Europe with 18 month old infant - where?

[benhadi]

Hi everyone,

Mrs and 18 month old baby thinking of going to Europe next April. Really wanted to do Italy (Rome/Florence/Venice) but after a short hop across the tasman we learnt that it's not easy to move around with baby's stuff.

So we've adjusted our idealistic plans, but would still like to visit Europe with the baby. Wondering if anyone has any ideas/suggestions as to where we should visit that are baby-friendly, safe and clean, and easy to move around. We considered doing a mediterranean cruise, but some of the docks are on sea and requires transfer on small boats to get to land, which is not ideal for us. Considered a river cruise, which is still on the books.

I know many here have traveled with young kids, wondering whether you could shed any insight as to what I should expect and where we should go.

Many thanks in advance!

BenHadi

 

[docjames]

Having contmplated the same with minidoc (although cruising isnt my thing), I would have plumped for Germany as safe and easy, and if cruising is your thing, a Rhine river cruise (although a toddler on a riverboat i'm not so sure.....).

Alternatively you could do a nice loop flying into Munich, drive down through Austria to say Venice, then back up to Munich, Stuttgart etc.

You could easily hire a car to cart all the child related junk around, another otpion would be to fly into say Nice, then you can do Monaco, across to San Remo, or back towards Lyon etc.


Plenty of options, but I guess trying to keep the time in the car to a minimum. But with Child, i'd certainly be doing car (+/- train) rather than dealing repeatedly with airports.

 

[benhadi]

Having contmplated the same with minidoc (although cruising isnt my thing), I would have plumped for Germany as safe and easy, and if cruising is your thing, a Rhine river cruise (although a toddler on a riverboat i'm not so sure.....).

Alternatively you could do a nice loop flying into Munich, drive down through Austria to say Venice, then back up to Munich, Stuttgart etc.

You could easily hire a car to cart all the child related junk around, another otpion would be to fly into say Nice, then you can do Monaco, across to San Remo, or back towards Lyon etc.


Plenty of options, but I guess trying to keep the time in the car to a minimum. But with Child, i'd certainly be doing car (+/- train) rather than dealing repeatedly with airports.

Hi docjames thanks for your prompt response. I am also sceptical about 18 month old on a river cruise, but i am assuming river cruises are smooth and convenient hence why I considered it. Very expensive though, which discourages me.

Germany and driving around there sounds good. Trains probably not gonna work if you're lugging 5 pieces of checked baggage, as is air travel. We were thinking of maybe flying into LHR and stationing ourselves in London, and do day trips etc etc from there. Same with any other city i suppose, but not sure how baby friendly other cities are. Paris wasn't that baby friendly when I was there, no lifts or escalators in many train stations.

We like travelling but like it slow and easy. used to maximise our time by cramping everything in, but age has caught up with us and we're happy just taking things slow.

I'm seriously contemplating germany, although wife not very keen. If that's the case would likely fly into FRA and do east germany or MUC to go south as you suggested. Which one's more worth it?

Is venice baby friendly though?

BenHadi

 

[docjames]

Both are good but I prefer Bavaria so MUC for me!

Italy in general IMO isnt overly baby friendly in terms of setup, but people wont be upset about you travelling with baby. Perosnally i'd avoid Paris too! I dont fancy the "day trip from London" idea as you'd be on and off aircraft which is a nightmare (unless you're planning on having someone in London babysit - and then what happens if you get stuck somewhere?)


I think the way forward would be to work out a list of places you'd like to visit, then decide which ones are child friendly / manageable. Depends also a little bit on the child (how placid / un-placid he/she is!).

It also depends on how you'd cope with "non child friendly" - if I wanted to visit somewhere particularly, i'd just work out the most child friendly way to go there, rather than exclude it entirely.

I'm assuming (without searching) that there are plenty of websites dedicated to child-friendly holidays, so i'd be searching for hints/ideas there.

There's plenty of parents on this forum, hopefully some others can post their EU experiences with children.

