Corliss Group Travel: Tips for Travelling with Kids in Europe

Corliss Group Travel: Tips for Travelling with Kids in Europe
When parents tell me they're going to Europe and ask me where to take their kids, I'm
sometimes tempted to answer, "To Grandma and Grandpa's on your way to the airport."
It's easy to make the case against taking the kids along. A European vacation with kids in tow is
much more about playgrounds and petting zoos than about museums and churches. And
traveling with kids can be expensive. Out of exhaustion and frustration, you may opt for pricey
conveniences like taxis and any restaurant with a child-friendly menu. Two adults with kids can
end up spending twice as much to experience about half the magic of Europe.

But traveling with kids, you'll live more like Europeans and less like tourists. Your children are
like ambassadors, opening doors to new experiences and countless conversations. With kids,
you'll be forced to discard your tourist armor and become a temporary European — as a
parent.
Some of my best travel memories wouldn't have happened without my kids. Because my son
was in the car, I once detoured to watch a "Petit League" baseball tournament in southern
France — and debated ball and strike calls behind home plate with a pan-European bunch of
parents. I'm no horseman, but because my daughter had her heart set on it, I've trotted along
leafy bridle paths in the Cotswolds (next time I'll wear long pants).
Let the kid in you set the itinerary, and everyone will have a good time. Somehow even the bigticket
family attractions — the kind I normally avoid — have more appeal in Europe.
Europe's Disneyland, outside Paris, has all the familiar rides and characters. But Mickey Mouse
speaks French, and you can buy wine with your lunch. My kids went ducky for it. With upward
of 15 million visitors a year, Disneyland Paris has become the Continent's single leading tourist
destination.
Also a hit, but on a more Danish scale, is Legoland, a fun sight for kids (lots of them blond) and
their parents. Sixty million of the plastic bricks are arranged into extraordinarily detailed
depictions of such wonders as Mount Rushmore, the Parthenon, and "Mad" King Ludwig's
castle. Anyone who has ever picked up or stepped on a Lego will marvel at these meticulous
representations.
Nostalgic parents and their children enjoy Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, which recently
celebrated its 150th birthday. This 20-acre park is happily and simply Danish, without
commercial glitz. You pay one admission price and find yourself lost in a genteel Hans Christian
Andersen wonderland of rides, restaurants, games, marching bands, roulette wheels, and funny
mirrors.

Certain European cities seem built for kids. London eliminates the language barrier, and has
some of the best museums for children — the Natural History Museum (dinosaur bones),
Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood (toys, doll houses, and games going back to the
1600s), and Science Museum (hands-on fun). Hyde Park, London's backyard, is the perfect place
for kids to play, ride bikes, and run free. My kids enjoyed the pirate-themed playground.
Barcelona bubbles with inexpensive, quirky sights and an infectious human spirit. There's a fun,
hill-capping amusement park, "magic" fountains that put on a free light-and-sound spectacle
most summer nights, a chocolate museum (no explanation needed), and one of Europe's best
urban beach scenes.
Venice doesn't need an amusement park — it is one big fantasy world. It's safe and like nothing
else your kids have ever seen. Riding a vaporetto across the lagoon to the Lido, Venice's beach
island, is nearly as fun as the beach itself.
Another canal-lined city, Amsterdam, has a special charm for kids. Its electric trams are an
enjoyable ride, as are the boats that tour the canals. At NEMO, the kid-friendly science
museum, it's forbidden not to touch. Older kids will want to make a pilgrimage to the house
where Anne Frank wrote her famous diary.
Whichever city you are in, take advantage of the legacy of Europe's royal past: spacious parks
and an abundance of castles. Give in to your inner toy soldier and line up with your kids for the
changing of the guard at Prague's Castle or London's Buckingham Palace. Take a picnic break in
Berlin's sprawling Tiergarten Park, once a royal hunting ground. Vienna's formerly royal Prater
Park tempts young and old with its sprawling amusement park, huge red Ferris wheel, and
miles of green space.
Because my parents imported pianos from Germany, our family travelled there when I was a
kid, during my "wonder years" — when travel experiences fed and shaped my core values
about the world and my place in it. If you can afford it, do the same for your kids. Getting your
children comfortable in the wider world is great parenting.