Suggestions for destinations with preschooler?

In Italy they adore children and cater to them. England and France are also nice for kids. I could give you some suggestions for what fun stuff you can do with him in various cities when you choose where to go. Florence, Rome and Venice are fun with kids as are Paris and London. We have traveled all over with our own and with other people and their kids and love it. Kids make the trips more magical and 3 is a fantastic age to see the world through his little eyes.

We took our now 39 year old daughter when she was 3, so the info is a bit old but here are some of the things that come to mind.

1) We did Hawaii the year before just to see how she traveled and coped with time zones and long flights without the compounding factor of being in a foreign land. She was a real trooper.

2) Denmark seemed to be really kid oriented with the original Legoland, Odense with the Hans Christian Anderson, Copenhagen with Tivoli Gardens and the boat tours. I will long remember when we bought tickets to go in Elsinore Castle, the guy at the desk asked how old she was and when we said 3, he leaned over the desk, looked at her and said, "And you young lady will be my guest." He's long gone but we had a number of experiences like that.

3) We traveled a fair amount in Germany and saw quite a few castles. The line 'today we're going to a castle' always got things off to a good start. A Rhine river cruise through the heart of the Rhine Gorge past the Lorelei has castles, villages and scenery that can appeal to a youngster. A couple castle hotels also went over big.

4) We traveled by car. This gives you the flexibility to bend the schedule to a toddler's sleep requirements and avoid what happens when tired and cranky overtake the fun and excitement. She still gets embarrassed when reminded that for 3 weeks she kissed a VW MicroBus good night.
I hope your trip goes well.

Italy would be my first choice but don't overlook Belgium and the Netherlands for kid-friendly places.

Irv -- love your reminiscences of your experience with your daughter!

John -- my idea also leans towards Italy - they love children, and the weather is more reliably nice there at that time of the year, which helps just that little bit. Also, finding him something to eat is probably more consistently easy in Italy.

If you choose Italy, make sure you go to Venice! It is magical for kids and adults. Kids love all the bridges, canals, and boats.

Do it! Where do you really want to go? Pick two places. Go there! He'll be fine with it.

I would opt for a city or cities to which you want to go with perhaps day trips on public transport. In my experience, public transport is huge with the under 8s and Europe is full of it. Other option would be a beachy area peppered with sights like Normandy or the south of France. Also consider his interests and abilities: dinosaurs, cars, boats? I'd stay away from Venice. There are stairs on and off most bridges. - Stroller useless; tight hand-holding required. No better way to annoy a 3 year old. There are no railings along many canal edges (ever see Summertime with Katherine Hepburn) and 3 year olds are prone to bolting, frequently and unexpectedly. Even with a leash, it would be stressful. Better to find a place with open spaces where he can run, a lot.

Every city has children (unless the Pied Piper's been through recently) and lots for them to do. I found Paris to be extremely kid friendly: people sending me to the front of the long cab line at a train station, lots of free, accessible playgrounds in the numerous parks (in London many neighbourhood parks are private squares), parks with lots of space to run, museums have kids' activities, children's or science museums, the busses accommodate strollers, the 2 day Seine boat pass is relaxing and a nice perspective and walking in central Paris = sightseeing. Eating dinner earlier than the French works well.

Take a good quality umbrella stroller that allows both you and partner to walk upright. I used a Maclaren when I went to Italy, Cannes, Paris & London with 5 month old daughter. The non-wheeled backpack fit in it when I was wearing her and it worked well on public transport. Get apartments instead of hotels - makes for a more relaxing day when you have breakfast in your own place when he is hungry and can put him to bed and then have quiet time together in the living room. Beats a glass of wine sitting on the toilet because he's sleeping in the hotel bed! (Friend said she resorted to this once when travelling with two kids. Now she gets suites). Take trains if less than 4 hours journey. There is less sitting and waiting compared to short plane hops. Those are hard for 3 year olds : why are we just sitting here, why aren't we moving, why isn't anything happening?

Go where you want! And enjoy introducing him to the big, wide world!

Italy is always a good bet. I have not been there with kids, but am planning on it next year with mine - elementary age. The Italians are very child friendly and I recall seeing lots of kids in a variety of places. Venice would be exciting because of the boats, but hard to manage with a stroller. Florence may not hold a ton of interest, but you could make a short visit work then head out into Siena or other Tuscan towns.

When mine were that age, London and Paris were big hits. Lots of parks, interesting things like the Eiffel tower and double decker busses, child friendly museums (London moreso).

I love Spain, and it is very child friendly. The interesting buildings in Barcelona, beaches, etc are all great.

Thanks for the ideas everyone! Right now, we're thinking of doing some combination of Tuscany, Umbria, and the Cinque Terre. Does anybody have any thoughts on these places as a destination with our son? We have been to Venice/Florence/Rome before so we're going to save them for another time when our son is older, but Italy just seems like such a great choice with a young child, plus the weather will be better there in April/May than in more northern spots.