Europe family trip - recommendations please

Soča Valley in Slovenia hasn't been ruined yet. I'd avoid Venice as it's shit.

I’d avoid Venice as it’s shit.

Totally disagree - Venice is chaotic & sometimes crowded but its an incredible place. We stayed in Ca'Savio in 2022 and took the ferry to Venice and a couple of the other islands.

Lake Garda is one of my favourite places - be sure to send some time there.

There's been loads of threads on here for Dolomites, Austria, Slovenia, Black Forest, Bavarian Alps etc.

It might be easier to name resorts/towns/valleys and then others can offer up views/experiences etc.

We did a 3 week tour in 2017 with our caravan, covering France, Germany, Austria & Switzerland. One of the most memorable sites we stayed on was this one:

https://www.ferienhof-rueti.ch/

Amazing views, hammocks, treehouse etc etc

I was being flippant last night, but I really, really dislike Venice. You know that the Japanese embassy in Paris has the Japan room for tourists who've grown up thinking that it's some Louis XIV fairytale wonderland, then they get there and it's busy, dirty, and utterly unlike the fantasy they've been sold? That. That's Venice. Yes, it's beautiful, but it's busy, dirty, overpriced, and lacking any sort of soul whatsoever. If you want fairytale, take the kids to De Efteling at Katsheuvel.

Anyway. A whole month off! You lucky sod. I'd be overwhelmed by the choice, tbh. I've never had more than two and a bit weeks, so haven't really had time to venture too far. How about some islands? Corsica and Sardinia are both fantastic in very different ways. I think you can even get a ferry from Sardinia to Greece?

If you do go to Venice, Caorle is a nice beach town just outside with plenty of campsites. Our friends stayed in one just south of the town and raved about it.

For Austria I can recommend where we have a place (Maria Alm near Zell Am See). Lots of walking, great Lido, flow trails, good restaurants. Some of the campsites do the Hochkoenig card which will give you use of the lifts.

We did a 3 week tour in 2017 with our caravan, covering France, Germany, Austria & Switzerland. One of the most memorable sites we stayed on was this one:

https://www.ferienhof-rueti.ch/
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Amazing views, hammocks, treehouse etc etc

PS Should have said if you stay there, you MUST do this walk, it is awesome for not a lot of effort!

https://swissfamilyfun.com/stoos-ridgeline-hike/

Many thanks for the responses so far! Yes a month is a bit overwhelming - trying to get the balance right of seeing lots of new places without knackering myself with too much driving and setting up camp.

a few more specifics per El Shalimos suggestion:

after Holland (staying nr Maastricht) we’ll probably aim to cross Germany fairly quickly with a stop halfway - heard Heidelberg is nice? Or possibly Nuremberg.

Stop at a site (Park Grubhof)  nr Lofer in Austria for a few days - looks like lots to do in the area and site looks good.

onto Soca Valley in Slovenia, again found a decent looking site (Kamp Koren). Probably stay 4 or 5 nights, don’t know much about the area but sounds good for outdoor activities (swimming, biking, climbing) and chilling.

Onto Venice after that, aware it will be chaotic and unpleasant, I’ve been before but the kids want to go. Plan is camping nearby for a couple of nights (thanks for recommendation above) and doing a day trip in.

lake Garda after that - decent looking site on the western side about halfway up. Heard it gets very busy but the site is up in the hills above it so hopefully a bit more relaxed.

fancied the dolomites after that but struggling to find a site which looks good for tents - lots of provision for caravans etc. maybe something to do with the weather?? If we can’t find somewhere, maybe a stop in Innsbruck for the night.

then along towards Lake Constance via the Inn Valley, seems to be lots of campsites, again maybe a bit caravan focussed so any recommendations welcomed.

after that, back towards France via the southern Black Forest. Site recommendations also welcomed - Germany doesn’t seem to do relaxed, informal campsites in the way France does (which we like!).

This is all across August. Aiming to keep driving under 4 hours per leg apart from crossing Germany at the start - not sure if that’s realistic or not?

