European ABD recommendation

ToyStory3

ToyStory3

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 29, 2013
Hi. I would love to hear your recommendation or favorite European ABD. It's me, DH, and kids are 10 and 13. The countries that appeal to us the most are Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Greece. We've never been to Europe and they all look amazing! We can't just pick the itinerary that appeals most to us because all of those appeal to us. I know it's highly subjective but I would like to hear which your favorites have been. Thanks!
 
I totally agree with @acndis ! Greece, definitely! It's a wonderful combination of fabulous places and things to see and do, and activities. And Greece itself is just so amazing. The food on this trip is delicious!! And the hotels are quite lovely too. I've done 9 ABDs so far, and although it's had some competition, it remains at the top of my list as favorite.

Scotland used to be a wonderful itinerary, but they have changed it so much that I can no longer honestly recommend it. The old itinerary was fabulous. Scotland is still an amazing, beautiful place, as is Edinburgh, but the itinerary is way more standard than it used to be. It used to be very unique.

Sayhello
 


I have never visited any of those countries with ABD except Italy. I have been to Ireland and Scotland, though.

If it were my first trip to Europe, I'd think that either Greece or Italy might seem more exotic to the younger set because of the language differences. Many people in both of those countries speak wonderful English, but the experience of being surrounded by people speaking another language, signs in different languages, etc., adds something to the experience for me.

That's not to knock Ireland and Scotland. They are BEAUTIFUL. I fell in love with Edinburgh with a passion I never expected. But they feel more familiar to me, probably because of their history and the lovely, accented English.
 


I agree with sayhello about Scotland. The changes to the itinerary really hurts the trip. The Greece trip is amazing. So much so that every time I have a trip planned to Europe I wonder if I can tack on a few days in Greece. Do brush up on the mythology to make the trip even more magical.
 
We've completed to ABD's in Europe and would heartedly recommend either. Our first was Viva Italia which visited Rome, Florence and Venice. Perfect for those that want to see the ancient parts of Italy as well as the more today experiences. Rome was fun. Florence was really interesting. But we lost our heart in Venice. The entry to that city is such a big reveal that it just takes your breath away.

Our second was Alpine Magic. It started in Stressa (Northern Italy, in the alps) and stopped at Zermatt and Lucern. Stressa was interesting, but the real heart of this trip is Zermatt. The Matterhorn just looms above the village and part of the ABD is to take a cog railway up the top of a nearby mountain where you can look out over the glaciers and the Matterhorn. Truly spectacular scenery.
 
Our kids are 10 and 13. We just finished Italy (our first ABD and the kids' first trip overseas). We all loved it. I was worried about the 10 year old and his ability to grasp the enormity of all that historical information, but the guides were so awesome he has retained a lot of what he learned. 13yo soaked it all up like a sponge. What I liked about the Italy itinerary (without any others against which to compare) is that the timing seemed perfect. You are totally immersed in history and the spectacle of Rome, and then you have this lovely "recharge" time in Tuscany, so that when you get to Venice, you are ready to fully take in her beauty and not feeling toured out.

On a more practical note, Italy is also really easy on picky eaters (like my 10 yo). I think he ate margherita pizza almost every day. My adventurous eater tried everything.
 
Agree with above poster Italy is a good intro to Europe and ABD. we did it in 2012 with our young daughters
and they still remember this trip.
 
OKW Lover said:
We've completed to ABD's in Europe and would heartedly recommend either. Our first was Viva Italia which visited Rome, Florence and Venice. Perfect for those that want to see the ancient parts of Italy as well as the more today experiences. Rome was fun. Florence was really interesting. But we lost our heart in Venice. The entry to that city is such a big reveal that it just takes your breath away.

Our second was Alpine Magic. It started in Stressa (Northern Italy, in the alps) and stopped at Zermatt and Lucern. Stressa was interesting, but the real heart of this trip is Zermatt. The Matterhorn just looms above the village and part of the ABD is to take a cog railway up the top of a nearby mountain where you can look out over the glaciers and the Matterhorn. Truly spectacular scenery.
Click to expand...

I've only done one ABD in Europe (Alpine Magic). My second is this October on a Rhine River cruise- it looks exciting but there have been some reports of difficulty with the excursions. I'll let you know in 4 months :P

I think the Alpine magic was amazing. Agree with @OKW Lover. Stresa was nice. Zermatt was amazing. Only thing is they switched hotels from the Zermatthof to the Covin Palace. Still, seeing the Matterhorn was out of this world. The food, the photos, great friends. I remember seeing the sun hit the Matterhorn during breakfast and we all ran out to photo the golden light on the peak. Ah the memories. :)

Lucerne was also nice, but if I had to rank the stops on the trip it would be: Zermatt >> Stresa >> Lucerne. You can also pre night in either the lakes region (como) or Milan and post night in Lucerne or Zurich (though we flew from Zurich and did post nights in Rome).
 
