Graduation Trip: London, Paris, Barcelona

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<p>We are planning a trip next summer as a hs graduation gift for our kids who, underprivileged as they are, have never been to Europe. Tentatively 2 1/2 - 3 weeks long. We want to hit London, Paris and Barcelona. We are open to any combination of driving, taking the Chunnel, trains, etc. </p>

<p>H and I have been to all three of these places (H and I speak French - S takes French, D takes Spanish). Now I am your stereotypical let's-go-to-museums-all-day-long tourist. I could easily plan an adult-friendly tour. But we want this to be different. It's for them, not us. It's less important we hit every site and more important that we make some fun family memories. So if anyone has any suggestions for teen-friendly options in these towns, that would be great. </p>

<p>Also, while we want to ensure we hit those three, we might want to do beaches in Normandy (S is a WWII buff) and certainly not averse to hitting the countryside in any of the countries.</p>

<p>Thoughts, suggestions, itineraries?<br>
(And yes, at one point they'll get to do some planning - I just want to jump-start with overall ideas and suggestions.)</p>

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<p>Older D, now 24, spent 1 week in Paris and 1 week in Barcelona with her aunt and uncle after grad. They did museums. NOT impressed by the Louvre- don’t even mention the Mona Lisa in her presence. Loved the Muse D’Orse. They did the normal tourist things, like the Eiffel Tower but also went off the beaten path for meals and clubbing. D did a lot of shopping in vintage shops but also picked up a very expensive original dress in a boutique. She gets compliments every time she wears it. The week in Barcelona was all about Gaudi and the clubs. D is an art snob that dances like a rock star at the clubs. She had no idea that her uncle followed her every night and sat near the door to make sure nothing bad happened.</p>

<p>Younger D, just turned 19, spent 10 days in London as part of a school trip. They did the usual tourist stuff but the highlight for her was the theater. They saw Wicked and two other shows. D fell in love with Cambridge while she was there and plans to do her time abroad at Cambridge. She said she could have done without Stonehenge. Waste of time.</p>

<p>Have a wonderful time. I’m sure they will provide plenty of input.</p>

<p>I don’t have any advice about itineraries, since I haven’t been to any of these wonderful cities. I’m sure your children will tell what they want to see</p>

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<p>We are doing Barcelona + beyond as a hs grad trip with S this summer, so I can post back after the trip with success stories. S is interested in architecture/art so is very into all that B offers in that regard. </p>

<p>We’ve previously traveled to London, Hong Kong and Amsterdam with him as an older teen, and he has appreciated the chance to have some time on those trips to explore on his own, away from Mom and Dad. Some days we spent the entire day together as a family. Some days he spent a few hours wandering off on his own to sketch or explore, and we would meet up at designated times. Having international cell phone service is a must.</p>

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<p>How does never being to Europe equate to being underprivileged? I can count the number of vacations on one hand I have been on for the past 22 years I have been alive and I have never been out of this country. Am I underprivileged?</p>

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<p>Our kids loved the Segway tour we took of Paris. If memory serves, it was about a 90 minute tour, in the early evening. It began with instruction on the Segway, which is pretty easy (and I’m low on coordination!) and then a fabulous zip around the city. Our guide was an American grad student that was engaging and very personable. We used Fat Bike Tours, I believe they are also are in Barcelona. On the train coming back from Versailles we ran into a group that was taking the bicycle tour they offered. Everyone was raving about it. Have fun!</p>

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<p>Segway and bike tours - that’s a great idea! That’s exactly the kind of stuff we’re looking for.</p>

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<p>I lived in the UK for 3 1/2 yrs. I am not sure when you are going next summer, but one thing that might be fun in London is a day trip to the regatta. It is a big deal there and just fun, yet you get to absorb true British culture.</p>

<p>I would also suggest that you experience a play in London, or take in a musical event at the Royal Albert theater. </p>

<p>Oxford is about an hour away and also nice just to see, but it is not a necessity. It is basically their version of Princeton and it’s town.</p>

