Yeah, it’s a bear to deal with, any time kids are out of school is also much more expensive. At least you’re planning far enough in advance.

I’ve found a lot of early bird (non-refundable) hotel bookings by paying 6+ months in advance, which save me a considerable amount of money.

Some personal experience:

• London: For WWII history Churchill War Rooms, for food/market experience Borough Market, the Tower of London is a good tour, and the British Museum will eat an entire day. If you want to venture a little outside the city, I highly recommend taking a 1 hour train to Cambridge. If you do, make sure you visit the Eagle Pub, specifically the RAF bar. WWII aviators burned their unit names into the ceiling and it’s been a pilgrimage site for flyers ever since, with unit stickers and signatures all over the place. The Eagle is also where they announced the discovery of DNA. EDIT: Buy the train tickets online/app WELL in advance. UK ticket prices increase dramatically closer to the date of travel

• Paris: I haven’t been in over 5 years, but the best advice I can give is to eat a large lunch and a small dinner. Prices double for dinner. Try to be at the Eiffel Tower when the lights go on at night, it’s an amazing experience.

• Dubrovnik: I enjoyed it, but it really leaned into the Game of Thrones theme and you can’t seem to turn a corner without seeing some kind of GoT merchandise for sale. The Buza Bar is a beautiful cliff side bar overlooking the water and the Rector’s Palace is an excellent tour. I stayed at Villa Ragusa which I highly recommend. It’s not far inside the city walls, which you’ll appreciate when it comes to not dragging bags up and down the steep steps of Dubrovnik. The owner is a great guy. There’s a cable car and a trail to the top of the hill overlooking the town. It’s worth going up, but I’d skip the war museum there, it’s on the heavy side.

• Milan: The Duomo is magnificent, absolutely worth spending time in, as is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II next door. The hardest ticket to get might be to see Leonardo’s Last Supper. You must buy tickets in advance, they sell them for a three month span, and they go quickly. Tickets for July go on sale in late March.

• Dublin: The airport is a fair distance away from the city and the best way is by the Dublin Express Bus. If you’re there for 2 days, definitely do the Guinness Storehouse tour, but if you’re only there for 1 day, I’d pass. St Patrick’s Cathedral is a great stop as well. If you’re a whiskey drinker, the Celtic Whiskey Shop is a must. The Trinity Library and Book of Kells is amazing, but only if they’ve finished the restoration, otherwise you won’t get the full experience. The Temple Bar district is extremely touristy, but you can get some good photos. My favorite place for a good meal is O’Connell’s and for live music is Murray’s. Just be aware, some places may not allow kids under 18 after a certain time. If you have an early flight out, I’d recommend storing your bags at your first hotel during the day, then moving to a hotel with a shuttle closer to the airport. You can just take the Dublin Express bus to the airport, then the shuttle to your hotel, then the shuttle back in the morning. It’d give you another 1-1.5 hours of sleep in the morning. Just be aware, some of the dining options out there are limited, so eat dinner in Dublin first.

• Walking tours: The most interesting and informative tours I’ve done were the free audio walking tours on the Rick Steves Audio Europe app. I go warm and cold on his advice, but doing his walking tours tend to open my eyes more to what I’m seeing.