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Kid free Europe trip. Early planning stages

  1. lamariniere

    pineapple / 12566 posts

    @youboots: as for kid friendly, I haven't been to Italy with kids but everyone says it's great. We've been to Barcelona and Copenhagen with our LOs and they were great. I hear most of Scandinavia is kid friendly. Vienna is actually very kid friendly (and I'm not just saying that because I live here!)

  2. mamainthesun

    apricot / 356 posts

    @youboots: ive mostly stayed in the southern countries of Europe and I still want to visit many places but I love Spain and find that the southern cities of Spain (Sevilla, Cordoba, also Toledo a bit more up North and of course Barcelona are fantastic) The first two are great because the night life is great, the weather will be great too(too hot in the summer), and the architecture and history is very interesting as it is a mix of European and Arabic heritage! Also I love the food in Spain! And they have a nice cava(cheaper version of champagne)!!

  3. yoursilverlining

    eggplant / 11824 posts

    @youboots: Italy is very kid-friendly. We spent 2 weeks in Tuscany (1 week in a rental villa in the countryside and 1 week in an apartment in Florence) and found is extremely kid friendly!

    If you are set on Paris and London I would probably do Ireland, somewhere else in France. You'll lose a day on either end traveling as well as time traveling between locations in Europe. I wouldn't try to do more than 4 places in 2 weeks personally.

    I love Italy - the blue grotto referenced upthread is beautiful. I've been to Rome, Tuscany, Capri and sorento and all are fabulous. You could easily spend 2 weeks just in Italy.

    We've also done Northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Russia. I liked Finland and Estonia best of those countries, but those would be harder to fit into a trip to those countries depending on where you want to go.

  4. Littlebit7

    nectarine / 2243 posts

    why can't you do santorini? I don't know if you've considered it, but you could fly into one airport and home from another. Maybe fly in to Paris, explore paris and whichever other city you'd like via train. Then take a hop to Athens via a flight. there are a ton of slights that leave hourly to santorini.
    DH and I are going to a wedding in Eastern Europe this summer and we're going to stopover for 4 days in Santorini on our way. It seems totally doable and the perfect destination without kids. This why we are doing it
    Then you could return to athens and fly home from there.
    Maybe save it for the end of the trip; you will have trekked all over a few cities and likely need some downtime anyway.

  5. littlejoy

    pomegranate / 3375 posts

    Being the total nerd that I am, I would watch all of the Rick Steeves episodes for the places you're planning to go. I LOVE that he usually suggests things off the beaten path, and his food adventures look so amazing!

  6. Poshbecs

    apple seed / 2 posts

    @youboots: the weather here is SO unpredictable!! Ha! Generally the start of September is nice enough and June is often ok. July and August can be nice too but it's all a case of luck!! The days are longer in the summer so if it's rainy earlier, you can still do something in the evening. The winter months can be very dark and miserable! But bring a raincoat and good shoes and you'll be grand!! 👍

  7. Mrs D

    grapefruit / 4545 posts

    I absolutely loathe Paris CDG airport. So I would avoid it at all costs.

    I have always enjoyed Amsterdam airport. So efficient, clean and well run. Plus I think KLM is a great airline for intra-europe flights. I have had similar good experiences in Frankfurt - but of course that is further and further east - which may not make sense based on where you want to go.

    My only personal European trip included London, Paris, Munich, Venice, Florence and Rome. I loved London and Florence more than I thought. Munich and Rome met my expectations. Venice was nice - but in hindsight I would have skipped this and saved it for a trip with a significant other (I went with my BFF). Paris was a complete dud at the time - just an awful experience.

    I have since been back to Germany and love it. I love the people, the food, the culture - everything.

    Paris I have been back to, as well as some of the countryside of France. I ADORE everywhere I have been in France outside Paris. My company has plants in the castle "district" outside Paris - I LOVE it in the smaller towns. As I have been flying in and out of Paris I have spent a few more nights there - and had better experiences. Not sure if it is bc I have lowered my expectations or because I am different now than I was at 27 - but I have liked it.

    I tried to make a list of where I want to go still and its SO long. There are so many amazing cities in Europe.

    Rome was remarkable - but "out there" location wise. There is nothing like standing in the Colosseum and feeling the history. Literally...you can feel it. Same with Tower London.

    I also recently visited Budapest for work - such an underrated city I think.

    Take advantage of trains when you can. The train stations are usually quite central to the city, less time consuming than an airport. Plus the countryside views are lovely. Its so fun to grab a meal, hop on the train - have a beverage and eat while traveling low stress. German and French trains have been my fave!

  8. youboots

    honeydew / 7622 posts

    @Mrs D: thanks so much for the tips. I appreciate you taking the time to respond

  9. Banana330

    nectarine / 2317 posts

    @youboots: I'd look in to flying in to one city and out of another. There's lots of cheap airlines in europe if you're looking to do places that are further apart. You could easily do London _> eruostar Paris _ fly to Rome and do Rome/florence. or Berlin, or Prague, or Barcelona. Montenegro and croatia are great too.

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