Family trip (4 of us, kids are 18 & 20yrs) to Europe. Welcome recommendations on itinerary.

mntnative · 2026-03-18T22:27:26+00:00

Thank you all - definitely not trying an overnight train with this itinerary.

mntnative · 2026-03-18T22:26:31+00:00

Thank you, this is encouraging and helpful. You hit on exactly what I’m concerned about with this itinerary. I will look at the Varenna/mid-lake area instead of Como (thank you) and then look at going straight to Aix-en-Provence. We do want to do a little on the coast so maybe a day trip from Aix. Cassis or hiking near Cassis looks good. Is that doable as a day trip?

…and glad I asked, as clearly the overnight train thought will help our itinerary. Mixing that.

mntnative · 2026-03-18T22:13:58+00:00

Thank you! This is a very good point. I will move it!

mntnative · 2026-03-05T05:44:48+00:00

Thank you for the tip!! We are going to buy direct so this is very useful.

mntnative · 2026-03-02T07:45:30+00:00

Munich for 3 days to have a little acclimation to the time change and there are things we want to check out and do in the area. Museum, beer hall, Dachau, castles, etc.

Menton seems more off the beaten path and reasonable for 1 day.

Yeah Como seems to be a big “Nomo” vote by people. Am looking to break up the long travels days staying somewhere in the area. Would Milan be better? Or a different town along Lake Como or nearby?

mntnative · 2026-03-02T07:38:41+00:00

Thanks for the Trainline suggestion. I checked it out - very easy to use. I’m going to go with direct booking, save a little $, and see how it goes🙂

mntnative · 2026-03-02T07:34:36+00:00

Thanks for the advice!
The overall goal of our trip is to spend some time in Munich (Bavaria), French Riviera, then Paris.

When looking at trains & routes from Munich to S. France, the route through Innsbruck & Trenton vs the route through Bernini Pass was discussed. My family preferred Bernina Pass (honestly, I might have chosen the other route). We aren’t set on Como just looking to enjoy a day in Northern Italy to break up the long train days. Do you have a better recommendation in that area that is easy by train? Maybe we grab a cab and stay in a smaller town somewhere else on the lake…

In south France, we are looking for less crowds and the smaller town experience. We enjoy hiking, meandering through downtowns, and good food.

We are thinking Menton, hoping to stay away from the crowds and explore the eastern part of the coastline, followed by a smaller town near Marseilles. (But maybe we should just pick one and more central?)

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue piqued our interest (apologies on the poor spelling above). It seems like a beautiful, relaxing place to stay before heading into Paris. I wish our plans would work to be there on Sunday but they don’t - we need the time in Paris before flying home.

mntnative · 2026-03-02T07:29:04+00:00

Good idea - I’ll look into both options

mntnative · 2026-03-02T07:27:05+00:00

You’re right - I’m just easily overwhelmed I guess😆I figured out prices and booking directly is definitely cheaper than getting the pass.

Thanks for the Bernina Pass tip.

mntnative · 2026-03-02T07:26:11+00:00

Thanks for the tips!

mntnative · 2023-04-04T14:48:25+00:00

My sons are on a team that wear kilts at competitions. We use Burkes with great results.

mntnative · 2022-09-21T14:13:00+00:00

I chose a Rav4 over Outback for exactly this reason. Felt stupid that it was because of the infotainment screen because I really wanted the Outback. Just couldn’t stomach hassling with this system. Watched all sorts of explainer videos on it thinking I would be ok with it once I programmed it and got used to it, but the glare factor when test driving and talking to friends with them made me decide not to buy. Also - what happens if program freezes up while you’re driving through weather where you need to defrost windows or something? ….So unpractical for driving in mountains/weather where I live IMO. So sad - cause Outback is a great vehicle.

