Europe with Toddlers

What time of year and for how long, not including arrival and departure days?

Any particular interests?

We are just starting to brainstorm, so are open to any time of year (besides middle of summer), probably between 1-2 weeks. No specific interests.

So anywhere, out of 44 countries, any time of year, no particular interests?

Yes lol
Figuring with two young kids, there wouldn’t be much time for museums/typical tourist draws. So I guess interests would be parks, walking areas that are enjoyable to be around without needing to do specific attractions to enjoy them, kid friendly activities.

This is not responsive to your question but my best advice is to NOT take toddlers to Europe. The flights will be far too long for them making you miserable and they will not even know where they are. Wait until they are old enough to appreciate and enjoy being in Europe which will also make your visit much more pleasant.

Do the children have passports? They are required to have them.

From CA, I suggest HAWAII, and see how they deal with the three hour time difference. Unfortunately, even Hawaii is hard on most children, and their families. With an 8-9 hour time difference, their days and nights would be completely mixed up. Good luck!

We took the parents and grand kids (1 & 4) to Paris several years ago. There are numerous parks and they had fun finding all the different carousels that are throughout the city. Last year at 6 & 9 we went to England and Ireland. They love to travel and are getting ready for Switzerland this summer.

My parents traveled back and forth across the pond with us at all ages. It's just part and parcel of kids.

I would think focusing on scenic areas and natural beauty rather than cities and museums is the right way to go. Some suggestions:

Saxon Switzerland (near Dresden): Great natural landforms, easy hikes, pretty villages, mini castles, and a quick jaunt into historic Dresden

Croatia: Maybe some beautiful coastal towns and beach along the Adriatic, a visit to the Plitvice Lakes National Park, maybe even some forest hikes

Swiss or Austrian Alps: Stay on a farm, go for hikes, visit nearby sites, take gondolas up mountains, see the cows, maybe a day to a city such as Zurich or Salzburg

Variations on the theme can apply virtually anywhere. The Wadden Sea in northern Germany and the Netherlands. A trip through the Swedish natural beauty. The French coasts. The Harz Mountains. The Dolomites. Tuscany.

You can get a fantastic European vibe, see villages and places you don't see in the US, get some sense of real European life, and still find it relaxing and enjoyable with small children. Sure, they will be cranky after the flight, just as adults are--so a bit of fussing is normal. Nothing a nap won't fix. But as parents, you know that anyway, and there is no reason not to travel with young children if your life allows it.

I completely disagree with the idea of not taking toddlers to Europe. When we lived in Australia we took our kids to Europe every couple of years, starting when they were 11 months and 2 years old respectively. Byy the time they were five, they'd been to the UK several times, as well as France and Italy. Flights were fine - I really don't understand why people are advising against it - people take toddlers to Europe from Asia and Australia all the time, so longer flights than coming from the US.

The best advice I can give is take your time, and don't overpack your schedule. We would normally take 2-3 weeks, and stay in two places. Probably the best trip we did was two weeks in the UK and two weeks renting an apartment in Paris.

Traveling with toddlers allows you to really explore, meet people (we found people very friendly and helpful) and see things you otherwise wouldn't see.

Both our kids, now grown up, have studied and now live overseas - one in Europe, and I believe starting traveling early set them up for life.

Definitely a topic that evokes passionate responses, pro & con. ( much like the discussion on 2 wheel vs 4 wheel luggage and IDPs)

Have you done any domestic (air) travel?: tried packing all the paraphernalia kids that age need into air travel size bags.?

As for a destination, perhaps where you have ancestral roots, if any, in Europe?

Once you determine how many days you will be 'there' and what time of year ( weather considerations) folks will have a better chance of providing useful suggestions that fit your criteria.

"Definitely a topic that evokes passionate responses, pro & con"

Definitely, and I don't want to leave the impression everything was easy, just that it can be very rewarding. We had the usual waking up at 3am and refusing to go back to bed for the first few days on arrival, and the "I need to go to the toilet right now" event when there was no toilet available (which led to the creation of what we called 'mandatory toilet stops' when we did find facilities). Ditto changing nappies (thanks Australian Embassy Paris for letting us in to use their change facilities). And then there were the massive treks up 10 flights of stairs to apartments carrying a double pram, not to mention steps in tube, metro etc.

Among the more colourful times of traveling with kids was Paris. An apartment near the Sorbonne in the middle of protest season was interesting, given the CRS riot police set up right in from of our apartment, and more than once we exited the metro to be met by a solid wall of shields. My then 2 year old son found it incredibly entertaining, and by the end of the stay was familiar with all their equipment, which they happily showed him. We did quickly work out that when they start banging on their shields with batons and moving forward, it's time to go.

Rome was also colourful (who would have thought you can get pickpocketed when you're distracted by toddlers?) and in both the UK and Italy we almost ended up with the smallest member of the family on the wrong train by themselves.

