Hi!
We are 2 adults and 3 children (age 9-13).
We are talking about traveling for 3 weeks around Europe next summer.
Taking the train sounds so nice but unfortunately also really expensive.
We would like to stay at campsites, making train-traveling even more unpractical (campsites are often far away from campsites, and all the gear has to be on our bags).
Am I right; is the train too inconvenient in Europe in this case?
The solution could be renting a car.
Any recommendations of a cheapish car-rental-place?
Maybe an auto camper, but a normal, safe car would be just fine as well.
I’ve heard about buying a car with EU-number plates – is that a cheap solution, if we have no problem selling it again afterwards?
Where can I get more info about this?
Thanks.
BR Lise
Check out these two leasing/buy back programs: Renault Eurodrive and Peugeot Open Europe. Also check Auto Europe.
A woman in Seville told me; A friend of hers rented a car that was from France. She only used it in Spain. The car was broken into several times.
But after she put little signs in the front and back windows... "Soy de Sevilla. Nunca de volor es en."
The car was never touched again.
I met a bicyler who saqid he prefers "campings". He says they're a littl different more laid back bunch than youth hostelers. All kinds of nice folks.
You'll have fun.
And control those little picky eaters.!!!!
}:0(
Last year we took our 3 kids 9-13 to Italy. We stayed in youth hostels to make the trip cheap.We took the train between the cities we wanted to visit and I would recommend it.You dont have to worry about the traffic on the opposite side of the road,parking in the busy streets or someone damaging your car.
The train system is efficient, will cost you the same as petrol if you drive. It cost us 1500 Aust dollars for intercity trains for the 3 weeks. We visited 5 major cities in Italy. The fares to smaller cities are also not high. If you book your accomodation for a 2-4 night stay at each major city you go to, you don't have to move between the cities too much which takes time and is exhausting.
Hi,
Both train and car are viable. If you are a non-european citizen then the tax free car leases (see #2) offer good value but are much cheaper if you collect and return the car to a French city. I've used them twice and been exceptionally happy both times ( especially after then first car had some minor but expesnive damage - no charge ).
The answer really depends on where you are going and what you are going to do. In the high cost euro countries the car/camping option is probably much cheaper but you need to be aware that you dont want to spend most of your time seeing the motorways of europe. I have highly recommended a car for kids in the past because you can easily have a day trip here and there and its a no hassle event and you can pack a picnic lunch to cut the cost and have fun.
Dont leave ANYTHING in the car especially in larger cities. These cars are targets so you need to park them securely as possible. Dont stress out about this but this risk - just use the same logic you would at home. I've only had one break in despite having rented/leased cars in europe for about 6 months over various summers - and that was when visiting friends in a small UK town.
Auto campers are not a cheap option. In summer these are something like 150€ a day and the camping fees for them are like 40€ a day. Its much better to find a lovely little village off the beaten track and explore the region around it and then move on a week later. You could pssibly get a family room for as 4-500€ for a week. Camping at a major camping ground would still work out at about 300€ a week for a family of five + car.
Trains are cheap in Spain & Italy and provided you dont go far would be viable. Camping with kids requires some planning and pre-booking if travelling by train becuuase you cant afford the luxury of a full hostel/campground. With a car you can always drive to the next town or out of town and you'll find something.
I would suggest you limit your itinerary to only 2-3 regions and just travel in between. The hostel network caters well for backpackers using trains but not so well for car travellers as many of the networked hostels are in big cities so parking is a problem. That said with 5 travelling car will probaly be abut 1000€ say 40-50€ a day plus fuel say 400€ if you dont go too far .. say 70€ a day ..
The savings with accomodation as you will probaly have to pay 60-90 € a day for 5 beds or a family room whereas with camping in out of town you may be as low as 20-30€ a day and sometimes free if there are no facilities.
You'll miss so much by using a car.
You won't use it in cities anyway.
Youth hostels are very family oriented. And modern, unless in a noble's old digs.
rent a car. Period. (or use you own? buy one back home in DK). Even as a European it is next to impossible to buy a car in another European coutry -or actually to get licvence paltes and insurance without a permanet adress in the given country. Camping areas are -as you have notoced and know from back home far from the railway stations in all major towns.
You HAVE looked into Interrail?
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