Travel to Italy (Europe) with toddler

The friends you will be travelling with need to be consulted, too. How will they feel about your child being part of the the plan?

Friends won't mind at all, if we choose to bring her.They are familiar with my daughter and see her weekly.

Your itinerary seems like it will involve a lot of traveling between cities. How long do you plan to stay in each one? How old is your toddler?
Personally, if I had relatives who were willing to watch her, and she liked staying with of course, I would leave her at home. If I were going to just go to 1 or 2 cities perhaps I'd take her. But she isn't going to remember the trip, and she will add more stress and problems, and she will certainly inhibit your sightseeing, there's no way to get around this. I realize in many ways it may be wonderful to have her along -- how much will SHE enjoy it?

We took our daughter when she was 5 months old and again when she was four. We took a carseat and rented a car for most of our travel which worked out great. Having a stroller is a big help. We didn't take one on her first trip and wished we had. We couldn't find an inexpensive one there. Just a folding umbrella stroller would be good.

There's no question it's easier to travel without a small child. But we had a great experience. In genera, Europeans love children and are flattered you brought them. Italians are crazy about kids.

I guess it depends on your view of travel with small kids period. Ask me in a month or so and I might have a different answer, but we have dragged all of our kids on some crazy road trips stateside and they weathered it fine. They keep the memories longer than you would expect.

We travel with my 19 month old daughter all the time. Always ask for a crib when making hotel reservations. the bigest piece of advice that I can give you is to take it slow. At least 3 nights in each town. Less train/car time equals happies baby. Get a backpack to carry your daughter, but also bring a cheap stroller too. In the past 6 months we've taken my daughter to Florence, Slovenia, Munich for Oktoberfest, Ireland, and we just got back from 4 days in Amalfi area. Oh if you're ending in Paris, i would drop anything on the itenery south of Rome. It is just too much travel for a baby.
All that said...if I had the chance I would love to leave Vivian with my parents so we could take a babyfree trip. A meal out without a wiggley toddler is my idea of heaven. So I guess I'm saying. If you can leave her at home, but you would be totally ok if you brought her along. Just know that baby and baby-free travel are totally different experiances.

Shelly - no, never took my toddlers to Europe but took them on many coast to coast trips as well as other trips. PLEASE - if there is not a really good reason to bring her - i.e. if you do not already live in Europe (so no transatlantic flight), or you do not have family in Europe (yes, I'd bring them to visit grandparents), or there is no one to leave her with (hard travel is better than no-travel) - then do both you and your daughter a favor and leave her home.

A toddler is someone old enough to walk, but young enough to not be able to reason with. I have 2 granddaughters and I would consider taking the 4 year old but would NEVER consider taking the 2 year old. I did enough air travel with my own kids to know how hard it is for most toddlers to remain in their seat - I was almost in tears at the end of a few 5 hour flights-can't imagine a longer one where I can't sleep. And most toddlers are happiest when you follow a schedule - you can coax an older child with food, entertainment, etc. But a toddler, once they are "done", they're done - you can't reason with them.

Again, if the choice is really not traveling at all, then yes, I'd certainly put up with any small troubles, but since you mention that there are relatives that you could leave her with, please do that. My mom stayed with my kids every year for at least one childless vacation. It was great for her and my kids, though I'll admit I missed them - my longest trip during that time was 9-10 days. I also take care of my granddaughters and have encouraged my son & wife to go away - it is good for them and therefore good for their children.

Finally - if you decide to take her, consider rearranging your itinerary. One week spent in a apartment, preferably somewhere you can be outside (Paris in the spring can be rainy and cold-stay in Italy), would be a better choice for a toddler - and you DO need to make more concessions when you travel with very young children.

Thanks everyone for their feed back and experiences. With that said, I am choosing not to bring my daughter. We traveled a lot with her since she was 2 months old (Hawaii, Oregon, Canada, NYC, New Orleans). But, I realize doing an international trip for 3 weeks will be difficult especially at her age. And yes, my husband and I would like to enjoy ourselves and not stress out. I hope when she is older we will have another opportunity to travel abroad and take her with us.

Yes, We traveled to Italy with my 2 yr old son. My parents have a home in Italy so were able to leave him there while we went to Rome for a few days.So it worked out well. But the plane trip was AWFUL. Nothing worse than trying to keep a baby quiet and comfortable on a transatlantic flight. The cabin pressure bothered his ears and he cried much of the time. I would not recommend it.having said that, we have since traveled many more times as the kids got a little older from age 4 but again we have a home to spend a week in and travel the country for a week.Three weeks with a toddler would be too stressful for everyone, in my opinion.
Enjoy your time in Italy with your friends.

Speaking as someone who has endured two earsplitting 10-hour transatlantic flights because of a baby and a three year old, may I encourage you to leave your toddler at home? She's not going to have any memory at all of the trip, after all.