Open-Jaw Ideas for October

Six days. It's really hard for me to recommend that for anyplace that requires crossing an ocean. It's just so expensive to get there and get back (times 4...), that the cost is hard for me to justify given how few days you get to amortize that expense across.

I do understand the tyranny of school break schedules (disclosure: I don't have kids of my own, but we borrow kids from in-laws who send them to stay with us, so we get to experience Spring Break with them). I sincerely believe that extending a week-long trip by a few days is entirely justifiable. Our (borrowed) kids will learn a heckuvalot more on a foreign trip than they would on the 2-5 days before/after in their classrooms. YMMV, but I do think it's reasonable to take a look at the trip dates and consider how best to utilize both school break days, and airfare dollars. Of course, make what choices are best for you all.

That said...in mid-October, Italy (Florence) would probably be lovely. But the further north you go, the greater the uncertainty in the weather.

The Oregon Coast or Olympic Peninsula are a crapshoot for weather in mid-October, could be great or horrible (or a mix).

Have you considered someplace further south? Mexico or Central America? More reliable weather (though don't ignore hurricanes especially on the Caribbean side...).

Six days in October and budget minded....does your trip have to be European?
I recommend Mexico City.
A fantastic place!
Lucky you..there are non-stop flights on Delta from Atlanta for around five hundred dollars.
Here's my "book report" from October 2022....

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/a-week-in-mexico-city

Can you get non-stop flights to any of those cities? If it were me, I would want the flights to be as short as possible on a one week trip. I’d probably look first to see where there were non-stop flights and then narrow things down.

Sometimes you go for a six course meal and some times just for tapas. Six days isnt bad for tapas.

I am biased as all get out so I say Budapest and Vienna. 2.5 hours apart and served by the same airlines so open jaw tends to work, generally, and since you are budget minded while Vienna is sort of Western Europe in cost, Budapest is more Eastern Europe in cost so its balanced.

As for Prague, I know people like to lump it with Vienna and Budapest, but it is sort of an outlier and is as close to Berlin or Salzburg or Krakow as it is to Budapest so you can pair Prague up with Berlin for the next six day trip.

So my favorite Budapest Video. https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared The same guy does one on Vienna as well

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I always know I can come here for that ; ).

I tend to agree it's a lot of overhead (money, time) for a 6-day trip with 4 people. We actually have more than 6 days available; these are just the flight schedules that currently fit our budget. I'm sure the situation will change over the next few months; I just get antsy. So I'll be back with more crazy ideas as they develop!

Typically, we take the kids out of school 1 day to extend the trip across a whole weekend. This gives us more like 8-9 days on the ground, which is an easier argument. Anything more than 1-2 days makes it hard on the student and the teachers.

And yes, Mexico is also very high on our list! I just didn't want to overdo the non-European theme on this thread. I've actually read the trip report above and it inspired me. In addition to CDMX, I've looked at Merida (though not during hurricane season), Oaxaca (which I've heard is not ideal for kids), and Zihua (which isn't as easy from ATL).

We went to Southern France one year in October and really enjoyed it. I would keep the trip simple and fly in and out of Nice. There are so many charming villages to see near Nice and there is easy access by regional trains or buses that you would not need to rent a car. Places that would be great are Nice, Villefranche sur Mer, St Jean Cap Ferrat, Eze, Monaco with the Palace and Oceanography Museum, Menton, and Antibes. The scenery with the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea is spectacular! We love the Cote d'Azur!

For me, six days would be way too short for any two of Budapest, Prague and Vienna. I'd go for just one of them. If the intense touristy-ness of Prague gets to you, you could make a day trip or two out of town. (No suggestions for me; I stayed in Prague for eight nights and didn't have time for all the neighborhoods I wanted to explore.

