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Reasonable European vacations with kids?
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Anonymous
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Does anyone have any good websites/ideas for reasonably priced European vacations?
We'd love to fly direct from IAD/DCA/BWI and stay in a suite-type hotel room, if that's possible. 5 days stay sounds perfect as well. Thanks! |
Anonymous
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Consider going to Prague!! (In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say that I lived there for a few years and am in love with the place.) I went there for a wedding over the summer with my then 2 year old son and 6 week old daughter, and we had a great trip there. There are lots of kid-friendly places (restaurants, cafes, etc.), and activities for kids (paddle boat trips on the Vltava river, lots of parks, the very touristy horse-drawn carriage rides, plus it is just an amazing city to spend 5 days walking around). It is a lot more expensive than it used to be, but is still one of the more inexpensive options compared to other European cities.
Hotels in the center of Prague are pretty expensive these days, but there are a lot of excellent, reasonably priced, privately-owned apartments that you can rent for a few days. They have all the advantages of a suite-type hotel (multiple rooms, kitchen, etc.). We rented a 4-room apartment (kitchen, living room, plus two bedrooms) for about 100 euros a night, though those rates vary depending on what time of year you go. The only down-side is that there aren't any direct flights from our area. You'll have to transfer once, either in the US (there are direct flights to Prague from NY) or in Europe somewhere. |
Anonymous
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PP here again. Here is a website you can check out about things to do with kids in Prague.
http://www.myczechrepublic.com/prague/children_entertainment.html |
Meconbear
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Member Offline
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I think the three keys are:
1. Direct flight 2. Renting an apartment (www.vrbo.com is a good site to check out) rather than a hotel so you can cook for finicky kids...and save $$ 3. Finding a city that you an stay put in for a week or can do easy day trips rather than dragging people around from place to place. So it has to be interesting, beautiful, kind of big, diverse, etc. Some good cities with those criteria: - Barcelona (We did it and loved it) - London - Paris - I second Prague even with no direct flights! - Lake Como region in Italy - Rome You can do it! The flight over is pretty easy as it's overnight and the kids will sleep. The trip back can be a bear but you'll survive with lots of walks up and down the aisle. Good luck 
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Anonymous
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Thanks so much for the tips! Especially the link to apartment rentals. It's hard to navigate the good sites from bad.
Prague has been on my "list" for years! Sounds amazing. Keep em coming! Thanks! |
Anonymous
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Prague is nice but in the cheap season, (Nov-April) it is COLD! I would think Barcelona or someplace in S. Europe would be nicer.
Also you can fly to any European city and then take EasyJet or RyanAir or Virgin Express to get from city to city. I always check 1-800-fly europe for flights and ideas. Barcelona was amazing for 3 days in May. Prague was cool too but in March it was snowing and cold. There is a huge castle and lots of good beer though. 
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Anonymous
| Portugal! Went there last year with DD who was 1 at the time and I was amazed at what a wonderful city Lisbon was and how I just overlooked that country all these years! If you go during the summer, you can always go to one of the beach towns (we spent a day in Caiscais). It's a very kid-friendly country. |
Anonymous
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We have vacationed in Europe for years - and lived there for a few. Most places are do-able with kids although I would consider the following. What are the ages and interests of your kids and how many children do you have? We found Germany had great facilities for changing babies - better then here but other countries / cities varied. Many places are not stoller friendly - so if you have kids that are at that age I would minimize certain sights that do not have accessibility. Even metros can be difficult as they are often stairs only - at least to the unsavvy traveler. Even high chairs in resturants are not a given everywhere. My brother and family had a difficult time finding a hotel room to sleep all 5 of them, so the apartment rentals are a good idea. Finally, some of the airlines are super cheap like Ryan Air but they significantly limit baggage so be careful about how much you bring.
Limiting expectations of how much you are going to see / do was a must, again depending on the ages - my kids highlight is still the hotel pool! We also did better when we started to alter schedules a week prior to leaving. All said, we have had wonderful trips to Europe - England and Germany were the easiest for us. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| We visited Stockholm with our two kids and loved it. While the city is not cheap, you pay next to nothing for your kids (no museum entry, no subway, etc.) It was extremely easy to get around by public transportation - there were always elevators/escalators in working order and sidewalk ramps. We stayed in a hotel and had a family room (a little larger), but there are also several B&Bs or furnished houses. I would recommend May-September. |
Anonymous
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London is a great city with kids. It is "less" European, which has pros and cons, but sometimes for a first trip to Europe, the time change and different accents is enough culture shock for kids. There are tons of really great museums and things that kids will like. Its easy and cheap to get to, has lots of great restaurants, and would be easy to do on a 5 day trip. Its super easy to get around. Kids love the "Tower", changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, Madame Tussaud's, The Victoria and Albert museum, St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey.... I think it would be a great first trip. Plus, while there is lots of good ethnic food in London, if your kids are pickier eaters, they'll be able to find more familliar stuff too.
Rome is also great, but has a little more art, beautiful churches, and things that kids may not like as much. They may love the food, but I wouldn't try to go to Rome for just 5 days... I think its a little less predictable. Prague is also great, but considerably further west than London, and harder to navigate for a foreigner... again, my opinion is that 5 days would be too short for that trip. I've never been to Barcelona, but have heard wonderful things. Paris is another option, but again, lots of churches and beautiful art... may not be the most exciting thing for kids. |
Anonymous
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First of all, how old are your children? I think that makes a big difference as far as destination, frankly.
We currently live in Austria and have traveled extensively with my daughter, now 3. If you know you want to stay in one place for more than a couple days I strongly recommend looking into apartment rentals. Hotels can get very expensive and unless they offer suites with kitchen, your meals can also start to really add up. (There is a direct flight IAD to Vienna, by the way). I think anywhere you want to go you can find activities appropriate for (and interesting to) children. Austria is actually not a bad idea - lots for kids to do in Vienna. Germany is also a thought - Prague is fantastic as well. You can fly direct from IAD to Munich on Lufthansa - could be nice to visit Bavaria. We have also been to Stockholm with our daughter (at 22 months) and that was a good trip also. If you do your homework anything could work, although I don't recommend Venice, Rome, or Florence. But the smaller towns in Italy (Tuscany etc) could make for a nice trip - we know a lot of people in Austria who rent a country home for a week each summer and enjoy it with their families. |
Anonymous
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I think Rome and Paris would be a little difficult, although I've never tried with a child.
What about Ireland? Air Lingus now has direct flights from IAD. |