Hi All-
We plan to travel with our kids to Europe in May. We would like to stay in a city where there are many things/attractions/activities accessible by foot. Could you all throw out a few recommendations? We will be traveling with teens all the way down to a 3 year old in a stroller. We have three to four weeks so we'd love to visit more than one city. Thanks in advance!
With a stroller, I think Amsterdam would be good, as it's not too hilly.
Sorry, but I think most European cities are.
Krakow in Poland
Vienna
Prague
Copenhagen
Venice
Venice?
All those bridges with steps and a stroller, seem to be a bad combo.
But a lot of visitors and even residents complain about the speed of the bicycles and having to cross the bike lanes in Amsterdam.
This brings up another aspect: what is the situation with the fast scooters in these cities' pedestrian areas? Which cities are regulating them? Paris won't be renewing the contracts it has with the rental scooter companies.
Barcelona
Madrid
Sevilla
Bilbao
Cordoba
While most cities in Europe are quite walkable, with 3-4 weeks I think you should visit Poland. That is a perfect amount of time to explore the country and Poland boasts many walkable cities and tons of sightseeing opportunities. The country is well connected by affordable and convenient railways and is pretty easy to navigate. Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Torun are just a few examples of cities you could visit but the list of possibilities is much longer.
We would like to stay in a city where there are many
things/attractions/activities accessible by foot.
More or less every city in Europe would fit that description. So a bit more information on what you are looking for might be helpful.
With 3-4 weeks you certainly have time to visit a couple of cities.
If you’re traveling with teens plus a little one the two cities, I don’t recommend are Venice and Amsterdam. As already mentioned, the stroller would encounter many steps in Venice since there are quite a few bridges to cross. Amsterdam can be dangerous if one let’s their guard down and steps into a bike lane. You’ll constantly be reminding everyone to “lookout” These bicycles zoom by quickly so there’s no room for error.
It looks like you received quite a number of suggestions in your previous post?
As asked in that thread, knowing more about what sorts of activities you're looking for might help picking a location (or two). Lots of cities are walkable, and lots of them offer things to do. Whether those things appeal to your family is part of the picture. It's possible with the range of age groups you'll be dealing with that you'll be splitting up to accommodate age-appropriate pastimes and naps for the younger set. In general, trying to herd 9 people around at the same time, to the same things, could be interesting. Just managing attraction tickets for them all could be interesting.
You mention this in that thread:
Affordability is important as is proximity to activities.
That's probably something the folks helping with this thread should be aware of? 'Affordability' is also sort of a subjective term, and obviously taking 9 people to Europe for a month is not going to be inexpensive. Sometimes one balances costlier accommodation prices, as in London, with the plethora of free museums that city offers. As mentioned in that thread, Italy offers free entrance tickets to state museums to visitors under the age of 18. These are good bargains IF your family likes museums. If they don't? What can you tell us about your family's interests and/or your vision for this trip?
Salzburg and Florence were the first places that popped into mind. But I'm taking "walkable" literally, as in not needing public transportation to get around, which disqualifies some of the recommendations.
Copenhagen also comes to mind. There is a pedestrian thoroughfare running through the centre, and the kids would probably love Tivoli and The Little Mermaid statue.
Edited to add that the flagship Lego store is there, too.
We do a lot of walking in cities, sometimes for miles, and I have a strong preference for traffic-free pedestrian zones.
Copenhagen, with its long Strøget ( pedestrian street) would top my list for a family destination. It is a lovely and very friendly city, with nice parks and the Tivoli amusement park. Lots of English spoken.
Munich has a nice long pedestrian zone as well, and the Englischer Garten is nice to stroll through (;and watch the surfers taking on the standing wave on the river).. The Deutsches Museum is great for teens.
In London, we love connecting three parks—Hyde Park/ Kensington Gardens, Green Park, and St. James Park—- to make our way from Paddington or Knightsbridge to the area around Westminster Abbey. There are couple of major streets to cross, but the rest is all on park paths.
Also in London is the Thames Path along the South Bank. We have used this wide pedestrian path to cover the distance from Chelsea upriver all the way down to Greenwich (not in one walk). The part between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge is particularly nice, lined with shops and restaurants, and great views across the river. Cross on the pedestrian Millennium Bridge to reach St. Paul’s from the Tate Modern.
When you tire of walking, London buses are stroller-friendly and much less expensive than the Tube ( and the tube stations often involve steps, though one can get a map showing tube stations with step-free access).
And then there is Venice, all of which is a “pedestrian zone”. But the bridges that cross all the little side canals can indeed present a problem for strollers. Two parents ( or a parent and a teen) could pick up the stroller to lift it up and down the little bridges, but for the larger ones like Rialto and Accademia you would probably want to take the child out and carry her separately from the stroller. Or bring a child carrier backpack instead of a stroller.
We were last in Venice in September, just for an afternoon before our flight to London the next day. We walked the length of the Zattere, the wide sidewalk bordering the Giudecca canal, all the way to the end at Punto della Dogana ( our favorite viewpoint in Venice). All the bridges along there had ramps added to make them more accessible to strollers and wheelchairs. So this part at least you could manage with a stroller. Maybe they have added the ramps elsewhere as well.
