England yay or nay with 2 year old?

I would wait until your child is 4. We took our child when she was 4 and it was fine-although I did have to feed her lunch at the nearby restaurant that advertised a Flintstones Happy Meal before she could focus on a visit to the British Museum. She doesn't remember anything about that trip, but she did enjoy herself at the time. There was a grocery store near the Tube Station closest to our flat and I would buy her some Skittles there to bribe her to walk the 10 blocks to get there. You need to know your child-many children are not as travel-compatible as ours. (She got on the plane for the trip over the pond and announced that she was going to color, eat her meal, and then go to sleep-and she didn't wake up until an hour before we landed!) The Natural History Museum was enjoyable. Kensington Gardens has a playground, I think-it definitely was a great place to run around. Tower of London is good for kids. A 4 yr old might be excited to see Windsor when told that a real queen lives there, and they have an ice cream stand. A 4 yr old girl would enjoy going to a fancy tea.

"Is everything easy by train?"

Not everything, but there are plenty of nice places with easy access by train or bus to last for a lifetime of holidays in England.

Your alternative:

If you want to skip driving look for places you can get to by train.

If you have a list of must gos see whether it's better/possible by train or only by car.

"I feel like London has so many must see sights and museums that might be hard to go to at this age so it might not be worth it for us ?"

Agree, go easy on the classic sights. If there is a place one of you want to really see you could split for a half day and while one of you takes care of the toddler the other could check out her favourite sight in peace. For example one day you could go to see HMS Belfast or whatever while your wife is entertaining your son, then the other day you play with the kid while your wife is going to Tate Modern.

With a 2 year old after a couple of days in London you'd better go for a classic bucket and spade holiday in sunny Cornwall and take it easy.

https://www.coolplaces.co.uk/blog/105-bucket-and-spade-holidays

If you're taking a child under a certain age to Europe, at an age where they will remember nothing, you're going for yourself, not for them. Absolutely nothing wrong with this....parents of young children deserve all the joy a trip can bring.

I think 2 would be too young personally. They won’t remember anything of it and that’s a long flight. Is there a trusted relative you could leave the child with? At two, I think they’re even too young for children exhibits at the museums. I’ve spent a lot of time taking care of toddlers and it’s often not fun at home, much less in a foreign country when you’re spending the type of money necessary for a European trip.

My friends and I travelled a lot in England and then to Venice with a 6 month old, and then again when she was 3. We had a great time and as long as you are prepared and have plenty to keep them busy, you can do it.

We are going to the UK in a few weeks and were invited over to friends of ours house whose daughter, husband and two year old had recently visited. The found air bnbs with portable cribs and basically accommodated as much as they could. They had traveled to the UK before and did so by car this time which allowed them more ability to stop wherever. Her mom is from England they wanted to be able to stop and visit with old friends who did not live conveniently by the train.

I did notice they were talking of returning to Europe and leaving their son with her parents.

I think they had a good time but clearly not the same as traveling without children.

Personally, if you don't expect to go back for awhile, I would wait until your child is older. If this will be one of many trips, then I would go for it.

There was a time on this Forum when no one dared to suggest that it just might not be enjoyable, for the child or parents, to take a child to Europe, no matter what the age.
The quality of advice on the Forum has apparently improved.

In 1992 we went to Ireland with kids aged 8, 5, 2, and 4 months, along with a large cardboard box containing a bicycle trailer, a baby seat and six helmets. We rented a boat and three bicycles and went up and down the Shannon River for two weeks. Was it the same kind of trip we would have had without kids? No. Did we enjoy it? Yes. The youngest two don't remember it, but it was a great experience for the older two. The first trip my youngest remembers is driving around Italy in a camper for two weeks when he was 3, so yours won't remember this trip, but if you want to take her go for it.

ETA: We all went to London for a week the following year when he was 14 mos.

Kent, at one point in time, Rick's guidebooks recommended that the first leg of a European journey with young children should be the trip to the grandparents to drop them off.