We've been on 8 ABD trips. Our favorite ABD was Scotland which we did the inaugural year. The itinerary has changed drastically though. Now, I fell in love Scotland on that trip so much that I'd entertain the idea of doing the new itinerary if there weren't so many other ABD trips on our bucket list already. Here is my trip report on that one.

We did London/Paris too, which we enjoyed too but the new itinerary does not visit Stonehenge and that was the main reason I chose the trip. We also flew in a few days before stop and visit Scotland again.

We did Ireland on our own before the ABD Danube river cruise trip simply because the Ireland ABD dates didn't work out for us to do a B2B ABD with the river cruise. We did copy most of the ABD itinerary and it was a wonderful trip, so I imagine the ABD Ireland tour would be pretty awesome too.

Next month, we will be on the Italy ABD trip and I will posting a day by day trip report, so feel free to follow along.
 
For a first trip to Europe with children, I would recommend the London/Paris ABD. After that one, we did Germany ABD, Central Europe ABD, and Spain ABD. I can't even say which I loved most since I loved aspects of every one of them!! My least favorite city was probably Paris! Vienna and Salzburg were probably my favorites. Spain was lots of fun. Can't wait to go to Italy in a few years. I really don't think you can go wrong on any of their adventures!
 
Just got back from Italy. It was nothing Short of amazing. The pieces that you get from the Disney tour are so unique. Behind the scenes, in some of the historic sites, dinners in 700 year old castles, Jolly Roger pirate ship dinners through the waters of Venice! I would have no clue On how to book most of that stuff on my own . These, along with my amazing guides, made this an amazing vacation for my family (wife,17, 14 year old, and myself).

Man did we eat good, but we probably walked 20,000 steps, plus, a day. Venice was my favorite, followed by Rome. Tuscany was a nice break and some downtime (trust me, you need it). The historical sites around Florence were very amazing to see, but the heat was so sweltering, that it made it a bit less enjoyable. It was in the mid 90's in Rome and Venice as well, but because those cities are not stuck in a valley, you don't get hit so hard with the heat bug.

All in all, I think the Italy tour is a great starter, and we are already thinking about what to book for our second trip. Enjoy, whatever you pick!
 
Hi
met19 said:
I've only done one ABD in Europe (Alpine Magic). My second is this October on a Rhine River cruise- it looks exciting but there have been some reports of difficulty with the excursions. I'll let you know in 4 months :P

I think the Alpine magic was amazing. Agree with @OKW Lover. Stresa was nice. Zermatt was amazing. Only thing is they switched hotels from the Zermatthof to the Covin Palace. Still, seeing the Matterhorn was out of this world. The food, the photos, great friends. I remember seeing the sun hit the Matterhorn during breakfast and we all ran out to photo the golden light on the peak. Ah the memories. :)

Lucerne was also nice, but if I had to rank the stops on the trip it would be: Zermatt >> Stresa >> Lucerne. You can also pre night in either the lakes region (como) or Milan and post night in Lucerne or Zurich (though we flew from Zurich and did post nights in Rome).
Click to expand...

Hi! I just got back from the 7/15 Rhine cruise with my husband and 2 boys 9 & 13. We had an amazing time! We are exhausted.....but reflecting now...it was a wonderful trip and I'm sad to be home. We started our trip in Grindewald Switzerland with four nights and ended with an extra two in Amsterdam. I too was concerned about the excursions...but it seemed like everyone was accommodated in one way or another. I did meet one family who did not get all of their first choices... but when it came down to it....they seemed to get space it everything they wanted...so it worked out in the end. Having said that...I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE ADVENTURE GUIDES!!!!!!!!!!!! They worked morning and night to make sure that everyone was happy..... I don't know how they do it....but they are AMAZING!!!!! They gave 150% of themselves everyday.....I only wish that they had more time to spend with us because they made the trip! They were alll great...We spent a great deal of time with Betti, Daniel, Veronica and Byron....who I miss greatly.

From my perspective..... I would not cancel this trip because of the excursion feedback from past sailings...I get the impression that with every trip improvements are made....our trip was perfect! They did take out some things that were originally on the itinerary...but they were changes for the good. I will work on a trip report that details our adventure in the next few days. I hope this helps...feel free to ask any specific questions.
 
We did Germany for our first ABD, and it was absolutely magical. The next year we did Czech Republic and Prague, and it just wasn't the same. We actually met up with one of our Germany guides during the trip. He was doing the Alpine Magic that year, and he said, "nothing compares to Germany!"
 
JsMom2 said:
We did Germany for our first ABD, and it was absolutely magical. The next year we did Czech Republic and Prague, and it just wasn't the same. We actually met up with one of our Germany guides during the trip. He was doing the Alpine Magic that year, and he said, "nothing compares to Germany!"
Click to expand...

It really is a matter of personal opinion! :cutie: I loved Germany, but I ADORED the Central Europe ABD. Of course, London/Paris, and Spain were wonderful too!
 
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