Tips & Tricks for Traveling to Europe with Kids
Okee dokee... After thinking through all the things we went through on our European adventure, Josh and I have compiled a list of things that stuck out in our memory that would be helpful to anyone going on their family's first trip to Europe.
Our boys were ages 7 and 5 years old for this trip, so we weren't looking for changing stations, dealing with strollers, diaper bags and all the things that come with traveling with really little ones. We were dealing with attention spans, eating schedules and just kid temperaments in general.
These are all based on our experience, so take it all with whatever salt you will. It's all only here to help.
1. Involve them in planning
This not only makes them feel helpful and involved in the process, empowered that they have a voice, but it helps to set expectations about what this vacation will be like! This isn't a trip to Grandma's in Wisconsin - it's going to be different! Talk about what will change - language? food? how we get around? travel times? As Josh and I discussed it, the boys were included in the discussion (so far as they wanted to be).
One thing I did that was fun for everyone during the planning process was a count down. We'd done this for Disney last year, and I thought it'd be a great idea to do again! Rather than a paper chain, this time I used my Silhouette cutter to make shapes appropriate to our journey. Each was just a simple, black silhouette clipped with mini clothes pins to a long strip of ribbon, and numbered. On the back of each one was a question about the places we were going (coordinated to the shape of course). It was a huge hit, and they learned a little in the process - score!
2. Book ahead of time
If you can book major tourist attractions ahead of time... do it! Lines are no fun for adults, imagine being 5 and told to wait that long! Museums, trains, attractions - get em before you go. Look at multi-day train passes where appropriate, and/or bus passes. The (4 day) Paris Museum Pass was perfect for us - includes the Louvre and Versailles, and in London we used the Oyster cards to ride the trains with ease.
3. Forget tying shoes
Our youngest isn't there yet, but our oldest has just recently gotten the hang of shoe tying. Constantly reminding him to tie his shoes wasn't something I wanted to deal with while out and about. In lieu of spray on shoes... we found good elastic laces (in his favorite color) and small spring toggles. This combo kept the shoes from slipping but also kept me from going crazy watching shoe laces fly around. Win-win!
4. They CAN carry their own bags
I promise! Each boy had a standard 22" hard-side, spinner bag as well as a back pack. Yes, they fit two weeks of winter travel in there. While we checked our hard-sided bags through to our final destination, these li'l guys were perfectly able to deal with getting them around town, on/off trains, etc!
5. Almost all pictures will be in outerwear
I'm a scrapbooker (and a blogger, duh) so I take a lot of pictures. When I was helping the boys choose what to pack for the trip I was mentally spacing out clothing so the pictures wouldn't look like they wore one thing three days in a row. In the end... it didn't matter. If we'd gone on the trip in warmer months, maybe. As it was, in December, almost all the shots were of them in their coats!
6. Booster seats
We found that renting car seats with the car to be really expensive. Like, "yikes!" expensive. Both our boys just needed a booster seat - not the big, high-backed, padded car seats, just a booster. It was less money to go through Amazon, buy two booster seats and have them shipped to our hotel. They were waiting for us when we arrived (along with photo paper for my mini printer). It should be said here that we did not pick up the car at the airport upon arrival. We only picked up a car when we were done visiting the city, using the trains and buses to get around, and would be continuing our trip around the countryside.
7. Meal times are different
Ok, breakfast and lunch are about the same, but dinner is much later! My kids go to bed around 8pm, and after a full day of being tourists by 8pm they are ready for sleep! Well, at 8pm most Europeans are just getting around to dinner. This is where having an apartment is really, really handy. Not only does it allow to you live locally, going to groceries and farmers markets, but you can still have dinner at your normal time. Carrying snacks on you during the day helps stave off low blood sugar doldrums, too.
8. Embrace the idea of "siesta"
Between the hours of 2 and 5pm some European cultures (mostly southern and Mediterranean where it's warmer) shut down. They go home, nap, just chill and wind down. Siesta. This is a brilliant concept, especially with kiddos. "But I only have a few days in this city! I want to see everything!" You're not going to. And whether you see what you can with happy, agreeable kids or cranky kids who won't retain much of the latter part of their day due to being completely over stimulated is up to you. Again, having an apartment to go to is a big plus: make a big, family snack in the kitchen, plop on the couch and shut your eyes for a bit, sit on the patio with a cuppa, take off your shoes and stretch your toes. Shut off the stimulation for a little bit and everyone will be better for it, refreshed to go for a fantastic second half of the day.
