Where to travel with 3 kids?

The Dolomites and Venice.

Iceland. I ticks the boxes for al the things you say you enjoy:) With 2 weeks, you could have a really nice ring road trip!

Italy. It has all that you want and it's different for you too. The children have lifetime to explore on their own. Or take an RS family tour to take the burden of planning a logistics off you.

My daughter, her husband and two kids age 9 and 5 recently spent a week in Japan. They all thought it was great!

Ireland…..Hiking, rib boat rides, pony rides, castles and museums to explore, great food, great music, mystical history and friendly people.

bluzmar,
In 2023 we treated our adult children and two grandchildren to 10 days in the Dordogne, France. The kids were 12 and 9, good travelers and not picky eaters. It was a perfectly vacation for all ages (9 y/o to 80 y/o). We kayaked on the beautiful Dordogne River, visited 2 castles, went to prehistoric caves, visited local outdoor markets, wandered through medieval villages, and went to a chocolaterie. We rented a house in the area and everywhere we drove was within 50 minutes or less. The kids enjoyed comparing things in the stores with what they have in the stores at home. Our place had a pool and large grounds, so we could have breakfast at "home", and some dinners as well. Each day we went on an adventure, found someplace neat for lunch and/or dinner, and never felt rushed with sightseeing. Food in the Dordogne region is great (pate, truffles, mushrooms, strawberries, walnuts, honey, pork, duck, goose and sturgeon are specialties of the area). We were there in early June. If you are there in late June through August there are lots of activities, demonstrations and fetes for families to enjoy. Also, there are the night markets, which are more like a street party along with the market...music, food and drinks, entertainment.
The variety of things to see and do are great for all ages. And the countryside is beautiful!

Judy, thats a good one. Well thought out and appropriate. Well done.

My attitude when I took my kids (11, 14, 17 ... i am guessing a bit cause i can never remember how old they are) was that I would just drag them along and hope something rubbed off. We did London, Paris and Rome. It sort of worked, but I had a good time. Their day to have a good time on their terms came many years later. But they did start with a little knowledge of the process of travel having experienced it when they were young. Grown up now, one ended up living in Germany (not that he had a choice, Uncle Sam sent him. But he travels all over Europe now on your tax money), one did a month of study in Italy and 4 months in Germany. One never went to a real country outside of the US .... well Canada i guess counts.

When you have a wide-open field, I always suggest finding the "best" transatlantic flight and see where that gets you. "Best" is highly subjective, of course. With five tickets to buy, seems like cost could be a factor. If you have air miles, where does that airline fly? Skyscanner.com has a "search everywhere" option that will show you low fares for specific dates or a whole month if you're flexible. Once you're over the water, internal travel is easy and relatively inexpensive.
I tend to agree with the folks who say choose where you want to go and drag the kids along. Anywhere you choose, you'll find something for the kids to enjoy. A stopover in Iceland for 2-3 days is a good choice if you can swing it. I just did a Skyscanner search for Orlando in July, and the first place that came up was Iceland.
The RS Family Europe trip is a good idea if you don't relish the planning phase and/or are being made to it all yourself.

bluzmar,
I just wanted to add that when I planned out Dordogne trip, it was specifically because it had things to see and do that appealed to all of our ages, and no one felt that they were dragged along to something they didn't enjoy. There are places to hike and bike also. And I also forgot to mention that the area is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The views of the river and valley from the hills on which Beynac Castle or Castelnaud sit are gasp-worthy (we were there in mid-June). Every one of us from 9 to 80 could hardly take our eyes off the views. I can't say enough about the beauty of the area. Go, enjoy, have fun!

Congrats on being in remission!

What if you combined a week in London with a week in the countryside? I haven't done this, but have heard good things (I believe from others on this Forum) about HF Holidays. They have week-long walking tours in Cornwall, Scotland, the Isle of Wight, the Lake District and Yorkshire. It looks like you can pick each day between three different walks of varying lengths, so you can match it to your needs. Or just do a visit on your own. My parents were in Wales last year and loved the area around Snowdonia.

oldest child has expressed interest in the Alps or Scandinavia

Great idea. I recommend Fjord Norway and a 5 day car round trip from / to Bergen (BGO). After this 2 options:

A) Take train to Oslo (e. g. Norsk Folkemuseum and Popsenteret) and from there the overnight DFDS ferry to Copenhagen. Spend one of the Copenhagen days at Viking Museum in Roskilde and sail a viking boat.

B) After that Berlin is an interesting different experience and a great place for families with teens (direct flights to / from BER available). Maybe do a day trip to Hamburg (2 hrs by train) for a port round trip and the famous Miniatur Wonderland.

Get well soon.

