Tag: Venice

You will be shocked at the final costs for our European trip – 6/2011

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The Perfect Family Vacation
As many of you know, our family just competed our summer vacation using most of the ideas and techniques we talk about. We really want you to know we live what we talk about so that you can be assured it is possible. 
 Our trip took us first to Prague for four days/three nights. We stayed in a wonderful apartment, which fit all six of us perfectly and had a kitchen that we used to cut down on the food cost. ($89.00/night) Keep in mind the hostel down the street was $18/night which is fine if you are traveling by yourself but as you can see the apartment was much less for six of us. Keep this in mind when you are looking at Bed & Breakfasts, Hostels and other accommodations, what is the charge per person. 
We then rented a car and drove to Vienna, Austria to stay again for three nights. We found a new place for car rentals in Europe that had incredible prices – $120 for the rental and we spent nearly that for gas (a little over $8/gal), $105.  The company we went through was Argus Car Rentals and the price included the insurance which is important. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, which was just a block away from the Shonbrunn Palace and the best part, it was FREE. We used our Marriott reward points as we talk about in chapter three of our book. 
From Vienna we drove back to Prague and stayed again for FREE at the Courtyard by Marriott at the Prague airport then a next day flight to Milan Italy. We thought about driving from Vienna down through Italy but the drop off fee for the car was over $1000 and our flights to Italy were only $34. We also rented a car in Italy from Argus for $407 for the two weeks. 
We stayed two nights in Venice, $90/night at the Hotel Piave. This was a quad room in Mestre just outside of Venice. We then stayed at our favorite place in Italy, Capezzana, at the farm house for three nights at $53 /night finally 2 nights in Florence at an apartment $55/night. 
We then stayed the remainder of our time in Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast at no cost with some amazing friends. Our last night was also FREE at the Marriott in Milan before we flew home. 
So, a breakdown of the cost. We spent more than the last time we were here mainly because of the exchange rate and gas prices. We also stayed in more “pay” places because we moved around so much.
 
Breakdown for 6 people
 


Item                                  Our cost                                  Regular price
Airfare (all flights)                   $656                                        $10,600
Accommodation                     $716                                        $2,040
Rental Car & Gas                   $1,032                                     $2,360
Food                                     $1,260                                     $2,340
Misc/Souvenirs                      $865                                        $865
Total                                     $4,529                                     $18,205   
 


We saved $13,676 on this trip using the ideas in ‘Have Kids – Will Travel’.
*Originally posted 7/2011
 

Day 8 and 9 finds us in Italy….. can you smell the pizzeria?

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DSC_7215_2Day 8 was a travel day. We slept in and got some much needed rest and then packed up for our flight to Milan. Flying around Europe is both easy and cheap. With discount airlines like Ryan Air and Easy Jet, the bigger airlines have been forced to compete in a very crowded European market. Our Lufthansa flight from Prague 
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was only $38 and they also didn’t charge us for our checked bags and gave us lunch. Makes you really wonder about US airlines. We landed in Milan and rented our car, a supposed 5 passenger with luggage space for 4. Because our oldest daughter and her husband flew to Paris we only had 4 of us and figured a smaller car would work just fine. It did, but it was a tight fit. On our way to Venice we stopped off in Verona where the story of Romeo and Juliet was set, but the tomb of Juliet was closed, so we had to settle for a few pictures through the gate. 
We were also hungry and so our first meal in Italy was Mexican (what is wrong with that picture:)! We arrived at our hotel, the Hotel Piave in Mestre late and had the wonderful surprise of an upgrade to a Jr. Suite at no additional charge. The Hotel Piave is located near the centre of Mestre and was very close to a bus stop that would take us into Venice. We prefer to stay in Mestre because the prices are much better than in Venice. This was a quaint older hotel but very clean and well maintained. 1.20 Euro gets you into Venice by bus and from there you can explore until your hearts content. 
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Day 9 was spent both in Venice and Murano. Venice is such a romantic city. Dale and I will really have to come back just the two of us. We were told that Venice is really struggling for money, which surprised me because it was packed with tourists. Apparently they are still coming but not spending as much while there so it seemed like the whole city was on sale. In fact, we write in our book, ‘Have Kids – Will Travel’ that it is best to wait and buy Murano glass items when you go the island of Murano. But this time, Venice had better prices on many of the items we wanted. 
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Getting around is easy. You can wind your way through the narrow passageways, which is my favorite way or you can take the water buses. We did a little of both, but we think we did more walking than riding, or at least that is what our feet were telling us when we were done. We stayed all day and had a wonderful dinner nearby the Rialto Bridge. A good note to remember, if you buy your food ‘to go’ in Italy, it is one price. If you sit and eat at the same place it will cost more, but keep in mind that does include the tip. After a long day of walking in new sandals, it was well worth the small extra price to sit. 
Tonight we enjoy the comfort of our room and tomorrow we head to Florence. We are staying just outside of Florence in Capezzana Carmignano.This is where we stayed on our first trip to Italy. It will be good to renew old friendships and just relax among the vineyards and olive groves. 
*Originally posted 6/2011

Family Travel – Benefits or not?

