Best Tips for Traveling with Kids

Here are some ideas that've worked for me in the past.
1) Plan stops during the day where they can burn off energy. Local parks are common in the center of many European cities...it gives you a chance to rest while they run around.
2) Walk their feet off! Most cities you will visit are easily do-able on foot. While kids get bursts of energy that we adults can't match, they don't hold up as well as adults do over the long haul. Walk...and they'll fall into bed and sleep soundly every evening.
3) Get healthy snacks....stop with them at the local market and pick up fruit, snack bars, and the like. Make them carry their own knapsack with a bottle of water and snacks inside. Limit junk food though...when my kids were younger, it seemed the more junk food they ate, the crankier they became.
4) Since you'll encounter lineups, letting them use an MP3 player or something similar might help keep them fidgeting as they wait to get into a museum. But make it clear to them from the outset that, when you say it's time for the earbuds to come out...away it goes.
5) Start them in now on learning more about the countries, cities, sights, and people they'll be meeting. Even simply Wikipedia articles can provide enough background to pique a child's interest. If they are able to relate what they're seeing to real people, even if they lived 3,000 years ago, it makes a far better connection with them than if they're simply shown some old pottery in a display case. Capitalize on whatever hobbies they have or games they play that may relate to the history of the places you're visiting....especially if your family or ancestors has some sort of connection to the place.
6) Rubber hammer....when all else fails....;)

Don't over plan ,, you say you are going to Europe,, so hopefully you are not doing a whirlwind move every two day type of itinerary .

As for kids,, haven't met a 7 yr old yet who won't just want some playtime at a park or playground,,, plan for it. Which cities are you going to?? Have you planned a beach break? Will you be in the mountains?

Even my 11 yr dd old ended up spending an hour at the Tuilleries playground ,playing with a 10 yr old she met.. just climbing on stuff and swinging etc..

And ,, all kids enjoy sites better if they have a little background info on them,, something gory is great for boys,( I would say things to my son like "can you imagine the battle that happened here",, or, "hard to believe the poor workers had to work with out safety harnesses on the roof at Notre Dame,, wonder how many perished",, etc.. gruesome, but interesting stuff..LOL)
PS My boys were both 14 when they got their Europe trps ,,they loved the Catacombs in Paris, Warwick Castle in England, Invalids war museum Paris, Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Tower,( and yes,, do the STAIRs and tire them out,, LOL , ) My 11 yr old DD loved our two days hiking in Switerzland, and the Luge ride, St Peters in Rome( it is just so darn big) and the Colisuem ( gladiator lore is juicy) .. etc.

I made all my kids do some research before we went, they had to pick 3 sites they wanted to see. All my kids went on seperate trips,, so everyone got to choose what mattered to them, and exclude what didn't ( for instance, my dd did not want to visit the Catacombs at all!)

There's an extensive thread on this names "just a comment and thoughts on travel with kids" on this board. It has some very good tips.

Norm has fantastic advice. The only thing I can add is to teach your children to like what you love, whether it be art or architecture or history or nature. Show them why it interest you and it is more likely to interest them. Don't give in to the expectation that because they are children they must be interested in nothing but ice cream and amusent parks. Treat them like little adults and they are more likely to act like it. Be sure they appreciate how big a deal it is for them to make a trip like this.

Good for you for taking them along.

By the way, our children prefer the atmosphere of youth hostels over flouncy hotels, but cottage rentals most of all.

1) Keep them fed. Even with a big breakfast, don't expect them to "power through" to a late lunch. A short sitting break, even paying the astronomical price for a soft drink outside the colesseum, will help you in the long run. Make sure they do get high quality food as often as possible - a real sandwich, pasta, etc. Buying bread, cheese, fruit in the morning means you can picnic anytime, anywhere.

2) At least every other day take a rest break - return to your hotel/apt. after lunch for 2 hours - either napping (probably the adults more than kids), reading, listening to ipod - QUIET time. What you lose in "sightseeing time" you will gain when you are all a little fresher during the later evenings that are part of the fun of a vacation.

3) Pick some outside/active adventures - we've rented bikes and visited ruined abbeys, canoed in France, gone swimming everywhere from the North Sea to the pool at the Tuscan agriturismo. My kids much preferred ruined castles to "palaces" - you can climb, run, imagine.

4) Give them a camera.

5) Don't underestimate your kids and their interests-good tips above that you need to start showing them things NOW so when they get there they will already be interested. There is a reason so many people want to see the Eiffel Tower - it is something they have been seeing pictures of throughout their life so they want to see it once they are in Paris. Same will be true of art, other historical sights. Watch movies now (and not just travel movies) that take place where you will go.

6) Slow down and enjoy. Limit 1 night stops. My kids got so much more out of staying 1 week in 1 place (lots of daytrips) than in a "if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium" style trip. Don't expect to see everything - you will only be disappointed. Enjoy what you DO see.

7) Eat gelato, croissants, chocolate every day (gelato should be twice a day) - whatever is a "specialty" treat of the country you are in. This is in ADDITION to #1, not instead of.

