Anonymous wrote:We did Paris and Brussels/Bruges this year for spring break and it was great. Weather was a bit iffy but we only had a bit of rain and it was mostly pretty nice. Did a mix of museums/sightseeing and hands-on things like cooking classes or scavenger hunts. My kids loved it all. They were 8/10/12 but we’ve done trips to Europe their whole lives and they are great travelers.

This is what we are doing this year. Would love suggestions on the cooking class/scavenger hunt, etc.

Lol. The OP said EUROPE. Not the Galapagos. Not Hawaii. Not Costa Rica.

Seville! The only issue would be if the connecting flights are annoying. But it's a great, family friendly, easy destination.
Obviously Portugal is a contender, it's a good hybrid of outdoors and sights. Food in both Seville and Portugal would be good for kids.
I feel like Ireland and England in April would be a bit chilly and rainy, but I've done both with kids and they're both easy.

Really, I think you can't miss and I'd look for somewhere with a direct or basically direct flight and a good deal. Go somewhere *you* want to go, the kids will have a nice time anywhere. I have always had more luck with kids in the countryside or smaller towns as opposed to big cities like Paris or London just due to crows and transportation and such.

Those of you saying Spain and Italy - was your spring break over Holy Week like most of the public schools around here are the next few years?

We did Rome this year. The weather was perfect and we got an AirBnB right in the historic area so there was very little schlep day to day. Our kids are slightly older but we did:
Colosseum and ruins at Palatine Hill
Tour of Vatican (a few hours)
A lot of gelato
Pantheon
Castel di San Angelo
a soccer game
tour of catacombs
There is also a nice park that we had intended to go to, but didn't make it over there. Five might be kind of young for this sort of trip, but it depends on how much of a trooper your 5 year old is. One thing about Rome is that there's a lot of "wow" moments -- you turn a corner and there's another "wow" thing. If your older kid is into Rick Riordan, they might really like all the old Roman stuff.

My kids did love Costa Rica at that age. I also think London and Ireland are both good for that age, but it might be chilly/rainy in Ireland in spring, so consider your tolerance for that.

Another idea is California, or Southern Arizona. We did Southern Arizona one year for spring break and it was a great trip with kids that age. If you search this forum for Sabino Canyon and Bisbee, you'll find my itinerary, I think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spain is great at that time of year.

+1. We went to Spain for spring break this year and the weather was glorious. It seemed like the perfect time to visit (unless you're planning for a beach holiday).

Did Holy Week create any issues?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spain is great at that time of year.

+1. We went to Spain for spring break this year and the weather was glorious. It seemed like the perfect time to visit (unless you're planning for a beach holiday).

Love Spain at that age too.

I’d go south…
Seville
Cadiz
Or fly into Spain and out of Portugal

Hawaii
Costa Rica
Sicily
Morocco
Spain (Andalusia: Sevilla & Finca cortesin with the kids is amazing)

Mexico City!

The Netherlands - tulips!

We did Paris and Brussels/Bruges this year for spring break and it was great. Weather was a bit iffy but we only had a bit of rain and it was mostly pretty nice. Did a mix of museums/sightseeing and hands-on things like cooking classes or scavenger hunts. My kids loved it all. They were 8/10/12 but we’ve done trips to Europe their whole lives and they are great travelers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spain is great at that time of year.

+1. We went to Spain for spring break this year and the weather was glorious. It seemed like the perfect time to visit (unless you're planning for a beach holiday).

What was your itinerary?

Costa Rica/Puerto Rico - more than just beach.

In Europe the ONLY place I would go for a few days like a week would be an easy one. Maybe London. I just would not go nuts given time change/travel time needed - esp with young kids.

I would look at Canada specifically Montreal/Quebec City. Hell I would go CA before I went to Europe given that it's domestic and shorter time in air/time change! N CA is so beautiful. Even S CA even if it's still cool for waters.

We went to the Galapagos over spring break when our kids were that age. Extra bonus is that there is minimal time change. We all loved it.

Anonymous wrote:Spain is great at that time of year.

+1. We went to Spain for spring break this year and the weather was glorious. It seemed like the perfect time to visit (unless you're planning for a beach holiday).