We are looking forward to our first trip to Europe this June and a big part (2 of the 3 weeks) will be an RS Family Europe in 14 Days tour. The tour itinerary says we will have unscheduled time (either a partial or full day) in Rome, Florence, Venice, Lauterbrunnen Valley, and Paris. I was wondering if anyone who had been on Rick's tours had suggestions for free time activities. (It looks like the sights that are included are the same on all his Best of Europe tours. Many thanks!
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Best suggestions could be given to you by the tour guide once you are in that particular destination. Guide knows what you will see in organized part of the trip and s/he is in the best position to suggest what to see in your free time.
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
I took RS 21 day Best of Europe tour and we did get some down time to explore on our own. Between the excellent guide's suggestions and our stack of guide books, we were well served.
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Dawn you are going to have so much fun, my daughter ( who was 11 then) and I took that same tour , and loved it! As noted, the guides do make tons of suggestions. but in Venice my daughter and I saw a brochure in the hotel lobby for a Costume Museum that interested us, the desk clerk told us how to get there( which was easy since the tour provided us with a water bus ticket for the day!) . In Lauterbrunnnen daughter and I took the cable car up to Mannlichen, then did the hike( really just a nice walk, kids as young as 6 or 7 were skipping ahead) up to Scheidegg had lunch and hike back down to Wengen( you can take train down I think but it was a glorious days, and the hike down was amazing). Our tour started in Rome and we arrived a few days earlier and took a hop on and off tour, visited a few smaller churches etc . We arrived in Paris 7 days early( we flew to meet the tour in Rome) and did tons of stuff. How old are your kids? My sons( neither of them did the tour with me they did seperate one on one trips with me and we did it on our own,) loved the Catacombs in Paris and the Invalids War museum, plus of course the Eiffel Tower( which as I recall was not done on the tour)
After the tour dd and I spent another 5 days in Paris , did a daytrip on our own to Versailles,, totally reccomend. There are also great bike tours, suitable for kids as young as 8 or so,, i did the one to Monets Gardens and recommend that one espeicially for families with kids as most of the riding is on a pathway not roads. Fat Tire Bike Tours. I have only ever done one tour in Europe and it was the RS family tour, I do travel there independly all the other times, but I totally recommend the tour. Your kids will love it. My dd is still facebooking with an American girl she met on the tour and that was about 4 years ago!