We are a family of planning a short driving vacation from
Paris to Norway. We're wondering if it will be a problem
finding rooms that can accomodate the five of us...kids are
6,10 and 12. It seems that most accomodations are geared for
single, double or triple. Do B&B's welcome children? If
anyone has suggestions or experiences please let us know.
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My husband and I took our 2 boys to Europe in '97...aged 10
and 11 at the time. We found a couple of rooms with 4
beds, but mostly had to get 2 rooms. We felt safe letting
them sleep alone as long as they were right next to us, but
in one Italian hotel the second room was on another floor.
There my husband slept with one and I slept with the
other. We only stayed in one B and B in Haarlem (outside
Amsterdam) and the kids were very welcome there. We had
the top floor of the house to ourselves (2 bedrooms). With
kids, it is best to book hotels in advance. Depending on
your time of travel, maybe you just need to do it a day
ahead, because searching for a hotel with children in tow
isn't easy. We are using Lonely Planet, Let's Go, and Rick
Steves' books to help us find rooms for an upcoming trip to
Greece with another family in June. With our entourage of
4 kids--2 girls and 2 boys--and 4 adults this could be too
much of a challenge if we wait to do it when we arrive.
Safe and happy travels. P.S. Are you by any chance Kiki
from Wisconsin that I met in Paris in summer '73?
We have travelled by car in Wales, France, Belgium, and
Germany with our two kids (which were 3 and 5 and are now 6
and 8). We had no problem finding accomodation for the 4 of
us, even when driving into a village/town in the evening. We
watched for signs pointing to 'B&B', 'chambres', 'zimmer'
and similar. These are often rooms in private houses rented
out to tourists. They are cheaper 5-10km away from big
towns, so if you travel on a budget driving a car is in an
asset. All the places we've seen can accomodate 5 people.
In 1998 we travelled with 15,14 and 11 y/olds through UK and
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands. For
the mainland leg we had a variety of types of accomodation
but in the UK, Belgium and Switzerland we stayed in
Youth/backpacker hostels. In all but one we able to get a
family room which we had to ourselves and was far preferable
to the usual dormitory arrangement that one visualises when
hostels are mentioned. As members of YHA Australia we got
extremely good value and thoroughly recommend that you check
with your own nearest hostelling organisation for rates etc.
We all enjoyed the family rooms at hostels far more than the
cheap hotels/pensions etc that are the alternative. It also
facilitated family bonding, meeting other people and showing
our kids what they can expect if they travel as singles in a
couple of years. The only downer was the sex life of the
parents, but what else is new.....?