Hello, fellow travelling parents! My husband and I visited London, Amsterdam and Paris before our daughter was born, but since we became parents, our travel options have changed. We've only taken her to Europe once, to Amsterdam, which has lots of great stuff for kids and adults to enjoy together. The three of us had a wonderful time visiting the NEMO museum and the Artis zoo. Unfortunately, our daughter doesn't enjoy doing the things I most like to do in Europe, such as touring cathedrals and savouring luxurious meals. On the flip side, I don't see the point of going to Europe to visit attractions that are aimed strictly at kids. Our daughter is now 10 and she's an enthusiastic little traveller with a positive, adventurous spirit. We'd like to take her somewhere in Europe in early September but my husband and I just can't agree on a destination. I'm looking for advice on choosing a city, or two cities since we all love high-speed train travel, where I can enjoy beautiful scenery and traditional architecture and she can look forward to some engaging kid's stuff. Any suggestions?
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
There are lots of places that would work well. What are the places that you, your husband, and (perhaps most important) your daughter want to see?
If you need ideas, here are two of mine:
London and Paris are a great duo, have lots of kid appeal, and connect easily via Eurostar (a bit over 2 hours between them).
Venice and Rome have lots of kid-friendly attractions, and also connect well (less than 4 hours between them).
Posted by
San Francisco
993 posts
My boys, 9 and 11, last summer do not like "looking at things" but we did really well in Rome and Venice!
Posted by
SF Bay Area, CA
2030 posts
I agree that London, Venice and Rome would be great. But how about flying to Paris, spend a few days there then take the high speed train to Nice. It's an interesting train ride. Beaches there should be lovely in September. Nice has 2 good art museums, and you can also train or bus to many interesting nearby towns,or perhaps a boat ride. Fly home from Nice airport.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
Our kids LOVED London and Edinburgh. There are LOTS of great day trips you can easily do by train from London, too. Windsor, Cardiff Wales, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Brighton, Canterbury, Dover, Winchester, and others. Plenty of lovely buildings and free museums, and HISTORY!!! Fun or luxurious meals, theatre, parks, ... the list could go on and on. Edinburgh is similar. Plenty for both the kids and the adults.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10183 posts
Paris has a lot to appeal to a child her age: Egyptian collection and Napoleon III apartments in the Louvre, Versailles Palace and grounds, equestrian museum at Chantilly, bird and flower market, flea markets on the weekend, Giverny, Cite de Science Museum, Cite de la Musique Museum, fashion museums, lunch in a 19th C. ballroom at the Jaquemart Andre Museum, even the marionette shows in the Luxembourg Gardens at her age, and the outside carvings on Notre Dame (more interesting than the interior anyway). Of course there are also all the vertical visits and the boat ride to enjoy.
You may have to forgo five courses at a three-star, but a lot of these places have more casual bistros that the chefs have opened next door to the famous restaurants or wonderful food at gourmet markets in the Galeries Lafayette food court, and Bon Marche food emporium that you can take out.
Posted by
OP
37 posts
Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. My husband and I had been thinking of visiting the south of France, but to me it seems like a very adult holiday, full of wine, food and beautiful scenery, none of which appeal to my daughter. Am I wrong?
I don't think I could convince my husband to visit either Paris or Amsterdam again as we've already been to both cities a few times. How about German destinations? Or Barcelona? Is there much for kids to enjoy there? Austria?
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
Have you visited Scandinavia? Stockholm, Copenhagen, Bergen, Oslo have lots of things to offer for younger travlers - from boat rides to cable car rides, exciting museums and architecture - and excellent food. As you probably heard the best restaurant in the world (NOMA) is in Copenhagen.
Also these cities can be connected with fun ways of traveling. From Copenhagen to Oslo take the DFDS night ferry. The on-board steak house meets your best North-American experiences. From Oslo to Bergen take the train one-way and the boat back. There are also great night ferries between Stockholm and Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn, Stockholm and Turku and Stockholm and Riga.
By the way there are no Mc Donald's (and alikes) in downtown Riga as they have a law that requires any meat products to be sold in the city to consist of at least 70% meat! Quite scary that McDonald's doesn't meat that requirement...
Posted by
Tucson
4153 posts
Our son took his 2 oldest daughters, ages 10 and 12, on a blitz trip to Paris a little over a year ago. He chose Paris, but he encouraged both of them to participate in the planning and choosing of what to do while they were there. The 12-year-old did nothing. The 10-year-old avidly researched and participated in the planning.
They did not do any "kid" stuff. She was not interested in that at all, and neither was our son. The older daughter was just along for the ride. Can you guess which one had the best trip and memories of it?
Based on that experience, along with many others on this forum who have said the same thing, once you parents decide where to go, your daughter probably would appreciate being able to make some choices about what to do there. And you may be surprised at what they are. You and she have lots of time to work on that.
Posted by
OP
37 posts
Thank you all for your suggestions. My husband surprised me last night by suggesting that we fly to Paris, stay for a week then head south to Nice. Paris, here we come! Woo-hoo!
Posted by
Folsom, California, USA
316 posts
The castles around Munich would be a fun German trip. You could add a trip up the Romantic Road to see Rothenburg ob der Tauber and take the Knight's Watch tour. My kids loved that. You could add in boat trips on the Mosel or Rhine rivers. We always bring a card game (sometimes choosing a new one for the trip). We sit in plazas, order wine or beer (for us), treats for the kids and play cards while watching the locals go by. Another family Europe trip favorite is picnics in parks. We get baguettes, cheese, prosciutto (or the regional equivalent), fruit. This can feel like a very fancy adult meal while kids can run around. Our daughters have made many friends in parks/playgrounds without ever being able to speak with them.
I hope you have a great trip. I know you will have great memories.
Kaye
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
Italy is a country where you get better treatment when traveling with children. My daughter turned 8 in Italy. She was blond then and everywhere we went we heard "Bella bambina!" (not a single remark about my 12 or 16 year old boys). On her birthday she had a long conversation with two Italian women who didn't speak English. I had taught her two things in Italian (pardon my spelling) "io fame" and "io sette". She said them with a great melodramatic flair and they were putty in her hands. Somehow they figured out it was her birthday and bought her candy.
She loved the Reichsmuseum. I showed her how she could see the paint strokes if she got close enough to let the ceiling lights reflect on the painting. I told her she could imagine the artist standing in front of the canvas, hundreds of years ago, making those strokes with their brush. She studied painting after painting carefully (which annoyed her brothers) and is a terrific painter herself now.
In early September, I'd lean toward northern Italy, it's still a little warm further south. October is a great month for Italy. Even in early November you can tell it would be exceptionally hot in Rome during the summer.