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September 2026 with a 4 year old

Posted by (Austin, TX) on

Hi everyone! I am in the very very early stages of planning a trip for September of 2026. Will be celebrating my 40th birthday and my husband's 45th.... and I suppose our daughter's 4th ;) I would love some thoughts on a tentative route, as well as any general thoughts on taking a trip like this with a young child. She is a very experienced domestic traveler (+ Mexico) and generally easy going so far (although I know a lot can change in a year). I have been to Europe before, although it's been a long time, but my husband has not.

We have about 3 weeks, possibly closer to 4 if I can have a home base for at least a week in there somewhere so I can get some work done in the afternoons. We want to stay at least 4 nights in each place and our focus is fun! Playgrounds, carousels, beautiful scenery, a beach/coastal town, good food, a zoo .... this will not be a history/museum focused trip because, 4 year old. We'll go at her speed. And we do not intend for this to be our only trip to Europe either. I'd like to take one larger international trip every other year if possible. I have plans already of a dedicated UK trip when she's older so we'll be skipping that this time.

Here's what I'm currently thinking although I've already changed my mind a few times so I am definitely open to changing it again. Trip would start around Sept 1 but exact date is flexible.

Fly into Paris from the US - stay 6 nights, 2 days at Disneyland Paris and the rest of the time exploring the city
Train to Wengen- stay 4/5 nights
Train to Levanto- stay ??? nights but at least 5/6. This may be the spot where we stay a little longer so I can work for a few days and they can wander/explore. Thoughts on this plan? we love little coastal towns that are walkable and getting to know the locals and just hanging out for awhile. Plus lots of day trip options.
Train to Munich (or we could fly from Genoa)- stay 4 nights, time this to be there during the first "children's day" at Oktoberfest
Fly home from Munich

I have also considered a trip that is something like Paris -> Vienna -> Croatia/Albania -> Greece but I think that may be better suited for when our daughter is a little older? Especially the Greece part, when we can dedicate more time to history/mythology. Unless we only did an island for some beach time or something. I've gotten suggestions for Copenhagen which is tempting to work in somehow but can also totally save that for next time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Posted by
404 posts

Look up Raising Voyagers on you-tube. This show is a family with young children traveling abroad. Go to their older programs to see what they do with their 2 young daughters. Their last two years have focused on renovations on a stone house in Italy, but earlier programs are what you would want to see.

Posted by
398 posts

Look up Scavenger Hunt type tours at the Louvre. Our kids loved it though they were a couple years older. Also. we got several travel activity books for kids introducing them to Paris and Italy so they were already looking forward to the things they were about to see.

I think you know your kid's activity levels but our cousins who have been going to Disney World with their kids since they were about 2 never did a full day until the youngest was 6 or 7. Otherwise a meltdown would ensue.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks! I’ll check out the scavenger hunts! And noted on full days at Disney. We’ve done Disney World with her a few times already but we’ve been able to go back to the hotel for a nap, which works well. This time we wouldn’t since I’m not intending to move to a Disney hotel, so we’ll definitely think about what will work best for everyone those days (later starts or earlier finishes).

I think I’ve also made the decision to hold off on Switzerland until our next trip, and do Austria instead. Which means moving some things around so everything is very much still a work in progress which is half the fun!

Posted by
57 posts

My kids were a bit older, youngest was 7, but they both loved Paris. Overall your plans look really good, I personally wouldn't do the Greece/Croatia alternative as it sounds like too much. In Paris we got started early in the day and hit popular spots when they weren't very busy and did parks in the afternoon. My best advice for traveling with kids is staying longer somewhere is always better so you can have time to just wander and get settled in. We do minimum 4 nights but everyone prefers 6-7 nights.

Posted by
22913 posts

I have a lot of ideas that I will dribble out over time.

The first and easiest is extended stays in Vienna and Budapest. Rent an apartment for tge full 10 days as your home in each then go exploring with day trips and overnight trips.

Above with a third stop: Not Croatia, Montenegro. In part because its less commercialized than Croatis, as beautiful, and a lot because I know a guide / trip planner with a son about the same age of yours that would make it a perfect family holiday. Wizz has cheap 1 hour flights out of Budapest.

Above with a third stop: Paris since you seem to like the idea. Again discount airlines connect both Vienna and Budapest in I think about 90 minutes.

Vienna and Budapest a week each as discussed above connected with a week tour between them. Salzburg, Hallstatt, Graz, maybe Tihany. 2 or 3 nights each. Then settle down again.

I have more ideas but I will PM some kid things in Budapest.

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