I've got a headache- help

I like to break trips into sections so as to not feel overwhelmed in the planning phase. Plan one section at a time. When you are done, then step back and look at it as a whole.

You want the Eurostar for transit to Paris. Book early for the best rates.

Just one day in Paris? Maybe better to take a pass on it and scoot straightover to Normandy.

You'll want the car for Verdun.

Christine,

To begin with, which London airport will you be arriving at? It's difficult to offer specific transportation suggestions without that information.

Which RAF Museum are you planning to visit? Given the ages of your children, you might also consider the Imperial War Museum, Cabinet War Rooms, HMS Belfast (lots of fun, even for me!) and the Tower of London.

The EuroStar is your best bet from London to Paris (albeit a bit pricey). You'll travel from London St. Pancras to Gare du Nord in Paris. You can use the Metro from there to your Hotel.

I'd suggest travel from Paris to Normandy by train, which departs from Gare St. Lazare. For a "base" in Normandy, you might consider Bayeux. It's a wonderful "walkable" town. While there you could see the historic Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts a battle that occurred in 1066. There's also a military Museum there and the Gun Batteries at Longues sur Mer are only about a 15-minute drive out of town. If you're planning to take any D-Day tours, Bayeux is often the departure point. I'd HIGHLY recommend BattleBus Tours, but that will depend on your budget and when you'll be travelling.

You can rent a Car in Bayeux, which may save you a few days rental charges. I'd suggest pre-booking this through a Travel Agent (or whatever) as I found that the staff at car rental agencies may have "limited" English.

Regarding staying in the "Rhine area", Cochem is on the Mosel, which is good if you're planning to visit Burg Eltz. On the Rhine, you might consider Bacharach, as I've found that's a convenient "home base" for touring that area. It's an easy trip on the train to St. Goar and Rheinfells Castle.

For such a short trip, my suggestion would be to use trains (especially fast trains) as much as possible, as that will minimize your travel times.

Good luck!

Oystercard works beautifully and it's easy to return at the train station to get your deposit back, everyone needs their own card though. Our's could only be used after 9:30 and in specific zones. We took the Heathrow Connect to get to our hotel near Paddington Station.
I agree that you should do the Tower of London. The British Museum is great too & free. Also, fun to do the hop on hop off bus ride which includes a boat ride on the Thames.
How early do you travel to Paris? You need to arrive at least 30-45 mins. early because you have to go through security(just like the airport). There is a flea market in Paris that goes for many blocks which might be fun. Will you be driving to Normandy? We did that trip last month. The D Day sites are spread out so you either need to take a tour or drive. If you go to Mont St Michel, St Malo in Brittany is only another hour. It's a walled city and really cool to spend the night. PM me if you want more details.

Well, I tried to paste my itinerary, but it won't let me. I don't have time to paste it all.. grrr. We have all those sites and more. Here is a very rough sketch:
Wednesday- arrive in London
Wed-Sun stay in a flat near Imperial War museum
Sun take EARLY train to Paris and arrive at 10
Enjoy sights of Paris
Monday- take Paris walk and then drive to Normandy
Monday-Friday- stay in a gite nera ARrommanches
Friday drive and enjoy Versailles, stay?
Saturday drive to Verdun and then drive to stay at a gite near Zell
Sat night-Tuesday stay at gite near Zell
Wednesday fly home.

I have my sheets with details filled out on sites, but it won't let me paste and I don't have time to fill them all in.

Christine

Tip w/car: Avoid drop-off fees by dropping your car in the same country you pick up in.

I checked, and your whole family can get from Paris to Cochem for 87 Euros with advance purchase tickets from the DB site (if available on the date you travel.)

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

So maybe skipping Verdun and starting your visit in Normandy makes sense; get a car there (Caen has major outlets, or pick up at CDG and head straight to Arromanches (or Bayeux, a more interesting place to base) then drop it when you reach Paris (driving into or out of Versailles is pretty simple.)

I wouldn't use a car in Germany. Cochem is very well connected to the Mosel and Rhine villages by train (and occasionally bus) and daypasses for a family in the area run between 20 and 30 Euros per day depending on your destination. It might be easier to stay near FRA the night before (Mainz is good, many train connections) and you can get to Mainz with a 28-Euro daypass (Rheinland-Pfalz ticket) from Cochem.

You might look into the WW II museum in Remagen north of Koblenz: www.bruecke-remagen.de

Russ,

Thanks for the tips. I tried searching for trains from Paris to Cochem, but it keeps asking me what station I want to stop at.. I just wasn't sure about trains with 5 people and their luggage going everywhere. I'm limiting everyone to one carry-on. That's all we will take, but that will still be 5 pieces. My dh thinks I'm crazy, but i told him we are packing the Rick Steves way and will wash and rewear. Trying to sort through all of the train options with 5 is just really confusing. If it was just dh and I it would be easier, but the discounts for the kids leaves me confused.

Christine

"it keeps asking me what station I want to stop at"

For Cochem, there's only one station. The DB site provides bus connections too, so it usually lists a variety of bus stops for any given town on top of the stations. Choose "Cochem Bahnhof" (Bahnhof means train station) and you should be fine.

For a given journey, the DB site gives you a total price for your group as long as you input the ages of all travelers accurately. What are your travel dates? I don't think the schedule beyond Dec. 12 is up yet, but if you're going after that, you'll surely find some sale prices once it appears.