Montreal and Toronto? Sure they are big cities, but old Town Montreal and French language options gives a temporary feel of Europe.
But of your choices, I would say
Rome/Florence/Bologna. As it is a university town Bologna may offer a vibrancy that perks up the tweens

Mid October should provide great weather to all the destinations you mentioned. The open-jaw idea is a good one if you have more time, but I question it for 6 days on the ground. Could you fly into Florence (as you've been to Rome) & out of Bologna? Or just go to one place. Nice or Lyon, where there's a lot written on the Forum about places to visit nearby. Once you pick a destination (or 2 but I would really consider how much time you spend getting from one to the other, wasting a 1/2 day in between) do the 'jaded teens' have things on their To Do list? From what I've experienced, having them involved in the planning might make for a more pleasant trip.

I’ve decided that IF we travel to Europe for our fall break, we’ll modestly increase our budget to allow for more time on the ground. Thu-Sun or Fri-Mon would give us 8-9 days. This could involve an intentionally long layover to “taste” another city. We did this when traveling to Greece (London) and loved the little bonus. SAS offers this option with Copenhagen. Scandinavia is near the top of my list, but I assume October is not the right time for an expensive vacation there—so this could be a good preview.

Anyway, based on current fares and October weather / daylight, the best bets are Bologna + Florence (no FCO required), or Athens. We did the Greek Isles last October, so I’d prefer Italy. I think that would be a great, “compact” trip that combines art and food, although not sure if Tuscany is better for older kids/ adults.

If we don’t make the move now and decide to wait—still lots of time—I would be thrilled to land a deal to Budapest, Prague, Croatia (I assume open-jaw is a must), or Andalusia. Or, of course, an even better deal to Italy!

I think October in Copenhagen would be lovely & I wouldn't discount it, gives you a taste of Scandinavia Lite, it's super easy getting into & out of town to CPH, and frankly I just didn't find it that expensive. There are always work arounds for eating out, Copenhagen has a great covered market I visited several times. You're correct there will be less daylight than in Italy, but hey October isn't that bad so far sound in Scandinavia. Then again Florence & Bologna sound great! Let us know what if anything works out, always interesting to see how it goes.

Budapest and Vienna is a great combo for a week. Otherwise, we have enjoyed week long trips that combine one very touristy city with one nearby that is a bit less so, such as: Dublin and Belfast; Venice and Bologna; Edinburgh and Glasgow; Rome and Salerno (for Paestum, Pompeii/Herculaneum). Also consider Istanbul: fares are often good, it's an amazing, exotic city well worth a week. Jaded tweens will not be jaded there.

Sandancisco (or anyone else), your words of encouragement about Copenhagen give me pause. Since that's a city I've always wanted to visit, and our week would coincide with their Culture and Restaurant weeks, I'm compelled. And the flight schedules actually work better when open-jawed with Stockholm.

However, now we're venturing even farther north, to the point that we're losing a full hour of daylight and ~20F compared to Florence. I'm picturing heavy jackets instead of short-sleeves. I also expected Scandinavia to be much more expensive than "tourist Italy," but the website Budget Your Trip disagrees (still, I'm skeptical).

Would I be crazy to reconsider the more northern latitudes? I know summer is logical, but that doesn't work with our budget and schedule. I do worry we'd miss out on many Stockholm activities that late in the year (but perhaps that's less a concern in Copenhagen).

Since you mentioned Andalucia (Spain or Ireland would be my preference for a shorter flight with limited time), look at flights into Malaga and out of Sevilla (out of Madrid would be okay since it is so close to Cordoba by train, but you would likely have to overnight in Madrid). Air Iberia has frequent sales. October is a great time of year for that region.

Florence to Bologna (or vice versa) would be a nice compact trip with lots to see. Bologna is a nice easy little airport. And the weather should be favorable—-at least every time we have been in northern Italy in October, it was very pleasant.

Make sure you include Ravenna, either as a daytrip from Bologna, or as an overnight. Lots of interesting history, and the mosaics are stunning.

https://www.ravennamosaici.it/en/

One week on a tight budget with kids who will need something of interest. Montenegro. Very inexpensive and a week is perfect for Budva to Ulcinj and a night or two inland rafting the Tara River and doing the canyon zip lines. Or join me fly fishing.

