First Time to Europe (with kids!)

Those three cities are very doable in two weeks.
You can add day trips to them too.

Certainly doable. But in my opinion I would pick 2 cities and spend a week in each. Travel is difficult- You lose 2 days getting to and from- so you have 12 days. How were you planning on getting between cities? We 2 adults found having to get to airport, go thru security and then travel out to hotel took much of a day and was exhausting. I think London and Paris would be ideal for your kids, lots to do, easy to travel in, easy to add day trips to widen your horizons. The London Transport museum is so fun for a 6 year old, as are the Kensington park playgrounds. Double decker bus is great too.

With kids, I would consider renting a car. Carrying all the stuff, managing a 6 MO and nappies galore, a car just makes the whole thing more sane.

I recommend agrotourismo locales, which are rural places (farms) that rent out rooms. Our kids (21, 21, 24) really enjoyed our stay on a farm with cats, chickens, goats. Kids don't see travel like adults do.

Ok, I may be the lone voice of dissent here, but I think changing locations that many times in two weeks with children that young is not a great idea - especially since this is your first trip to Europe.
With two weeks, I'd drop Amsterdam and spend a week in London and one in Paris - there is more than enough to see and do in each city for a week. That way you can see a fair amount of what each city has to offer at a more relaxed pace.
Definitely rent an apartment in each city and don't overplan your itinerary and you should have a great time.

Thanks! I thought 3 cities may be a bit much. We were planning on taking trains to get to each (fly into London and fly home from Amsterdam). It was a toss up between London-Paris-Amsterdam or Italy --> Rome-Florence-Venice. I don't want to overbook and be shuttling to and from the entire 2 weeks. Any thoughts on Italy as a comparison?

We have not been to London yet (it's on our list for 2019), but we visited Amsterdam and Paris in one trip with our then 4 and 6 year old daughters in April 2016. We had 5 days in Amsterdam and 8 days in Paris.

I think it's a lot to fit in three major cities in two weeks with those ages. We have an eight-week trip for 2019 that we are planning, and we are trying to ensure we do not bounce around too much because that is hard with littles. And honestly, it short changes the areas because you don't have enough time. It takes one day to travel between each place, and you will also be dealing with jet lag, which causes some site seeing hours to be lost the first day or two. I recommend cutting it down to two cities.

My daughters both absolutely loved Amsterdam, with the younger in particular enjoying it more than Paris. It's a very small city and so easy to get around to see everything. We took the train to Harlaam for a day so I could visit the Corrie ten Boom house with my older daughter, and that day turned into one of our two favorite experiences. Haarlem is a beautiful old city, it had our favorite church we saw (Grote Kerk) and it was only a 15 minute train ride, if I recall correctly. We found so many cute little shops (came home with chocolate and cheese!), and if it hadn't rained, there was a nice windmill and playground we had been hoping to see. We also absolutely loved the tulips in Keukenhoff, which is the main reason we chose to visit Amsterdam. It was magnificent and a very bright memory for both my girls still. I think they will be over by late May, but you can sign up for email alerts since it really depends year by year when they are blooming. Our girls also loved the library (this was a surprise hit that was very fun!), walking around the town, the boat tour of the canal, and my 6 year old absolutely loved the Van Gogh museum. We felt we didn't have nearly enough time in Amsterdam as we enjoyed it so much more than we had anticipated. I know we would all go back again in a heartbeat if we didn't have a million other places on our list we want to go! It was such a kid friendly city and truly was a beautiful place.

Paris had been a bucketlist wish for our 6 year old as well as for me, and it did not disappoint. It was rainy and cool, but that did not deter us at all. We had thought we would take some day trips outside of the city, but that never happened as we never quite finished everything else we wanted to do- there was so much! We got the museum pass and went to a museum each day. With little kids, even with one who loves art, after a few hours, they are done. The pass was great because we were fine just popping into one for an hour or two, then hitting another later in the day for another hour. The Musée de l'Orangerie was our family favorite. We saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre and a few other items, and I highly recommend the Friday night hours for that museum as my 6 year old was able to sit on the floor and sketch the painting for a good 30 minutes since hardly anyone was there. We did a macaron challenge where we had to buy a macaron each from every place we passed that sold them, and we tried to find the best ones in Paris. It was an expensive but very fun experience that we still talk about! Playing with the boats at Luxembourg Gardens and Tuileries Garden was such a hit we did it twice in both places, although we preferred the one at Luxembourg Gardens due to the setting, nicer boats, and bigger pond. Our girls loved Sainte-Chapelle and Saint-Sulpice more than Notre Dame because they were not as busy. We went up the Eiffel Tower three times (get tickets ahead of your trip). My older daughter took a kids cooking class at Cook'n with Class in Montemarte that was great fun, while my husband and younger daughter explored around the neighborhood and rode the train.