Still all in the planning stage. Like the idea of an island visit or a bit of coast as it’s all quite mountain / foresty at the moment but may struggle to work that in with times / distances.

Don't forget to buy a vignette for Austria. You might not need it if you don't use any motorways, so check first. A 10 day one is around £10

The Swiss vignette is more expensive, as you can only buy a 12 month one, around £40ish IIRC

Lake Garda has nothing on here go here instead you can camp there I think there is a fee now but it’s worth it

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g616173-d4828065-Reviews-Lago_del_Predil-Tarvisio_Province_of_Udine_Friuli_Venezia_Giulia.html

Hmmmmmm, Venice in August... Chunky air.

Do they, or you, like aeroplanes?

https://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/concorde

That place was a highlight of our trip through Germany.

Heidelberg was sort of good, but I think the kids only actually remember the Lindt chocolate shop and the hotel having cheese, pickles and ham for breakfast

The other odd thing you notice is how much better the National Trust do things than their continental equivalents.

Black Forest - we like https://www.camping-sandbank.de/ at Titisee-Neudstat. Site is quite packed in with small pitches due to nature of terraced setup, but it's tolerable to us at least. Directly on lake for swimming/SUPing. Short walk along forest path into town. Just a nice area. Brilliant waterpark nearby too.

We're stopping there for a few nights camping enroute to (or back from - haven't planned our hol out fully yet) the Les Arcs area with 2 x mini-a11ys 9 and 11 yrs.

Yikes, just checked and it's been 9 years since we last stayed there!

Heidelberg is lovely, very pretty with a castle on the hill and a river down the middle.

Sounds like a great trip.

IMO, for four weeks that is quite the itinerary, a lot of driving and lots of potential for sitting in traffic jams.

You may well be right Alpin! Think you’re based in Germany - will the roads be bad in August?

That’s what I was thinking, four weeks isn’t that long. Rather than try and do everything, I’d choose one or maybe two countries.

@acsevens - re Dolomites, good campsites are usually far from local towns as land is at a premium. Here's a couple to get your started. There's a half decent one 3.5km from Corrina but it's long walk into town.

there is a good campsite in Colfosco about 1.5km from Corvara.

https://campingcolfosco.org/en

Another excellent site up on Alpe di Suisi /Seiser Alm

https://www.camping-seiseralm.com/

We stayed inBad Durkheim last year on our way to Switzerland - purely fluke, but it was a lovely place. Amazing pool/lido, beautiful village, fascinating Salinarium and park, gardens etc, the right distance between Europoort Holland and our destination in Switzerland.

You havent mentioned Switzerland much - I would suggest dont be put off by the 'its expensive' line. It wasnt cheap - but we had our best ever holiday there last year and not once did I ever feel I wasnt getting value for money.

https://www.lazyrancho.ch/en Was superb.

Stop at a site (Park Grubhof)  nr Lofer in Austria for a few days – looks like lots to do in the area and site looks good.

It’s a cracking spot, the river there is wide & shallow, kids will love playing on inflatables.

Lofer is nice too, Lido there is good.

In that valley heading towards Zell there are a couple of great gorge walks and a massive cave. One ticket covers them all.

Avoid the Brenner Pass into Italy. I had, probably, at least 3 hours delay last June. Looks like the roadworks are continuing until September this year.

https://www.autobrennero.it/en/?mappa=traffico

Camping Fusina is handy for trips to Venice. 200m walk to the water taxi from the camp site gate. Take mosquito repellent.

https://www.campingfusina.com/

I got stuck on the Brenner for 6 hrs in a September snowstorm about 6 years ago. It wasn't much fun!

lake Garda after that – decent looking site on the western side about halfway up. Heard it gets very busy but the site is up in the hills above it so hopefully a bit more relaxed.

