If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a huge Europe fan. I just can’t get enough.
Europe has such a variety of cultures, food, adventures, and topography within one relatively small region. It’s cheap and easy to get from one country to another by plane, train or car, making it tempting to cram more and more into one big trip.
One more plus! Everywhere we have been in Europe has been very kid and baby-friendly, at least in comparison to Northern California and other parts of the US. Although, they may not always be stroller-friendly with cobblestone streets and stairs. Meh, no big deal.
With our third big Europe trip under our belt, I think we’ve finally mastered route-planning.
When drafting an itinerary, we look for fun, adventurous places with baby and toddler-friendly things to do nice hotel options. The rooms have to be suitable for families and the travel distances doable.
We prefer renting a car as opposed to public transportation, when possible. It’s easier to lug around our stuff, the kids sleep better, and doing things on our own time schedule lowers our stress level significantly. But we learned that the hard way, unfortunately.
Use Rome2Rio to figure out the fastest and cheapest routes as it compares flying, driving, as well as train and bus routes.
We conquered (and loved) these itineraries…
16-day trip, train and car, 3-4 nights in each destination:
Rome, Italy -> train to Florence (rent car) -> Tuscany -> Chamonix, France -> (return car) Milan -> fly to London, UK
18-day trip, 2-4 nights in each destination, driving and trains:
Paris, France -> train to Lyon (rent car)-> Montreux, Switzerland -> Zermatt, Switzerland ->Como, Italy -> French Riviera -> Spanish Riviera (Getaria, San Sebastian) ->Bordeaux train to Paris (return car)
21-day trip, four nights in each destination, driving:
Munich, Germany -> Salzburg, Austria -> Dolomites, Italy ->Zermatt, Switzerland -> Montreux, Switzerland -> Munich
I hope you enjoy these routes as much as we have.
Now get planning!