As someone else suggested, do it for yourself, not your toddler. That is if living with a two year old on the road is something you enjoy. If he is mobile, make sure that he minds the gap and looks right before crossing.

My recollection of those child rearing years is there is a reason for the term "terrible twos". Two year olds are going though a lot of changes that they have difficulty in expressing without a big fuss and are too young for rational reasoning. I remember one long over water flight where he kept pulling his mother towards the airplane's door. We finally realized he had enough of seat confinement and wanted to get off the plane.

On another memorable trip with our first child when he was 2, I still remember dinner an a "nice" top of the Hyatt restaurant with mother and child. Fortunately it was a late dinner having arrived from the West Coast because the restaurant was not busy. My memorable recollection is one of our waitresses volunteering to carry the unhappy child around while we finished our dinner.

We were huge travelers before we had kids. Kids definitely change things. We decided we were going to remain huge travelers after they were born, just in a different way. Up until last year, we have focused on US travel with the kids...beach, mountains, family camp, Disney Cruises. Still scratching that travel itch so to speak. Last year, we took the plunge and took the 8yo and 11yo to Europe. We had a great time and the kids did well. The last time we had been to Europe was spring 2006. You will note that the oldest child was born in fall 2006. Yes, it was an 11-year hiatus to Europe. I don't regret that. My kids were not easy travelers when they were young. There was no way I could have dealt with a time change and a long flight with them. But after repeated trips and reinforcing travel expectations (e.g. kids carry own suitcases, proper car and plane behavior) they have become quite the good little travel companions.

Only you can answer your own question. Is your two-year old easygoing? Have you tried a domestic trip with him/her before? Have you flown with him/her before? How did the child do? If the child is high-maintenance in America, s/he will be high maintenance in Europe. If the kid is easy in America, you may be just fine in Europe. Are you thinking of having a 2nd child? If so, you may want to go now before #2 is born, as it just gets harder (and more expensive) to travel the more of them you have. I'm also an advocate of "I'm not flying halfway around the world to go to children's museums, aquariums, and playgrounds" - so when I take my kids somewhere expensive and with a long flight, it's going to be for things that I can't see here at home, and things that I also enjoy as an adult.

Finally, I'll close with reiterating that Disney Cruises are awesome for kids. This is a great, easy way to do "Europe lite," especially with a little one.

Save your money and don't travel with a toddler.

Ok thanks for the input I think someone did mention yes I’m more concerned with England versus Italy because we’ve never been to England before so I don’t know how kid friendly the whole trip would be (like would London be too overwhelming) we’ve traveled all around Asia and the US but that was before he was a more mobile toddler who would need some activity time set aside (ie playground, running around etc) he’s a good traveler otherwise and not taking him issnt an option!

We love traveling in the UK. We find the people to be polite, friendly and helpful. Also, they speak our language.

We didn't travel with kids, but I would not see a problem because you plan on taking a child.

Either or.

Your child wil not remember anything. So your focus should be primarily on what you want. However you've highlighted London as a potential choice yet left the whole country of Italy as the comparison!

As I'm sure you'll appreciate, London is not representative of England just as Rome is not representative of Italy. All I will say is that travelling within England, particularly when comparing London with Rome, is that England will be easier with a two year old.

All the 'must see sights' will be for your benefit only, your child will have no interest in them, whatever country. Two year olds are interested in playing in water, food and animals.

Have you looked for any travel guide books for London with Kids? I think Fodor's or Frommer's does one. That would help with those hidden parks. Many neighbourhoods were built around private central gardens, but at times they were kept under lock and key. Would be interesting if they are now gone, or unlocked. Windsor Castle use to be a boat ride to it, and every castle is going to have grounds and gardens. Running off steam will be imperative. We couldn't afford that type of travel, but I remember a lot of playgrounds and looking at everything from a stooped adult knee-high position.

I have a now three-year-old grandson. Even traveling across town with him is an ordeal, requiring constant attention and distraction to keep him occupied, dry, and not wandering off. You must know your child's attitude, and how it will be to be in confined spaces for long periods of time.