It's going to be busy AF and the west side of the lake is shaded from about 5pm onwards. Lago di Garda is best seen from Sirmione, Garda or Riva/Torbole (used to spend a lot of time on the lake when guiding). There are other smaller, yet just as impressive lakes nearby that won't be full of sunburnt Germans drinking Weißbier.

Think you’re based in Germany – will the roads be bad in August?

Was.. Jacked it off. And yes, August is the worst month. School holidays are staggered in Germany, but everyone has August off. As do the Austrians and the Italians.

Re the Dolomites.... They are generally very pretty, however they not one single massive. There are four areas known as the "Dolomites". It's just a type of rock that appears much more frequently than the Italian tourist board will have you believe.... (Was in Liguria recently and there are also lots of outcrops of dolomite stone.)

When I was guiding (Bavaria to Lago di Garda) it once took us over 12 hours to get back to Tegernsee. The Brenner is a nightmare if anything goes wrong.

Take the easy route over Reschenpass/lake.

The toll for the Brenner isn't cheap, either....!

Lienz Dolomites in neighbouring Austrian are just as pretty but without the cable cars. In fact Lienz is a good place to stay - we've been several times. They've got a go-ape thingy, climbing and via ferrata park with routes for kids of all ages. The VF routes are good fun

Julian Alps are basically the same to look at

^ yup.

And less busy and much cheaper (at least when we went five years ago).

Great advice so far, thanks guys!

The toll for the Brenner isn’t cheap, either….!

Mont Blanc tunnel is €56 (I'm still gutted I didn't research that in advance)

@acsevens - across Germany & Austria when you book into a campsite, B&B, hotel etc, you pay a daily eco/tourist tax per person.  It's only a €1-2 each. However, if you stay for a few days you often get free travelcard for the local buses. The Black Forest has the best scheme we've encountered which is free buses and trains for the entire area so effectively Basel to Stuttgart !!

We stayed here in Sept:  https://www.trendcamping.de/

10 mins walk to the local restaurant - Croatian family doing local and Croatian food. Easy to get a bus or train to Wolfach, Gengenbach, Freudenstadt etc.etc.

Nothing wrong with Venice but saying that we spend most of our time on other islands and towns surrounding

I bike through that site mentioned near Titisee Black Forest regularly... its a lot tidier now and grown a bit too. The waterpark is just down the road at https://www.badeparadies-schwarzwald.de/

It's a nice walk to Raimartihof https://raimartihof.de/
Schnapps museum https://gscheiter-beck.de/
Adventure park https://www.black-forest-travel.com/leisure/steinwasen-park.html

Schluchsee is also just up the road and there is even a steam train to get you there from Titisee. Ebike hire etc etc.
Rothaus brewery https://www.rothaus.de/

Loads to do....

We camped just outside Cortina in the dolomites. There were 2 campsites next to each other. They were in glamorous but fine. I can find the name if required

I’d say within whats possible I’d say the latter valley

@ampthill - it's Camping Rocchetta and Camping Cortina.  I've been going to Rocchetta since 2002 and it's not changed much. Cortina has probably gone even more upmarket since then.
To be honest, I think Cortina is just focusing on winter revenue nowadays. I used to love going there but it just doesn't seem the same anymore.   There are far more welcoming areas in Val Badia, Canazei, Val Gardena for summer hols.

RE: Titisee site - we've stayed there and it's a good spot. You can get the local bus up to the lower slopes of Fedlberg and go for a wander and visit a few mountain huts

https://www.feldberg-erlebnis.de/en/summer

Or get a bus to Freiburg and explore

Mont Blanc tunnel is €56 (I’m still gutted I didn’t research that in advance)

Yeah, that one stung! Should have gone over the Petit San Bernard /Piccolo San Bernard, but by the time you're at the entrance of the tunnel it's quite a detour!

Only took that route as the satnav said we'd save 25 minutes..... We were coming from Lyon.

Lesson learnt!

Having looked at your route I've a suggestion, the municipal campsite in Cernay and walk up le vielle Armand (Hartsmannwillerkopf) from Wattwiller through the WW1 fortifications to the cemetary at the top.

