Ideas for Family Friendly Regions to Explore?

Bavaria (link) was first coming to my mind. On one hand the Franconian area (Nuremberg, Bamberg, ...), on the other the beautiful German Alpine Road (link).

Another option I see around the Baltic Sea: from Usedom over World Heritage Stralsund and Wismar to Schwerin castle and former Hanseatic League Lübeck with beautiful beaches and hideaways but also the Danish part from wider Copenhagen area to Swedish Skåne or up the coast to Norwegian border.

Or: have a look at the triangle Amsterdam, Hamburg (incl. Lübeck) and Harz mountains. Some beautiful beaches and Frisian islands (Dutch and German) completed by the myth-loaded national park around mount Brocken with beautiful Goslar.

As alternative to good idea Tuscany I like to throw in the region South Tyrol and the area up to Lake Garda.

Finally Fjord Norway with its natural beauty offers always a promising car round trip.

If you decide for parts of Germany I recommend to check early the validity of driving licenses for all possible drivers and to get IDPs (mandatory for driving permission by law).

Thank you very much for these great leads! Will absolutely be taking a look.

My wife and I's last trip was around Norway Fjords so while I would love to do that again probably is out for this go round :)

Thanks again!

It does depend on what time of year your trip would be, but Venice always springs to my mind as a child/family-friendly place to spend 7–10 nights. No cars, no motorcycles, towers to climb, bridges, a beach (even in winter), boats to watch, easy train travel to other towns, easy and fun transportation by vaporetto, plenty for adults to see and do for at least a month, child-friendly restaurants (because in Italy they usually are), outdoor fish and food markets, piazze for a kid to run around in, and lots of apartments big enough to hold you all. We've taken kids who are 10, 8, and just 6 to Venice. Also a just 4-year-old to another part of Italy and he loved all the difference between home and Italy, like how toilets flush and how he could safely play while we ate at outdoor tables at restaurants. All the kids I've mentioned were (and still are) quite, uh, opinionated eaters and they all found plenty to eat in Italy.

Everyone is going to be demonstrating their biases on this question, and I refuse to be an exception. LOL

So, five of you, so cost might be an issue. Budapest is about 1/3 cheaper than Western Europe (although maybe not Lisbon). A nice three-bedroom apartment here is going to be less than $200 or you can spend a lot more and get one with a roof top pool.

The other positive on the cost category is that a car isn’t necessary or even practical. If you do get one, no matter where you choose, figure 30 euro and up a night to park it. Then there is high gas prices and tolls. Adds up fast.

Again on cost, 65+ ride all the public transportation and the trains for free.

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Okay, doesn’t matter how cheap it is if you don’t like it. So ……….
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Budapest is arguably (naaa, not really arguably), the most beautiful capital city in Europe. The architecture and the culture (for adults) is hard to beat. Opera, Theater, Concerts (trade off with grandparents) and magnificent food from every cost category.

For parents / daughter time there is a pretty amazing zoo, and the architecture there is even worth it. There is the Circus, which in keeping with current trend is more about acrobatics and entertainment than it is about animals in chains. There are two amazing parks. City Park with boating and walks through the wooded areas (and again some stunning old and new architecture) and Margrit Island wich is a giant park with fountains and gardens and a bath complex that caters to the young and the old.

Yes, you will need to use some public transportation. But when you get on you will find the locals with their children as well. This is very much still a living city and not a tourist citadel like DisneyLand.

Want to get out of town? Take a boat up the Danube to Szentendre, or the train to wander the old town in Gyor or Eger or Pecs. Depending on which 2.5 to 3 hours each way. Remember grandparents ride free and there is a discount for small children.

If you end up here when there is some special event going on, they always include something for the kids to do.

If this interests you at all, I am happy to do a little research on the date and activities for the young. I had 2 of my grandchildren from the states (well actually my son is stationed in Germany right now) here this year. The youngest only about 1 year older than yours. They enjoyed. I have another, younger than yours coming from the states later this year.

Favorite Video: https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared

Several have been mentioned, but my takes:

Andalusia would be great, lots to see, great food, a car would offer efficient transportation. You could even base yourself somewhere, maybe on the coast, and easily get to Granada, Cordoba, Seville, Cadiz, the White Towns, and more. The caveat is that while you do not mention time of year, June through August would be tough with the heat and crowds.

With a car, Portugal has possibilities, I would think of basing somewhere in Northern Portugal, between Lisbon and Porto, lots of smaller towns to see, the Douro valley, cooler than the South of Spain and Portugal, and you could finish up in Porto or Lisbon.

The area of the Netherlands between Amsterdam and Rotterdam has lots of possibilities, with a plus being that a car would not be needed with the great public transport. You could base in Leiden for example, and have Amsterdam, Haarlem, Utrecht, Den Haag, Rotterdam, Antwerp, all within easy daytrip distance, plus loads of smaller towns.

