European tour company recs for families?

September 28, 2021 10:15 AM

I'm seeking Mefite recommendations for European tour companies and/or specific summer tours you've taken geared toward families.

We are looking for an active 7- to 10-day vacation that will suit a tween and young teen. Like, bike tour of northern Denmark or hiking/swimming at different Greek islands. But not too rigorous given the young-ish age.

We like to be active: biking, kayaking, hiking, and are open to self-guided or guided. Not opposed to small-boat tours either. I'd love suggestions on where to go for summer 2022 and/or companies that you recommend. I've seen past questions about tour companies, but they are more geared to non-family situations.

I'm lost and looking for inspiration, direction, and wisdom!

posted by rabidsegue to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

The problem here is that the people who have the time and money to spend a week-plus in Europe are old. We went on superb Vantage Danube river cruise over the Christmas holidays (so when school was out for many people) and our kid was the only minor on the ship, which made him a minor celebrity (pun intended). The median age was probably 65. Now, the cities are the focus, and they have bikes to borrow, so we went on some of the included tours when they weren't too museum-heavy and did our own thing a lot of the time. You don't spend much time on the ship except for dinner, which is a lavish multi-course affair (though buffet meals were always available). It was great! There's a variety of tours that follow the Danube on bikes, ranging from fully supported with lodging included to completely do-it-yourself, but I've never done one of those.

The only specific recommendation I have for something that seems to fully meet your interests are the Tauck Bridges Family Travel tours. I haven't been on one of them, but the outdoorsy ones definitely have a lot of physical activity. Tauck has an excellent reputation, unlike the inexplicably popular Viking.
posted by wnissen at 11:01 AM on September 28, 2021

I would back peddle what wnissen says about American tourists in Europe being old. Maybe tourists who do river cruises & package tours are old. I've travelled to Europe for weeks at a time my family and never had an issue with feeling like the young americans. I generally figure things out on my own, but would have used specialist tour guides for one-off things that my family wanted to do. Certainly there will be specialist tour guides who will support you on a short multi-day bike ride around denmark. Or on the greek islands - but the good ones probably only do that.

Probably the biggest name in this family adventure space that is US based is Backroads but googling will turn up other options. Backroads is def not cheap.

Another idea is to just pick an area of Europe you are interested in going to and searching for local smaller operators who handle just the activity side of things - letting you pick lodging and meals. Really any touristic area will have this as an option. Also there is more of a culture of smaller independent hotels many of whom would be happy to help you arrange things with operators they have relationships with.

My personal opinion is that today there is no reason to bundle your hotels, dining, and activities in a tour in Europe.
posted by JPD at 11:25 AM on September 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

I strongly recommend both Backroads, and Butterfield and Robinson. Both of them operate extensively in Europe, offer very active trips, and offer trips specifically suited to families with kids of various ages.
posted by Perplexity at 12:08 PM on September 28, 2021

There are many providers of cycling tours in the Netherlands that could fit the bill. I can’t vouch for the actual trip or family accommodations, but Holland Bike Tours was lovely in the planning and rescheduling phases of a trip for adults. They have at least one family friendly offering.
posted by A Blue Moon at 2:56 PM on September 28, 2021 [1 favorite]

Could just be our experience, but we rarely run into native English-speaking families with kids. One thing about scheduling, in France the whole country is on the same school calendar, and it doesn't get out until July 7th this year. You might be able to save money and avoid crowds by going in late June, even though that's peak season in the US. Conversely, the whole country (practically) is on vacation the month of August, so you'll pay top dollar then. In general, there is a shorter summer break and longer breaks around All Saint's Day and the spring. Not sure about Greece and the Netherlands, but there may well be a schedule gap you can exploit.

The quintessential German family holiday is renting a camper van (#vanlife) and going camping. Lots of trails. I don't enjoy driving regular cars in Europe, but it's a common option.

I always make it a point to break up a longer trip with some pure kid time, and have really enjoyed visiting waterparks. There's one outside many major cities, Tropical Islands is a former Russian dirigible base, an hour outside of Berlin, that now uses the largest single-span floor in the world to host a lazy river, water slides, etc.

Finally, one trip I have always wanted to take is an independent canal boat rental. There are very basic versions, up to ones with an onboard chef.
posted by wnissen at 4:06 PM on September 29, 2021