Planning a European Family Vacation

Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands

Our family of five and the boyfriend traveled through 6 countries in 9 days. During this fast paced trip we saw many historical places and participated in many activities. The following takes you through our step by step planning process including travel tips and website links to help you with the process of planning your own European family vacation. Read about the trip in our next article: A European Family Vacation.

Planning a European Family Vacation

A European family vacation takes a lot of advance planning, but even more so than other trips. There is a lot to consider including destinations and sightseeing stops, your travel timetable, hotels and reservations, transportation, and activities. For this particular vacation, planning began almost a year in advance, beginning with figuring out our primary destinations. Our primary destinations included Munich Germany, Füssen Germany, Lucerne Switzerland, Austria, the Black Forest Germany, Paris, and Amsterdam. Some of the selections were based on activities and places we wanted to see, while others were just general locations.

European Destinations

Initially, we discussed the locations and activities we had done in the past and other places we wanted to see, so we were able to get a rough idea of what we wanted to do. During this process, we used Google Maps, mapping out our destinations to check distances and timing. This helped us determine if our destinations were feasible or not.

There were several cities we talked about visiting in Germany including Berlin and Cologne, as well as, viewing the Auschwitz concentration camp. We ultimately narrowed our list down to Munich because of our short timetable and it was only two hours from our next destination Neuschwanstein Castle. This made us decide to pick a hotel in Füssen Germany, a five minute drive from the castle. We also found an Alpine slide in the area, making Füssen an ideal location for lodging.

We then looked into Lucerne Switzerland which is a gorgeous city surrounded by majestic mountains and the beautiful Lake Lucerne. The commute from Füssen Germany was about 3 hours, so it worked really well in our timetable. The commute also took us through Austria and possibly Litchenstein, so we planned on stopping along the way. From there we wanted to drive through the Black Forest in Germany with a stop for lunch…and Black Forest Cake.

Our next destination was Paris, but we needed to stop somewhere in between because the drive was too long. My husband suggested Nancy France after reviewing some articles about the historic town. The drive was approximately 2.5 hours from the Black Forest and another 4 hours to Paris, so it fit right into our plan.

Because of our timetable we were only able to book 4 nights/3 days in Paris. Later when adding activties, we could have used another day or two to see everything and allow some downtime.

Our final destination was Amsterdam which was 5.5 hours from Paris. The drive took us through Belgium, so we planned on stopping somewhere along the way. In Amsterdam, we planned for only 2 nights/1.5 days, but like Paris we could have used an additional day.

Vacation Spreadsheet & Itinerary

Once we had our destinations determined we started to create google docs so we could keep organized and share the European family vacation planning. Two Google Docs were made, a spreadsheet with our bookings and another was our itinerary.

Flights

We started by booking all our flights. For us, this was extra complicated because we are currently residing in Stockholm Sweden and our adult children were still in the U.S. To further complicate things our oldest daughter was doing an internship in another state than our son. The internship was a huge factor with the timing of the vacation, but we made it work. The overseas travel flights were added to the spreadsheet with dates, airlines, flight numbers, etc. while the date, basic info, and links were added to the itinerary.

Transportation

Our second step was to arrange transportation. Since we were going to several locations throughout Europe we decided that a car would be best. Flying or taking a train was not an option. Both were too expensive for our needs and neither would get to all our selected destinations. Once booked, we added the details to our Google Docs.

Accommodations

Our next step was booking our accommodations. We signed up for Booking.com so that we could read reviews and earn rewards. Airbnb was discussed, but since our stays were short at each location it was ultimately less expensive to book a hotel. The process of selecting our hotels took several days. Pricing, the number of people in our family, and hotel ratings were all factors in our decision. When we selected and booked our hotels we added the details to our Google Docs.

Activities

The last thing we booked was our activities and tours. We went through each destination and decided what we would like to do. For most of the activities, we were able to go directly to a website and book tickets in advance. Timing was a bit tricky though. Some activities could not be booked until the day we got there (the Alpine Slide), while other activities could not be booked until two months in advance. The Eiffel tower and Versailles would not allow us to book way in advance, but at the same time tickets would sell out quickly. We also booked packages through Viator which was a nice option for our Canal Tour and Bus Tour in Amsterdam. It was also really useful when we missed our sign up window for the Eiffel tower. Needless to say, this process took a couple of months to accomplish.

Last Minute Activities

Throughout the planning process we asked our adult children if they had any special activities they would like to do. We wanted to make this a trip for all and not just about our preferences. Initially they did not express any desires, but my daughter asked about the Stranger Things Pop-Up in Paris. It easily fit into our Paris plans so we had her book the time slot for the six of us.

My son, on the other hand, requested to add a trip to Normandy. He is a huge WWII history buff, so we had to work a bit and combine some activities on the same day in Paris. This made our plans really tight, but we were able to open up a day for the side trip to Normandy. Like our daughter, we had him plan the stops for the day and schedule the museum tickets.

Tip: Whether your children are young or old ask them for their input during the planning process making them feel more included. Older children and young adults can do some of the research, as well, and even make reservations. This will help ease up some of the planning process for you.

Conclusion

All in all the trip for the 6 of us going through 6 countries in 9 days was a huge success. Everyone had a fantastic time seeing the beautiful sites, learning the history, and experiencing the different cultures of the European countries. Organized planning well in advance was essential to this trip, especially with our limited time.

Find out more tips and see more pictures in our next article The European Family Vacation.