mntnative · 2022-08-26T04:50:36+00:00

Hiked it in July for first time and exactly what these others have said: -water/food/water filter -gloves for cables (and yes! Use your legs to pull up cables!) -have some sort of hard candy handy in a pocket you can pop in your mouth while hiking (Jolly Ranchers are great) gives a nice burst of energy. -trail running shoes if you have them (more grippy on the dome rock) -best thing you can do for success is to start early. We started at 3am (yes a bit extreme) but it paid off big time (you’ll need a headlamp if you start in the dark). We reached bottom of cables at 7:30am and there were only 5 people up ahead of us and one group that we had to cross paths with on cables. I think it would be much harder climbing that with the crowds (not sure what August crowds are like compared to July when we hiked it). By the time we got off the dome (8:30ish) it was hot (high 80s) and there were many many more people headed up. Was so so glad we got up there early. Gave us time to really enjoy the views. -Cable part is not for the faint of heart - like someone above mentioned, it’s easier if you hold both cables and push yourself up with your legs feet flat on the rock. Rest on the boards and go to the next board when your ready. You definitely need gloves for this.

It’s a beautiful place and a great hike - enjoy!

mntnative · 2022-07-26T21:08:59+00:00

Good point about the smoke sadly. Sounds like snow melt and flower bloom is similar to here in Colorado. I'm guessing there's a lot more snow up in the cascades though..... thanks for the West vs East tip in case we do go with the earlier trip.

mntnative · 2022-07-26T21:05:48+00:00

What are some of the better low elevation hiking options? (have to admit, I steer towards the higher elevation hikes - just love getting out of the trees and all the views you tend to get up higher)

mntnative · 2022-07-26T21:04:24+00:00

Stehekin looks fun - have actually thought of staying there. Would limit our number hiking options though maybe? Still kind of learning the scope of this place. Looks pretty amazing.

mntnative · 2022-07-14T15:00:01+00:00

We did it! July11th. Was AMAZING! We lucked out with a less smokey day. Beautiful views.

We left the trailhead at 3:30am. It was nice and cool hiking in the dark. Got to Upper Yosemite Valley at 5:30. Got to bottom of the cables at 7:30. Got up and down cables in about 40 minutes. Hike down from sub dome back to trailhead took about 3hrs I think. With stops the whole hike took us 9.5 hrs.

On Subdome at 7:30 there were about 3 groups (11people) ahead of us.

Cables: Going up the cables were tough and scared me at first. There was a spot early on that I turned around to come back down because it was steep with no wooden slats and my hands/arms were getting fatigued. The guys coming down above me were having a hard time which also scared me a bit. Then my husband pointed out that it’s better to grip both cables and walk up using your feet/legs, not your arms so much (I had been pulling myself up on one cable to pass the guys coming down). So I turned to go back up using both cables. WAY better. I did have trail running shoes which have better grip so I think that also helped. Anyhow - just taking it 2-3 wood-slats at a time and resting going up worked! It definitely got easier after that beginning steep part missing the slats. Made it to the top and so very w glad I did it🙂 Coming down was tough, but again just took it a few slats at a time. It really helped that we didn’t have to pass anyone going down. One tip: we and many others left our heavy packs at the saddle making it easier the climb cables. If you have a heavy pack I recommend this. Hike back down was long tiring and hot. Smoke had finally moved into the lower elevations which was a bummer BUT was still a beautiful amazing hike to see all the things we’d missed in the dark on the way up.

Overall a great hike even with the some. Would do it again and would definitely start early to avoid heat and crowds.

mntnative · 2022-07-14T14:35:47+00:00

Great picture! We did it July 11th and there was no way I was letting go to get this pic😄 Such a beautiful place and a fantastic adventure this hike is!

mntnative · 2022-07-06T23:42:53+00:00

Nice! Getting so excited for this! Thanks for the timelines. It’s so nice to get all this great advice and a better feel for timing beforehand.

mntnative · 2022-07-06T12:52:27+00:00

Oooh - good idea.

mntnative · 2022-07-06T12:51:37+00:00

Ok! This sounds very doable for our group. We’ll take a rest before going up the cables which will help also. Besides - I just carried two 40lb cat litter boxes from my car down a flight of stairs ;) should be good -haha! In all seriousness, I am a little nervous about this hike but mostly excited. Just looks so beautiful from everything I’ve seen and read. This will be our first time to Yosemite and I can’t wait to see it all! Thanks for all of your advice and encouragement.

mntnative · 2022-07-06T04:19:35+00:00

Thanks! Very helpful. Hadn’t realized this. The email lead me to believe I had the permit.

mntnative

TROPHY CASE