July trip to Europe

[alleinesein]

Are you opposed to cruises? Disney has 3 itineraries for July 2016 that visit a variety of countries and are reasonably priced (for disney!). It would also have built in kid entertainment and child care services so that you could have a few nights of just adult time.

[hamster]

I feel like at that age, I would have liked England and France more.

[gardengal]

I'd do Andalusia in Spain. The Alhambra, eating snacks all the time, flamenco dancing (or bull fighting if you're into that), etc.

The history of that area is very "Adventure!" To me & could really capture their imaginations. We flew into Madrid & took the train down.

Excuse auto correct issues!

[pbandj]

What about Ireland or Scotland? Lots of cool castles to see. I have kids around the same age and I think they would love the castles.

Or I would also consider at Portugal. We went there a number of years ago with a 2 year old and there was plenty to see, some beaches and history/castles. Sintra and Cascais are short train rides from Lisbon.

[Deleted]

I hear Italy is miserably hot in July/August. Not sure if it's ALL OF Italy or not. England/France should be more comfortable.

I would at least check the weather before making a decision (I could be wrong lol).

[v]

What part of Italy? Rome and the Cilento Coast (just below the Amalfi Coast) were miserably hot when I was there in late June. Florence was fine (not sure if that's normal for Florence at that time of year, or if we lucked out).

London was in the low 60s when I was there over the Fourth of July last year

I'd probably stay away from the parts of Europe that gets hot.

[sporky]

As others have mentioned, how well do you and your kids handle heat? I'd visit as far north in Europe as possible if visiting in July. We were in England/Scotland in June/July of last year and still needed a cardigan some days. But Italy in July a couple of years ago? Dear lord, we ended up returning to the hotel mid-day pretty much every day just to shower off because we were so drenched in sweat.

[EmilieMadison]

I hate miserable heat, so parts of Italy and France would definitely be off my list for that time-frame. I like another poster's suggestion of Ireland or Scotland. In fact, I'd consider splitting the trip between Scotland and London, and taking the train would be something your kids might really love!

[sm12]

Apr 28, 2015 21:29:26 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I hear Italy is miserably hot in July/August. Not sure if it's ALL OF Italy or not. England/France should be more comfortable.

I would at least check the weather before making a decision (I could be wrong lol).

This is what I was thinking. I would think Spain/Portugal would be hot, too. 

I vote England. 

[tacokick]

Portugal? It wasn't terribly hot then. Maybe in the 70s?

[msmerymac]

I'd do the UK/Ireland. Start in London, maybe go to Edinburgh and Dublin? I did London and Edinburgh a few years ago and the train is really nice and takes about 4-5 hours. The might like the castles and old stuff. There's a school in Edinburgh (George Heriot's) that's supposed to be the basis of Hogwarts - or so everyone in Edinburgh will tell you. The other nice thing about doing some smaller cities or more rural areas is that you won't be walking as much. Major cities are a bitch when it comes to walking. In both London and Paris I'd say we walked like 8-10 miles per day. Minimum. And yes, that was with using the subway. I'd do one major city. Don't over plan. Sometimes it's nice to relax for part of the vacation and only spend a few days in a big city, being really busy.

I agree that Italy will be kind of miserable. Frankly, Paris will be hot, too. Europeans are not as into air conditioning as Americans are. I was in Paris at the end of August/beginning of September last year and it was actually quite nice - high 60s/low 70s. But it was unseasonably cool and I wouldn't have wanted it to be much warmer, since I stayed in a 5th floor walk up.

[mrshandy]

I would go for London/Scotland or Ireland because of the Italy heat. I think they would like those places better. Also, there no language barrier so that makes things easier and more understandable for young kids. Ireland will be our first international trip with kids when they're around that age.

[UnderProtest]

Ha. We are taking the kids on the Disney Mediterranean cruise this August. I'll let you know how it is. London will be crazy that time of year with tourists, but then again, it is always crazy. Edinburgh is a 4.5 hour train ride away from London and is a lovely city. It is quite doable with kids. We took our 3 year old twins there in February. Summer will be much nicer weather. I wasn't impressed with Dublin, but I liked the other parts of Ireland.

[dirtyred]

Apr 28, 2015 19:41:02 GMT -5 @chloe77 said:

I'm starting to think about our summer 2016 vacation.  I know it's so early, but I live for travel planning.  So:
If you were going to take a 5 and a 7 year old to Europe for a week in July (the month is not flexible), would you go to England/France or Italy?  Somewhere else?  I'm thinking either a few days in London, Chunnel to France and a few days in Paris, OR Rome/Florence/Amalfi.

We are going to the Caribbean next April and we have a beach house, so we don't necessarily need the beach, but Amalfi is beautiful... 

You can't do Amalfi, Rome, and Florence in one week--too much time will be spent traveling between the cities (from someone who did these three cities) and you won't be able to appreciate each location.  If you're going to Italy, pick one city.