Lake Como in Italy. And a hike in the Swiss alps. Acceptable food can be found, don’t worry.

What does ”picky” imply?

Listen to the person who suggests Lake Garda. Beautiful area and great for kids!

I was the kid who ate almost nothing for the longest time. Moving to Europe and a revelation for me! I lived there for 7 years in Italy and Belgium with time in France, Spain and Germany. A few thoughs:

Don't get your child ground beef/burger in most of Europe it is disgusting! It is the one thing I still won't eat and even my husband laughs about the gross burger he ordered as a kid in Paris.

Chicken with fries is a perfectly fine meal and served most places

Sandwich avec jambon et formage. You can't go wrong with it.

I don't get the hate for Belgium. The food is way better than in France.

Go further south in France. Paris is only good for museums. But if you go toward Montpellier and Sete the food is great and it isn't so over run with tourists. You also get a bit different culture

Your kids are great ages for their first trip abroad!

Most restaurants in France will have a menu des entrants/ kids menu with steak haiche (basically a nice hamburger patty), steak/ Frites (like a skirt steak), fish, or pasta (may have choice between marinara sauce or cheese like Gruyere) so I wouldn’t worry re the kids being picky. You can probably find something they would like at almost any restaurant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:French children are not allowed to be picky eaters. They will have no tolerance for that concept, and I wouldn’t make a big deal about it.

This is such bullshit. We went to Europe with our toddler and just like we were struggling to feed our child in Barcelona, so was a French family with a toddler and a young child. They had videos going on their phones for them too. We bonded with them over our struggles.

You’ll find plenty of food options in France for your picky eater. There’s pizza and chicken fingers etc every where you go!

A toddler is one thing, children the ages OP mentioned are another thing entirely. French elementary schools take food education very seriously, in case you didn’t know. Although in a purely tourist city like Barcelona you of course can feed your kids KFC and Pizza Hut, just like at home.

Agree with this. By elementary school, the French kids eat what's put in front of them. The school cafeteria serves same meal to everyone. There is no 'food court'. They view food as part of their heritage and culture, obviously. There are no lunch lines. They serve the kids and uses real plates and utensils.

What? I must have gone to the wrong school.

Did you go to school in France?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:French children are not allowed to be picky eaters. They will have no tolerance for that concept, and I wouldn’t make a big deal about it.

This is such bullshit. We went to Europe with our toddler and just like we were struggling to feed our child in Barcelona, so was a French family with a toddler and a young child. They had videos going on their phones for them too. We bonded with them over our struggles.

You’ll find plenty of food options in France for your picky eater. There’s pizza and chicken fingers etc every where you go!

A toddler is one thing, children the ages OP mentioned are another thing entirely. French elementary schools take food education very seriously, in case you didn’t know. Although in a purely tourist city like Barcelona you of course can feed your kids KFC and Pizza Hut, just like at home.

Agree with this. By elementary school, the French kids eat what's put in front of them. The school cafeteria serves same meal to everyone. There is no 'food court'. They view food as part of their heritage and culture, obviously. There are no lunch lines. They serve the kids and uses real plates and utensils.

What? I must have gone to the wrong school.

Anonymous wrote:French children are not allowed to be picky eaters. They will have no tolerance for that concept, and I wouldn’t make a big deal about it.

I read that article too. Having grown up in Europe and visiting France regularly as a child, it’s not true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:French children are not allowed to be picky eaters. They will have no tolerance for that concept, and I wouldn’t make a big deal about it.

This is such bullshit. We went to Europe with our toddler and just like we were struggling to feed our child in Barcelona, so was a French family with a toddler and a young child. They had videos going on their phones for them too. We bonded with them over our struggles.

You’ll find plenty of food options in France for your picky eater. There’s pizza and chicken fingers etc every where you go!

A toddler is one thing, children the ages OP mentioned are another thing entirely. French elementary schools take food education very seriously, in case you didn’t know. Although in a purely tourist city like Barcelona you of course can feed your kids KFC and Pizza Hut, just like at home.

Agree with this. By elementary school, the French kids eat what's put in front of them. The school cafeteria serves same meal to everyone. There is no 'food court'. They view food as part of their heritage and culture, obviously. There are no lunch lines. They serve the kids and uses real plates and utensils.