I've never travelled with children to Europe, however, when we've visited London, one of our favourite places to be outdoors is Hyde Park.

Nearby Hyde Park is Kensington Gardens with a very popular playground and the Elfin Oak:

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/things-to-see-and-do/diana-memorial-playground

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens/things-to-see-and-do/memorials-fountains-and-statues/elfin-oak

One tip: Some of the Tube underground stations in London have very long sets of escalators ... and if they or the elevators (lifts) are out of service, be prepared to carry your child and (lightweight) stroller for long distances (up or down).

Last year, we did a three-week trip to London, York, and the Ribble Valley with our then-fifteen-month-old. I'm sorry, but anyone who says I should stop traveling while I "wait" for my child to be "old enough" is insane. Travel is a skill and it can be learned, even by toddlers. My son may not remember that trip fro the rest of his life, but he still talks about the things we did in London that he clearly remembers - riding on the red buses, seeing the Horse Guards, and taking a boat ride on the Thames. Yes, it might be hard at times, but so is parenting.

We found London to be extremely kid friendly with a lot of parks. We planned on one "adult" sight a day and kept our schedule very flexible. The British Museum was overwhelming for my toddler, so he amused himself by climbing up and down the marble stairs while my husband and I took turns looking at exhibits. We picnicked in Kensington Gardens with a view of the palace, enjoyed tea at the cafe of the Natural History Museum, and made friends in every pub we visited (babies are great icebreakers)! No, it's not going to be the same trip as you would have done pre-toddler, but that doesn't mean it's a bad trip, or a waste of money.

We are going to Italy with our son, now 2.5, in the fall. I think it will also be a great place for him to visit. (But I'd maybe recommend against Venice.) Truly, I don't think you can go wrong, although England certainly has the lack of a language barrier working in your favor. Don't let naysayers scare you away from what could be an incredible family experience. I have other tips from our trip to England last year that I'd be happy to share if you're interested.

So many good pieces of information, I'll add mine. My daughter is getting ready to turn 8, she has been to Europe every year since I was 5 months pregnant with her and will be taking her 25th+ flight later this month. My husband and I love to travel and we felt that as long as we could do it financially and she was healthy and happy, we would continue it with her. She loves to go, she's even learning to speak German at school. She of course does not remember the early trips but does remember bits and pieces of trips starting at age 3. When she was that young, we did the things we wanted to do, took breaks for naps (although she took quite a few in her stroller), had no problem finding food/snacks for her and everyone she came in contact with loved her. We would take time to let her run and play in a park and always went to the zoo if possible. I found European zoos much larger, more park like and had some animals our local zoo did not. We started looking forward to going to the various zoos, even now.

If you have traveled the US with them, then you will already have an idea on what traveling will be like anywhere else you go. Unless he/she is an extremely picky eater or has food allergies/sensitivities, they will be able to eat whatever you give them with no problem. I never had problems finding diapers/pull ups, wipes, etc when she was still in that stage. Hotels always had pnp's available (they are larger than the American versions, I think she still slept in one at the age of 3). Just be aware that all of the ones we used charged a daily fee for it.

Some kids are great travelers at that age, others are not. Many of us on here can offer you tips and such on what we have done that worked or did not work. Only you can really decide if you think its worth it for you all to go. For us, it was the perfect thing to do, it was not any different than traveling closer to home and we made very few changes to what we usually did with her just because we were in Europe. I say go, it can be worth it. They will find the fun in doing things there that you don't normally do at home, such as riding the double decker buses, the Tube, etc.

I would say 'go for it'. The first time we took our kids to Europe - a month in London and Paris - they were 1 and 3 respectively. We're in London at the moment on trip number six, and they're 14 and 16 and still love this city. They don't necessarily remember that first trip, but we have very special memories - changing nappies in a doorway in the freezing cold, lugging a pram down the steps in the tube during rush hour, looking for somewhere to heat a bottle of milk, getting stuck between police and protester lines when they fired tear gas (that was Paris)... the list goes on!

What I'm saying is - it's worth it. No need to wait until they're older.