I put this together for someone else, but it applies to your question for Budapest:

Good general overview https://www.danubiushotels.com/budapest-guide/budapest-with-kids-the-only-guide-you-need-cheat-sheet
Light show / theater https://lam.xyz/
Light show / theater https://cinemamystica.net/
Aquarium https://tropicarium.hu/
Zoo https://zoobudapest.com/en/home/
Circus https://fnc.hu/
Puppet Theater https://budapestbabszinhaz.hu/
Bath house / pool for kids https://en.palatinusstrand.hu/
Indoor Water Park https://www.aquaworldresort.hu/hu/aquaworld?_gl=1*1riw9wq*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwpbi4BhByEiwAMC8JnVr0vf7GOxMNZQUlyKI8IikrVsVPqEaw8nZzqMYUvlG2Yl_GIbrf_BoCntMQAvD_BwE
Children run railroad https://gyermekvasut.hu/en/home/
Interactive science museum https://www.csopa.hu/en/home/
Trampoline Park https://buda.cyberjump.hu/en
Ferris Wheel https://oriaskerek.com/en/
Balloon Rides https://balloonfly.hu/en/home/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwpbi4BhByEiwAMC8JnUiDaVY4o_BEQ8YtwoplI0e4rkQVABzTXyRWOOwG6b3O-b1ubgJC1hoCkH8QAvD_BwE
Train park https://vasuttortenetipark.hu/en/home/
Natural History Museum https://www.nhmus.hu/

With pre teen and teen aged kids, two of who speak (some) Spanish, I think I would try to process this with the kids. Query re Spain, of course, how well do you all tolerate summer heat? Since one kid has expressed interest in Scandinavia and the Alps, let her/him explore what that might mean. Have that child explore guide books Not just RS, but also Moon, DK Eyewitness, Lonely Planet, Michelin, the RS website and relevant forums, RS shows.

There’s a feast of activities and sights everywhere. In addition to art museums which you don’t favor, there are car and train museums. For example, Munich has a BMW museum and a great train museum that our then 16 year old enjoyed back in 1999. There are castles, beaches, bike rides and mountain hikes. Millennia of history to explore and Neolithic caves.

English speaking countries and many English speakers elsewhere.

This will not be their last trip … just an introductory one.

My other suggestion is to remember that less is more. Maybe just one country per week, rather than six countries in 2-1/2 weeks.

Ewwww, thanks Fred. Train museum!! The larges outdoor train museum in Europe is not far from Heroes' square in Budapest. https://vasuttortenetipark.hu/en/home/ You can climb on them, sit in them, use a handcar and ride the turntable (wheel house).

Which brings to mind another activity .......... trips on classic old train, some steam powered. Some just a dinner cruise some overnight trips. Some fairly local and some to a neighboring country. If you are interested PM me.

As for asking the kids where they want to go. Okay, maybe casually. But they have a whole life ahead. They are lucky and blessed to have parents that will take them anyplace. Mom and dad havent got as much time to travel. At worst you will train them a little in the art and then they can practice the art on their own when they get older. Besides, these arent short adults, at those ages they are too young to know what they dont know and what they might be interested in cause they havent heard about much yet. Do a few fun thngs with them and they will be happy to have been brought along. Your job is to expand their knowledge not rehash the little they already have.

I lived in Saudi Arabia and later Germany while my children and step-children ranged in age from 5 to adults.
With you children's ages, I would treat them as adults. Expose them to history, art and wonderful scenic places. Expose them to other cultures and wonderful local dining.

Some people want to visit Disney in France or go to the beaches for the kids. I think exposing them to history, art and cultures is much better. You can do Disney and the beach in North America much cheaper.

Knowing a foreign language is very helpful, but not necessary. English is widely spoken everywhere in Europe.

I would fly into Munich for a couple of days. Then rent a car and stay near Salzburg. We stayed in Hallein with our two teens. So much to do in that area: the fortress and ice caves in Werfen; Sommerrodelbahn and salt mine in Hallein; Hallstatt; Berchtesgaden; Salzburg itself. My kids loved the Red Bull Hangar. We went paragliding with FlyTandem over Salzburg and it was absolutely amazing.

From Salzburg you could continue on to Ljubljana. Explore the Postojna caves and the Soja River.

The Dolomites would be another great area to explore, and easy to get back to Munich from there. You might check out some of the adventure parks in the region. I believe there is one near Innsbruck.

You’ll want to return the rental car in Germany to avoid super high one way fees. So you could make your way back to Munich via the Garmisch area. Or return the car just outside of Salzburg in Germany and continue by train to your next stop.

When our 2 kids were teenagers, we took them to Paris and then drove to Normandy and the Loire Valley. We had a wonderful trip. Two years later we visited Athens and Santorini and had another great time. Since you and the kids are speaking/studying Spanish how about Spain? Lots of exciting places there with Madrid and Barcelona both having direct flights from the U.S.

I would consider the Pyrennees. You can hit Andorra for two days, visit some of the beautiful parks (such as Cadi-Moixero) for hiking, see Barcelona, enjoy the food, practice Spanish and French, maybe hit some other destinations on the Spanish-French border depending on your speed / timeframe.