Basing yourself near Koblenz, Germany, at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel offers loads of small towns and scenic valleys. Cologne within reach, Aachen a bit further. While no beach, there are a number of Thermae, baths, that offer a range of pools, and for the adults, sauna areas (sans clothes though).

For Greece, the islands would mean hauling everyone on ferries, but you could base in Nafplio on the Peloponnese. Beach, but then the ancient sites of Epidaurus and Mycenae nearby. Another option would be Crete, while an island, plenty big to keep you busy, lots of beach, ancient sites, I would probably consider Chania as a base.

I assumed somewhere like Venice or Budapest would have very small places available to rent but the above two replies are giving me some hope - I will definitely look into these closer.

My perception was that Airbnbs and the like have a bad rap in major european cities (saw the recent news about Barcelona not renewing licenses) and being at the whim of the host cancelling a week ahead of an international trip makes me nervous. Are there alternative options for apartment style rentals or is it pretty much Airbnb and hope?

The cost isn't a predominant factor, within reason of course.... long story short we are choosing to do the family trip as a way to spend a modest amount of inheritance money we received when a grandparent passes during the pandemic.

For those of uneasy about short term rental leasing because of societal concerns. Over 90% of the people in Hungary live in a home owned by one of the occupants of the home. Third highest ratio in the EU. So housing shortages aren’t a big thing here. I believe that is why the anti-AirBnb legislation passed many years ago was modified. It did wreck property values and those properties whose values got wrecked were the homes of Hungarian citizens.

There are several short-term rentals I'm my building, and they don't cause any heartache.

If you don't like the cancelation policy with AirBnb, check the other platforms like booking.com or hotel.com. The same apartments are often on multiple platforms and each can have different rules.

Short term rentals are a problem in some cities, and those issues seem to be getting addressed, but more work needs to be done in some cities. But the issues aren't universal.

In Budapest, all of the short-term rentals require a license and require a government inspection and will get graded as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 star. There is a standard display that goes on the outside door showing the stars. Dont count on many 4 or 5 star as that requires daily maid service. They check for smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, fire extinguishers, clean linens and towels, general condition and the owners name and a contact number has to be posted.

The registration number should be in the listing. If its not there, its probably not a legal rental. I think they will be required to put the number of stars in the listing too. Not all of the inspections are complete, so not all of the flats will have the stars yet, but they should be complete by December.

After saying all of that I can also say I prefer hotels. Buy it's for one or 2, not for 5.

For almost all of my stays, I use Booking.com. They list a range of places to stay, from hostels, to small and large hotels, to apartment and even houses. The map function makes it easy to compare locations and prices, locations are shown exact (not a big "bubble" where the property might be) and all costs are clearly shown, and reviews are dependable and range from good to bad, they are not all 4.8 to 5 perfect like AirBnB (actually Booking uses a 10 point scale) and manipulated by hosts.

That is not saying that the apartments on Booking are any better or worse (or may be the same place), but my experience with Booking has been a better experience.

We lived in Bavaria from 87-91 and have traveled quite a lot (81 foreign countries), including 3/4 of Europe.

Many choices are great.

I would never recommend combining European travel with a beach vacation, but that is my personal choice. I have done that in Northern Italy (beaches not so great), Southern Spain and Southern France.

Frankly, I found the beaches better in N. America.

Also, there is so much wonderful history, art and culture, that beach vacations just pale.

Sure, you have a young child and museums don't work that well with little ones.
you only have 7-10 days, but spending it at one location means a lot of backtracking.
You should try to enjoy some smaller cities and towns, not just the big cities like Rome, Munich, Paris, etc.

Bavaria and Austria provide much history, art and scenic places.
Don't miss Munich, Salzburg,Garmish/Fussen, Augsburg and Nurenburg.

Italy is my favorite foreign country, but if you go to Florence will you spend the time you need in their wonderful museums with a small child? Places like Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Perugia, Assisi and Orvieto are great in the Tuscany/ Umbria area.

Switzerland is wonderful and very scenic and one of the most expensive in Europe/

My first thought was Salzburg and the surrounding area. So many great possible day trips! I do also really like the idea of the Rhine / Mosel area. Just one side note after reading your timing. After our first trip in May we decided never again as my husband suffers from allergies and was absolutely miserable the whole trip. We have gone in June, July and December and been fine:)

So many great ideas here - can't thank everyone enough!

Yes, to the comment about beach vacation I truly am trying to avoid that - we live a few miles from the coast with lots of great beaches, no need to travel continents to sit on a Beach! That being said, coastal destinations are fine, but if I wanted to sit on the beach all week I would just head down to Cape Cod. We have enjoyed time on the Amalfi Coast and in Collioure FR as coastal stops without stepping foot on a "beach", if that makes sense.