London and Paris.
Stockholm. If you want to take a look for yourself, this article has a video embedded.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-24/in-stockholm-vision-zero-2-0-is-a-dream-for-a-car-free-highly-walkable-future
Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg. All are very flat.
Venice for pedestrians, but definitely not for those with wheelchairs/strollers because most of the bridges have stairs up and down. It's (obviously!) car-free so the entire city is easily walkable. If you want Italy but not the bridges that Venice entails, then maybe Florence?
Paris is walkable and stroller-able. Barcelona also comes to mind.
While Paris is walkable, the sights are spread out and not in a small area like other cities. You could consider smaller cities like Bruges, Ghent, Burgos, Zaragoza, or York. There are any number of places to choose from. The cobblestone streets in historic centers could be an issue you’ll need to contend with.
Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest. All easily traveled to by train.
Another great city being overlooked is maybe one of the most beautiful--Dresden. We were there a year ago and it was the real Germany.
London and Venice. Yes Venice, even with munchkins and mini-munchkins.
Maybe it is time to suggest itineraries which include a few of the above suggestions that connect well. I’ll take a stab at it.
May is one of our favorite times to visit London (but next year you will want to avoid the Coronation date May 6). And Bergen, Norway is a great place to spend the Norwegian National Day May 17 ( so is Oslo). It is fun to see the parade and everyone dressed up in their bunader ( traditional outfits for men and women). Norway would
combine well with Copenhagen and whichever cities in Germany you choose to visit.
So—-fly into London around May 9 or 10 and spend 5-6 nights. On May 15 or 16 fly to Bergen and spend 3 nights. Then take the train or train plus boat to Oslo (maybe the “Norway in a Nutshell” tour) and spend a couple of nights. Be sure to visit the Bygdøy museums in Oslo.
https://www.norwaynutshell.com/original-tour/
https://www.visitoslo.com/en/activities-and-attractions/boroughs/bygdoy/attractions/
The Viking ship museum is closed for renovation until 2025, but the Polar expedition museum is fascinating, and there are other choices as well.
From Oslo you can fly or take a ferry to Copenhagen. The ferry departs in mid-afternoon and arrives in Copenhagen the next morning. The long daylight hours of May will offer plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. Note that pre-pandemic, the overnight cruise had a reputation as a party boat. But I don’t know if that is still the case.
Spend 4-5 nights in Copenhagen, and be sure to visit Roskilde (20 minutes away by train) to see the Viking ships you missed at Oslo.
https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/visit-the-museum
In May they will begin offering boat trips in a traditional craft, where you have a chance to row.
From Denmark, head into Germany. I will leave that part to others to propose.
Prague, Seville, Amsterdam, for the big cities. So many more options in smaller ones though. Salzburg, Siena, Tallinn etc. (but bear in mind cobblestones and strollers are a pain).
By walkable I take that to mean most interesting sites are in close proximity, not necessarily flat.
Paris
Nice
Florence
It would be easier to list those cities which are too hilly.
Barbara for the win.
Of course, what do you mean by walkable?
There are plenty risky neighborhoods in the US that are flat, have nice wide sidewalks and curb cuts for accessibility; but why would you want to walk them?
So maybe its about terrain and possibly accessibility but it also about atmosphere of the walk.
No city is generic within its borders, but many have wonderful neighborhoods.
So the list should maybe be neighborhoods or parts of cities where one can easily walk and get a lot out of that walk.
Then the question comes up, what interests you on the walk? Architecture, shops, cafes, people watching, maybe nature?
When I think Europe all I think of is walking, everywhere. With Teens I would think you would also want to teach them how to use the subway system in each city, the buses and give them that confidence. Also the Hop on/Hop off buses are a great way to get orientated to the city. I know my kids when they were teens would have complained if I made them walk as much as we normally do when in Europe (at least 10 miles a day).
Letizia, agree.
My favorite city in Europe becomes a totally different place when you get comfortable with the metro and the trams.
But among my friends in Texas, I would suspect the vast majority of them have not been on a bus since grade school and have never been in a subway; and they can be intimidating under that circumstance. Was for me the first time.
The only one I would fully eliminate would be Amsterdam. I found that to be stressful - watching out for the bikes all of the time. If you have a lightweight, umbrella style stroller, public transportation would be an option in bigger cities as well. Rome ans London would both be great.
My first enthusiastic vote goes to Paris with the second more hesitant vote to Vienna.
I've done tons of walking in Paris, somewhat less so in Vienna, more or less hopping on any tram regardless of destination and seeing the sights of Vienna that way. With a Combi Ticket given by the hotel, it is indeed free public transportation.
On taking the ferry from Oslo: There is a ferry connection from Oslo to Germany as well, Oslo to Kiel. Walking from the ferry station to Kiel Hbf will take under 30 minutes. I've timed it.
London. Endless list of things to do that kids & teens would enjoy.
Of course, what do you mean by walkable?
Walkability is more than just being flat and having footpaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkability
