<p>When in London our kids always like the Tower, but if you want to see the Crown Jewels then get there early as the crowds can get large. The British Museum is also a fantastic place. The girls love Kensington Palace and walking around the gardens in that area also. I would also check to see what shows are playing in the West End and make plans to see one if you like the theatre. We saw My Fair Lady when the girls were young and they have always remembered that experience even with all the Broadway shows they have seen.</p>
<p>We all love Paris and the Musee d’Orsay is my favorite museum although older D loves the Louve. Notre Dame can get crowded in the summer so I would suggest visiting early. We love Sainte-Chappelle especially if you can go there on a sunny day with the light coming in through the stained glass, it is awesome. The Galeries Lafayette department store has beautiful domed roof and I remember we had tea or coffee in a small cafe there.</p>
<p>We flew on Air France from Barc to Paris last spring. I booked far in advance and chose the economy/no refund tickets. You have to book roundtrip to get a good deal. It was very affordable. Others have said that Ryan Air has the BEST deals. They land in Beauvais instead of CDG, but there is a 13 Euro 1 hour bus ride that takes you to Porte Maillot. (The next traffic circle after the Arc d’Triomph) </p>
<p>My S2 is doing a Barcelona/Paris trip next summer. (with the economy the French and Spanish classes are combining a trip - strange) Anyway I just checked his itinerary and they are taking a bus to the Provence area to view the famous Pont du Gard Roman aquaduct and then somehow picking up the high speed TGV to Paris. (there must also be a train to that area). As for car rentals - the cost comes from the returning the vehicle to a different county. The Hertz website will let you try different options and view the associated cost.</p>
<p>In Barcelona we loved the giant Catamaran boat ride. There were spots up front to lie down while enjoying the sun and a few cocktails. Pick up the boat just across from the Christopher Columbus statue at the base of Los Rambles.</p>
<p>You’ve got time to assign some reading…DaVinci Code, Shadow of the Wind…it’s always fun to focus on some books and movies relating to the location in advance.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed visiting Hampton Court…in my mind I could just picture Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn frolicking about.</p>
<p>missypie - I still laugh about our tour of Hampton Court. The guide showed us Henry VIII’s red velvet covered toilet seat and proudly told us that after each use, they had to recover the seat. TMI</p>
<p>I have a quick question about museum tickets in Barcelona. Is it cheaper to buy the Barcelona Card (1 day, 2 day for 25 euros, 3 day for 30 euros…)? Has anyone bought this and it paid off? Is it worth it? This card includes free bus, metro access and some museums. I want to go to Picasso Museum but it is not included in the card. I read somewhere that it is 6euros to buy at the door and 9 euros to buy online. Is it THAT crowded that it’s worth 3 more euros to buy in advance?</p>
<p>We were there during mid-March and had to wait until very late in the evening to visit the Picasso Museum. We walked by in the evening expecting to see no crowds, saw a huge line, went to see Santa Maria del Mar church, came back, still a huge line, did some shopping, then came back - no line at about the last hour it was open.</p>
<p>Across the street (mind you the street is about 4 feet wide) is a costume/clothing museum. One of my favorite musuems ever…when I was done, I wanted to start all over again.</p>
<p>Get a student ISIC card for kids…lots of discounts. We are going to Madrid and then various other places also with family…but we are dumping new grad after two weeks and he is under instructions to be back in Madrid for his return flight…what he does and how he does it is up to him. I have never seen him so motivated…he is meeting a friend who has recently relocated to Paris and has discovered an old friend (2nd grade!) who lives in Rome so has a place to crash there…Cousin in San Sebastian, Spain…more relatives in Geneva and Andorra…will have to make some choices for the two week framework. I love the cooking class and scavenger hunt. My husband and I want to give teen siblings some alone time (also for us) so those are great options for Madrid and Paris.</p>
<p>Lived in Barcelona for a year many years ago, visited recently with older kids (19, 21, 23 at the time).</p>
<p>We like museums. We like museums a lot. That said, the Picasso museum is (and has always been) a huge disappointment. It has a lot of juvenalia and one room with an interesting late-work series interpreting Velasquez’ Las Meninas. That’s worth seeing, as is the building(s) itself – three different houses from three different centuries welded together.</p>
<p>What’s not a disappointment? The Fundacio Joan Miro on Montjuich is wonderful. The Fundacio Antoni Tapies near the center of town also. The kids loved the Richard Meier-designed MACBA (contemporary art, complete with skateboarders outside). The Museum of City History, with its access to the Roman ruins.</p>
<p>Tours of Gaudi’s Casa Casa Batllo and Domenech i Montaner’s Palau de la Musica Catalana, as well as his Hospital de Sant Pau. Visiting Gaudi’s Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia (I wouldn’t wait for or pay for the tour there, however). Get tickets for something at the Palau if you can.</p>
<p>As others have said, the beach in Barceloneta. You can get there on the subway, and it’s pretty nice. </p>
<p>And just walking around the neighborhoods. The Gothic Quarter is cool, but completely touristy. Get up into the Eixample and Gracia, also the Raval. Go to the large markets.</p>
<p>Suggestion on places in England beyond London–the Cotswolds–beautiful towns, walking trails, inns, pubs, etc. You could spend the entire time there. Also, we did Stratford-on-Avon and the whole Shakespeare thing. Other outside of London suggestions: Stonehenge, Avesbury Circle, Oxford University, Salisbury Cathedral. Any of those would be a nice trip out of the city. We rented a car and spent 5 days outside of London and then 5 days in London three years ago. </p>
