My husband, daughter (age 12) and myself are planning on taking the London, Paris, Florence family tour this June. I was hoping to learn from others who have taken Rick Steves' family tours (any itinerary).
Were activities geared towards children and if so what ages?
Did your kids enjoy the tour?
Did you as a family enjoy the tour?
Any tips regarding the tour?
I appreciate your responses
Lydia
My husband and I took our kids (adults) and grandchildren (pre teens at the time) on what was the only family tour offered at the time, basically the 14 day Europe tour. It was amazing for all 3 generations. There were other kids with whom ours bonded immediately and young(er) adult parents my kids' ages plus a few grandparents, too. We had the best time ever! The tour included a "main" guide and an assistant. Sometimes, an alternative activity for the day geared towards the younger tour members was offered and then one of the guides took the youngers and the other escorted the olders. I am thinking particularly of our stay at an agriturismo near Florence when we day tripped into the city. Most of the adult tour members visited the Uffizi and the kids (and my husband and myself-having been a few times to the museum already) enjoyed the the Market. Of course, the kids were offered a choice. We stayed at more family friendly (swimming pools, horseback riding opportunities, etc) places on that tour than we have on other regular tours. The RS organization does a really nice job of including activities that span the spectrum of ages from 8 year olds to grandparents, and make options engaging, fun and educational for all ages. Our entire family made lots of new friends. I realize the newer tours have changed but these were our experiences. All members of our family enjoyed this initial tour so much that those grandchildren are now 16 & 17 years old and are veterans of 3 other "regular" RS tours. They (and we, too) have loved every one and are eagerly anticipating the next (hopefully) one..
Lydia I have taken the Rs Family tour with my then 11 yr old daughter .
I have travelled in Europe a lot , over 25yrs experience at that point and never taken a single tour , but decided that I would take my daughter on this tour to make my life a bit easier , the year before I had taken my then 13 yr old son to Europe own and just thought to cheat a bit this time .
We had a great time !! This tour is super for families .
Yes kids are included and kept interested , not just dragged along as extras . The tour guides make their tours interesting to all ages..
My daughter loved having kids her own age around ( on our tour there was 26 people , 14 of them were between the ages of 8-17 most between 10/14 .) and I enjoyed having other parents to chat with , the kids on our tour were all amazing , not one single whiny brat among the group , well behaved and social like everyone on the tour ( there is the no grumps policy after all lol )
The museum tours were made as interesting as possible for the kids , and still were informative for the adults
The hike we did one day in Austria , so fun , the shard meals , the agritourisma we stayed at with the outdoor pool near Florence was wonderful .
Honestly I can't think of one bad thing to say about this tour .i haven't taken a tour since as I like independent travel so I can stay a week in one spot etc , but when I am older and decide to take a tour to cut down on the logistics and planning work , it WILL be a RS tour !!
Any specific questions please ask..
I haven't taken any of the family tours, but there are some great scrapbooks from previous years. They make the tours look like lots of fun! There is one in 2014 and a few in 2013. A couple years ago, but lots of pictures and comments.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks/tour-alum-scrapbooks
Lydia, you and your family are going to have a fantastic time. We took this tour last August, and loved it so much we are saving up to take the other family tour in 2018! We've even recruited another family to come along with us. We have one daughter who was 14 at the time of the tour. She's a bit shy, but really loved all the activities and has even kept in touch with another teen from the trip. Everything was geared for all ages, although we did divide into two groups for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence...the youth tour was better geared to the teens and preteens in the group. There is a good mix of whole group and free/family time, which we appreciated as we are not used to traveling in a group. Our tour guides, Tina and Anna were amazing and took excellent care of us. I don't really have any tips, except to do some research before you go. Everyone has their own special interests, so take the time to see what you want in your free time. Your guides can give great advice for this time as well. Ask lots of questions, help your daughter use the local language (your guides will give basic lessons) and pack light! We had one carry on bag each and never regretted it. Have a great trip!!
