Hi Everyone,
My husband and I will be traveling with our almost two year old for a month. We are considering flying into Madrid for 2-3 days and then spending a week with Seville as home base, a week in Barcelona, a week in Provence and then a week in Florence. We will rent apartments so that we can cook, wash clothes, and settle the little one in a bit more. I am looking for advice on length of stays. Should we cut one area shorter to spend more time in another? Have any of you traveled with young children and have advice? We have both traveled extensively in the pre-kid days, but this is a different ballgame! Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated.
Rebecca
Posted by
Vancouver, BC, Canada
17 posts
Hi Rebecca,
We've traveled to Europe twice so far with our kids (1 and 2, then 4 and 5). I haven't been to Spain, but have been to Provence and Florence (without kids-but planning on bringing them this summer, ages 7 and 8: 7 nights Tuscany, 4 nights Provence) and I'm sure that with a car you'll be able to find lots to do in those areas. For us, we've found that 3-4 day apartment stays are optimal, having been a bit limited as to where we can go comfortably (and have fun) all together. So far, our greatest adventures with our kids have been outdoors: in parks/gardens, open-air museums, near the water, in playgrounds and on farms. My advice is to book farm stays in the rural areas and apartments near playgrounds in the urban areas. At ages 1 and 2, we researched kid-friendly sites before we went, visited museums/galleries with the stroller during nap times, alternated sites with long playground stops and didn't potty train until after the trip.
Have fun!
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks so much. Great advice. And yes, I hadn't thought that far ahead, but I will definitely take your advice and not potty train till after!