Ideas On a Trip With Kids?

Turkish Air serves Boston and they have been offering great prices for flights to Europe. They go through Istanbul and you could stopover for a few nights, which would definitely be different from London and Paris. Then you could continue to a destination is Germany or Spain, both of which are relatively inexpensive compared to London and Paris. Or go to Eastern Europe, which is often mentioned as the best budget bargain. Italy outside the big cities is also pretty affordable,mso long as you avoid major tourist areas like Cinque Terre.

Wherever you decide on, apartments rented thru VRBO or other rental sites are much less expensive for a family of four than hotel rooms.

Poland! Beautiful country, a lot of history, a lot to see. Flights over there are a little more expensive than Western Europe since it is a farther distance. But hotels/restaurants are much cheaper and this is where you will save money. In Krakow, my family and I rented a 3 bedroom apartment (7 people) right off the main square for $700 for the whole week. And that was in July. We would pay maybe 15-20/person (including alcohol) for dinner in the restaurants right in the city center, much cheaper on the side streets. In cities like London/Rome, those meals would be well over $200/$300 for four people. I can't say enough good things about Poland.

Have to agree with Poland as a suggestion. It is beautiful and really reasonable compared to countries further west. Flights however are not always that cheap. Maybe look at Prague (not that cheap but maybe 2 days) then on to Poland.

Also, the south of Spain is beautiful and one of the cheaper countries. I think I flew through Boston when I went to Malaga so you might have a direct Delta flight. You could take a side trip to Morocco. Another of my 'cheaper' trips was Romania, but again the flights might not be, but the country is beautiful and also very inexpensive. I did a Romania car trip... flew into Bucharest, traveled around including Transylvania, then dropped the car near a border town and took a train to Budapest for a few days and flew from there to US. All of the above trips are some of the cheapest I have ever taken and some of the most memorable.

Almost forgot.... an all time favorite and so exotic and inexpensive...Istanbul. Took my 12 year old grandson there and we loved it. Went from there to Greece (Athens and Nafplio) for a few days but that added quite a bit to the trip simply for the flight... but we would have been really happy spending the whole trip in Istanbul.

First, you need to figure out how long your trip will be. One week? Two weeks?
When traveling with families, I believe in traveling the route of least resistance.
And you obviously know that from Boston, you can fly Aer Lingus into Ireland. If I was a teenager, I'd love to visit that beautiful place.
From Dublin, you can fly on Aer Lingus or RyanAir to virtually anywhere you want to go in Europe. They even go to cities from Dublin that I've never heard of.
And if you're on a serious budget, go farther East. Krakow, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest and other places should be good destinations.
I'm sorry that London and Paris are not unique enough, as they're easy to travel to and from--and good places for youngsters.

I noticed you didn't get much input. Broad open requests sometimes don't. Cheapt huh? Conde Nast voted Budapest the Number 1 travel destination in Europe (tied with Florence). Most web sites that track cost put Budapest among the cheapest. Late fall is actually the best time in my opinion to visit anyplace in the Region. Get an apartment in Budapest for about USD80 a night for the four of you and spend one or two weeks. With the longer stay you can spend 3 nights in Budapest and then head for Pecs for a couple of nights, then back to Budapest for a few nights and then off to Eger for a few nights, returning to Budapest. YOu can easily find things to do including the kids for up to about 6 full days in Budapest. Bath Houses, Water Parks, Zoos, Antique Trains, Ski lifts, great parks, the river, aquariums, caves and tunnels. All pretty fun for kids and big kids too.

Get more adventurous and head off to Romania or Slovakia for part of the time. You can actually reach Slovakia pretty efficiently by train and then you have the High Tatra Mountains, Rafting, Castles, fishing, and all sorts of out door activities.

Let me know if I can help.

Suggestions for "cost containment":

Rent an apt. Better financial deal over hotels (no need to tip, less taxes collected, etc.), more space to spread out, kids have their own room, kitchen!, usually a better integrated experience w surroundings. Plus some have clothes washer. TIP: pack far less than you think you will need. Make everyone pack one week prior to trip and then take a short walk w all the luggage to determine if you really want to be lugging so much. Tell the girls they will have to each carry what they pack without expectation of any assistance, then stick to it.

Eat some meals in the apt. Allows opportunity to shop like a local and save some money on eating out. Be sure and buy less than you think you will need! This is a time when you want to run out of food.
When you choose to eat out strive to do so outside the prime tourist zones. Stunning how food is priced 2 to 3 times higher inside tourists zones. Obtain a language conversion app and use it to help understand the menus. Take foodie risks!

Do not buy tourist trinkets! Too expensive and not a great memory. I have daughters and their favorite shopping activity is to find a local value clothing market and purchase just a couple of inexpensive blouses. They love being able to wear their "memory" back home. Bonus is finding a second hand store where real savings can be found.

Convert less cash into local currency, use credit cards at all possible times. Never accept the offered dynamic conversion rate. Google the term to learn about it.

Contain your transportation expense by staying in one place per week. Yes, you want to max the experience, but this can be done by taking a deep dive in soaking in the people and culture of one place. Take some long strolls, no expense, and a great way to find the unexpected. Where public transport is available, and just about everywhere in europe offers a great public transport, jump on and get off at a non tourist spot just to see what you can find. Our best family experiences often come from outside of the museums, cathedrals and tourist mecas.

Do your research on the admission costs for the places you want to visit and then decide if everyone really wants to go in. It can be okay for a few folks to pay to visit someplace they value and others to sit it out. Ticket prices have really gone up in many places.

