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!