Summer 2016 tour for our girls ages: 16 and 21

Have not taken a family tour, but, as one who has taken half a dozen RS tours (and lived in Europe), I would suggest either the 21 or 14 day "Best of Europe" tour. Either of those will give the girls a super good taste of Europe as well as a super amount of variety. Believe me, there is a lot more to the RS tours than "...church / temple / museum...". Hopefully either trip will give the girls an appreciation of Europe and whet their appetite for future travel. Considering the girl's ages, I think one of the regular tours (as opposed to the family tours) would be fine and they would fit right in. We've had young people on all our tours and they seemed to get along well with everyone. That is not to say the family tours should be ruled out, I just think that at their age they would enjoy being in an adult environment. Just my opinion -- you and they can decide the type group in which they would be most comfortable.

Thanks a bunch, I was looking along the same line. I saw the pictures of family tours and kids are quite small; my kids are big, young ladies; so sure they will handle these tours.
Thanks a bunch. Due to our time constraints, looks like 14 days Europe looks good. I wanted to go to Switzerland and Italy and that tour covers both the places.

Thanks again.

Actually I took my 11 yr old on a Family RS tour .. their were 14 children between the ages of 10-17 .. ( actually of that there was on 7 yr old and one 18 yr old.. but the bulk were 12-15 I would say and the older girls did not seem to mind one little bit.. they all got along great..

But.. I would also ask you to consider doing this on your own.

You can and will save money and can tailor what you see to your kids interests. I did this with my 13 yr old son as he was not a good tour candidate ( he had /has some issues).

I made it easy.. flew into Paris.. spent about 10 days there.. then took Eurostar to London and spent another week there.. flew home from London.

You could make it easy.. fly into say.. Amsterdam, few days there.. train to Paris.. week there.. then either fly to Rome for a few days/week, see Venice.. or go over to UK on Eurostar and visit London, and maybe train to Scotland.. the choices are literally overflowing.

Your girls are big.. much older then mine when I planned our trips.. and I made each child do some research and come up with what they most wanted to see.. and to list three must see sites in each place.. if an 11 yr old can do that.. I am sure your kids can.. its sweat equitity for getting a super family vacation.

I would start with talking to girls and asking each for their top three destinations ( how long can you be away.. since I am not one that rushes from place to place myself.. and would say 2 weeks equals no more then three major destinations.. from which you can also plan many daytrips ) .

Sorry did not read carefully.. you did state 14 days.. so that's what.. 12 days when you consider you can't count first and last travel days.

Fly into Rome and take train to Switzerland.. stopping in Florence and Venice maybe..
Switzerland is pricey so keep that in mind.

Thanks a bunch; I have started asking them which are the places the surely want to cover.
At present I have 7 day Celebrity Equinox cruise on hold and my husband is in chilling mode. Cruise starting from Rome going to Barcelona and planning to stay in Rome for 3-4 days and Barcelona for couple.
Rick's trips might be hectic, so I have to work on making my family mentally ready to take those.

I really appreciate your input.

I think the best value for your family would be a simple do-it-yourself itinerary that doesn't skip over places lightly like a cruise does, and lets you all stay together in apartments.
Something like ... Paris (4nts) >> Swiss Alps (3nts) >> Florence (3nts) >> Rome (3nts)

I would say that at 16 and 21 you don't need to stick with "family" tours. When I did the Berlin, Prague and Vienna tour a number of years ago, we had one 16 year old and a 19-20 year old on it. There were also several young 20's. I agree that you could plan it yourself, but you can enjoy a tour as well. I've done both. You could also a a combo, which I have found works quite well.

Pam

Pam,

This is our first time, so better to take a tour; right? Instead of doing on our own?

regards,

There is no reason you have to take a tour, for your first trip to Europe. It does require more work and planning to do it yourself, but you save money and can go where you want and see what you want. Also, the more work you put into it ahead of time, the more you will get out of it.

If that's not a good fit for the trip you want/are able to take, then go for the tour, as that's better than not going at all.

I don't think a Rick Steves tour itinerary sounds hectic but we pack a lot into our trips! If you are looking for a vacation where you sit around on a beach/in a hotel room, then it's probably not for you, but a trip like that would miss an awful lot of good stuff in Europe.

A good place to start is to decide what interests you and what you want to see and do. Go to your local library and get a great big pile of guidebooks (not just Rick Steves) and have a read and see what you think.

