My husband and I are planning our first trip to Europe as a family. He and I have both traveled internationally but this will be our first family trip to Europe. We hope to have 3 weeks total, and want to see Spain, possibly Switzerland, and Norway. We know people in all 3 countries.
Our best vacations have included hiking, national parks (US), beaches or other outdoors activities. We are not big museum-goers but love tapas.
We are thinking 10 days in Spain. For sure Barcelona, considering Seville, likely omitting Madrid. We've heard the Balearic Islands are nice. Prefer public transport.
Recommendations? We plan to go with our son who will be 11. Thanks.
Posted by
Washington DC
28100 posts
Even with 3 weeks, if you do include Switzerland, the Balearic Islands feel like one flight too many, though I confess that I've never been there. I'd try to get my nature fix in Catalunya (the Pyrenees?), Switzerland and Norway. I'm not sure about Norway, but to maximize your chances of good weather in Switzerland, I suggest trying to hit that country in late June rather than earlier in the month.
The trek from Barcelona to Sevilla (about 6 hours by fast train) has the potential to be quite costly, but you can save a lot of money if you buy non-changeable/non-refundable tickets well 2in advance, as is the case (obviously) with the flights you'll need.
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
3075 posts
... Recommendations?... are you sure you want to spend most of your time traveling? "Europe" is a continent formed by +50 countries, it's not small by any measure. I would rethink the itinerary moreover nothing that there are a lot of things to see/do beyond the cities themselves in many of the small towns so one could easily spend the whole three weeks in the same region within the same country doing different stuff every day without getting bored. Just sayin'.
At the risk of sweeping house :)).... take for example Catalonia, capital city: Barcelona. Beyond Barcelona, at 30' by train you have the picturesque beach town of Sitges, a bit beyond you have the wonderful medieval city of Girona, the fortified town of Besalú, the quaint towns in Costa Brava, the former Roman imperial capital of Tarragona, the renaissance enclave of Tortosa with its famous festival, the impressive natural parks in the Catalan Pyrenees, the sacred mountain and natural park of Montserrat, and lots more.... and all this in a small nation, Catalonia, the size of Maryland in the east corner of Spain. Then, of course, the Balearic Islands are a stone throw away from here and should you want to experience a very different culture, then you have the Spanish (Andalucía, Castille...) at also 1h by plane or a few hours by train. What else do you need? LOL!
Have a look: www.catalunya.com and if you prefer to download a brochure and a detailed map.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
I certainly understand wanting to see your friends, but unfortunately the three countries they live in do not connect well (very rude of them!). You will have to fly between them, and therefore lose most of a day each time you change countries.
Three weeks sounds like a lot, but when you include travel time, it means 6 days in each place - not much at all. Don't forget that in addition to raw travel time, there's also the time it takes to adjust to a new place, particularly three places as different as these. There's also three currencies to contend with.
None of this is meant to say you can't do this. But do be aware of what you're looking at, and strongly consider paring down.
Rome2Rio is a great way to get a handle on options for getting between places - what modes of transit are available and how long it will take. It is only a starting point - you need to check prices and schedules directly with the airline, bus company, etc. https://www.rome2rio.com/
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks, all, for the info.
What if I rephrased to say what would be your suggested itinerary in Spain for 10-11 days with an 11 year old?