cruise on the Rhine, followed by a week in Switzerland and toured Ireland. Hope to see the Baltic coutries this year.

Robert Louis Stevenson said, "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive". Planning is half the fun of the holiday.

John,

Just curious, you indicated your Dad was in "Company B". Would that be the 101st Airborne? They were involved in the Battle of the Bulge, as was Patton who provided relief for the besieged city of Bastogne.

I still chuckle when I think of the response that General McAuliffe provided to the surrender ultimatum in Bastogne - "Nuts!".

Cheers!

If your father was assigned under Patton, then you can almost be sure if he was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge, then it was at Bastogne.

Unfortunately, just knowing the company isn't good enough.

FYI...Patton commanded the 3rd Army. They were diverted north from their southern campaign to assist the 101 Airborne who were surrounded by the German Army at Bastonge.

Just in case anyone is wondering my dad I think was in the 331st Infantry Company B, and the book I have is actually cool it has a fold out map of where they marched. There is a chance he went through Paris. The only thing he ever said was he thought that France was beautiful and it reminded him of the family farm in Pennsylvania, maybe we should start out in Normandy and take a train down to Italy. Thanks again everybody!!

John: "Maybe we should start out in Normandy and take a train down to Italy."That route will not take you anywhere near the site of the Battle of the Bulge or Belgium. From your posts, I had the impression that's on eof the things you wanted to do?

Our (wife, husband and 16 year old daughter)first trip to Europe was five weeks. I planned it all myself, being guided by Rick's books, his shows and finding out info on the internet. (which is much easier now than in 2000) You can do it all yourself and be far better prepared and knowledgable about your destinations than you ever would be if you went on a tour and it was all done for you. You can trust Rick's judgement and advice. I can still picture the layout of all the cities we went to even now, because I did so much research back then. And the best part, we've returned to Europe six times, and our daughter is now a seasoned traveler in her own right. Get your wife to go; you'll both be sorry if she doesn't because you won't have all those wonderful memories to share!

Hi Kent,

I do want to see the area of the Battle of the Bulge, but I am assuming as Rick says that I will be back. I do want to see Normandy, my brother said he landed on Omaha,(I only know the little bit my aunt told me about what they were told when they came to visit my grandparents.) I also am planning on going in the Fall, I had a Scottish friend at one place I worked and he told me that fall was the best time to go over, he also made me promise if I get to Great Britain that I would visit Glasgow. (He was from there.)