<p>If you go to Stonehenge, then go up the road to Bath and indulge yourself there over night. There is a very famous chocolate store, but right now the name escapes me, but it is a place that you need to check off on things to see along with the Roman Baths. Little known history, but Bath is where Jane Austen wrote many of her books. Persuasion is set in Bath.</p>

<p>You can also take a day trip to Stratford upon Avon, and tour Shakespeare’s home. The Royal Academy is there and they typically host plays during the summer, so you might want to add that in the mix too. There you will also see their interlocking canals.</p>

<p>All of these places have history in them, but at the same time you are more off the beaten track.</p>

<p>If you are going to be in London in July, and plan to do the tourist thing of going to Harrods make sure you aren’t going during their mid-yr sale because you can expect it to be wall to wall people. You can get great deals, but the only comparison I can give you is think Friday after Thanksgiving. I am not sure if this restaurant still exists, but it is across the street from Harrods and has the best Italian food in the UK. It is called Zia Theresa’s. It literally is a hole in the wall, but the pasta is homemade and out of this world.</p>

<p>If you are a gambler, be aware that casinos there are private, you must apply for membership, and it takes 24 hrs to clear.</p>

<p>The Dorchester is a beautiful hotel along with the Hilton. I would suggest that you go to either of these for High Tea. The Savoy is good too, but not my style.</p>

<p>Cadbury is also a fun tour because you can take the tour and eat chocolate at the same time. It takes about an hour so you can plot it in your drive to other sites.</p>

<p>Finally, if you have AX Gold or platinum use their conceirge service. We used it when we went to Italy a couple of yrs ago. They give you things like late check out and room upgrades that you can’t touch on Expedia. They also can book any museum, rail, hover ticket you could want. They send it all to you prior to the trip, and the best beauty of this is that if you lose the tickets to any of these things all you need to do is go to the nearest AX office and they will replace them for you. AX offices are in all of the big cities. They also have the ability to hire private tour guides for famous sites, i.e. Buckingham and the Louvre. The cost is a little bit more, however, well worth it because you don’t wait in lines and you can go at your speed instead of the tour guide with 20 people. We used it for the Vatican, while others were lined up around the block we entered right away through a different entrance. I think we paid about 150 bucks more for a family of 5 instead of the standard price, but I would do it again without a second thought.</p>

<p>If you have AX platinum, this also allows you entry into the Crown Room at the airports for free. If you have never used the Crown Room, it is so much nicer than sitting in the hard airport chairs. They have newspapers, drinks, including alcohol, snacks, televisions and comfy chairs. Many also have wifi too, so you can surf the net if you are taking a laptop or net book.</p>

<p>Also the other neat thing we got from booking our hotels with AX was within minutes of arriving to our room, they sent up a tray of snacks with drinks, it was different at every hotel, but it was nice to have that because it gave you time to decompress. The card stated compliments of AX (we did use platinum, so that might have been why also)</p>

<p>OBTW if your D is a Victoria Secret fan, their ads always have a London address, but it is fake…there is no store there! Or at least it was when we were there.</p>

<p>Have fun!</p>

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<p>This should be a great trip … enjoy! I’ve been to London and Barcelona with my family</p>

<p>A couple suggestions for London … they really enjoed the London Eye (the millieum wheel downtown), riding the tube to get around. checking out Harry Porter spots, the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, the jump-on jump-off bus tours. and eating in pubs. PS - they did NOT like museums or the formal packaged tours of historical sites … we did much better going on our own so we could leave or stay as they desired. I’d also suggest a one day trip to Eidenborough and a visit to the castle. </p>

<p>A couple suggestions for Barcelona … the beaches are great, again the kids like the jump-on jump off tour, the Gaudi park (<a href=“http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/park-guell.html[/url]”>http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/park-guell.html&lt;/a&gt;), the Olympic Park, the amusement park on the top of mountain (can’t remember the name), if you have any soccer fans the tour of Barca’s stadium, walking the allies in the old section of town, the street players on LaRamba, and the nightly light show/concert (anyone in town can explain). </p>

