We handle the planning.
You just show up.
Custom trips start at $20,000 for a group of four. Trips are best planned 12 to 18 months out.
European trips for multi-generational families and multi-family groups of 4 to 14: a cruise paired with a week or more on land, planned as one trip. Three generations, two or three households, and one itinerary that works for a 7-year-old and a 77-year-old.
Custom Trips Start at $20,000 for a Group of Four
Planning Fee from $250
Groups from 4 to 14
No pitch, no quote. We'll ask about your group, talk through the budget honestly, and both decide if this is a fit.
19
European countries personally visited
Every photo on this site is ours
Proud Member of
Most group trips do one thing.
Ours do two.
A cruise alone gives you variety. A land trip alone gives you depth. We pair them together, which is how we've traveled as a family and why we started this business.
Your group gets the ease of a cruise: multiple countries, no repacking, something for every age. Then time on the ground before or after, at your own pace, with vendors we actually trust. Every piece fits into one itinerary.
The cruise
Unpack once, meals handled, something for every age each day, and the ease of waking up somewhere new.
The land
Flights, transfers, hotels, guides, and the timing that connects them, in one app the whole group can open. Nobody is hunting through email for a confirmation number.
Nothing to coordinate
A few days in Lisbon or the Swiss Alps at your own pace. The town, the trail, the café your group would never have found from a ship.
We're the right fit for a specific kind of group.
You'll know if that's you.
We work with multi-generational families and multi-family friend groups, typically 4 to 14 people, planning trips worth getting right. That might be your next family trip, a milestone celebration such as a graduation, a big anniversary, a 70th birthday. Or it might just be families whose kids grew up together and are finally taking the trip they've been talking about for years.
Coordinating travel across multiple households, age groups, and travel styles takes real expertise. It also takes someone who's actually done it themselves and gotten it wrong a few times along the way. That's us.
✓ Multi-generational families
Grandparents to grandkids, all on one itinerary
✓ Multi-family friend groups
Families whose kids grew up alongside each other
✓ Milestone celebrations
Graduations, anniversaries, birthdays
✓ First-time European travelers
And seasoned travelers who don’t want to plan
What we're not:
We're not the right fit for a quick price quote or a package you could piece together yourself. We don't chase the lowest price on paper, because the cheapest airfare with a four-hour transfer gap isn’t a bargain. It’s a risk that could unravel the whole trip. We also realize that not every group needs a custom trip. If a cruise with a hotel stay just before or after the cruise in the same city fits your group better, we'll tell you on the first call. We're happy to book that for you, and since there's no custom itinerary involved, there's no planning fee either.
You've been thinking about Europe.
Here's how it becomes real.
01 Free planning call
No pitch, no quote. We learn what your group is after, talk through the budget honestly, and decide together whether we're a good match. It's a free 25-minute call.
02 Crafting the trip
Once we agree to work together and know what you're looking for, we map out the cruise, the route, and the land days. Turning two separate trips into one.
03 Tailoring it to your group
Group activities everyone can do together, with flexibility built in for anyone who needs a break or wants to split off.
04 Booking & coordinating logistics
Flights, hotels, transfers, and tours all get booked through partners we trust, then organized into one app your whole group can access. No searching through emails for confirmations or trying to remember what comes next.
05 Before, during & after support
We send reminders, answer questions, and stay available while you're traveling. We don't disappear after the booking.
Learn more about Our Process
Our family tradition is now our business.
We're Rich and Robyn, married for 24 years, parents to two teenage boys, and the people who always ended up organizing the trip for everyone else: the cruise bookings, the transfers, and everything else nobody wanted to deal with.
Before Family Tradition Travel Co. existed, we were the ones planning the family trips. Three weeks through Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland with eight people. Eighteen days from Venice to the Greek Islands with three generations. Iceland and the Baltics. London to the Norwegian fjords. We booked every cabin, every train, every hotel. The four sample trips on this site are those trips, and that's the experience we bring to yours.
Every photo on this website is from our own travels. No stock images.
Throughout our trips, we've learned a lot, and also gotten a few things wrong. On one trip, we cut it too close to a train in Naples, jumped out of a taxi stuck in traffic to walk the last stretch, and Grandpa couldn't keep up. We missed the train by just a few minutes and thought the day was lost. Fortunately, our private tour guide was willing to wait, and our day was back on track, but the lesson stuck: a group moves at the pace of the person having the hardest day, and the itinerary has to leave room for that.
A trip of a lifetime.
Planning a three-week trip around Europe is no easy task. Rich and Robyn planned every detail around the needs of our family of four, two adults and two adult children, who wanted to see historic landmarks, experience local cuisine, and make the most of every stop.
With pre-cruise, cruise, and post-cruise excursions across all three weeks, we left fulfilled, with a lifetime of memories. A year later, we still talk about our trip of a lifetime.
— Frank & Jill, friends & clients
A few things worth knowing up front.
How much does this cost?
Custom cruise-and-land trips start with a $250 base planning fee, plus $100 per additional household. That fee pays for the judgment it takes to build a trip around your specific group, balancing ages, paces, and interests so the days actually work together. Simpler bookings may not need that. We'll tell you which applies after the first call.
How far ahead should I book?
12–18 months for most European itineraries works best. Popular sailings fill quickly, and booking early locks in the best cabin selection and lodging that aligns with your group.
Is this right for first-timers?
Yes. Most of the families we're built for haven't done Europe this way before. We have done so four times, with groups of eight. We'll walk you through ports, transfers, and the pace that keeps grandparents and teenagers on the same trip.
Read all of our FAQs
If Europe has been on your list, let's find out if we're the right ones to help.
The trips we plan are the ones your family will still bring up years later. We keep our client list small, and we're honest about fit. Book a 25-minute call, and if it's not a match, we'll say so and point you somewhere better.
Planning a family trip to Europe? Timing matters more than you think.
Family cabins and connecting hotel rooms in Rome and Paris sell out earlier than most people expect. This two-page guide lays out what to lock in at 18, 12, and 6 months so you're choosing from the good options instead of whatever's left.
You'll also get an occasional note from us about planning group trips to Europe. Unsubscribe whenever you like.