Europe for 5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family of 5 has been to Europe for the last two summers and flights were definitely $10K. It's possible that the cost has dropped now for summers or even that spring break is significantly cheaper.

Really? I just found return nonstop flights to London on United this July that are fully refundable for $1300 ($1000 regular economy or $881 basic economy). That’s quite high to me but obviously it’s late to book for summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Expect close to 10k for flights and then there is a LOT of flexibility on the rest. We spent about 18K on our trip to London and Paris last spring break for 4. Would have been more like 15-16 if we only did London. Smaller cities are a lot cheaper for lodging and activities. You can spend a ton on private tours or just wing it and see lots of beautiful things for free. I’d figure out your priorities and where you’re willing to skimp and go from there.

Fwiw I I was just looking at Spain for this summer and you can spend $600 night for a room at the JW marriot or $19@ a night for the cheaper marriot version up the street. So there’s a huge range. You can often get gorgeous lodgings for cheap in the “lesser” cities.

$10K for flights is crazy. We just did London/the UK for spring break, and leaving the Wednesday night before spring break, we paid about $600pp for my family of 6.

All in, for 10 nights, we probably spent about $10-11K for our family of 6. This included 4 nights in London at a nice hotel where we needed 2 rooms and paid extra for a view, 1 night in Inverness at an AirBnB, 2 nights in Edinburgh in a room that actually fit all 6 of us in 5 beds, 2 nights in Leeds in 2 rooms at a Marriott, and 1 night at an airport hotel near Heathrow in 2 rooms that we booked on points. We booked all of this fairly late, so if I had booked earlier, we probably could have saved quite a bit on hotels.

In 2023, we did Amsterdam and Copenhagen for spring break, and it was considerably less expensive. Your total costs really depend on where you are going.

What airline and how long did you spend in Iceland or Dublin for $600 pp to London?

And different people have different definitions of “nice hotels”

Zero time in Ireland or Dublin. We flew American with a 1 hour layover in Boston. And we stayed in London at the Park Plaza County Hall, which is an actual quite nice hotel.

[Anonymous]

*Iceland, not Ireland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Europe for next spring break - how much would a trip to Europe (all in) for a week cost a family of 5? We are flexible on where to go just looking to get to Europe with the teens before they head to college!

Depends on where you go.

Flights - if you book months ahead and you are willing to do 1 stop instead of non stop, and have only carryons - maybe around $700pp on SAS, TAP, Italia, Iceland Air. If you are bringing checked luggage, maybe 1 or 2, add $160 each

Hotel stays - you will need 2 rooms or a suite. Expect to pay minimum $500 if you are closer to the city center and $400 further away for 2 rooms. Most places allow only 3 people in a room in Europe since the rooms are small. You will have more flexibility with airbnb's but keep in mind you have to clean it before you give the keys and will be wasting time doing that if you are planning to stay in more than one city.

Experiences - a day trip or a guided tour or skip the line tour will cost you between $50 and $150 per person depending on what you want to do. If you are renting a car and buying tickets on your own and go early, obviously it will be cheaper. Plan ahead and book all your tickets online to save money.

Depending on where you go, you can use public transport or you will need to rent a car - Italy, Paris, Amsterdam, Belgium, Switzerland have good public transport. Don't know about the other countries/cities.

Switzerland and Iceland are very expensive but other places are cheaper yet more expensive than the US. Food portions are small. You will need to pay for public toilets.

If you don't book your train tickets ahead of time, expect to pay twice the normal fare. So plan ahead if you are doing intercity connections.

If cost is a factor, go to Spain or Italy. Make sure you are not going during Easter week to either of these countries.

If you want to see more than one country and do not want to plan everything, book through a travel agent. You may not experience everything like a local though.

Costco travel is expensive. Do your homework. Google flights and booking dot com are your friends.

[Anonymous]

Those who go to Europe for less than 4k, are doing in cattle class, and low budget hotels or airbnb.

For premium economy you’re looking at 1600-2000pp. Mid range hotel like basic Marriott or Hilton, will be about 250-400 per night.

For business class and a JW, Radusson Blu, etc multiply the total by 3x

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Expect close to 10k for flights and then there is a LOT of flexibility on the rest. We spent about 18K on our trip to London and Paris last spring break for 4. Would have been more like 15-16 if we only did London. Smaller cities are a lot cheaper for lodging and activities. You can spend a ton on private tours or just wing it and see lots of beautiful things for free. I’d figure out your priorities and where you’re willing to skimp and go from there.

Fwiw I I was just looking at Spain for this summer and you can spend $600 night for a room at the JW marriot or $19@ a night for the cheaper marriot version up the street. So there’s a huge range. You can often get gorgeous lodgings for cheap in the “lesser” cities.

We went to London/Paris last year for spring break with two of our kids:

Tickets about 1100 each for the economy with a checked bag. So for you - @$5500
AirBnb in London for four nights $2100 (3 bedroom/two bath flat in Covent Garden - walkable to most things we did in London)
Train Tickets London to Paris @$50 each
Hotel in Paris 4 nights $2500 (family room with two bedrooms one bath - would recommend you find Airbnb in St. Germain neighborhood if you can - there are many that are reasonable if you are willing to walk up lots of stairs)
We ate at decent restaurants - used Rick Steves to find some of them - but nothing fancy. The food was excellent and prices were comparable to DC area for what we got. If you do Airbnb, you can save doing your own breakfast and snacks.
We generally had one activity planned a day then used the rest of the time to wander and take in the city. You could choose things based on prices. Most things costed about $20 per person-ish.
You can use public transportation in both London and Paris, and you can mostly walk.

