What would you do? Euro Family Vacation

[geekette]

Aren't you a bundle of fun. Why is travelling with a 2 year old going to make life miserable for everybody else?

I suspect that you're one of those people who tut tut when we take our children into the business lounge and yet become acutely aware of their ignorance when the kids sit at the computers quietly and politely without pestering anyone else. The same can't be said about some of the boorish adults who proceed to guzzle as much alcohol as they can and bore everyone within listening distance with their 'just too loud' conversations.

The title of the thread is What Would You Do? and clearly, most would not wish to travel with their toddlers for many reasons. It's great that YOUR toddler can sleep all through a transatlantic flight, YOUR toddler can be quiet and well-behaved through whatever life brings, but that is not ALL toddlers.

I think those of us that have been on an transatlantic flight can say with certainty that Not All Young Children will sleep through it, nor will they be easy to comfort or keep occupied.

I would not want to travel that far with my own toddler. And so, I, like many others, when asked What would you do? would not take a 2yo. Clearly, your mileage varies.

 

[DeniseM]

Visiting Europe is a very expensive trip for most families, and it is really difficult to do justice to it, with young children. I'm not suggesting that they never go - I'm just suggesting that they wait until all the children are old enough to appreciate it.

And yes, even though I'm a teacher, I'm one of those mean people who doesn't enjoy going somewhere, if there is a toddler having a melt down at the next table. I particularly don't enjoy sharing space with small children in bars and casinos, and other adult venues.

 

[geekette]

Visiting Europe is a very expensive trip for most families, and it is really difficult to do justice to it, with young children. I'm not suggesting that they never go - I'm just suggesting that they wait until all the children are old enough to appreciate it.

And yes, even though I'm a teacher, I'm one of those mean people who doesn't enjoy going somewhere, if there is a toddler having a melt down at the next table. I particularly don't enjoy sharing space with small children in bars and casinos, and other adult venues.

unless they are buying my drinks or providing my stake.

The expense would probably be the first knock-out factor for me, honestly. Difficult to justify for a wee one bringing back no memories.

 

[sml2181]

Wow. I thought the op was asking what to do WHEN taking the kids to Europe. Obviously, English is not my first language.

Just in case the op is still around - I'll add some resorts I would consider myself. Please do keep in mind that I do not think Europe has many great timeshares and I think hotels are a better option in many places.

Interval:
All Marriott resorts. Although I am not a huge fan of the Spanish locations, I love the resorts and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. Beaches at the Costa del Sol are not great as mentioned before by another poster. I think the French resort is a great spot to explore a part of Northern France. There is so much to do in the area - apart from Paris and Disney.
The Royal Savoy (Madeira), Golden Sands (Malta). The De Vere resorts in the UK.

RCI:
San Lawrenz resort (Gozo) which is part of the Kempinski San Lawrenz hotel. There are only 9 timeshare units so this may be very hard to get.
Some of the Pestana resorts in Portugal/Madeira. There is a resort which is part of the Le Meridien in Cyprus, but I forgot the name. Some resorts in Greece, like the Classical resort at the Marine Palace Suites.

If you would consider hotels:
Keep in mind that Hilton offers a 2nd room for children for 50% of their best available rate, or any flexible rate. They offer this at many European and Asian hotels. You might have to call HH or the hotel.

Accor (Novotel) is pretty good when it comes to connecting rooms and rooms which sleep up to 4. So is Holiday Inn.
Hilton is good with connecting rooms as is Starwood, but they will mostly accomodate 3 per room - which may be still good for your family.
Marriott is not very good with connecting rooms; they are there, but not at all hotels.

Some hotels my kids like:
Hilton Sorrento - not luxurious but very kid friendly. Italians love bambino in general, and it does show at this hotel.
WA Rome Cavalieri - but you may want to have HH diamond status in order to use the pool loungers without any additional fee. Especially when taking kids to Rome during summer - they will be very happy having that pool.
Starwood and Marriott have hotels in Italy too of course, but my kids love the 2 Hiltons.
Hilton Malta, Westin Malta.
The Romanos and Westin Costa Navarino (Greece) - location is wonderful especially if you want a more "authentic" taste of Greece. Blue Palace (Starwood, Greece)
There are so many more options; I am sure I missed a few great ones.

Turkey has some great options for children. When my kids came to the Atlantis for the first time, they were disappointed with the pool features at first because their expectations were set too high. Turkey has many hotels with terrific waterpark-like features. Turkish people love kids and their hospitality is very hard to match. Hilton has 2 new resorts, but I don't think they have these waterpark features. Marriott has the Renaissance Antalya Beach resort which is great but older.

Just a general tip for traveling with your 2 yrs old: make sure you have a stroller which folds in/out easily (think taking cabs and such), and which has a recline feature. Just bring some favorite snacks and keep them for "special occasions".

For all kids: Keep a small bag for each kid with a few of their favorite ... (fill in the blanks). Hand it to them only if they are getting bored and you need them to be quiet for a little while. Let the kids return the goodies to you every time, so you keep control over when where and for how long. The contents don't have to be large or expensive and they don't have to be new. In fact, sometimes a few small things from home will do.