A lot depends on the kid. What do they like, what don't they like? Are they active? Do they like art, animals, hiking, castle ruins, gory torture museums?

Generally don't expect kids to happily sit still for long periods of time. Plan time when they can safely wander and explore. Castle ruins, parks, farms, lakes and rivers are good choices.

Scenic drives, opera, long restaurant meals may try their patience.

I asked my boys what they wanted to see before our first trip. "Castles." Ruins or restored? "Ruins." So we planned some visits to castle ruins.

Our daughter was happy with ruins but also really enjoyed museums - while the boys wanted to rush through.

They all liked anything with animals, water, hiking.

The boys also specifically asked for gory stuff. The torture museum in Rothenburg and a cheesy medieval plague themed "museum" in Florence. They came out with smiles on their faces and even threw in some thank yous - so they must have enjoyed them.

Ditto these...

-- Snack every 2-3 hours, tops

-- Camera (very affordable little digital ones now available)

-- Castle Ruins

-- Park time (depending on your destination country/city, could potentially take a bottle of wine with you to the 'park' and you and your hubby enjoy soem relaxed ambiance while they burn off energy)

Mine....

Have them plan part of the trip!! Make the 12-year old be your tour guide at one of the stops that is mnore than halfway through the trip. We are going to Spain in 2011, and our (will be) 10 year old is responsible for our day at Gibralter.

Cehck out this website -- www.travelforkids.com -- for things in your destination cities.

I know when we took our 13-year old friend of the family she loved the Duetches Muesuem in Munich -- huge section of trains, musical instruments, live lightning demonstration, and a big 'hands on' physics section just for kids.

If you do castles, and you'll be anywhere near the Rhine river valley --- don't miss Rheinfels Castle -- and in particular the mine tunnels beneath it! Here's Rick's write-up on Rheinfels. (We had a blast most of the day there with a 13 year old, a 2 year old... a 30-something, 40-something and 50-something... all of whom think they are 12....)

We are walkers and my son is really used to taking long walks - I think this has been very helpful because on vacations you will walk a lot. We aren't art museum people - when we went to the Louvre we chose to do a "highlights tour" through Pariswalks.com - it was at night and there were other kids - perfect for our short attentions spans. My son has really enjoyed historical buildings - Museum Amstelkring (Our Lord in the Attic), Anne Frank House, and The Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. Also - great zoo in Amsterdam. In Prague - loved the Astronomical Clock, the Mirror Maze, and the Jewish Cemetery (and all the sites in the Jewish Quarter). He has really loved smaller cities more than the biggies - he loved Haarlem and running around the square. Krakow too - really anywhere with a big square! We search out comic book shops and playgrounds. Everywhere we go we must get a Happy Meal - for the toy mostly. While we do fun things with him he really does what we want to do - but we are pretty fun parents - so he's always happy. Also, early to bed and early to rise works best for us!

I'll mimic all the answers with advice to do outdoor stuff. Make sure the kids have time to play and be outside, hopefully the weather will cooperate with that. Our kids have climbed around the Burren, swam in lakes in Germany, petted elk in Austria, gone on a (small) zipline on the Aran Islands. And all but one of these activities (the swimming -- it was a private lake, still pretty cheap) were free.

Daily ice cream is a must. I see it as a cultural experience, much like any other cuisine when you visit another country. An afternoon ice cream break is a great way to get off your feet and take a break for a while.

It can be hard to find information on outdoor kid activities in guidebooks. I've had better luck finding out about places like parks, playgrounds, petting farm on regional or city tourism websites.

Ice cream, however, is everywhere in Europe in the summer. Just look for the big plastic ice cream cone!

Very good suggestions, but I had to chime in that what Randy said worked for me when my kids were younger, and now they're "older" teens, they are amazingly well informed and incredible travellers.

Thanks Jim! The travel for kids website was great! I was a little concerned that my 2 sons (10 & 14) would get "churched and museumed" out! Really like to do things that I can't do here but need to mix it up a little too.
Have a couple suggestions from our trip to London/Paris 2 yrs ago:
London- The Wheel, Harry Potter at Kings Crossing, Madame Tussauds, double decker buses, changing of guard (I HATED this- way TOO many people!!)
Many museums are free!
Paris- Eiffel Tower- at night- very cool light show and big grassy area for kids to run around, Versaille- awesome gounds and of course the palace itself, Luxemborg Garden- sailboat "races"
Didn't include the "biggies"- they're fairly obvious.
Have fun!

Paris

One suggestion I'd add is to give the kids some responsibility. At home while you're planning the trip, get them involved with decisions about hotels, sites to see, etc. On the trip, give each of them some individual tasks. One my daughter's first trip to London at age 8, she was in charge of navigating our way through the underground. Did a great job, too. By age 10 in Italy, she learned the basic Italian greetings, menu words, and numbers. By 11 in Spain she could use basic Spanish and helped to read maps and road signs as we drove. Etc.