Need Suggestions -- Dad and Son Grad Trip

Dave, if hiking river trips and so on were your interest for Alaska, you might want to think about either heading for the Alps or head north to Scotland. Scotland would have fishing as well, albeit a bit different than in Alaska. You could fly to Munich, spend some time there and in Salzburg and then hit the mountains. An alternative would be to go to London, spend some time there, north for a couple of days in Edinburgh and then head to the highlands for some walking and fishing. Maybe you golf? You can throw in a few castles and distilleries if you want the 18 year-old to be introduced to the expensive stuff. ; ) Pam

I would suggest a few days on London and then head up to Scotland for castles and outdoor activities.

There's even a website called Scotland Outdoors

If you want to bypass the outdoors stuff, then trips out of London to Bath (Roman History) and York (Viking History) would add to London. And I'd still head up to Scotland for a few day in Edinburgh and the Highlands.

Depending on your interests I think London, York, Edinburgh, Inverness would make a good trip. Fly into London- spend 3 nights. Train to York- 1 or 2 nights. Train to Edinburgh- 1 or 2 nights. Train to Inverness-4 nights. Train to London. If you just want one base I'd suggest Inverness based on your post. Lots to do there of the "adventure' type. There are companies that specialize in day trips with fishing, hiking, etc. And as mentioned already- distillery tours! Lots of history also (Culloden, Clava Cairns, Loch Ness- Urquart Castle). Day trips to Isle of Skye and Elliean Donnan castle, Great Glen or Glen Coe, even a long day up to Orkney would also be possible. There is a small village about half-way between Edinburgh and Inverness- Aviemore. It has even more hiking, fishing, etc.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco, May 21-24. I mean, I like to tie in to a 50 pound three-salt King salmon as much as the next guy, but how many opportunities will an 18 year old have to hear unmuffled Ferraris and so forth spool up to 18,000 rpm?

Wow! What GREAT suggestions! I had mostly dismissed England because of the difficulties in fishing there -- but hadn't thought about Scotland. My first thought was that the Alps might be still too snowy up high (I've been to Hohe Tauren in later summer). Monte Carlo GP? WOW -- hadn't thought of that! I suppose I should think about Wales too - there's that "Harry Potter" train there if I recall... THANKS ALL! Please, if you have more suggestions, keep them coming!

Great Britain and Ireland are great fresh water and sea fishing countries. Fly into London and spend a minimum of 3 full days there. Then hop on a plane to Dublin to explore Ireland. You could camp, take a canal narrow boat trip, hike, fish as well see castles, towns, megalithic mounds, hear traditional irish music and (forgive me Carrie Nation) hoist a pint or two. You could fly home from Shannon. Eire hasn't the vastness of Alaska but it's just as beautiful to explore.

You and your son might want to read Andy Steve's blog on this website. Just click on Other Blogs under Rick's blog. I would vote for Germany and Switzerland plus the Monaco Grand Prix, a once in a life-time experience! Have fun!

Dave, under the same circumstances and with only 10-days to work with, I'd probably take a slightly different approach.

You stated that you wanted "loosely planned forays into the country that will be as much to show how to get around as what to see". You can go fishing or hiking anytime, but this trip would be a great opportunity to provide your Son with exposure to the history and different cultures and languages in Europe. You won't have time for more than a brief look, but depending on what you want to see it should be possible to visit two or three cities. You could take short daytrips from those for a view of smaller places and countryside.

For example, you could perhaps look at London and Paris or Paris and Rome or Munich (pick any two cities that are reasonably close). With such a short time frame, you'll want to minimize travel times so that you don't spend too much time on trains. Of course, using open jaw flights would be the best method.

If you chose London, you could take day trips to Bath, York or the Cotswolds (there's also lots to see in London). With Paris you could take a day trip to Versailles or possibly an overnight trip to Normandy to visit the D-Day beaches (this year is the 65th anniversary). A guided tour such as those offered by BattleBus really provides a good perspective on the history! With Munich it's easy to take day trips to Dachau, Neuschwanstein Castle or Salzburg. There's also lots to see in Rome, but a day trip to Orvieto would be interesting or perhaps Ostia Antica which used to be a seaport. There are LOTS of possibilities!

I wish I had the opportunity to do something like that with my Sons when they were that age, but under the circumstances at the time it just wasn't possible.

Good luck with your planning and happy travels!

I totally agree with Ken.....if the place I am visiting offers sights and sounds and experiences and FOOD that are different than here, I go for it! You can fish another time! (and I like to fish ,too)

I feel if you are going all the way to Europe , you should go for Europe, and not try and make it anything like a trip to Alaska( it would be a pale imitation anyways).

I would likely choose Frankfurt and Paris.

Fishing in UK is tightly restricted I thought, not like Alaska where you could just throw your rod in any stream sort of thing. At least that I what I have been told anyways.

Castles along the Rhine, a beerhall, tour a car museum , all seem like fun to me in Germany. Paris is Eiffel Tower, Seine cruise, and a bike tour( yes, you can its easy) .