Fly in and out of Podgorica or into Dubrovnik and out of Podgorica.

Well you certainly have some great options listed above! Have you narrowed it down to a few yet?

However, now we're venturing even farther north, to the point that we're losing a full hour of daylight and ~20F compared to Florence. I'm picturing heavy jackets instead of short-sleeves. I also expected Scandinavia to be much more expensive than "tourist Italy," but the website Budget Your Trip disagrees (still, I'm skeptical).

IMO, the touristy parts of Italy have become more expensive, but I agree it's probably not quite as expensive as Denmark, but that's not a scientific opinion. You definitely will need more clothing for Copenhagen in October than for Florence, that's just how it goes further north. Yep, you will lose daylight also, then again I was there in December & walking around after dark is no problem, in fact it was really atmospheric & lovely! I certainly didn't wear a heavy jacket in October - Just a packable down jacket with a rain coat, always hiking boots, wool socks with a cap & light gloves, (which is exactly what we wore to Rome over New Years.) Looking at random 2 nights at a very nice 4-star hotel in central Copenhagen, cost was about $250 per night including breakfast. We paid about $225 per night in Rome at a 3-star, but high holiday season. https://www.phoenixcopenhagen.com/?arrival=2024-10-12&departure=2024-10-14&rooms=1&adultsRoom1=2&childrenRoom1=0&currency=USD

Let us know how the process goes, so many options!

Dealing with northern climes means planning a lightweight, layering, cold-weather appropriate clothing/footwear wardrobe that does the job (and, spectacularly) keeping you warm and/or dry. Unfortunately, in general options that truly fit low-profile, well made and high performance are pricier than bulkier duds. But by making those smart though costlier choices in outfitting yourself you have made a sound investment in assuring a comfortable traveler. No such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.

Vienna Salzburg Munich
Vienna Prague
Paris Lyon Barcelona

With Italy and France’s high speed trains probably better to arrive/leave same city.

A nice trip would be to fly into Florence and immediately rent a car and hit a different town in Tuscany every night.

Or Milan Parma Bologna Modena maybe Ravenna and back

Nice to Toulouse would take 8 hours. What I did on one week trip was Paris Bordeaux Colmar Paris. It’s only 2 hour train trips. Maybe Nice Avignon Lyon Paris

Thanks again for the additional feedback! I do like our European trips to be more historical / cultural because that's not something you can get in the US, whereas we can find the great outdoors closer to home. Either way, my kids will find something to complain about ; ).

We'll decide on one of the following in the next few days. Airfares to CPH / ARN (as final destinations) have already risen ~$100 per since my last message, so that's not currently on the list, keeping in mind that we're already above our usual budget. You have to draw a line at some point.

1) FLR > BLQ: Intentional 24-hour layover in CPH, then 7.5 days on the ground in Italy. (Could extend that to 8 days with a shorter layover, but I like the trade-off.) The trip ends with a late arrival back to CPH, with a few hours the next morning to explore.

2) PRG R/T: 9-hour layover in CPH, then 7 days on the ground around Prague. Same deal in CPH at the end.

3) Some other deal that pops up in the next few days.

4) None of the above, and we wait!

Confirming that we decided on Florence and Bologna, or at least those airports! (My guess is this will turn into a mostly Tuscany trip.)

Specifically, ATL > CPH (o/n) > FLR arrive Sun 10:30am. And then BLQ Sun 8pm > CPH (o/n) > ATL. That's almost 8 days on the ground in Italy, with a full day in Copenhagen on the first leg. (The last leg will only give us a few hours in town, with a flight home at 1pm.)

I'm very happy with this schedule, because we won't lose much time our first day in Italy. Had we taken a shorter layover in CPH, we would have lost Sat in transit and arrived in Florence at night. We'd then have slept in until lunchtime on Sun, which is the time we'll now arrive anyway. So we traded a day in transit for a day in Copenhagen. We'll be very tired catching the morning flight from CPH, but I hear Italy has good espresso ; ).

Very excited and will post a thread in the Italy and Denmark forums once I've started my research!