@Edukator - have you been to the Vosges du Nord?  We briefly stopped overnight in Saverne last year in a big thunderstorm but it looks like a nice area to explore on foot and by bike. We had to leave early the next day so didn't explore.

Black forest is amazing, and here's a few places we loved:

Alternative Wolf and Bear Park Black Forest

Gutach Rodelbahn

Hochseilgarten Nagold

We found a lovely, laid back (Dutch run) campsite near Nagold/Wildberg https://www.campingcarpediem.de/

Efterling is worth a visit on the way back to the ferry (it's nuts!) and a few hours in Luxembourg city was a surprisingly good way to break a big journey.  If either ferry is via Rotterdam, then the massive indoor food market makes an excellent lunch stop.

Bookmarking, as I'm heading that way in the summer also, and this is all great info.

after Holland (staying nr Maastricht) we’ll probably aim to cross Germany fairly quickly with a stop halfway – heard Heidelberg is nice? Or possibly Nuremberg.

Just read that bit. When we drive back from Austria, we sometimes stay in Bamburg which is a nice medieval Bavarian town. Only a short detour on your route.

Or possibly Nuremberg.

Nuremburg is brilliant.  Massive medieval walls, interesting castle, underground tunnel trips, sausages, railway museum and that's before you've got on the tram to go and see Hitlers Zeppelin grounds and the visitor centre there. Playmobile land is close by too depending on the age of your family.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, very much appreciated. Some great looking sites and useful info re. roads and passes. Now to put a plan together…

Bamburg

Bamberg.... Full of Breweries! Known for Rauchbier.

Fränkischer Schweiz (Franconian Switzerland) is nearby and worth a visit. Also very good if you're into climbing or bouldering.

GF studied nearby, good friend is from there.

have you been to the Vosges du Nord?

No, sorry, despite working in Nancy and strasbourg, we always headed for the southern Vosges or Black Forest when we had free time. If you're walking then constantly being in the trees can get tedious so the exposed tops of the Ballons area were more attractive. We did some good walks around Baden Baden finding a lake with lots of skinny dipping germans on one.  I'm not a fan of Titisee beyond a stop off to swim round the lake, it's often cloudier and wetter than the rift valley towns whether in Germany or France.

Thanks @Edukator

I've been to the Vosges and Jura a few times but not the northern Vosges

I'm sure it's lovely

The Vosges is fab with kids - lots of good hiking, Gerardemer for pedaloing, and an amazing luge track.

The cheese shop in Gerardmer is the 8th wonder of the world

What I've got to add

1 camping triglav and the eco turismo behind it are very good.

2 saverne is indeed a nice spot and handy for the motorway.

3. Vosges Nord is indeed a bit tree-y but nice nonetheless.

3 Vosges sud is a bit more interesting.

4. Going south again the Jura is very nice.

Nuremburg is brilliant. Massive medieval walls, interesting castle, underground tunnel trips, sausages, railway museum and that’s before you’ve got on the tram to go and see Hitlers Zeppelin grounds and the visitor centre there. Playmobile land is close by too depending on the age of your family.

I keep meaning to reply but never get round to it.

Sounds daft, but if you go to NUE and the kids are of that age (5-23) then defo go to Palm Beach swimming pool. It is amazing. Always the highlight of my kids' trips to see Oma.

Also agree with Playmobil land.

And the fraenkische Schweiz. Lovely place. Loads of short but hard rock climbing, and a bit of MTB ( limited by the 2m rule. And Teuts' complete inability to understand what MTB actually is)
Also fichtelgebirge good. With MTB uplift at Ochsenkopf.

We stayed in the Black Forest in 2017, ended up leaving a day early as we got cabin fever due to not being able to see anything but trees. This was good fun though https://treetop-walks.com/schwarzwald/

If you're that way inclined and the wife & kids can stand you being a big kid for a bit there's also the Unimog Museum

A decent day out if you like planes

https://www.dorniermuseum.de/en/