9. Cafes are as good for the them as for you.
If you can't get back for a true siesta, then take a little break at a cafe. Bust out the tablet for the kids, order them a biscuit and a glass of french lemonade or hot chocolate. Talk about your favorite parts of the day so far.
10. Kid's menus are the same: Hamburgers & pizza
In hindsight we should have just insisted they order off the real menus so as to direct them down a path that would allow them to sample more local flavors. As it was, they were handed a kids menu wherever we went. They did try a few new things, but looking back at all they ate I'd hoped for more diversity.
11. Sandwiches
This is the idea of sandwiching "must see" stuff with fun kid stuff. Go see a museum in the morning, run around the piazza afterwards or find a play ground and get a snack from a food cart, hit a church in the afternoon. It's all about give and take!
12. Let them drive a little.
We took them to the Louvre for a day. The Nintendo DS audio guides were absolutely fantastic!! They got to have a gps guide to the whole museum! At some point they each found paintings on the DS they wanted to find in the museum... so we let them direct us to go find it. We saw cool stuff on the way there and they felt empowered and like more than just passengers on the voyage. In a room full of sculptures we asked them to find their favorites and see if they could strike the same pose as the figure. That was hilarious actually.
Another way to keep them engaged is to give them the map. Sure you may know exactly how to get where you're going, but watching these two boys hash out their route like pirates finding treasure was brilliant.
13. Journal
I can be an over achiever sometimes. For this trip, their first to Europe, I made them each a journal to log their days' activities. This, in my humble opinion, was genius. I patted my crafty self on the back earlier about it HERE.
I was worried they were too young to do this, but they were actually really good about doing it at the end of the day! There were a couple nights they were just spent and it was a bit of a battle, but totally worth it looking back. Van did all his own entries with a little help on spelling and names of places, but I did all of Wesley's entries at his dictation.
We did learn after a couple days of evening entries to start prompting them during the day of what they might be "learning" and seeing what might be their favorite moment of the day.
We had a great first experience as a family on a European vacation. Not a Griswold experience at all - ha ha! Now... where do we want to go next?!!
Our boys were ages 7 and 5 years old for this trip, so we weren't looking for changing stations, dealing with strollers, diaper bags and all the things that come with traveling with really little ones. We were dealing with attention spans, eating schedules and just kid temperaments in general.
These are all based on our experience, so take it all with whatever salt you will. It's all only here to help.
1. Involve them in planning
This not only makes them feel helpful and involved in the process, empowered that they have a voice, but it helps to set expectations about what this vacation will be like! This isn't a trip to Grandma's in Wisconsin - it's going to be different! Talk about what will change - language? food? how we get around? travel times? As Josh and I discussed it, the boys were included in the discussion (so far as they wanted to be).
2. Book ahead of time
If you can book major tourist attractions ahead of time... do it! Lines are no fun for adults, imagine being 5 and told to wait that long! Museums, trains, attractions - get em before you go. Look at multi-day train passes where appropriate, and/or bus passes. The (4 day) Paris Museum Pass was perfect for us - includes the Louvre and Versailles, and in London we used the Oyster cards to ride the trains with ease.
3. Forget tying shoes
Our youngest isn't there yet, but our oldest has just recently gotten the hang of shoe tying. Constantly reminding him to tie his shoes wasn't something I wanted to deal with while out and about. In lieu of spray on shoes... we found good elastic laces (in his favorite color) and small spring toggles. This combo kept the shoes from slipping but also kept me from going crazy watching shoe laces fly around. Win-win!4. They CAN carry their own bags
I promise! Each boy had a standard 22" hard-side, spinner bag as well as a back pack. Yes, they fit two weeks of winter travel in there. While we checked our hard-sided bags through to our final destination, these li'l guys were perfectly able to deal with getting them around town, on/off trains, etc!