Anonymous wrote:SE France and Switzerland has my vote. Check out the route des vines d'alsace area- it's magical. Probably one of the most spellbinding places on earth, and our kids love it. Colmar is the main town.

Don't go to Belgium. It's so depressing. That is the last place you should go.

Italy is good for kids too. What with all the pizza and gelato. I think Italian food is blah though and prefer french. And if you go to se france you get tarte flambee which is french pizza.

NP here, would love to hear any recommendations - going there in 2 weeks!

Anonymous wrote:SE France and Switzerland has my vote. Check out the route des vines d'alsace area- it's magical. Probably one of the most spellbinding places on earth, and our kids love it. Colmar is the main town.

Don't go to Belgium. It's so depressing. That is the last place you should go.

Italy is good for kids too. What with all the pizza and gelato. I think Italian food is blah though and prefer french. And if you go to se france you get tarte flambee which is french pizza.

Bruges in Belgium is one of the loveliest small towns in all of Europe. Touristy, yes, but it makes visiting Belgium worthy. Brussels and Ghent and Antwerp all have lovely historic city centers as well. And food is quite good. And the beer, ah! So, yes, while there are depressing old industrial towns it's not like you'll be spending your trip there, just like Europeans don't visit depressing old American towns.

OP, the advantage of hiring a car and driving is that it is a bit easier for a family of five and you control the schedule instead of waiting for trains and rushing to catch the train and lugging luggage all over the place. The downside is that for a family of five you need to make sure all your luggage can fit into the car! Most European rental cars are on the small size. You can get bigger cars such as station wagons, but they will cost more (although probably still cheaper than 5 x XXX train tickets). And you do need to be careful about the visibility of luggage in case of break ins (it does happen, more often than you might think as European criminals are pretty good at spotting tourists in their rentals).

And the other downside is that while it's easy to drive on European highways and interstates, they tend to be boring. Just like American interstates! And don't underestimate the distance from place to place either. It's not as long as in the US but it still takes time.

You do have a lot of options. If you like small villages and hiking and perhaps beaches too, then the Normandy/Brittany coast is wonderful with great sights like Mount St. Michael, St. Malo, and the D-Day beaches and the American military cemetery (very poignant). Then you can swing down through the Loire Valley.

Or go eastwards towards the Alps? There's the Strasbourg-Colmar-Route de Vin route which has a germanic flavor without leaving France proper.

The Alps proper would make a stunning family trip if you love hiking but Switzerland itself is EXPENSIVE. EXPENSIVE. And I mean EXPENSIVE. Spectacular, however. It's more budget friendly to go to Austria and the Austrian Alps (start in Salzburg and end up in Innsbruck). Lots of great hiking, small villages, lakes and spectacular drives.

Regarding food, I would not unduly worry. There are plenty of plain food in France and Italy and Germany. Simple sandwiches, simple pasta dishes, pizza everywhere, lots and lots of potatoes in various guises (European kids scarf down fries just as eagerly as American kids).

SE France and Switzerland has my vote. Check out the route des vines d'alsace area- it's magical. Probably one of the most spellbinding places on earth, and our kids love it. Colmar is the main town.

Don't go to Belgium. It's so depressing. That is the last place you should go.

Italy is good for kids too. What with all the pizza and gelato. I think Italian food is blah though and prefer french. And if you go to se france you get tarte flambee which is french pizza.

Lots of bakeries in France with delicious bread, croissants, sweet and savory treats, often they will also have quiche, yogurt, fresh fruit bowls and salads, etc.

Very international food options especially in the larger cities. Should be able to find pizza, pasta, all kinds of food - middle eastern, Asian, and so on.

Hi OP, we travel to Europe every year with our two picky kids, 7 and 9.

We stay at apartments so we can cook stuff for our pickiest but frankly, she survives on baguettes when in France and plain pasta when in Italy.

We stock up on fruit and tomatoes which they will both eat a lot. Sometimes we take them to McDonalds when in Germany, for example, where DD usually does not warm up to any of the local food.

Truthfully, they both eat a good amount of gelato so no one really goes hungry.

If I were you I would focus on southern France and northern Italy. The area around Lake Garda in Italy is great for kids and it's beautiful. Italians are wonderful with children, very relaxed and accommodating.

We travel by train and in Italy they have fares called Bimbi gratis (kids free) that we take advantage of whenever available.