<p>London and Barcellona are two of my kids favorite cities … you will have a ball!</p>

<p>PS - we also did a one day trip to Paris from London and took the train through the chunnel … I was excited about the trip … however it was basically a pretty boring train trip with a real long tunnel (you can’t see the channel at all)</p>

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<p>In London we enjoyed the Tower of London and the Globe Theatre. With all the Shakespeare our kids studied, it really brought the era to life for them. The kids really protested going on The Eye, but enjoyed it tremendously. We bought the upgraded ticket which allowed us to by pass the que. I can’t say enough about The Goring Hotel where we stayed in London. Finding a family suite in London was difficult, the Goring’s was spacious and more economical than 2 rooms in most known chains. It may be a little too subdued with teenagers for a longer stay, but it was perfect for our 3 night stay.</p>

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<p>Normandy beaches are fine, but my favorite part of the Normandy invasion was [Pointe</a> du Hoc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc]Pointe”>Pointe du Hoc - Wikipedia). It’s a rocky promontory that guarded the beaches. You can still see hollows from all the explosions and the remains of bunkers. </p>

<p>In Paris you must have ice cream at [url=<a href=“http://www.berthillon.fr/]Maison”>http://www.berthillon.fr/]Maison</a> Berthillon : la qualit</p>

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<p>Unless you are super super super into museums, buy the applicable Rick Steves book and use his walking tours of the Louvre, etc. He hits the high points and is not only informative but funny along the way. (You can always search out other works that you’ve always wanted to see.)</p>

<p>We are sort of a “Disneyworld at Rope Drop” family. We got to the Louvre right after it opened, went straight to the Mona Lisa and were alone in the room with her for about five minutes.</p>

<p>We actually enjoyed the Musee D’Orsay more…I LOVE that building.</p>

<p>The dollar is doing a bit better against the euro than in recent years, but Paris is still expensive. We liked shopping at Monoprix…think SuperTarget, with clothes and accessories upstairs and food, etc downstairs. I still receive complements on necklaces I bought at Monoprix years ago.</p>

<p>If you need recommendations for flats to stay in in Paris or Barcelona, let me know.</p>

<p>BTW, how old will the kids be?</p>

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<p>Great ideas so far! </p>

<p>If you are going to drive up to France’s northcoast, I strongly suggest a stop in the town of Etretat (near Fecamp). If you look at the pix on the right side of the Wikepedia link you will see what looks like an elephant trunk jutting out of the cliffs. There is a walking path to get to the top, but what you don’t know is that there is a golf course up there…if your family golfs, this might be fun. It is a great place to have lunch. [url=<a href=“http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:y7Bz_8hdErYJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/”>http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:y7Bz_8hdErYJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Just an hour outside of Barcelona is Monserrat, a mountain top monastery. You get to it by commuter train and then a funicular. It is so much more than a monastery. There are walking trails galore and spectacular views. It was a great day away for us.
[Montserrat</a> (Spain - Wikitravel](<a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/Montserrat_(Spain]Montserrat"&gt;http://wikitravel.org/en/Montserrat_(Spain))
[Montserrat[/url</a>]</p>

<p>We also did a cooking class in Barcelona at Cook and Taste. They are very kid friendly.
[url=<a href=“http://www.cookandtaste.net/who.html]Barcelona”>http://www.cookandtaste.net/who.html]Barcelona</a> cooking classes. Learn to cook paella, gazpacho, etc. in a cooking class.](<a href=“Inicio - Montserrat Visita”>Inicio - Montserrat Visita)</p>

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<p>A big “yes” to visiting the Normandy beaches. There is a super fast train from Paris that makes this doable in a long day trip. My husband took my younger son a couple of years ago, and I went with our older son (on his college graduation present trip) last May. We left about 8:30 a.m. from Paris, the tour guide met us in Bayeux and we went on a van tour with 4 others. We visited multiple points on the beaches (Pointe du Hoc was incredible) and ended up visiting one of the British cemeteries and then the American cemetery which was truly awesome. After a quick visit to see the Bayeux tapesty, we were on the train to Paris and back in Paris by 8:00 p.m. It was an incredible day. We used Fat Tire tours (they also do bike and Segway tours in Paris which we didn’t do) but there are many excellent tour options.</p>