 

[Pushka]

We travelled through Bavaria region with our 2 year old, then through Austria and Liechtenstein and into Switzerland. Our 2 year old loved Switzerland, and Austria - loved seeing the cows with their bells in the highlands, snow off the Eiger Glacier (it was September) travelling on cog railways etc etc. His first experience of snow was in Switzerland. We did a lot of Bed and Breakfasts, hired a car and he had his favourite quilt which doubled as a sleeping bag for him. We also took this on the plane to encourage him to sleep. We didnt book anything in advance except for the cities, but as soon as we saw a nice b and B we would knock on the door and stay.

 

[Katie]

We took Little Miss to London, Paris, the Somme, Rome, Florence, Venice, Germany, and Singapore when she was 18months old. Probably a few too many places (maybe wouldn't do Florence with a little one again) and pain with the moving around. I thought Italy was great with a small child - restaurants and lots of places were very welcoming to her. The society, to me, is child-friendly, and that made a difference. She loved chasing pigeons in St Peter's Square in Rome and St Mark's Square in Venice.

Do not use a three wheel stroller - they are awful in cities like Paris and Rome, way too easy to get the front wheel caught in the cobblestones and almost fall over.

Flights are hard at this age; be prepared. The child will want to move/walk, and may not be able to see the IFE screen from their seat (my Little Miss could only see it when standing up). They also may not be likely to sit still for long periods of time watching TV. There's information in various places about keeping little kids occupied on such flights - but if you do your research and are prepared, then it can be done.

Venice has lots of bridges, not great for a stroller, so we used the baby backpack much more there.

 

[benhadi]

We're now seriously considering Munich. I've always had a thing for Germany. Might ret a car and stay in the suburbs. I hear public transport is fantastic so it'll be easy to catch that to the city if need be. Maybe make Munich a base to explore surroundings.

Was thinking of doing exactly that in London, but the BmW museum seems too tempting.

Italy may have to wait till kids are older and don't need prams anymore. Besides I've only got one back and it won't be fun if I slip a disc lugging all the kiddie equipment.

Flight wise, should be fine. He's a good flyer, although longest sector he's been on is trans Tasman so far. First test in a few months time with long haul travel to Asia. We'd be going to Europe in J so will have more space, although I'm not so sure he'll fit in the bassinet at 18 months. Other than actually getting him his own seat, how do you travel with a lap baby without using a bassinet?And how painful is it on 2 flights over to Europe nonstop?

 

[Katie]

It does depend on the child's weight, but most airline bassinets don't seem to take kids older than 10-12 months. I would not anticipate one being able to hold an 18 month old, unless they were very light.
We flew Y & got a seat each, thoguh did not get a seat for Little Miss on the European flights. Thanks to that, we had a Euro200 excess luggage charge with LH Venice-Duesseldorf - we had a pram and a suitcase & they only waived the pram. Luggage rules may be different; we travelled in 2008.

Lap child (typically pay 10% of the adult fare) will
mean they are likely to be sitting on your laps/in your seats for the flight, especially if they are deemed to be too heavy for the bassinet. A friend flew J on UA 9-10yrs ago with her son, and without her husband, he was too big for the bassinet so she held him for the entire flight. FAs tried to help where they could, but I got the impression she would have been better in Y where he could have sat or lain on a seat next to her.

This is of course an anecdotal tale, and you will have yourself & your wife travelling together, so not the same issue at all.

 

[amaroo]

We stuck to Asia until the youngest was aged 8.

Over 6 trips they have traveled throughout Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

When we hit Europe for our 6 week holiday the kids were well season travelers, keen to experience new things & adapted to the late eating culture of Spain like old pros

For the Asia trips we went for no more than 2.5 weeks, with flights no longer than 10hrs. This ensured that it was a real holiday with minimal stress & happy holidays for all.

 

[benhadi]

it's going to be tough i'm sure, going to Europe without a stopover enroute. By the time he flies to europe he would have travelled to USA and back, and to Asia and back. I am only worried at 18 months he (or rather, we parents) won't have the luxury of a bassinet to use. And I can only speculate whether he would be one who's curious bug in the plane, wanting to move around all the time by the time he reaches 18 months. Ahh...the joys of parenthood.

How do people do it with several kids below the ages of 5?