exbayern

Much of my year and certainly my summer has been in Med cruise ports. It is interesting to see the tourists and the package tours and how much they try and cram in and rush around trying to see and do it all, especially during the very hot humid summer months.

I am also shocked reading some of the cruise blogs/sites about how much people are willing to pay - upwards of 800-1000 Euros for instance for a 'day tour' of Rome from the cruise ship with a driver.

Travel doesn't have to be expensive in order to enjoy things, and often taking a slower pace is less costly as well as more enjoyable. OP, we have pointed out to you before how overpriced many of the multi-day bus tours are, especially many of the North American based or targetted ones, and how little value they really provide.

I still strongly, strongly, and again strongly encourage you not to waste five days at Disneyland Paris. There simply isn't enough to do there to merit it, and even in peak season one can reasonably see and do almost everything in two days. With children that age, you won't be able to ride all the rides anyways, and you cannot equate it to WDW or even DL because the systems are different, guests are different, and tastes are different. It is also much easier to get around because the vast majority of families (other than from the UK or America) don't bring strollers, and there is thus far less congestion in the parks.

There are places where the train isn't really an option. My part of the world can be an example - RVO Bus gets one around to some of the really must see areas in a much more convenient (and cheaper, and faster) fashion than the train, and often goes where the train does not.

On another thread I pointed out to you that some of the tour packages can run close to $30,000 for a family of four for a week. That is just outrageous, and you don't need to spend anywhere near that even for seven weeks, if you are willing to be somewhat more like a local.