Our kids are seven, 10 and 13 which worked well for a trip like this. When planning I had a few questions: How should we get around? Which cities should we see? Will my MasterCard work okay? How much would it all cost? This is what we did and I wouldn't say there is a right or wrong way; this is just what worked for us.
Here are a few things that you may want to consider when planning your European trip:
1. Accommodations: We stayed in AirBnb's.
Most hotels only have room for 2-4 people unless you want to pay about $200/night–that third kid always adds a huge cost. AirBnb's allowed our total cost for accommodations for the three weeks to be under $3,000. Another way in which they save money is that if you get one with a kitchen you can make a lot of your own meals. Two of ours also had a washing machine which was very helpful as well! Our kids had a separate bedroom from us each time which is also nice when you're together all the time.
Eating outside at our AirBnb in the Netherlands |
Be sure to note if linens are included and whether there are extra fees such as a local tourist tax or cost per person per night. One of our AirBnb's only had working Internet for one day which was frustrating as we needed WiFi for our planning and also for downtime for the kids. It was also in a loud apartment (note that all homes are so close together) so we did leave it two days early. Read the reviews in depth as well as their refund policy before committing!
Our old apartment in downtown Rouen, France. It's the one we left early. |
2. Transportation: Renting a car.
Europe has an amazing system of trains, trams and buses. In the Netherlands, the bike routes are plentiful. We decided to rent a car because it would allow us to get to a greater variety of cities and we could go on our timeline.
We rented a compact car which meant that we could not take a lot of luggage. One carry one each! |
That said there are a few drawbacks to driving: gas is very expensive, parking can be tricky to find, navigating may add stress and there are are often road tolls. The total cost of our compact car, gas, parking and tolls was under $1400. We did take a train into Paris which saved us the stress of navigation and parking costs. We booked ahead using Trainline and it saved us money ($130 for the five of us return trip).
The train from Rouen to France |
There were also times when we could rent a boat and bikes which is a "must do" in the Netherlands.
Renting a boat in Giethoorn, Netherlands |
Riding bikes in Veluwe National Park, Netherlands |
3. Money: Euros and MasterCard.
Only major businesses (museums, gas stations) accepted MasterCard and most supermarkets could only take euros. Even our parking in Delft, Netherlands was tricky because the parking machines would not accept our MasterCard. I got creative and asked a woman to pay for me and I paid her in cash.
Trying to figure out parking in Delft, Netherlands |
4. Location: How many cities to see.
We stayed in three very different locations for a week at a time. This gave us a home base to get settled and relax which is ideal with kids. It allowed us to branch out about one hour from each AirBnb into different directions. This meant that each week included a longer travel day, a rest day, and then about four cities to explore.
Our day in Paris! |
Vimy Ridge |
5. Travel dates: When to go and for how long.
We went in the summer for three weeks. There was a major heatwave with record-breaking temperatures which made some of days very exhausting and uncomfortable. Our AirBnb's also did not have AC as they are not used to those temperatures either. Be sure to consider this fact when booking.
Trying to stay cool with ice cream and cafe air conditioning! |
Beaing the heat on record breaking days in the North Sea |
Love,
Louise
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