Father & son trip now planned 06-09

[dholer]

As previously posted, I am 45, taking my 16 year old son on a mini trip round Europe, itinary as follows:

Europe:23-6 / 2nd July
Eurostar 23/06, 1057 - 1403

Brussels 23rd
2GO4 Quality Hostel, Brussels, Belgium 1 night

24: train Brussles to Berlin

24/25/26 Berlin
Wombats City Hostel Berlin, Berlin, Germany
3 nights

27: train Berlin to Prague

27/28/29 Prague
Czech Inn, Prague, Czech Republic
3 nights

30: night train Prague to Paris

1/7 Paris
Le Village, Paris, France
Booking Ref: xxxx
1st July 2009, 1 night

2/07: train Paris to Brussels
2/07 1859 - 1956 Brussels to London

Ok, so our trip is now planned, Brrussles one night, berlin 3 nights , Prague 3 nights and Paris 1 night.

All hostels have been booked (as above), now all I have to do is sort a rough list of must see's in the various cities we are going to, bearing in mind the length of stay in each.

He is a budding singer songwriter: myspace.com/charlieholemusic and I have a few gigs booked for him, two in Berlin (intersoup and Art.gerecht) and The Globe bookstore in Prague, which i am hoping is a great experience for him and a good way for him to meet people his own age, as will the hostel visits?

He also loves history!!

Quite happy to be flexible, but any suggestions welcome.

[Eagle]

dholer,

Your Itinerary looks reasonably well sorted. It's great that you've allowed adequate travel time between cities.

A few questions though....

Is the night train from Prague to Paris a "direct" train, or will there be changes?

At the end of the trip, you've listed "Paris to Brussels". Brussels doesn't appear to be your home location, but there's no mention of a return EuroStar trip?

One other comment - I hope you don't mind, but I've removed the Booking Ref. number from your Post. I'm not sure it's a good idea to post that, as it could allow unscrupulous individuals to change your reservation or perhaps obtain the credit card information that you used to make the booking. This was a precaution and hopefully some of our other members here will provide some comment on that.

Happy travels!

[madamtrashheap]

dholer, great to hear your trip is planned and you're ready to go. I vaguely recall you're from the UK (is that correct?), so assume you're Eurostar-ing in and out of Brussels? (That will also answer Eagle's question). If that's the case, I'm not sure why you're going from Paris to Brussels at the end of your trip, only to Eurostar back to the UK - you're going over the same ground to a great degree. Can you change the trip to have the final destination as Paris to return to the UK?

Great that you've booked some gigs for your son, particularly in Berlin as it has a fantastic live music culture. And the gig in The Globe in Prague should be great too as it's a funky placem with a great mix of people and styles.

The Hostels you've booked are all fine, particularly Wombat's in Berlin (along with the Circus it's one of the more popular ones on these Boards). As for history, plenty to experience in all the places you're visiting, just a shame you couldn't spend more than 1 night in Paris, maybe next trip!

I second Eagle's discretionary act to remove your Booking Reference number for security purposes - you don't want others having that information no matter how harmless it may seem.

Have a great trip, hope your son enjoys the experience of travel and playing in other cities and make sure you write a Just Back report for us all to read about when you return.

[dholer]

thanks to both of you!!

i removed all the other booking references, so thanks for doing that on the one i missed.

as for schedule, yeah, we start in london and its just cheaper to get a return to / from brussels, than a seperate ticket back from Paris, i think its only about two hours from paris to brussels and that trip will be part of our rail pass, so no extra cost.

all we have to do now is wait. My son is studying for GCSE's which end mid June, so he has plenty to keep him occupied, but we both really looking ofrward to the trip!!

[dholer]

also, think the Prague paris train has a short break, but haven't sorted trains yet.....next job!!!

as for paris, we can get there in two hours from the UK so maybe thats a trip he can do with mates another time, if he likes what he see's.

We arrive early am and leave mid pm following day, so we have enough time to do the Seine trip, Eiffel tower, bit of people watching and supper in the latin quarter, followed by sightseing in the morning before heading home the next day.

[madamtrashheap]

If you haven't booked the Prague-Paris sector yet, consider flying to give yourselves not only extra time in either city, but a good night's sleep! You could check Sky Europe (from Orly Airport) or Czech Airlines (from CDG) for flights that won't break the bank.

[dholer]

to be honest, i saw the night train as part of the 'experience', if we don't get much sleep, so be it, we can find a spot by the eiffel tower and have a snooze if needs be

cheers