 

320.5We always dreamed of traversing the waterways of Venice on a Gondola with a real Italian who slowly navigated our way, serenading us as we sit back into each others arms, taking in the beauty of the architecture, sites and sounds of Italy. A few years back we fulfilled this dream. Sitting for a brief moment in time, with the breathless reality that we were free from the cares of the world until the silence was broken from directly behind us… 

“Are we there yet?”  Yes, our third son was getting a bit impatient with the lack of speed our wonderful ride was providing. The other four children seemed to be somewhat content with the pace, but we have one son, as I’m sure every family does, who’s tempo is a bit more of a speedboat. So much for that moment of ‘romance’.
 

 

Yes, we took our four children plus one extra on our perfect romantic vacation to Italy, and it wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last. See, my husband and I have a passion for travel and though a second honeymoon would be nice, the most important thing we can do for our children is to share our passion for exploration with our children. 
 

 

Italy+067Our family began traveling overseas when our youngest daughter was three. Actually she had her fourth birthday on that trip. You might well wonder how much of a trip like this would sink in or if she would even understand much of what we were trying to do. Our hope however, was that in some small way she would begin to see her world as something just a bit bigger than the sandbox she typically enjoyed during the summer months. Our other children were nine, eleven and thirteen respectively. 
 

 

Traveling with children isn’t always easy, but if done with a purpose it is extremely rewarding. Our little four year old exceeded our wildest dreams and even at fourteen she still remembers vividly her first trip to France and England. Just ask her about her birthday cake at the hotel in the shadow of the chateau where Leonardo Di Vinci lived and is now buried or when we finally got to England and she could finally, somewhat, understand everyone. There is so much she can still recall and so many incredible memories made, that we hope will last a lifetime.
 
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Why then travel with your children? You may have a different answer than we do. For some it might be to just get away to just say, “been there, done that”. To others it might be for the adventure itself or to explore new cultures and ideas. To us, it has been a vital part of our children’s education. Now, after ten years, it has become a way of life, but most importantly it has been an education. The Greek, “exegesis” means to “draw out of”. When we travel, especially with our children we try to use this principle as our main purpose to our adventure. Often our trips have taken a year to plan and prepare for. They first start off by studying the area, the cultures both past and present. Understanding some of the language and the historical notes that have made a difference in how we do things today. Seeing what interests each child and when you find it, start digging deeper and then, together study it out. This is when the fun begins and the trip is set.

 

On one of our trips was, as mentioned above, Italy.  Others have included France, Germany, Switzerland, Honduras, Belize, China and Mexico, all multiple times, England, Canada, Spain, the Caribbean and nearly every state in the US. We have done all this with our children in tow and with the express purpose to educate and immerse them into the world around them. Our trip to Italy was probably by far our personal favorite because it was then that we really started to discover how best to travel with purpose and direction. Now before we go on, we want those who are thinking, “Well that’s nice but an average family could never afford to do vacations like this”, to get those notions out of their heads. We once thought this too until we discovered reality is what you make it. Most of these trips to Europe were with seven of us and were for a duration of three weeks and cost less than $3000.00, for everyone and everything including air. Most of our trips in the US were kept around $200.00 per person total including places like Hawaii. No, we didn’t sleep in the parks or even hostels. In fact we have slept in Marriott’s, Castles and in Italy we made a 600-year-old restored farmhouse, just outside of Florence in the Tuscan hills our base camp. The best part is that any family, any size on any income can travel the world this way, you just have to know the secrets and take the time and effort to plan… with your family! 
 
The benefits however are worth any cost, the fact that we have been able to do this at minimal expense is just icing on the cake. As our children have grown they have developed a greater understanding of the world, the problems facing their generation and have been able to, for the most part they kept “unplugged” from the distractions facing most kids their age. Travel brings a greater sense of self with a better understanding and compassion for others less fortunate. It provides a greater gratitude for even the small things they have and opens their world to opportunities and erases perceived barriers others wish to portray. 
 
We believe it is a direct correlation to the travels they have experienced that has been responsible for their being accepted at the ages of 15 and 16 to their University studies with full academic scholarships, for their love of the arts and their acceptance of cultures and differences in others. For these reasons and a host of others, travel in our opinion is essential in these difficult times for this next generation. 
 
So the next time you think about a wonderful getaway as a couple with children turn that thought into traveling with your children and immerse your family into this incredible, wonderful world. 
 
*Originally posted 5/2011