I am a grand father who wants to take my 9 year old grandchild on a family tour. Alas, my daughter has a new job and in all probability can't get the time off. :-(
Any grand parents in a similar situation whose done the tour and can offer advice what worked well for you on the tour? And what needed improvement?
Grazie
Hi Barnstormer, I’m surprised you haven’t received any responses yet. Your trip sounds like a wonderful opportunity for both you and your grandchild! I wish I could have had a special trip like this with my grandfather.
Rick Steves tours are great and I bet this one will be doubly so since you are sharing the experience together. I’m not a grandparent, but I did travel with my niece when she was 11. Maybe you can find some age appropriate books on the countries you plan to visit. For example, there’s a series of adventure books that look like they’d be fun and interesting for a 9 year old. Looking forward to a trip report when you return!
Not sure what is required, but it's my understanding that documentation is needed to take a grandchild out of the U.S. if the parent is not traveling with the child. Perhaps others (maybe the Rick Steves office?) can give detailed advice about what is needed.
Go for it! We’ve taken our two grandchildren to Europe with us a few times but never on a tour which I think would be fun. We also have traveled with them one at a time. We had their parents get notarized letters for us, one was giving us permission to take them out of the country for the trip and the second letter was to authorize us to seek medical care for them. We started traveling with them without their parents when they were about 8 for 3-4 weeks at a time.
Hi, Barnstormer,
I am registered for the June 27 RS family tour with my granddaughter, who will be turning 16 a few days before the tour starts. She has never been to Europe, and I have been there more times than I can count, so this trip will be all about her and not so much for me, as I’ve been to every place that we will be going. I’m looking forward to introducing her to places that I love and seeing her reaction. I chose to take her on a Rick Steves family tour, rather than going with just me because I wanted her to have the ability to interact with other kids and not need to feel obligated to stay with me for the entire three weeks of our time together. I’ll be writing a tour report after we get back, so keep your eyes open. The office at Rick Steves is very good at suggesting what legal requirements you will need to have to take your grand child with you and providing examples for you to use.
