Intro: Why Take Your Kids to Europe?
You're not interested in the same routine vacations other families take. Learn the Take Your Kids (TYKE) philosophy – and all the rationalizations you could ever need for taking this trip. Why Take the Kids? Why Leave the States? Why Europe? Why Stay Longer?

PART ONE: BEFORE YOU GO
Get the whole family involved in planning. Anticipation is part of the whole experience!

1. Planning Your Itinerary
Use our Pushpin Planning System, and balance your and your kids' interests for a successful trip.

2. Planes, Trains, Boats & Cars
How to make the smart choices that save the most money

3. What to Bring
One suitcase per person – what are the essential clothes, gifts, toys, and electronic gear?

4. Managing Money
The euro, cash vs. credit cards, money security issues

5. Special Issues for Longer Stays
How to get off from school and work, rent your house, and stay longer, including long-term money management issues


PART TWO: ON THE ROAD
How to find the best inexpensive hotels and restaurants--and how to keep family togetherness on a positive note.

6. Sightseeing Survival
Foolproof family decision-making strategies, how to get the most from any site, plus special pointers for cities

7. Restaurants
How to get your picky eaters to trade McDonald's for snails, and tips for finding good inexpensive restaurants, in general and country by country.

8. Budget Hotels and B&B's
Sort out the deals from the dives – how to find low-cost family hotels, youth hostels, B&Bs and bungalows.

9. Youth Hostels
Sleep in family rooms, not dormitories: the pros and cons of hostels

10. Euro Camping
How European camping is different from U.S. camping; four options – tents, bungalows, holiday camps, and RVs

11. Roadtrip Survival
Agreeing on a daily schedule, giving each other space, driving in Europe


PART THREE: HOME BASE
With kids, houses work better than hotels. Rent a house - even for a week or two. Join in on local life, and learn from your new neighbors.

12. Renting and Exchanging Houses
Live like a traveler, not a tourist. Home exchanges and how to find wonderful rentals all over Europe for as little as possible.

13. Home Cooking
Save money by eating some meals at your home base – and have fun at local markets. A primer on food attitudes and sources in Europe.

14. Communicating
Ways to meet the locals (especially other kids!) and overcome the language barrier

15. Homestay Survival
Coping with teenage tensions, visits from relatives and overblown expectations

16. Can We Afford This?
The four best ways to save big, plus a ballpark budget estimator worksheet to fill out


PART FOUR: THE TOTALLY BIASED GUIDE TO WHAT TO SEE AND DO
The pros and cons of more than 200 of Europe's best-known sights, from chocolate factories to sand dunes. Organized by country, with handy overview maps.

18. Great Britain
Fifty-three activities, including hedge mazes, ancient henges, brass rubbing, punting, coal mines, model trains, and more

18. France
Prehistoric caves, Roman ruins, eagles, moneys – and Europe's largest sand dune! Forty-eight kid-tested ideas, from Paris to the Pyrenees.

19. BeNeLux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and Denmark
Dikes, windmills, wooden shoes, cheese, and the chance to experience life in an Iron Age settlement; thirty-two sites in four countries.

20. Germany, Austria, Switzerland
See chocolates made, visit salt mines and castles; plus over a dozen museums (toys, dolls, watches, etc.) and zoos.

21. Italy, Spain, Greece, Gibraltar, and Morocco
Marble quarries, Mount Olympus, Pinocchio's birthplace, plus a unique walk on the roof of Milan's cathedral; more than four dozen options in areas along the Mediterranean Sea.

22. Resources
A collection of phone numbers and addresses for every publication or organization mentioned in the book plus additional resources for planning your trip.

• Airline tickets
• Recommended background books
• Recommended general guidebooks
• Recommended kids' guidebooks
• Bookstores and Catalogs
• Camper/Van Rental or Purchase
• Camping Resources
• Car Rentals and Purchase/Repurchase Programs
• Driving in Europe
• Family Travel Specialists
• Ferries
• Friendship/Meet the People Groups
• Home Exchange
• Home Rental Resources, country by country
• Hosteling
• Hotels
• Language and Translation
• Magazines and Newsletters
• Telephone Services
• National Tourist Offices
• Trains