best overseas trip with toddlers

[Anonymous]

Hi we are trying to plan our family vacation- whats a good international destination with children between the ages of 3-6? Usually we go some where along the east coast, but thought it might be fun since the kids are older to go abroad

[Anonymous]

Go anywhere as long as there's no malaria/dengue fever risk.

[Anonymous]

Italy but not Rome (death wish), Palermo (death wish) or Milan (ho hum). Anywhere in central-rural, southern coast or Liguria would be nice, we've been to all.

[Anonymous]

Ireland?

[Anonymous]

Copenhagen. Super safe, lots for small kids to do. Not ridiculous hot, and very walkable. Expensive, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Oh right! Copenhagen, Stockholm or Amsterdam.

[Anonymous]

France.

[Anonymous]

2 recommendations:

1) London. It is one of the easiest international destinations (and therefore nice for small kids). The flight is relatively short, and direct. The language spoken is English, so there is less "culture shock" and if you have picky or unadventurous eaters, they will be able to find familiar foods. Also, there is a suprising amount of kid friendly stuff to do in London: Hyde Park, The Tower of London (midevil torture may appeal to your 6 year old... 3 year old may not be old enough yet), Westminster Abbey, see a show (Don't know if Starlight Express is playing currently). Etc. The drawback is that it is a city you definitely want to walk and use public transportation in. That can be fun, but your 6 year old may get tired. 3 year old would probably need a stroller or something.

2) Italy. Italian food is very kid friendly, and I thought the Italians were just lovely people. I've taken my two young kids there twice (2 and 4 on our last trip). If you rent a house/villa in Tuscany, you could easily drive to little hill towns -- walk around for a couple of hours, then leave and go back to the villa for lunch and pool time. This schedule worked great for our kids. Many of the little towns aren't very big, so even little kids can walk up and down the main street for an hour or two if you go slowly. See a few things, then its time to go. We went back for naps, and pool time. I'm not sure the kids really got anything special out of being in Italy... but I think its good practice for them developing into flexible travelers. For them, they liked the pool and the gelato. Every once in a while we'd stumble into something kid-friendly (like a park, or toy shop), but it was mainly a trip for the adults. One drawback about Italy... the meals can be lengthy. So it would be tough to eat out with unduly antsy children. Ours usually did fine (even the two year old, although he had a couple of bad nights), but we were with my family, so we could split up and take turns walking around with him on the bad nights. Promises of ice cream for good behavior seemed to help.

[Anonymous]

I second the London recommendation. I went with mine when they were 4 & 8, then again at 5 & 9. Everyone loved it both times, and there are lots of wonderful things to do. Highlights for both included the Princess Diana Playground, Kensington Gardens generally, and the London Transport Museum.