<p>In Barcelona, both of my kids loved all the Gaudi buildings. Visit Park Guell - a bit off the beaten track in Barcelona but well worth it.</p>

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<p>In Paris we sent the teenagers off on a chocolate lovers scavenger hunt. We made sure they could negotiate the metro, gave them a day metro card, a really good map, and 20 euros. I ordered from Children’s Concierge which has a lot of things geared to a variety of ages. [Family</a> Travel with Children’s Concierge – Creating Memories for a Lifetime](<a href=“http://www.childrensconcierge.com/]Family”>http://www.childrensconcierge.com/) They can even customize your scavenger hunt by age and interest.</p>

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<p>These are fabulous ideas. Keep 'em coming and thanks in advance!
H and I have been to all of these cities – but my tastes are different from what two teenagers will want. I could tour museums and cathedrals all day and all night, but they’ll be bored senseless.</p>

<p>I loved Bath, but not sure I want to go out in that direction given our time constraints. Any suggestions for SE England as we make our way towards France? I adore Canterbury Cathedral, but my kids will rebel if we tour too many cathedrals. I’d love to claim that they are typical CC kids who just can’t get enough of cultural events, but I don’t want to lie to you all!</p>

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<p>Barcelona…loved it even though my daughter got her purse stolen while we sat and ate at a outside cafe…the theives there are brilliant. Too bad they can’t get a real job. Barcelona and Rome are the two worst cities for pickpocketing so just BE CAREFUL. And don’t do the bonehead move my D did and have her cell phone (which did not work in Europe) in her bag—or US Cash (which she could not spend!)—let’s just say we are smarter now.</p>

<p>Also- if you cannot download your pictures every night then I suggest buying multiple cards for your camera. Leave the used one in your hotel room each day and start with a freash one—so IF YOUR CAMERA gets stolen you don’t lose all your pictures!</p>

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<p>Our kids, 18, 20 & 22 at the time, loved Normandy. It was well worth the effort. In addition to the standard tourist sites, the Paris catacombs and Saint Sulpice Curch from the Da Vinci Code were other hits with the kids. I’m not sure what your dates are, but our trip coincided with the summer solstice festival in France. We were in Paris on June 21st, and the city celebrates the solstice with a huge music festival. There are bands and performers on every street corner and in every park, and the celebration lasts all night. The whole city is out celebrating and we had a blast, so if the timing works, I’m sure you would all love it. I highly suggest renting an apartment to get a real feel for Parisian life.</p>

<p>I will say that hands down, everyone’s absolute favorite experience was a visit and overnight stay at Mont St Michel. It is just amazing! We combined this part of the trip with our visit to Normandy.</p>

<p>Have a great time!</p>

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<p>Any suggestions as to getting from Paris to Barcelona (thoughts on car vs train)?</p>

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<p>I personally think that 2 and half - 3 weeks is not much time for these three cities given travel time… My last time in London-spent 10 days with a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath and did not see everything I wanted or other day trips. Was in Barcelona at the end of the summer -had been there previously so only spent 3 days this time around, another day would have been ideal-but would not have been able to see all that I wanted in 3 days had I not eliminated places that I did not need to revisit. Remember that in the summer you have to wait online a good part of the time to see certain sites. We did not go up to the spires at Sagrada Familia … as it was a two-hour wait mid-afternoon to do so, skipped Picasso Museum this time around as had been before, but it would likely have been an hour wait. Montserrat is definitely worth the day trip as it is really unique and memorable. It is also hot in the summer in Barcelona, but the day is long in the summer so you can easily do things at night- in London, nighttime on the London Eye is less crowded. We did enjoy a boat trip down the Thames to Greenwich, a charming town in itself, to see the prime meridian start , and all the spectacular residential architecture built along the Thames en route.</p>