Planning a 10 week summer trip to Europe with my 7, 10, 13 year olds.
If you've traveled with kids - anywhere at all in Europe - what has been your favorite thing to do with them?
I'm thinking of building my itinerary based on favorite things, vs. you're supposed to see things. Don't worry - I still want to see all the important and obvious stuff - but it seems that starting with the fun stuff, and building the trip around that, will lead to a memorable and happy vacation :)
Thanks.
Hike Lake Bohinj in Slovenia
Bike the walls of Lucca
Chase cats on the Acropolis
Watch sunsets in Rovinj
Tour Zotter Chocolate factory in Austria
Swim at the swim complex in Seefeld
Explore Plitvice Lakes
We have two kids, currently 6 and 12.
Take trotti bikes down from bort to Grindlewald
Eat Gelato
partake in the games at Warwick castle
do the maze at Hampton Court Palace
Watch the tide come in at Mont st. Michel
The night watchman's tour at Rothenburg
Watch a glass blowing demonstration in Murano
The kids audioguide at the British Museum
The london museum
If you have adventurous eaters let them explore. Our son ordered a seafood platter that I wish I had taken a picture of!
Bike riding anywhere!
We spent Memorial Day weekend at Lake Garda and my kids (4, 9 and 13) absolutely loved it. I've never seen them so happy.
My kids were thrilled and in awe of the Sistine Chapel and wanted me to explain all the frescoes.
The kids loved going to the top of Jungfrau in Switzerland in July to go on a glacier.
Museums not so much.
Playing with a dog at a B&B in Ireland.
You are VERY smart to plan with fun stuff in mind!! We also have traveled for extended periods of time with our son over his entire life and making it fun for him was a big part of it. Here are some things we loved...
- Rented bikes at Versailles, rode all around the grounds, then had a picnic out in a remote part of the park
- Any waterpark...they are all over Europe and going to one gives everyone a nice break! There's a really nice one just doutheast of Prague on the main road going out of town called the Aquapalace Praha that's really nice. Another one we liked was in southwestern France in Agde...Aquapark...there is also an Aqualand but we didn't get a chance to go to that one.
- There are some excellent zoos...my favorite is outside of Paris not far from Giverny. It's called Zoological Park and Castle of Thoiry...it's on the grounds of a chateaux. The lion enclosure alone is worth going there...there's a plexiglass tunnel that runs through the enclosure that you walk through. You are face-to-face/paw-to-paw with them...it's pretty amazing. They also have a drive-through safari park if you'll have a car with you.
- Royal jewels are a hit with kids...obviously the collection at the Tower of London is great. Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen has a nice collection as well.
- Armories - Tower of London again is an obvious choice.
- Castles! My son particularly loved the chateaux in the Loire Valley...some of them have kid-sized trains and mazes. Hampton Court Palace outside of London also has a nice maze. Konopiste outside of Prague has a spectacular armory but is most known for the hunting trophies...there are thousands of them lining the walls of several hallways and staircases. The Archduke was quite a hunter and had a whole team of people stuffing and labeling everything he shot all over the world. This castle also has a deer park and a bear in the moat! In another part of the moat they can try their hand at crossbows and bows/arrows. When we were there they also had a display of owls (living!) with a handler that told you about them Some of the Cathar castles in western France as well as in Wales are amazing because you can explore them quite freely - they feel abandoned and mysterious to a kid!
- Do they like Harry Potter? Head to Oxford...check out Christchurch College and the Bodleian Library. You'll need to take the tour to see the parts that were used for the movies but it's not expensive and worth it!
- Luxembourg Gardens in Paris is fun with kids. They can sail little boats on the small fountain/lake, there is a really nice playground as well as a puppet show most days of the week...in French obviously but your younger ones would enjoy it.
- In summer the Paris Plage is great...the city brings in tons of sand and builds beaches along the quay of the Seine...many activites are set up and it's great with kids.
- Since you have so much time consider hiring a boat and barging along one of the many canals in Europe. The Netherlands, France (the Canal du Midi!), England..there are quite a few. Some offer bikes so you can ride alongside the canal if you get bored of the boat.
- There are many caves in the Cevennes in France. The nearby Gorges de Herault offer swimming in a calm river under a Roman bridge as well as kayaking. This is a beautiful are of France.
- Hiking with kids is easy all over Europe...ride a gondola up into the mountains - hike around - have lunch at a mountain hut - take the gondola back down. It's awesome! In many places there are alpine slides for a shot of adrenaline.
So many ideas but these are just some that come to mind right away!
It depends on their age and interests.
My kids enjoyed castle ruins, particularly crawling in the mines underground at Reinfels, crime and punishment museums and the silly plague "museums", any tower (church or castle) with quirky staircases (including the vatican), feeding acorns to reindeer through a fence (really anything to do with animals). My youngest really enjoyed art museums while her older brothers couldn't wait to get out.
They all enjoyed food - cold cuts for breakfast in Germany and Austria, pizza and gelato in Italy.