<p>One last suggestion for London. If you are into gardens/horticulture at all (even if you just like plants), visit Kew Gardens. [Royal</a> Botanic Gardens, Kew - Home Page](<a href=“http://www.kew.org%5DRoyal”>http://www.kew.org). Truly amazing.</p>
<p>You might want to check out the Untours website. They have apartments for a “sampler” week in Paris and a week in Barcelona. Tack on London at the beginning or the end. Rates are reasonable and can include airfare if you wish. I have used them in Paris and Italy. They meet you at the airport, in Paris you get Metro cards, maybe a rental car in Barcelona. They currently have apartments in both cities that sleep 4 but I didn’t look any further. There is an English speaking contact, 2 get togethers with the others on the same schedule.</p>
<p>More info on things to do in London…in addition to the discount theatre tickets, we really enjoyed the Globe Theater and had a wonderful matinee performance of Much Ado About Nothing. Hampton Court is great and easy commuter train.London is pretty compact and walkable. The National Gallery and British Museum are free. Tate Modern we had to pay for special Hopper exhibit on when we were there but rest of museum is free and nice to walk around that whole area. Of course St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey. Not such a fan of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace but good to do at least once or twice in your life.
Barcelona-I second and third all the above-we were very careful and aware of the pickpocket issue but traveled around using the metro and had no problems.Very happy with our hotel, Europark in the Eixample and recommend La Rita. Actually all the hotels in that group appear quite nice-also considered the Hotel Jazz. Do have lunch at least 1 day in La Boqueria.</p>
<p>I have a really hard time imagining a kid (underprivileged or otherwise) wanting to hang with their parents, even if it did involved a trip to Europe. We are close to our kids but their interests and ours don’t exactly coincide. Just be sure you let your kids pick out something they want to do instead of following all the “great” advice of other adults on CC.</p>
<p>I completely agree with this. I had a blast the first time I went on a short trip (3 days) without my parents. It was 10 times better than any trip I went on with my parents. I got to do what I wanted without others in my way.</p>
<p>We travel with our kids a fair amount, but our kids also go places without us. Anyway, we don’t have a whole lot of conflict over what to do. When we were in Barcelona, we had an older niece with us, too (who had been backpacking around Europe alone for 2 months). We set out time for the kids to do stuff they wanted without us . . . and they took naps or went to bed early. No kidding.</p>
<p>One thing I forgot: Barcelona has one of those great bike-sharing systems where you can take a bike from a rack at one place and leave it another place. The racks are all over the parts of the city where visitors would want to go. But you have to sign up for it significantly in advance. If I were going back anytime soon, I would definitely register for that.</p>
<p>Our son seems to enjoy traveling with us. We do have days where we go our separate ways. We took him hiking in Scotland and went to an outdoor rock concert last summer.</p>
<p>My kids are impressed with my trip planning prowess. They have each told me that when they are married, they still want me to plan their vacations (not so sure that would go over well with the spouses.) D has joined a group that will have an annual competition at Disneyworld and most of the parents go, too. D has already said that she wants to be in the parks with me instead of her friends because I know how to ride the rides without standing in long lines.</p>
<p>CSLeslie - my twins will be 18 at the time of this trip. There’s no problem with the two of them going and picking something they want to do or a place they’d like to explore and doing their own thing for the afternoon or day and meeting back up with H and I later on. Nonetheless, to some extent this trip will be the last big hurrah before they go off so it’s not as though we want to be strangers to one another, either. </p>
<p>As I think I’ve communicated several times already, H and I have BEEN to these places. I know what “the things” are to see and do from an adult tourist perspective. If all they want is a half hour in the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, buy a postcard, and then scram, that’s FINE. This trip is for them. Things like the segway tours and bike tours are the kinds of things I’m looking for. Things we can do as a family but that aren’t just-walk-from-museum-to-museum things.</p>
<p>We did a trip to Israel several years ago. Now, they weren’t old enough at the time to go anyplace on their own, but I planned lots of active adventures – climbing Masada, an archaeological dig, rafting on the River Jordan, riding a camel, hands-on fun activities so it didn’t turn into site-after-historical-site. That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for here. Not “what are the tourist sites” - I know those already. But “what are fun, active, off the beaten path things that would make memories for teenagers.”</p>
<p>My S’s (age 18 and 19 at the time) spent a week in London last summer, just the two of them.</p>
<p>When they returned, both said that Speakers Corner in Hyde Park was by far their favorite thing, they spent hours there.</p>
<p>Another hit was getting a wonderful view of London by climbing to the top of a church near the London Eye, instead of taking the London Eye itself. The view was just as good (without the long lines and expense).</p>
<p>They also enjoyed the Tate Modern and the Globe Theater. They had fun going to a pub one night with some other international travelers they met at their hostel.</p>