5. Almost all pictures will be in outerwear
I'm a scrapbooker (and a blogger, duh) so I take a lot of pictures. When I was helping the boys choose what to pack for the trip I was mentally spacing out clothing so the pictures wouldn't look like they wore one thing three days in a row. In the end... it didn't matter. If we'd gone on the trip in warmer months, maybe. As it was, in December, almost all the shots were of them in their coats!
6. Booster seats
We found that renting car seats with the car to be really expensive. Like, "yikes!" expensive. Both our boys just needed a booster seat - not the big, high-backed, padded car seats, just a booster. It was less money to go through Amazon, buy two booster seats and have them shipped to our hotel. They were waiting for us when we arrived (along with photo paper for my mini printer). It should be said here that we did not pick up the car at the airport upon arrival. We only picked up a car when we were done visiting the city, using the trains and buses to get around, and would be continuing our trip around the countryside.
7. Meal times are different
Ok, breakfast and lunch are about the same, but dinner is much later! My kids go to bed around 8pm, and after a full day of being tourists by 8pm they are ready for sleep! Well, at 8pm most Europeans are just getting around to dinner. This is where having an apartment is really, really handy. Not only does it allow to you live locally, going to groceries and farmers markets, but you can still have dinner at your normal time. Carrying snacks on you during the day helps stave off low blood sugar doldrums, too.
8. Embrace the idea of "siesta"
Between the hours of 2 and 5pm some European cultures (mostly southern and Mediterranean where it's warmer) shut down. They go home, nap, just chill and wind down. Siesta. This is a brilliant concept, especially with kiddos. "But I only have a few days in this city! I want to see everything!" You're not going to. And whether you see what you can with happy, agreeable kids or cranky kids who won't retain much of the latter part of their day due to being completely over stimulated is up to you. Again, having an apartment to go to is a big plus: make a big, family snack in the kitchen, plop on the couch and shut your eyes for a bit, sit on the patio with a cuppa, take off your shoes and stretch your toes. Shut off the stimulation for a little bit and everyone will be better for it, refreshed to go for a fantastic second half of the day.
9. Cafes are as good for the them as for you.
If you can't get back for a true siesta, then take a little break at a cafe. Bust out the tablet for the kids, order them a biscuit and a glass of french lemonade or hot chocolate. Talk about your favorite parts of the day so far.
10. Kid's menus are the same: Hamburgers & pizza
In hindsight we should have just insisted they order off the real menus so as to direct them down a path that would allow them to sample more local flavors. As it was, they were handed a kids menu wherever we went. They did try a few new things, but looking back at all they ate I'd hoped for more diversity.
11. Sandwiches
This is the idea of sandwiching "must see" stuff with fun kid stuff. Go see a museum in the morning, run around the piazza afterwards or find a play ground and get a snack from a food cart, hit a church in the afternoon. It's all about give and take!
12. Let them drive a little.
We took them to the Louvre for a day. The Nintendo DS audio guides were absolutely fantastic!! They got to have a gps guide to the whole museum! At some point they each found paintings on the DS they wanted to find in the museum... so we let them direct us to go find it. We saw cool stuff on the way there and they felt empowered and like more than just passengers on the voyage. In a room full of sculptures we asked them to find their favorites and see if they could strike the same pose as the figure. That was hilarious actually.
Another way to keep them engaged is to give them the map. Sure you may know exactly how to get where you're going, but watching these two boys hash out their route like pirates finding treasure was brilliant.
13. Journal
I can be an over achiever sometimes. For this trip, their first to Europe, I made them each a journal to log their days' activities. This, in my humble opinion, was genius. I patted my crafty self on the back earlier about it HERE.
I was worried they were too young to do this, but they were actually really good about doing it at the end of the day! There were a couple nights they were just spent and it was a bit of a battle, but totally worth it looking back. Van did all his own entries with a little help on spelling and names of places, but I did all of Wesley's entries at his dictation.
We did learn after a couple days of evening entries to start prompting them during the day of what they might be "learning" and seeing what might be their favorite moment of the day.
We had a great first experience as a family on a European vacation. Not a Griswold experience at all - ha ha! Now... where do we want to go next?!!
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