We (family of 3) now do only carry-on and it works great for us. If we were dressing for an opera, it might not, but we find it very doable otherwise.

CHRISTINE,

"I just wasn't sure about trains with 5 people and their luggage going everywhere"

When Rick's children were the same ages as your children, they were hauling their own luggage. I don't see a problem with five bags, whether travelling by train or otherwise, as everyone will be carrying their own bags.

RUSS,

I visited the "Peace Museum" at Remagen a few months ago. It's a smaller Museum, but very interesting. Looking across the river at the Towers on the east bank, I was wondering if there was a Museum there as well, as there appeared to be cars parked there? From what I could see, the entrance to the former railway tunnel had been blocked closed.

Cheers!

Christine,

Which RAF Museum are you going to? The one in London is at Colindale...take the Tube to Colindale,(north London) then a 10-15 mins walk. Or, the big RAF Museum at Duxford, which you'll need to take the train...haven't seen that one myself yet. Plan on a day trip for Duxford.

Ken writes, "RUSS,

I visited the "Peace Museum" at Remagen a few months ago. It's a smaller Museum, but very interesting. Looking across the river at the Towers on the east bank, I was wondering if there was a Museum there as well, as there appeared to be cars parked there? From what I could see, the entrance to the former railway tunnel had been blocked closed."

When I was there last I took the ferry from Remagen over to Erpel but did not investigate the bridge support on the east side. I don't think it's been developed at all. The museum is a genuine surprise; a lot is packed in there, and most displays include text in English.

I hadn't answered earlier because I read the first part of your posting, and you seemed to be going from England to France.

As Ken points out, Cochem is on the Mosel. The Mosel flows north into the Rhein (which is flowing to the NW) at Koblenz. Unless you are staying two different places (I stayed 5 nts in Boppard, 2004, and 4 nts near Cochem, 2008), I would suggest staying in Braubach (www.braubach.de). You can easily get up the Rhein on the rail line to Wiesbaden (ferry across the Rhein at St. Goarshausen) or into Koblenz by hourly train or almost hourly bus, then up the Mosel to Moselkern or Cochem.

That entire area, from Oberwesel on the Rhein (between Bacharach and St. Goar) clear down to the Rheinland-Pfalz, Nordrhein-Westfalen border below Remagen and up the Mosel to Bullay is all part of the Verkehrsverbund (transit district) Rhein-Mosel (VRM, www.vrm.info). For €20 you can get a Minigruppenkarte, a day ticket valid all day long (after 9 AM workdays) for up to five people for unlimited rides on regional trains and buses in the Verkehrsverbund. I think it is also valid on the ferry across the Rhein at St. Goar.

The state of Rheinland-Pfalz (along with Saarland) constists of all of Germany between the Rhein and the French border and the Mosel (and a little bit west of the Mosel). For €28, up to five people can ride all day long on all the regional trains and some buses from Mainz (Karlsruhe, actually) to Bonn and up the Mosel to the French border

As long as your boy is still under 15, both he and your 9 yo girl will be free on any full fare ticket, as long as included on the ticket. This would also be true for a discounted Europa-Spezial ticket from Paris via Frankfurt. (A connection via Koeln would probably be via Thalys, which does not include the discount fare.) As Russ said, you can get the Europa-Spezial fare from Paris to Frankfurt for as low as €87 for 3 adults. Include the 2 children (6-14) on the ticket, and they will be free. If you do PARIS to Braubach Bhf on the Bahn website, the ticket will include regional trains from Frankfurt Hbf to Braubach at the same price.

Wow. I just looked up fares from Paris to Braubach and Cochem. I was not surprised that the discount fare through Frankfurt was higher than that through Saarbruecken. That, Paris to Frankfurt, is a popular route and the lowest fares on that route sell out quickly, but what did surprise me was that the fare to Cochem (€87) was less than the fare to Braubach (€117). Cochem to Braubach is all by regional trains, and they're not supposed to add to the discount fares. (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Paris to Braubach goes through Koblenz, which you can also get to other ways, but which cost more.) Anyway, book Paris to Cochem for €87, get off in Cochem, and buy a minigruppentageskarte to Braubach for €20.

When in London, don't miss the American Chapel at the back of St. Paul's. It is dedicated to all US servicemen who were stationed in England and lost their life fighting in WWII. There is a memorial book with all their names and beautiful windows by Chagal (sp?) with all the US states on the windows. We were able to get a buy one get one free ticket at the train station which also got us into Windsor Castle, not sure if they still have it though.

One bag = one person. Trust me, it can be done. My husband and I each packed in our own carry-on bag for a 3 week trip to France and Italy a few years ago and it's much easier to do than you might think.

BUT - keep in mind the 3-1-1 rule if you're planning to carry on (not check) your bag(s) to/from the US. That means 3 ozs of liquids (i e shampoo, etc.) in a 1-quart bag per 1 person. Make SURE that your 3-oz (or less) containers are marked with the size. I once had a security person threaten to throw my stuff away because she said the containers "weren't marked." This may not happen everywhere, but it might happen to you. Eye solutions and other medical essentials don't count toward your total, but I'd suggest that you put them in an easily accessible, see-thru bag and point them out when you go through security. Just to be safe.

If you're checking your bags to/from the US...then forget it. The 3-1-1 rule applies only to carry on luggage.

Have a great trip and try not to stress ahead of time! Enjoy the journey...