It sounds very exciting, and I really hope we can take the family travelling like that one day!
I would think twice about having a base and doing long 'weekend' trips from there, unless you have long term accommodation in your base, and a lot more stuff than you plan to take with you for the long weekends. But if you just have what you can take on the plane, and don't acquire heaps more there, you may as well load all your stuff in the car and do a slow circle, stopping in each place for several days, and you cut out masses of boring travel time which lands you back at the same place again. Europe may have lots of countries, but it isn't really that small, and it can take a long time - a full day or more of travel, to get from one place to another, eg, Lyon to Barcelona, Lyon to Prague. Motorways and train lines in Europe are not always scenic and interesting, and I think with kids I would be aiming to minimise the number of long travel days.
GO GO GO!!!! I LOVE EUROPE!!! We backpacked around for 7 months and had an amzing time!!!
Like Pholi said, I would also think twice about having a base and just travel. If it were me, I would buy (you can buy them really cheap in the UK) a camper van and use that. We stayed at caravan/motorhome/camping sites all the way through Europe. They are amazing and huge! They have swimming pools, a restaurant, a bar, tour desk etc at all of them. We quite often bumped into families camping while we were travelling. One family had been on the road for 12 months! They would set up, stay for about a week and then go to the next place. These camp grounds also have large chalets for rent so if you get sick of the motorhome you can always check into one of those for a night or two without breaking the bank!
We plan to do another massive trip around Europe when we have a few kiddies, it such an amazing experience.
If you have any specific questions then feel free to ask, between the travel we did and working in the travel industry if I dont know the answer then I can ask a collegue for you
Thanks so much for the offer Amy. I will definitely take you up on it when questions come up.
As for the not having a base bit, its just not feasible for us. My DH is going to have to work a good three days a week, so being constantly on the road would be a nightmare. Plus one of my kids in particular really needs stability and so unless she knows we're "living" somewhere I think she might struggle. We're going to be spending the first month travelling around in any event with DH taking a month off work, so we can certainly change our plans if that all goes swimmingly and internet doesn't turn into an issue, but for now I think we need to go with the stability aspect. I'm also a serious homebody, and TBH the thought of three small and oh so very active children constantly on the move makes me feel a little ill ;-)
Extended travel through Europe with young kids - what do I need to know?
Hahaha I can understand that! I always felt a little 'honeless' hahaha but it was good fun. I think if they were a bit older it wouldn't be so bad but I def see your point. I also meant to say Peugeot leasing is definitely the way to go, so much cheaper!!!
Actually just been looking at a few websites for second hand motorhome sort of things and none of them (so far anyway!) have five designated seats so we'd be a bit stuffed with that anyway. I guess they're out there somewhere but not sure we'd want to pay for them ;-)
My eldest (6 yrs) asked me a couple of days ago what happens if the plane coming home arrives at night time. Asked her what she meant and she said that seeing as we are selling our house before we go, if the plane comes home at night does that mean we have to sleep in the car??? poor little love. Think I need to do some reassuring that being homeless doesn't necessarily mean on the streets!
You can get a rebate on the VAT on any goods bought within 3 months of your departure if you show them you are a tourist (non-EU passport) on departure so save receipts.
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