We are flexible with timing (this would be next year) - my wife and I generally prefer shoulder seasons (May or Oct) to avoid the crowds but if it made sense to go in the summer to the Rhine for example we would consider that. My father has terribad alergies so that is good to know.

I agree geeova about Italy - that area of Umbria/Tuscany is exactly what we had in mind, but trying to find one we have not visited before! We haven't been to the Cinque Terra, although I am not sure it is worthy of a week on its own? Maybe we could find another stop to couple it with.

Definitely sounds like I should do some research on the Netherlands and the various locations of Germany mentioned above- I agree with the comment that Greece seems like it would be better with a little more nimble travel group who could better deal with island hopping!

For fun, I just now looked at airbnb superhost apartments in Venice in October for 5 people --- 3 bedrooms, 4 beds, 2 bathrooms, washing machine, wifi --- and there were over a dozen that looked good to me. Try your own search and see. And, yes, always also check booking.com for the same apartment to see if there are more photos, more details, and/or less money.

My personal ideas revolve around Lyon, France, southward to Provence. Maybe I like wine and food and sun too much.

Niroth350,
If you decide on France, go to the website for gites-de-france for lodging options. They are reliable, honest, and experienced, and they have been around longer than AirBandB. We use them consistently in France. Many of the French contributors to the forum swear by them also.

I came on here to suggest basically the three ideas that MarkK did.

Salzburg / Munich with a home base of a Bavarian alpine farm could be a great option. A kid can have so much fun on the farm, you can do day trips to places like Munich, Dachau, Füssen (Neuschwanstein), Berchtesgaden (the salt mines!), Salzburg, Wolfgangsee, Oberstdorf / Garmisch, easy hikes that can be done with small children, Alpine scenery

The supremely underrated Northern Germany, maybe combined with Scandinavia. A place near Lübeck, for example, would give you easy access to Lübeck itself, amazing larger towns / small cities like Wismar or Schwerin (complete with castle), stunning landscapes along the Baltic, and the truly special and very underrated North Sea coast--St. Peter-Ording and the Wadden Sea (this is not a typical beach--it is a beach like you have never seen before, a UNESCO site for a reason), the Halligen, day trip to Heligoland, flatter hikes along the coast, reed-roofed houses, traditional beach if you want it for a day at a place like Timmendorf / Scharbeutz. Hamburg, with all it has to offer, is easily accessed in less than an hour--this city alone is worth 3-5 days minimum (or a lifetime in my case ;) ).

There is also Viking village of Haithabu, Flensburg/Glücksburg, and you can then make your way up into Denmark--Billund (Legoland) is only 3.5 hours from Lübeck, then on to Copenhagen, Malmö, Kalmar, or Stockholm.

Or you could travel down to Amsterdam, espeically via Frisia (towns like Greetsiel in Germany or Hindeloopen in the Netherlands) and see Haarlem, and if you go at the right time, Keukenhof.

Or Berlin and the Harz--hiking, witching, former border sites, and of course Berlin itself with all it has to offer!

You could easily spend your entire time based out of southern Germany / Austria or northern Germany. From either base you can see unbelievable nature, large cities with long histories, smaller towns with traditional ways of life, and gain an appreciation of Germans' love of fresh air.

ETA: One reason I say Germany/Scandinavia is that you are likely to encounter a lot of English and it is less intimidating to people like your parents.

"Definitely sounds like I should do some research on the Netherlands and the various locations of Germany mentioned above..."

I'd like to suggest the corner of Europe where the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium meet up. The very small area you see on the map below is packed with a large variety of things to see and do, perfect for car travel.

https://res.cloudinary.com/wirthhorn/image/upload/q_auto,h_700/v1603100945/bikemedia/galerie/Aachen_Skizze_pnxifj.jpg

Aachen, Maastricht: wonderful small, historic cities where you can park and explore on foot.

Monschau: impossibly beautiful old-world town, maybe Germany's most unsung hidden treasure.

Henri Chapelle WW II American Cemetery (NW of Eupen)

Malmedy, Stavelot, St. Vith: Belgian Ardennes towns (Battle of the Bulge history)

Kommern Open Air Museum: See local history/culture in this outdoor museum.

3 countries in 10 days. Attractive mountain and river scenery on your car outings between these places. You could probably stay in one central location the whole time. Only problem here is that you have to learn 3 languages. Just kidding. You'll find English widely spoken.

Andalucia would be great. It’s extremely easy to drive around, so much to see, lots of large villas available to rent often with pools. It’s relatively cheap as well. Spain is very child friendly with children welcome everywhere.