Itinerary help needed. Family of four going to Paris and London in June.

Your kids probably dont need to spend more than 3 (max 40 ) days in either paris or London. So you have an opportunity to see more things. Most practical would be 4 days in french countryside and 4 days in English countryside in addition to Paris and London. What would interest you/them? loire chateaux, English castles?

Thanks for your feedback. I don't think I'd want to move around quite that much. But, maybe your point is good about too much time in the big cities. I have stayed in castles in Loire Valley as well as spent time in English countrysides. If we are going to spend the middle week somewhere else. Just need to come up with where. I've never been to Germany, but don't know if the kids would like it or if adding Germany to the itinerary would just be too $$$.

We took our 2 kids to Paris in 2009 and stayed at Hotel Familia in the 5th. Their family room is 178 euro and it is small but adequate. The location is good. In London we stayed at the Premier Inn London County Hall. Very basic room but clean and in an excellent location.

We tried booking Hotel Familia and the quad rooms were sold out. Anyone know of a great booking agency for apartment rentals in Paris?

No hotels to recommend, but I think your kids would love Germany and you would be giving them lots of variety at an early age. Logistics might be a challenge. Others can help you with that.... You could do a little German countryside or smaller towns instead of Munich. A bit of downtime. I took my 10 year old grandson on a sort of 'castle tour' of Germany and Austria and he loved it. His favorite two places were Heidelberg (first place we went) and Dinkelsbuhl on the Romantic Road. He like the castle in heidelberg better than Neuschwanstein! So, we went back at the end of the trip. It would be really nice for you all to discover someplace new together. Have the goulash suppe!

Julie, we use VRBO.com for most of our apt rentals in the EU. but when we were in Paris we found the perfect apt for the two of us, thru Homelidays.com. Homeaway is another member of that team. We have had excellent luck using these services. When you are picking out an apt, find one with good traveler reviews. Google Street View or Map the location. Is it on a noisy street? Does it have easy access to local transportation? What floor is it on? Does it have an elevator? Is there a local rep that you can call if you have questions? And make sure that it has AC!!!! Do some searching, and you can find the perfect place for the $$$ that you want to spend. ......and, I know the kids are young, but put them to work planning the trip! Ask them what they want to see and do. Hand them the guide books and have them read, comment, and plan. Give each an area, day, or ? and let them explain how and what they think the family should do.

We have found that kids really love the fast trains in Europe. I would do a maximum of three days in Paris. Then take the TGV to Annency and see the high French Alps from there or go to Switzerland and hike the Swiss Alps. We have rented an apartment in London but it was for a week and I doubt that you will find availability for a short stay. Three days in London is also plenty of time with kids.

For our son's first visit to Europe, when he was 10yo, we started with 4 nights in London, then took the train to Paris, where we immediately picked up a rental car and drove to the Loire Valley. We spent 3 nights there visiting castles - my son really liked that. Then back to Paris for 4 nights. It was a good allocation of time for us. We got to do lots of big-city things, but experience the countryside as well. And it wasn't too rushed or too much moving around.

Thanks for the continued responses. This is so very helpful. We're now thinking of doing 5/5/5. Paris, somewhere else, London. Each of the three locations would be for 5 days. I have found a vacation rental company that has a 5 night minimum in Paris, so we're good there. Haven't searched for similar accommodations in London yet. And we are still torn as to where to go in the middle of our visit.
My husband travels to France a lot for business and spends his time there in Valence. He has already seen Annency (sp?) and the Alps. I think he would rather go to Germany, Austria (he's never been) or Amsterdam. I couldn't agree more that the middle of this trip needs to be in the countryside somewhere. We really want the kids to see castles. Leaning now toward Germany. Anyone know a good town in Germany to base ourselves in for 5 days? The other plan would be Paris for 6 nights, Amsterdam for 3 nights and London for 5 nights. We would take small day trips out of Paris for a couple days. We'd like to see the coast and Versailles.

As soon as you can, go to www.vacationsinparis.com
and book their apt #16. (Best views of Paris) Perfect for 4 if your kids can share a bed. It delivers everything it promises. Right across the street from The Louvre, walk to Notre Dame, walk to underground and water transport. Its not cheap, but you can eat as many meals as you want in your apt. Not sure if they rent less than 1 week. It was the BEST EVER. The co. is in New Jersey, so no fear of language barrier.

"5 days in Germany". I would either stay in Munich and see the Alps, castles and some towns in the Romantic road area OR the Rhine and Moselle

Julie, the town of Trier, Germany could make a good base. Trier has lots of Roman architecture and everything else in between. It's not too big so it's easily manageable. Burg Eltz is close by too. You could go to Trier and spend a couple days and work your way up the Moselle and then the Rhine to Cologne? Then a quick trip to Brussels to catch the Eurostar to London.

In my opinion, from Paris you really don't want to go any further east than Heidelberg/Stuttgart. You'll spend time back tracking on trains later to get to London. You can go train non-stop Paris-Stuttgart in just 3hr40min. There's plenty of castles in the area to see. You could also head North and down the Mosel which is spotted with castles and a really beautiful area. There's nice Mosel river cruises that are fun for the kids. That puts you closer for the train to London. For a break you could hit Disneyland, Europapark or Tripsdrill theme parks.

Julie:
I agree with other posters re: Munichproviding you allow ample time from Paris to Munich and Munich to London. Lodging would probably be lower cost in Munich than either Paris or London, and loads of things to see and do, both in Munich and within a short train ride of the city. Day trips to Salzburg, Dachau, Augsburg, Nurnberg and Fussen would provide a wide-range of choices for your entire family.

Thanks All! Our itinerary is finally coming together. We will be staying in Paris for the first 6 days/5 nights. We know we want to book an apartment in Paris, just haven't gotten that far yet. Any suggestions on companies to use or actual apts recommended? I know there's a suggestion here in this thread, I will look into it today. After Paris, we will take a train to the Mosel River area of Germany where we will stay for 5 days/4 nights. We either want to stay in Cochem or Beilstein. For the final third of our trip, we will take a train from Trier to somewhere (can't remember) and transfer to Brussels where we will catch the Eurostar to London. We hope to find a nice apartment in London for the last 5 nights. QUESTION: Is anyone familiar with the following hotels: Hotel Haus Lipmann in Beilstein
Altes Winzerhaus in Cochem We booked the above hotel in Cochem last night, but found out this morning that the Hotel Haus Lipmann has availability as well for us. Does anyone know if one of these hotels is more desirable than the other? We are leaning toward the Hotel Haus Lipmann.

Julie - For an apartment in Paris, our family used vacationinparis.com. They are a US based company, and you'll get the key to the apartment before you leave. We stayed in #56 and it was $190 per night. Also the earlier you can book your ticket on Eurostar the cheaper it will be. Currenty fare for family of four is £159.00 traveling late June. Also when you book on the Eurostar try to get a table. I thought it was very nice.