What I was struck by was people's kindness - there's something about small kids that makes even the busiest people slow down and smile. The times in playgrounds, supermarkets., parks etc where we met friendly peoople made all that traveling more fun.

The mental image I get from the simple phrase "toddlers in Europe" makes me very happy indeed. Thanks to the OP for engendering that image.

I agree with Simon, people have a tendency to be more open and friendly when there’s children involved. And frankly, they do better on the flights than we do. They usually start out by being invited into the cockpit and getting a set of plastic wings. They also manage to make themselves much more comfortable in their seats than I ever can. And yes, the 4 year old now 9 does remembers some of the trip because he now wants to know when are we going back to Paris to see the twinkling lights on the Eiffel Tower and eat Nutella crepes. And yes, it’s a lot of work but the adults don’t complain because of the adventures and the rewards.

We personally could not have managed to take toddlers to Europe. Travel logistics are just to much with two children that will need a secure hand or sometimes carried. When we would visit family for a weekend and drove, it was a production. Consideration for sleeping, luggage, potential car seats, all the kids entertainment needs, clothing, toiletries, etc., etc.) would have been too much. Packing light for a 1 year old and 3 year old is not possible.

If you decide to go, I would suggest one location. In an internet check, Malta came up as a family friendly place to visit.

Here is a link: https://www.visitmalta.com/en/category/family-holidays-in-malta/

It's a good point about how much time you have. For Australians it's pretty common to take 3-4 weeks for a big trip. Given the OP has less time, that does make it more challenging. And yes, maybe the tough bits of taking toddlers abroad have for me been lost in the warm glow of reminisce!

You have 50 choices in Europe ... but I would choose the UK, non-stop, about the shortest flight and easy to navigate as many in the UK understand American. The last choice would be Azerbaijan for the same reasons "not."

If there's somewhere you can get to on a nonstop flight, I'd strongly consider that. We stayed near Retiro Park in Madrid with slightly older kids and went to that park several days. Some museums will have a children's room or craft activities.

Check out the traveling with kids section of this teacher’s site the tidy dad. He has recommendations. I am all for traveling with one’s family. Otherwise, why bother to have one?

We didn't travel internationally with the kids until last year, but we did make frequent trips domestically with them. They are now 11 and almost 9, so I'm trying to remember what they were like at that age (haha). Honestly, that might be an easier age to travel with them than when they are, say 5 and 2, for the simple reason that you can put them in the stroller and just go. Strap them in and they are at your museum-hopping mercy! In all seriousness, we took the boys to NYC for a short trip when they were these ages (just a quick a train ride for us) and they were fine. We visited the American Museum of Natural History and the younger one was fine in the stroller while the older one wander around spouting dino facts. We also had a stroller in reserve for him. When I say stroller, note that I'm talking about the little umbrella strollers that are easy to transport/carry.

So, really I would say go where you want and the kids have no choice but to follow - But here's my recommendation: London. The Tube is a breeze to get you around the city. The 3 will love the Natural History Museum and the Transport Museum. There are plenty of parks so you can run them. The Zoo is AMAZING - one of the highlights of our trip. You can take day trips by train to the seaside or Cotswolds - or even stay for a few nights at a nice resort in the country. Go to Windsor and take them to the castle - and Legoland! We found London/England to be a great way to start our boys' international travels.

Have you flown anywhere with the children previously? Every child takes flying differently. Our grands are 3, 5 and 7. The older two have been fine with flying since they were 3 and 5. The youngest one thinks an airplane is a torture device and will scream the whole flight. After flying from California to North Carolina for a move, my daughter-in-law never wants to get on a plane with him again. We are doing a lot of flights to the east coast. :-P

But other than that, I see no reason not to travel with kids if that's what you want to do. I'd scope out parks so you can take breaks and just let the kids run around. Maintain nap times since it's better to do fewer things with happy kids than a lot of things with unhappy kids. Trade off an afternoon for you each to do something you'd like to do that isn't feasible with children.

And I agree with Allison--London makes a great first European trip. Plenty to do in one place. Plenty of the aforementioned parks. Not much in the way of a language barrier. Happy travels.

I too disagree about not taking young kids to Europe. I took the kids to Portugal by myself when they were 4 and 7. Best decision ever. We met my husband there as he was in a port stop.

On the flight over, there was a man who was maybe 25, who was seated next to the 4yr old. He told me at the end of the flight that he was dreading sitting next to my son, but that he was wrong. Our son slept for most of the flight.

That trip set us up so that we kept traveling and we always took the kids with us. They really benefited from that. Both kids did study abroad semesters in Europe while in college and both travel extensively.

We were never stationed anywhere near family so did not have babysitters. So we always did everything with the kids. I do not regret that at all as we had the best times. Seeing things through the eyes of kids is very different and they open a lot of doors.

