karenmazie1021

I am working with my sister to plan an 8-9 day family trip to Barcelona/Costa Brava in just 2 months. 2 senior couples ages 82 to 90, 2 middle aged couples age 48-56, and 4 kids/teens 11-17. It's complicated, to say the least.

Original thought was to rent a villa outside Barcelona for 1 week - train into the city for 3 days, do day trips around area (Girona, beaches, etc) the other days. People recommended we split it to 4 nights in Barcelona itself and 4 nights in a villa further afar in Costa Brava. Thought was that trying to go in/out of the city for long days of sightseeing with my 90 yo dad, who tires easily would be hard and would be better/nicer to be staying in the city.

Problem is housing. Dads wants to say near the Rambla/Playa Catalunya and can't walk far (ok for 5 min), but can't find a big apartment for all of us there. I would be ok with a hotel, but sister says no, we need a common space to hang out and relax. Place I did find has been booked up. Ugh

Meanwhile, we can't agree on a villa in Costa Brava (stepmom wants fancy and her own bathroom, dad wants views, kids want a pool, we want privacy, but also accessibility to towns, etc...) Had picked a place by Lloret and then a local said it's not a great town.

And of course we don't want to spend the kid's college funds to do all of this.

Short of cancelling the trip, which I kind of want to do right now. Any thoughts?? Recommendations?? Words of wisdom?
thanks!!

KTtravel

Oh dear, this sounds difficult. I wish I had some good advice to offer besides wishing you good luck. We were able to successfully do family trips with my husband's side of the family but not with mine - just too many differing ideas and interests. I hope you are able to work something out.

geetika

My siblings and I try and take one big family vacation every year, though not as regularly post Covid. Usually I’m the one who plans and the others are happy to go with my choices. We’re anywhere from 6-8 adults, 9 when our mom was there. Always found an apartment or house, if in the countryside, never hotels. Your sister’s right, hanging out together in the evenings, oftentimes late nights is special, we like to talk about our day and have some down time.

I usually book almost a year ahead, so finding a 3-4 bedroom place isn’t too hard. We do some activities together, but also split up during the day. Generally we like to have dinner together, though that’s not written in stone.

Some agencies have multiple apartments in the same building, so maybe you could get two smaller apartments. I know there are some aparthotels in Barcelona which might also fit the bill. Sometimes you get good options on booking.com, you can set the filters to your specific requirements.

Good luck with the planning, not essy, but you’ll see it’s all so worth it…

coral22

What a wonderful opportunity! And what a challenge! If my math is correct, 12 people?
With that number I would definitely stay in Barcelona for part of the time. That would be too much back and forth and too many moving parts. For instance, the teenagers would enjoy heading out on their own and everyone could head in their own directions, based on interests and energy.

Of, course I don't know the dynamics or who is with who, but maybe one group could get a really large apartment in Barcelona, that could serve as the hub, and others could get smaller apartments or hotel rooms close by. Not ideal for early morning or late at night bonding, but offers some privacy or probably more bathrooms. We had an apartment in the Eixample neighborhood and loved it, there are a lot available there. Then find a villa/resort home on the outskirts that would accommodate everyone for the rest of the trip. You would get the best of both worlds.

Restaurants for such a big group will be challenging, maybe look into bringing food in or a chef to cook for you part of the time. Enjoy!