Thanks a bunch everybody !

no..I don't think you need a tour.. you have the cruise.. and a few days before and after.. what I would do is fly from Barcelona to either Paris or London and do a week in either. Both cities offer tons to do.. plus both cities offer a lot of great day trips out of city.. you could book day tours for them to make it easy ( but pricey) or do them on your own.. Bath and Brighton from London are great and easy.. and from Paris the list is obsencely long.. chateaus.. vineyards..etc.

This would be an easy way to build a trip .. partly planned( the cruise) and partly on your own. If you are really timid then choose London or Amsterdam.. both will offer lots of sites ( more from London) and both will be easy because language will not be an issue.

In London, Paris and Barcelona check out Fat Tire Bike tours.. I promise they are easy enough for you , and the girls will love them.. really.. trust me on this one.. I am middle aged andgu had to be talked into them.. but loved them.. did 4 in Paris ( over a few years of visits) and one in London.. led by young college aged guides ( so your kids will relate) history lite and fun.. but not hard for those of us who haven't been on a bike in decades..

google Fat Tire Bike tours.. or have kids do it.

Thanks, I will google it.
My friend told me to do Segway tour in Rome, I don't know how to ride a bike; but will be good for my kids and hubby.

thanks,

You've found your way to this site. Start reading the forum, and look around at all the other info as well. You think you need a tour for your first trip but you do not. Pick up a copy of Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door" and you'll get great information and become more confident. Then pick up his guide books on the countries or cities you want to visit. You can do this. Cancel the cruise.

And please don't do the "stuck on the boat" cruise thing. There are so many incredible sites in each destination you definitely need more than the standard allotted cruise time of 6 hours in a city. Imagine, 6 hours to see an incredible city like Rome or Venice. That's just ludicrous.

Get onto the trains into a comfy seat and be whisked from city center to city center. Don't overload your itinerary with jumping from destination to destination. Sounds nice to say "you've seen it all" but it really doesn't work. What you end up seeing is the inside of planes and trains way (or cruise ship) too much.

Don't cruise - it's a time waster.

Well I would not say cruises are time wasters.. cruises are a good way to get a taste of a place.. just a sip to be sure.. but cruising in itself is relaxing.. and if you build time in for a post holiday on land you really do get best of both worlds. I find those who have never cruised.. or took some booze cruise back in college the most likely to put cruises down.

I love our independently planned land visits . but I have also cruised 6x( not in Europe however) and both types of holidays have pros and cons.. you would have to have done both ,, more then once.. to know that though.

Look at the My Way style tours on this site. We found this was perfect for us and our then 18 year old daughter. We saw what we wanted to, rested when we needed to, set our own agenda and left the hotel and transportation up to the experts. It was ideal for us.

After reading the OP's post about her girls' limited interest in museums, etc., I think a cruise would be perfect. The girls would probably love the "glamour" of a cruise on a beautiful ship, with interesting port stops, and limited exposure to museums and cathedrals. The anti-cruise brigade makes me cross. I have travelled in Europe on bus tours, independent trips in rented cars or by train, and have taken a couple of European destination cruises. Each had its own advantages and disadvantages and to diss cruises and cruisers because you don't like them, is just plain mean, as well as rude.

Wealth of information.

Thanks a bunch.

I think the cruise idea is a good one. For our first time to Europe, we took a Baltic/Scandinavian cruise and loved it. Sure, you don't get to see everything a city has to offer, but you can't see everything if you stay there for a week either! I think a cruise will allow you to see a variety of places, and for your first time to Europe you won't have to worry about the logistics of traveling on your own. Once you get this first trip under your belt, I bet you'll feel more confident to travel independently in the future.

I've heard good things about the Celebrity cruise line, so that sounds like a good choice. Hanging out on the cruise ship will be fun for your family too.

Just remember, this is YOUR trip, and while others may weigh in with opinions, you know better than any of us what makes the most sense for you and your family. Whatever you decide, whether it's a Rick Steves tour, a cruise, or an independent trip, I'm sure you will have a very memorable vacation!

Thanks a bunch; even though we are taking a cruise, we are planning to stay in Rome for 4 days before the cruise and 3 days in Barcelona; so I think we will have enough land exposure.

Also, our cruise is on Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands for couple of days; so over all it should work out good.

My husband really doesn't want touch and go kind of vacation. I saw Rick Steve's 14 day Europe tour and that is mostly touch and go kind of tour. My kids are big now, so my husband is planning to go to Europe almost every year. He has even plans to go there and stay for 6 months or so, that means this is surely not our last Europe tour. We do have bunch of time shares and we saw many are available in all these countries. Next year we may just go and stay in Switzerland for a week or two. Who knows!

Thanks a bunch for your input. We really appreciate it.