Have fun, I think the endless possibilities will make this a hard choice.

The "Harry Potter" train and lots of the filming sites are in Scotland! Though Wales has lots to offer, too. Cardiff is a wonderful city. The Snowdonia area offers beautiful scenery and lots of hikes. We have been to the UK more than 40 times. And we took our kids often when they were between 11 amd 20 years old. Feel free to private message me for more ideas.

My goodness! I must admit, I was wondering how we could combine our interests (I could spend all day in the Louvre...and tomorrow; he'd be ready to bail after a few hours!) but these are amazing possibilities! Thanks so much for the ideas so far -- could there possibly be more??? Thanks all.

If you do go to Paris, can the bike tour...take the Segway Tour.
I have not done this...yet...but I'm probably going to stop in Paris on my next trip over just to do this.(And he might put up with the Louvre if he knows he has the Segway by night tour to look forward to.)

If you can tell us some of his interests, as well as yours, we might be able to give you better suggestons. (And I'll admit, I never would have thought museums with your talk about "outdoor" activities.)

If you love all of the outdoor activities and want to do something totally off the beaten path but still in Europe while experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime trip, check out Iceland at this website: http://www.visiticeland.com/

The new-found strength of the dollar against the krona makes Iceland much more affordable than in recent years. The scenery is amazing, like nothing you've experienced before. You can fish, hike, raft, golf, kayak, see glaciers & whales, and explore many other back-country adventures. You can even straddle both the European (Eurasian) and North American tectonic plates!

Probably not on your itinerary, but the club scene in Reykjavik is among the best in Europe.

One note to add to the post from Frank II. I've done the City Segway tour in Paris and it's a lot of fun. That's definitely a good Father & Son acitivity (in fact, there was a Father & Son on the tour that I did).

Operating the Segway is not difficult, but they provide a 30-minute (or so) training session before embarking on the tour. It's a bit expensive and a deposit is required in case of damage to the Segway, but the guides are wonderful and the tour is something I'd certainly recommend.

Cheers!

I agree with Pat (Victoria BC - a lovely city!) that you should not try to make this an Alaska trip in Europe. Totally different places, though wonderful in their own ways. Unlike Pat, I'd not recommend Frankfurt, though it's a good jumping off point for some great travel.

We took our sons to Europe for 3 weeks when they were 16 and 18. They had no idea what to expect. We saw Paris, Provence, Cinque Terre, Chamonix, and more. That was 6-7 years ago. The older son has travelled ever since, to places I've never seen. For him, the travel bug bit hard. The younger son remembers the Europe trip as the best vacation he's been on.

Just go, and go in somewhat loose style. Don't overplan it. May is a great time to travel to Europe. Can't guarantee the weather, but the experience will overwhelm any adverse weather you encounter (sort of like Alaska). Pre-arrange some stopping points, but be flexible to experience what your general itinerary allows.

You'll have a great trip!

Thanks to all -- it looks like (with son's input and decisions) Paris as gateway and north and central France -- with Normandy and Verdun the outside edges east and west. He wants to see places he's studied about in high school, and while he REALLY liked the Monaco GP idea (thanks, Neil) he has to pay some of the freight and the idea of 2/3 of his budget going to a seat on 24 May for the GP itself made him re-think the initial "all-RIGHT" reaction. I suggested an earlier, practice day but he said "Not the same." Amen. I think we'll try a few days in Paris, with the remainder in Normandy, Loire Valley and Verdun looking at things in-between, loosely planned with plenty of time for on-the-fly adjustments. Thanks SO much to all of you who took the time to respond -- great ideas for the future when my wife and I are empty-nesters! Merci'-- merci' beaucoup!

Darn, looks like I got on here too late cause your trip sounds fun. I was going to suggest white water rafting down in Austria. I did this with my daughter the year I turned 50 and it was soooo much fun. We had a blast together and I would go again in a heartbeat.

Dave, you two will remember this trip forever:

www.hadrians-wall.org/

My wife and I took our (now) 18 year old son to Europe last summer. He LOVED Scotland (our family is from there, so that could have had something to do with that), and he really enjoyed going to the D-day sites in Normandy. The scenery and outdoor opportunities are tremendous in Scotland, but it will be cold. By the way, the train line that was in Harry Potter is in Scotland, between Fort William and Mallaig. Our son loves history, so seeing the WWII history was special to him. What are your son's interests other than the outdoors? That could help you decide. I think for a city I would choose either London, Rome, or Paris. My son just said he liked London best, but Paris was great too. We are going to Switzerland to hike in July, but May might be too cold with closed hiking paths. You are going to have a great trip with your son regardless of what you choose.

I'm going to Europe with my 21 year old this summer for seven weeks. 3 in Scandinavia and 4 in the UK and Ireland. One thing I've done is booked tickets for 3 largeish music festivals, one in Norway, one in Scotland and one in Hyde Park London. We both love old and new bands and the europeans do music festivals right. But don't forget the wellies!

George