My husband wants to visit his German relatives in July. I think it'd be great to do that but to add some other countries to the list as we will have 2.5 weeks together. If we have to choose from a list containing Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, which do you think would be the most doable with kids (l2 and l3). They will see Hamburg and Berlin and possibly Munich on this trip and we begin in Amsterdam. Sounds like we will be on trains alot of the time! I worry that the big cities will not hold appeal for our kids; want a more charming rural experience but not quite sure what that might be. ANy suggestions for my planning of this trip?
Posted by
Temecula, CA, USA
27 posts
We're (hubby, 11-year old son, 14 year old daughter) going to some of those same places in July, too, building our trip around the Women's World Cup Final in Frankfurt and then heading to Italy for 11 days. Have your kids traveled alot? I think that will make a difference on how comfortable they will be. My kids loved all the train travel on a trip to Japan, especially the bullet train. Whenever we've traveled I have tried to create a nice blend of fun stuff for the kids while also including some gasp cultural stuff. We like visiting big, foreign cities because they are different. We chose Italy for this trip because my daughter will be studying European History and my husband has always had a fascination with Roman history. For our upcoming trip, we are planning to visit Venice, Florence & Rome with a couple of days in Tuscany; hopefully getting a good mix of rural and big city. I did have my kids do some research on the Internet to find out what they wanted to see so they had some input, too. Have fun with the research! I love trip planning!
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
I took my 11 year old grandson to Salzburg and he loved it. Beautiful city, gorgeous mountains, just the right size city for us to feel really comfortable and of course... The Sound of Music stuff... even being a boy I know he enjoyed it. He had seen the movie and now I hope every time he sees it he will be reminded of our trip. He would have also loved Prague or Vienna, but we were doing a sort of 'castle tour' which included Germany. I made up a travel journal for him also... a sort of fill in the blank book, so he would not forget the details. He wasn't really one to 'journal' so I asked specific questions... memorable foods, moments, sites, etc. and made sure we did it every night. Great ages for the kids to be going.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
I'm confused. Why is this in the Italy section of the board? You'll get better results posting in the To the West or To the North section, I think.
Posted by
Happy Valley, PA
672 posts
Vienna, where I lived for 15 months, has the oldest zoo in Europe; excellent food (pastries, breads, schnitzels, wursts, and the great ion at the many heurigen ); three fantastic palaces (Schonbrunn, the Hofberg and Belvedere); an amazing central cemetery which is the final resting place for many of the world's most famous composers; the Vienna Woods to go hiking; fiakers (horse-drawn carriages); bicycles to tour the city; the Prater (an amusement park where you can ride one of the world's largest ferris wheels); the Lipizzaner stallions show; the bizarre Hundertwasser House; St. Stephen's Cathedral; Naschmarkt (for another great food experience); the Signmund Freud Apartment, Mozart's Figaro House, Beethoven and Schubert houses, etc. Also, for a great day trip, you can take a train to Melk (to tour one of Europe's most beautiful Benedictine Abbeys) and then take a ship down the Danube back to Vienna. Or, on the way, get off at Durnstein and hike up the hill to the top for a great view of the Wachau amongst the ruins of a castle that once held Richard the Lionhart captive for ransom. You can then catch a train to Krems (another great place to wander the city) and then back to Vienna. Want more?