So for $12-13K you can have a great trip for your family of 5. And the places we stayed at were quite nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Expect close to 10k for flights and then there is a LOT of flexibility on the rest. We spent about 18K on our trip to London and Paris last spring break for 4. Would have been more like 15-16 if we only did London. Smaller cities are a lot cheaper for lodging and activities. You can spend a ton on private tours or just wing it and see lots of beautiful things for free. I’d figure out your priorities and where you’re willing to skimp and go from there.

Fwiw I I was just looking at Spain for this summer and you can spend $600 night for a room at the JW marriot or $19@ a night for the cheaper marriot version up the street. So there’s a huge range. You can often get gorgeous lodgings for cheap in the “lesser” cities.

We went to London/Paris last year for spring break with two of our kids:

Tickets about 1100 each for the economy with a checked bag. So for you - @$5500
AirBnb in London for four nights $2100 (3 bedroom/two bath flat in Covent Garden - walkable to most things we did in London)
Train Tickets London to Paris @$50 each
Hotel in Paris 4 nights $2500 (family room with two bedrooms one bath - would recommend you find Airbnb in St. Germain neighborhood if you can - there are many that are reasonable if you are willing to walk up lots of stairs)
We ate at decent restaurants - used Rick Steves to find some of them - but nothing fancy. The food was excellent and prices were comparable to DC area for what we got. If you do Airbnb, you can save doing your own breakfast and snacks.
We generally had one activity planned a day then used the rest of the time to wander and take in the city. You could choose things based on prices. Most things costed about $20 per person-ish.
You can use public transportation in both London and Paris, and you can mostly walk.

So for $12-13K you can have a great trip for your family of 5. And the places we stayed at were quite nice.

Could you link the airbnb and hotel you stayed at?

[Anonymous]

I flew with DD to London and back from Paris for springbreak this year. Direct discount economy flights on United were $1,362 for the two of us. Booked in September for March. Stayed in a twin room in nice little 3 star hotel near Opera. Really liked the location. 837 euros for 4 nights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I flew with DD to London and back from Paris for springbreak this year. Direct discount economy flights on United were $1,362 for the two of us. Booked in September for March. Stayed in a twin room in nice little 3 star hotel near Opera. Really liked the location. 837 euros for 4 nights.

That is very reasonable. Which hotel was it and how easily accessible to the metro?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to be more specific. One week in London and Paris would be much more expensive than a week in Portugal. Would you expect to stay in hotels and move around or rent an Airbnb for the week?

This. The minimum a week in Europe could cost is 8K. The maximum is very, very high.

All depends on your travel style and the destination you choose. It's like asking the cost for a week in the US. NYC or Dubuque? Very different costs.

[Anonymous]

One other piece of advice, and this doesn't save a ton of money but does help, is that since you're a family of 5, when you're looking at booking tickets or tours, either look for the family pricing or look into becoming a member of the museum/historic site.

This is often cheaper than buying individual tickets once you get to families of 5 or more. I'm now a card-carrying member of the Imperial War Museums, Historic Scotland to go to Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle (and also half price admission to Stonehenge), Westminster Abbey, etc. Even with just one visit, it was cheaper than separate tickets and got discounts at the gift shop and cafes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I flew with DD to London and back from Paris for springbreak this year. Direct discount economy flights on United were $1,362 for the two of us. Booked in September for March. Stayed in a twin room in nice little 3 star hotel near Opera. Really liked the location. 837 euros for 4 nights.

That is very reasonable. Which hotel was it and how easily accessible to the metro?

Hotel Langlois. Couple minutes walk to metro. About 5 min walk to Galleries Haussmann and 15-20 min walk to Montmartre. Long charming street nearby Des Martyrs with lots of independent stores and different food shops. Antiques and stuff sold in market stalls on weekend.

[Anonymous]

I’ll post our full budget (minus food$ for our 8 day trip to London and Paris in 2023 for family of 4—note that the hotel we stayed in would have slept 5 if two of your kids will share a double bed:

Flight 7400 for premium economy direct on United there and BA back
Hotel — 3224gbp is 4223 this was a small 2 bedroom at I think the marriot residence inn on Kensington. I had checked vrbo and it want really much cheaper. This hotel is about a 10 min walk from metro and was cheaper than anything in the more touristy area.
Tube 250gbp is 327.50 for weeklong tickets
Eye—166GBP is $217 plus 73$
Buckingham palace — forget to write in this price
Tower — 100gbp is 131
Six, two tickets — 129gbp is 169
Eurostar to Paris — 852 pounds is 1116–this was honestly a waste of money for such a short time in Paris.
Eiffel Tower 85euro
Harry Potter — 174gbp so $228
Uber to HP WB due to train strike— 120
Parking Dulles 96
Taxi from Heathrow 92$
Afternoon tea for 2 133gbp=266.00 GBP

Here’s our Rome trip although I wasn’t as detailed:
5:$8887.95 for premium economy on United
Vrbo in historic city area E2781
Vatican tour skip the line early morning am $360
frecciarossa to Naples rt $386
Pompeii tour with archeologist $195
We had some other tours or entry fees that were small amounts but probably added up to a few hundred dollars. I think our food wasn’t much more than we’d spend here for a week so I didn’t track it. I also forget to write down things like cab fare to/from airport or for days that we didn’t walk to the sites but that’s probably another $100 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at Europe for next spring break - how much would a trip to Europe (all in) for a week cost a family of 5? We are flexible on where to go just looking to get to Europe with the teens before they head to college!

Again for the folks in the back - Europe is a continent, not “place”. There are many countries in Europe and what you want to do or see will impact this answer. You’re flexible, but maybe not that flexible. This is like a week in New York City or one in backwoods of Montana.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I guess I meant one of the more popular destinations but am flexible within that - so London, Paris, Dublin, Vienna, Lisbon, etc.