So, given that we have not yet been to London, I recommend keeping Amsterdam and Paris and dropping London.

I would like to disagree with some of the comments above. These three locations in two weeks is very do-able, and all three have plenty of kid-friendly places to visit. But there is no way I would fly.
Equally no way rent a car. A car is totally useless in all 3 cities. And you cannot rent a car in one country and return it in an other without paying very high fees. Many companies will not let you take a car across the Channel.

The best way to get between these cities is by High Speed Train. London to Paris in 2½ hours, Paris to Amsterdam in 3½ hours, city centre to city centre with no airports to fight with. And children have a lot more freedom on a train.

Read this web page (and watch the video): https://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm
And: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm#Paris-Amsterdam

Make sure you fly open-jaw (into London and out of Amsterdam).

I would be reluctant to do too much with a 19 month old. They're getting heavy to carry and still need a lot of gear. So I too think you should limit your cities to two. I just think you should make Amsterdam one of them.

Why? Because transport is bus rather than metro eliminating all those stairs. Because the food will appeal to a six year old. Because there are so many easy day trips by train. Because the art museums are smaller and easier to get through with a six year old. Because the city itself is a sight, and and easy to manage one at that. And finally because they have the very best, most easily managed airport.

My first trip with 2 Kids (4 years and 18 months) was a little over a week, London and Paris. 4 nights each. It worked fine. So I think you can do those 3 cities in 2 weeks, if you mean a full 2 weeks AND limited to no day trips. Let’s say 13 nights in Europe (not counting the overnight flight). 4nights in one city, 5 in another and 4 in the third. Amsterdam can be seen in the shorter time, London and Paris have more to me. Now, if you want to explore the countryside with day trips...pick 2 cities.

Your 3 have easy connections between them. I’d fly into London, then on to Paris by train (fast, easy), then to Amsterdam then home.

You can buy diapers there, no need to lug stuff all over the continent. Bring a day or two’s starting supply, then buy. Food is also easy (baby food, milk, or regular food).

Pack light - lots of luggage and trains don’t mix. Do laundry. Renting apartments with a washer is helpful, but you can find laundromats and laundry services.

I'll add that we also did the train from Amsterdam to Paris. It's very easy, and the kids liked it.

It's entirely possible to do three cities in two weeks. It's just a matter of personal preference if you want to or not. That's all. We have done it (in Japan) with young kids and found we would have preferred not to do so. It doesn't mean it isn't possible or that it's crazy or that you won't enjoy it. It's just what you would prefer. In the end, you know your kids best.

Even without kids I would spend a week each in London and Paris. There are so many things to do and see in each city that you will be planning return trips by the time you fly home. (We've been to each several times and will not doubt go back again.)

Get apartments so resting/napping/mornings are easy. The EuroStar to Paris from London is a dream. Fly into one city, out of the other, of course.

I would skip Amsterdam for now. Do it later.

London and Paris are great cities with lots to see and do. Also there are great places for day trips from London like Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Salisbury, Canterbury, Oxford, Cambridge and more. Paris, consider going to Versailles.

With four in your family, you may try AirB&B, not sure how easy to find hotel room for four.

Hi Adria!

It seems like you are getting many different opinions :)

I travel with my children all the time (now 2 years old and 5 years old). We travel super light. No need for a lot of gear (i.e one carryon, one medium backpack, one pockit stroller and one ergo carrier). Like mentioned above, diapers can be bought on the road. At 19 months, the baby can eat table food and drink cow milk, so no need for "special" food. People always caution about including many stops, but we have found that our children enjoy the change of scenery, and really love the trains.

We don't rent a car unless we are exploring a region with poor public transport like the Dordogne, Tuscany or some greek island.

With 2 weeks, you definitively have time to do London-Paris-Amsterdam. But, by doing only cities in Europe, you miss some of the charm of the villages/countryside that you and your children would really enjoy. You mentioned Italy as an alternative. I love Italy (we keep coming back). My eldest still talks about her stay on a agriturismo near Pienza when she was 3 years old, and she remembers her swing in villa we rented in Capri; the swing overlooked the Mediterranean blue sea, and grape wines grew over the trellis and provided shade.

Have fun planning!

A.

Staying out of cities entirely and traveling only by car is probably the easiest, best option, for a young family.