Pickpockets. Do not get paranoid, just become educated. Learn how to minimize the risks and avoid this expense! Your best safeguard is asking each member to keep an eye out on each other. Pick pockets are savvy and can tell which potential victims offer less risk to being caught. They want to pick on the easiest prey. Dont be that person!

Where you choose to go....... Value is important, but please make sure it is a place you desire to visit. Do you want to come back saying you saved money by visiting a place, but not really have gained a memorable experience? I actually have a brother in law who takes greater pleasure in being able to count up the money he saves then the experiences he could have obtained ( we never travel w him).

Enjoy!

We have boys age 10 and 8 and are looking for similar advice. Cost containment is good, but we really want a great first experience for the boys. We are thinking late June or late July and we are from Seattle. We have been focused on Greece. The Rick Steves book seemed to indicate it is a pretty good time to do that. 1 or 2 days in Athens, then get out of the city. Figured we could expose them the monuments and such before we go so they get a sense of what they are seeing when they get there.

Thoughts on Greece for boys that age? If not, recommendations?

Godparents of our children live in Seattle and took their family to Greece last year. Athens was the low point of the trip. Keep in mind Greece, as most tourists know it, is a series of islands. Getting around takes time and money and may not offer a diverse experience to entertain your boys at their age. We have been, but used a cruise to haul us around from island to island. My thought is there are other destinations which could offer a wider variety of experiences for boys their age. Also, your travel dates are among the hottest of the summer temps.

Ours boys are 9 and 11 - we are going to Europe this summer. We have some other stops, and a cruise - but then I think they are going to enjoy our week in Italy.

We are doing Rome - they are really interested in Colosseum and we are doing Gladiator school. Also St. Peter's and Vatican, as we are Catholic so I think they will like that.

Then Pisa/Lucca - they want to take the train, climb the Tower, and ride bikes on the wall in Lucca.

Then on to Venice where we are taking a rowing class, and they just want to wander around there.

(In Munich pre-cruise we are also doing a bike tour to the Castle, alpine slide, etc... that I think they will like).

Really aiming to stay ACTIVE. :)

Jamison.west : I sent a Private Message to you.

When our two sons were roughly in that age range (started when youngest was 8) we found that European cruises were a very economical way to see a lot of Europe easily and solved a lot of problems. We could have a very intensive day of sightseeing on shore but when we returned to the ship everyone could separate and relax in our own way. We went to the bar, the boys to the pool. For the four of us, the ship was the cheapest way to go. We did four European cruises with the boys ranging from ten to sixteen days plus a couple of days on each end. I could go on with other economical advantages but if you are not interested then I am wasting both our times. There are a fair number on this site that will rip on cruising which is another reason for maintaining a low profile.
To address your cheapness question. There really is no one place that is substantially cheaper than another. It is a mixed bag. Italy rail is very inexpensive when compared with the British rail system. Obviously big cities, London, Paris, Rome will be much more expensive than small cities and the country side. But the travel costs of traveling around the country side can reduce those saving. The cost of traveling between cities can add up especially with a family of four so staying in one or two location can save money if using apartments and preparing some of your own meals. So I don't think it is smart planning to totally focus on cheapness. It has to be the package.
Some of the prior advice is just personal opinion which may or may not work for you. So consider it carefully. Our experience is to use cash for nearly everything and shun credit cards. You can almost always get a nice discount for paying lodging in cash. And street markets are always open for a little friendly negotiations.

Hi Sean, I would also suggest that you take into account what kind of travelers your girls are - do they like hot or cold weather? Are they adventurous eaters or picky? Do they like outdoorsy pursuits or do they prefer museums? Are they city kids or do they like countryside? Are they flexible or do they get anxious when taken out of their comfort zone? Do they study a foreign language at school, and would they like to go somewhere where they can speak a little of the language? All of these can help determine where you go. We have taken our teens to Berlin, Tuscany, Rome, Amsterdam, and Paris. All of them thought Berlin was awesome, but one hated Amsterdam (too crowded). Our boys loved hanging by the pool in Tuscany but our daughter loved shopping in all the small towns. Rome was a hit with all of them as well. And our daughter loved Paris most of all - we rented bikes and rode under the Eiffel tower, spent an entire day exploring inexpensive student-geared boutiques in the 5th arrondissement, and ate crepes every day. We gave our kids the guidebooks and let them plan an entire day in each place - this led to some wonderful adventures and some of our best family memories! Wherever you decide to go, I hope you have a wonderful trip!!!

I took my kids to Rome once and they had a good time. That would be a good choice. I would suggest you stay out of the high season to make it less expensive and less complicated, that would mean April, May, September or October. The fall is particularly nice in Central Europe.

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Oh, and yes there are places that are definitely "Less Expensive" than others. You can use those savings to make it a cheaper trip or you can use those savings to make it a better trip. Rome isn't among the cheapest places for tourism; but its not bad. Cheap would be like a tour of Romania where a very good private guide driving you around the country in a nice Mercedes van might cost a couple something less than $400 a day including the cost of the hotel room. You couldn't do that for 400 pounds a day in the UK. And the UK doesn't have Dracula!!!!
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For "Cheap" go to Central and Eastern Europe or possibly Spain or Portugal. I listed a lot of things kids could do in Hungary in the post above but if you find anyone familiar with particular locations you can build similar lists. All depends on what intrigues you and your family.

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Safe Journey