[ciantosca]

I have finalized an August 6th ED for 2011 E90 M3 ZCP. Since my wife is German we need to visit her family for a few weeks and my brother who is working in Luxembourg.

We have two boys, 1 & 4 yrs old and will be taking them on the entire trip. I am excited to be able to take such a long summer vacation and have spent a few weeks researching and planning the destinations and wondered if anyone had feedback. My wife is super laid back so I am on my own for the planning.

Are we crazy to travel for so long with the kids?

Highlights for me will be a few trips to the ring with my brother as well as attending F1 race in Belgium.

Munich 3 days, explore city, Lego land, euro delivery
Innsbruck Austria & Hall 2 days, hiking etc.
Lake Konstance, 2 days
Trier 1 week to visit family, day trip to the Ring, Luxembourg.
Paris 3 nights
French Atlantic coast ( Pornic ) stay at nice beach resort. 3 nights
Drive east thru France, 1 night Chartes, 1 night Reims
Frankfurt 1 week, to visit family
-day trip to Belgium ( Spa ) with my brother & 4yr old son for Belgium F1 race!
-another day trip to ring after M// break-in service performed
Hamburg 3 nights, visit friends
Berlin 5 nights, friends wedding

Aug 4th - Sept 12th

Hope the e90 trunk will take all our luggage!

Currently drive an 05' Mini S so this is a big step up. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[FrankAZ]

Last year we spent 9 weeks away from home including 7 weeks in Europe and of those 6 weeks with the ED e90. 'We' were myself, my wife, and our then 7 year old daughter. I would judge that what you are planning is not only possible but extremely enjoyable.

Our master strategy was 3 nights at each destination so we had 2 exploring days and 1 travelling/exploring day each destination. We tried to find apartments for at least every other stop and broke our 7-week ED tour into 3 sessions with a trip back to see my family (in the UK) between sessions. I targeted no more than a 4hr drive between 3-day stops.

When I repeat the ED experience I would do exactly the same again, but perhaps linger for 4 days each place rather than 3 days.

Luggage wise I had a trial-fit of my luggage in an identical car at the local dealership and that paid dividends. I ended up taking a child seat with me but did research having one drop-shipped to my first hotel (Munich) from Amazon.de to save some luggage volume on the trip out. With two children the logistics may force that on you.

I chose the fold-down split rear seat option to give me maximum luggage space. With two children that might be impractical, but perhaps you could utilize the 1/3 side for the driving days and let the kids be squished.

Planning is the key. For every stop I had a set of wet-day/dry-day activities in my mind though we didn't choose until the morning of the day so add some spontaneity to the holiday. Generally every 3rd activity day was a parent centered day and the other 2 were kid-centered. Your children may be more forgiving. But, happy kids == happy wife == happy you.

Plan to pack for 3 cold days and 7 hot days (depending on your tour) and use the washing machines and dryers in your apartments. Take a laptop and expect to have to research your way out of small-scale inconveniences. Spend your way out too. We had to make a few emergency toy-store visits to haul a day back from the brink of a melt-down. Not good parenting I know, but sometimes the greater good of keeping your head screwed on outweighs the guilt of knowing you have been manipulated by a child.

Our itinerary was Munich - Prague - Budapest - Vienna - Salzburg area - Venice [Break] Lake Garda - Tuscany [Break] Pisa - Cote d' Azur - Provence - Geneva. See the map link in my signature. If any of those are on your list I have some tips on kid activities which might work out for your older child.

My on-the-ground experience was that Austria and France wer emost kid friendly with more things designed to interest children. Other counties might claim to be kid friendly but they were more kid-tolerant than friendly. Kid-tolerant means a discount for <10 year olds at the bootlace factory. Kid-friendly means a kid-led rope climb in the forest, innovative indoor play areas, and such. I know. YMMV. But, that is the overwhelming impression I got when planning and executing our vacation.

Check out my posts June/July in 2009. We had a bad experience at the Welt when they closed the kid experience part for a school trip that afternoon even though we were told it was open and available for our daughter when I called less than a week earlier. So, don't plan on the Welt being a great time or even open for your family. If you have any doubts, and your spouse can cope, sending them off for an adventure elsewhere might be a lower-risk option and would give you a better delivery experience. That's what I will do next time for absolutely sure.

Frank.

 

[JSpira]

Check out my posts June/July in 2009. We had a bad experience at the Welt when they closed the kid experience part for a school trip that afternoon even though we were told it was open and available for our daughter when I called less than a week earlier. So, don't plan on the Welt being a great time or even open for your family. If you have any doubts, and your spouse can cope, sending them off for an adventure elsewhere might be a lower-risk option and would give you a better delivery experience. That's what I will do next time for absolutely sure.

Just because one person/family on one day encountered unavailability of a small part of the BMW Welt doesn´t mean that it should be thought of as a risky proposition for family activities. The BMW Welt is very family friendly and family oriened.

There is so much to do at the BMW Welt and Museum that occupies kids of all ages that there is absolutely no reason to talk about "sending them off for an adventure elsewhere..."

I went through part of the kids experience on opening day (ok, it was all adults going through it) and it was fun. But it isn´t something that would make or break one´s enjoyment at the Welt.

 

[ciantosca]

Thanks for the tips.