Travelling around Europe.

Doshwaster

knightstyle wrote: »

Trains in France are subject to strikes. Currently the rolling strikes will be carried out on two days out of every five until June 28. So book as late as possible and check things like this.

As are trains it Italy. I once got stuck in Como for 2 days due to a Italian railways strike - but on the plus side, there are many, many, worse places in the world to be "stuck" so you just have to go with the flow, make the most of it and put in your list of holiday travel stories.

That's why I would always keep plans for a trip as flexible as possible as unexpected things will always happen and it's much more of an adventure to make it up as you go. These days with free EU mobile roaming and wifi everywhere it is much easier than it used to be to book things on the road.

AlexMac

Chandelier. wrote: »

Morning,
I'd like to travel around Europe next year with my son. I'm able to get around 3 1/2 weeks off work and plan to visit as many places as possible. ... in the six week holidays so...I'm wanting to be as money savvy as possible and create a trip to remember and make many memories.

My son will be 8 nearly 9 ..We've been looking at maps and ... we'd like to visit... France and Italy. I'm hoping to fly out to the first destination and then travel around my train,
Are there any must see places?

How many countries do you think would be doable in the time frame we have?...

Great idea, and trains in mainland Europe are great, fast and relatively cheap but...

the questions "must see places" and "doable" itinerary depends on what you like doing and how much of your (only too short) 25 days you want to spend in transit?

A bit like asking the same Q about the UK without saying whether you prefer staying in hotels, going on open top buses and visiting museums in London or wild camping, picking mussles and rock-pooling on miles of empty beaches in Wester Ross in the NW of Scotland?

If you like conventional tourist attractions in major cities then you could start with the "top things to do " on the France, italy or other country pages on Tripadvisor;

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g187070-Activities-France.html
and
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g187768-Activities-Italy.html

... If that's your thing, you could train around ticking off their list of obvious places; from Disneyland, the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and riverboat "Bateau mouches" of Paris, via the Colosseum and Vatican in Rome, to the ruins of Pompeii inear Naples...

...all of which are great (my godsons especially loved the Colosseum), but which would involve well over 1000 miles of rail travel between flying into Paris in northern France and a return Flight from Naples in Southern Italy.

But your child might equally enjoy simpler (cheaper?) experiences? The highlight of another trip with the godsons was discovering that, as it was too hot on the beach by day on the Costa Brava, local families dozed by day, came out at night and stayed up late. So, in a little locals' resort called L'Escala on the bay of Roses, they played football with other kids on the beach well past midnight. No chavvy drunken teenage Northern Europeans in sight; just Spanish parents eating icecream while they watched.

Once you've got the hang of navigating Tripadvisor's regional pages and forums, they are a mine of helpful info;
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g187768-Activities-Italy.html
or
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/SearchForums?ff=20&geo=187768&scope=2&q=train&x=14&y=5&pid=34633&s=D

And to really complicate your planning; if budget is an issue, be aware that France and Italy (especially the tourist traps) are among the more expensive destinations, compared with, say Spain, Greece or Croatia.

And as you're travelling in August, be aware that the south may be too hot for comfort; we spent a really enjoyable hol in Spain using public transport. Flied to Madrid, and after a few days doing the sights, took the high speed (and very good value) AVE train to Seville. Then used Seville's excellent transport hub for train and bus trips, each of only a few hours, to the other classic destinations of Ronda, Malaga, Cadiz and the unmissable Moorish palaces of Granada. The child would never forget the 5-mile "Caminito del Rey" gorge walkway if you stopped off there on the railway from Seville to Malaga;
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g2441674-d2204069-Reviews-El_Caminito_del_Rey-El_Chorro_Province_of_Malaga_Andalucia.html
You could then fly back on the many cheapos from Malaga.

But if you feel that would be too hot for comfort in high summer, consider the cheaper and cooler northern Spanish "Costa verde"; fly to Bilbao, Santander, or even more cheaply to Asturias airport; for the Picos de Europa mountains and the coast; accessible by bus, train or the little FEVE narrow guage railway which lingers along that 500-mile coast;

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/aug/15/slow-train-spain-feve-railway-santander-asturias-galicia

Stand in the footprints of dinosaurs at La Griega beach.... Visit the Jurassic Museum of Asturias nearby, explore sea caves at La Franca beach and eat three course seafood meals with drinks (including wine for you) for a tenner a head at Llanes and other coastal gems !

Robin9

Have a word with his teachers and see what he will be doing at school in a years time.