Dreaming Of A Euro Tour Next Year

I planned 2 years ago and it fizzled. I planned last year but we went to Japan instead. I am planning again for 2015 and hopefully, barring any circumstances and not changing our minds for the last minute, we will go to Europe.

I plan to take my mom and mother-in-law in our annual family vacation and the dates are still tentative until my daughter settles in college and give me her vacation slots. Until then, we can formalize the whole thing.

So, where are we going this time? Well, I have been dreaming of seeing the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands. We haven't been to Netherlands yet so that is a must. Another thing, the oldies haven't been to Europe yet so it will be nice to tour them in Milan, Rome, Florence, Venice and Tuscany. I am also adding 2 nights in Paris just for them to see the Eiffel Tower and other famous places to see there.

I hope that my daughter's vacation from school will be at least 3 weeks so we can spend longer vacation in Italy unlike last 2008 where everything was swift. We didn't have the chance to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa nor visit Venice while the latter was already near Milan.

I am scouting for cheap train fares as well for a group since there are 5 of us travelling. So far, Thalys rail passes is the one I can bank on. I'll just check if I can find something similar but cheaper which will take us from Amsterdam to Gare Du Nord in Paris in less than 4 hours. That will still give us enough time to visit the many places in Paris which we missed to see the first time we were there like the Montparnasse Tower, the Sacre Coeur and the Versailles. Ah, Paris... I can't wait to set my foot in that place again!

Well, all these are tentative and given my family's track record in changing destinations in a snap is making me a bit worried. I have already set my mind and heart to visit all those places I have mentioned above with the oldies and I don't want them to miss the opportunity.

We'll probably visit the other parts of Europe next time like the Christmas Markets in Germany or in Vienna and Prague. There are so many places to see and there's plenty of time. Meanwhile, I am keen to do the Italy-Netherlands-France trio. I can squeeze Belgium too if time permits and if the oldies are not too tired to do train switching and bus-hopping. We'll see.

Euro Tour 2015! I am looking forward to that!