My wife and I waited until our girl was 5 or 6 for Europe. But not as some sort of hard and fast rule. Just thought at that stage of her development it might be more interesting to her.

Previous to that plenty of trips to Maui. Tiny kids do seem to dig Hawaii.

True enough that Europeans in general like kids and tend to open up more when you have them. For us the French in particular very actively interacted with our pretty little girl from 5 through maybe 9.

Absolutely take toddlers to Europe. Go anyplace you want to go. European cities are IMO easier for parents. Northern Europe might be more comfortable temperature-wise; especially if you are lugging an infant backpack.

You're smart to minimize travel days. That's good advice; kids or no kids.

Be flexible
Randomly interspersing "park" times when the opportunities present; kids need to run
Plan down times; even outside of nap times, kids need to unwind and have time where they aren't stimulated
It's much harder but still try to pack light.
Have fun. Create awesome memories.

Our older son and his wife took their children to Europe several times before they were age 5. The first trip was when the firstborn was 8 months old; they went to Ireland and had a wonderful time. Second time was to Paris for a family wedding; the boy was 15 months and a “holy terror” in my son’s words. They said no more travel with a child that age. But then we invited them to join us in London for a week when their boy was 4 and his little sister was 22 months. We all had a great time. The toddler had one meltdown in Kew Gardens when she was not allowed to chase a peacock, but otherwise it was all fun.

For that trip, we had a nice 2-bed apartment close to the Thames pedestrian path, where the kids could safely run and play. We rented a 2-kid stroller that was delivered to the apartment. My daughter-in-law became an expert a finding good playgrounds, and child -friendly restaurants (one was an Ottolenghi place where we sat at the shared table with an actress my daughter-in-law recognized, also with a small child. They struck up a friendly conversation while their 2 toddlers played, and the cafe staff looked on with tolerant amusement.

As long as you are willing to carry and juggle all the paraphernalia necessary, (car seats, diaper bag, etc.) and slow down your activities to accommodate naptimes, possible tantrums, and other child-related glitches, you should have a good time. I recommend you limit your destination choice to places you can reach with a single direct flight—-no plane changes. From the major California airports (LAX and SFO) that gives you London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, maybe Frankfurt and Dublin; and others I am not aware of.

I will add that much of Scotland and Ireland’s appeal are outdoor locations, so might be good to consider. But London and another smaller city as bases might be good. With a car, the Cotswolds (Stow on the Wold?) might be a good pairing with London: gardens, small villages, and petting zoo-type places.

I really enjoyed this thread, lord knows why because I've not traveled with toddlers. But what struck me was the degree to which planning helped people have good trips with little ones along. I agree I've rarely seen a child poorly behaved on an airplane, maybe all the newness, incredible games at every seat. BTW if people recommend Baby Benadryl, be sure you ask your pediatrician & test it out before flying, my GF's 2-year old had a hyperactive reaction and was zooming around the entire 8 hours, not what you'd be hoping for.

I love planning, so Lauren if you do some work ahead of time, I bet you could have a fabulous time! I think figuring out transport ahead of time, how long things take (I understand 2x as long with kids??) would be key. I wouldn't do this for a week, jet lag is real and requires at least a few days of adjusting. Maybe 10 days minimum. Agreed, one destination, maybe 2 places nearby without flying if you have 2 weeks? If you choose London, I'd consider Oxford, which has a fantastic Natural History museum and lots of parks. And you can just take the train there, and a bus to LHR leaving. You could also do a multi-leg journey, let's say arrive in London, leave from Paris or Amsterdam & take the train in between? Come back to us when you narrow your choices, I'm sure many people will have specific ideas!

Thanks, all! This is helpful!

A quick broader question, not at all meant to implicate anything in particular:

With a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, Europe is essentially about Europe for the parents? The 3-year-old is going to register that you're not at home, but you could be in San Francisco or Toronto or Cabo San Lucas or Vienna or a hotel 20 miles from home and it's not going to make a difference to the kid. As far as I can see with a little kid anyway. And the 1-year-old is a baby.

Is that right? I'm not sure that when our girl was five or six that much registered with her about Europe. I think when she was seven or eight she started to understand it a little better. Does Europe add particular value for a 3-year-old outside of the general value of traveling somewhere different?

Again, not trying to be backhanded or second guess! I always think "pretty cool" when I see American tourist in Europe with tiny kids. I'm just curious if others have a different concept about what it means to the kid relative to easier destinations. Thanks

When our daughter was 15 mo, we took her to Paris, then took an overnight train to Florence and then train to Rome. I would classify the trains as "easy transport". We did not take a carseat., but should have taken one for taxis. We stayed across the street from the Vatican Museums so we could take turns leaving her in the hotel with the other parent or grandparents while we went to the Museums. The airline lost our good stroller on the trip to Europe and the amount they reimbursed us only paid for the most basic cheap stroller. We were very fortunate to have my in-laws with us because it took all 3 of us to carry her and her stuff.