And please do keep in mind that not all kids are happy when traveling to various places during 1 vacation. My kids never had a problem, and they had visited all continents by the time they were 2. But our friends went on a 3 week tour through California, Nevada and Arizona this last summer. Their youngest, 11 at the time, had a hard time adjusting to the various hotels they visited. She ended up hating that vacation and she now refuses to go back to the US anytime soon. This wasn't her first time visiting the US, and she had been to Asia and Africa before. It just happened, and I think it had a lot to do with their itinerary.
Just to show that your 2 yrs old may not be your biggest concern at all. :ignore:

 

[BocaBum99]

Here is a challenge for you Euro-experts.

If you were taking 4 children (ages 2-10) to europe for a 2-3 week vacation, what would you do?

There are an endless amount of choices for destinations, tours, activities, transportation, etc. We would like to give our kids a nice overview of a few european countries (Italy for sure) and are having difficulty narrowing down our options. We could use the collective TUG wisdom to get us headed in the right direction.

Good question. We were faced with a similar challenge, so we decided to take a 12-night mediterranian cruise. Adding a couple days before and after the trip and 4 nights in London to go to Wimbledon.

All the entertainment for the kids are provided. We get to experience a sampling of all the cultures we want the kids to see.

I guess its like a floating timeshare.

 

[Ron98GT]

Good question. We were faced with a similar challenge, so we decided to take a 12-night mediterranian cruise. Adding a couple days before and after the trip and 4 nights in London to go to Wimbledon.

All the entertainment for the kids are provided. We get to experience a sampling of all the cultures we want the kids to see.

I guess its like a floating timeshare.

Sounds like the best way to take kids on a European vacation: a Disney European Cruise:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...DCLBrandEuropeGoogle|G|4133701.CL.AM.01.01K3P

Now, if there was just a Disney Airlines.

 

[Talent312]

The solution to the "Terrible 2's" -- Have a birthday party, so they'll think they're 3.
..... Source: The TV Show "Dinosaurs, 1991-1994.

Having been myself described as a "miserable child," I must wonder what would possess
a coulple to put their time and expense to such a risk. Seriously, leave rug rats at home.
<ducking>

 

[Ron98GT]

The solution to the "Terrible 2's" -- Have a birthday party, so they'll think they're 3.
..... Source: The TV Show "Dinosaurs, 1991-1994.

Having been myself described as a "miserable child," I must wonder what would possess
a coulple to put their time and expense to such a risk. Seriously, leave rug rats at home.
<ducking>

I totally agree, leave'm home.

:hysterical: :rofl: :hysterical:

 

[Ron98GT]

Aren't you a bundle of fun. (Yep, that's me , a bundle of fun because I don't want to be around snot-nosed kids, or any kid for that matter) Why is travelling with a 2 year old going to make life miserable for everybody else? (I tremble just thinking about it)

I suspect that you're one of those people who tut tut when we take our children into the business lounge (Yep, that's me. And what are your kids doing in the business lounge anyway ) and yet become acutely aware of their ignorance when the kids sit at the computers quietly and politely without pestering anyone else hysterical: Give Me a Break, that's a good one. :hysterical: Kids in the same sentence with polite and quiet :rofl: ). The same can't be said about some of the boorish adults who proceed to guzzle as much alcohol as they can and bore everyone within listening distance with their 'just too loud' conversations (Yep, those nice, quiet, polite, and innocent angels, and us loud, boorish, and drunken adults :hysterical.

Excuse me while I pour another drink, I'm boring myself

 

[Pompey Family]

Excuse me while I pour another drink, I'm boring myself

Oh dear, it looks like this site has finally succumbed to the scourge of the internet..... trolls. A shame because on the whole it's a very informative site and it really doesn't benefit from idiots whose sole purpose is to go out and try and wind other posters up. Unfortunately Ron98GT your efforts are wasted on me.

 

[Talent312]

Unfortunately Ron98GT your efforts are wasted on me.

Ron98GT is no mere troll. He is a dues-paying TUG-Member troll.
What Ron98GT did here is a time-honored literary device called satire.

With whom would you prefer to spend your time...
-- A loud, boorish, and drunken adult; or
-- A nice, quiet, polite, and innocent angel (2 year old)?
... Ha! As if that's the choice.
.
.

 

[lprstn]

If money wasn't an option I'd take a cruise which offers childcare, food and transport to different stops. I believe Royal Caribbean is reasonable. Or I'd do 'Adventures by Disney' tours.

 

[sml2181]

I think MSC cruises have specials: kids for free! (As I said before, Italians love children!)

But you can expect many Italian families with lots of kids so be prepared.
(Not that there is anything wrong with that, but as Americans (or western Europeans) you would be better off when knowing what to expect.)

 

[Ron98GT]

Oh dear, it looks like this site has finally succumbed to the scourge of the internet..... trolls. A shame because on the whole it's a very informative site and it really doesn't benefit from idiots whose sole purpose is to go out and try and wind other posters up. Unfortunately Ron98GT your efforts are wasted on me.

If there is a troll to be found it's you lady. You barged into this thread, pushing your kids in our face, and started calling us names. YOU started the name calling lady, not me. You've been hanging around your kids for too long protecting them and acting like them, a spoiled child that can't get it's way. Grow up troll.

Now where were we, o'yeah having another fine glass of red Italian wine and planning that next adult trip to Italy, including 3 nites at the Molino Stucky, with no kids screaming and crying.

 

[elaine]

Ok, everyone, we've all seen/heard toddlers/kids gone crazy and totally well-behaved kids (same can be said for adults).
OP---as many have said, the younger age range can make for a tough trip--but if you have a reason for going now (such as a reason to be in Europe, FF miles expiring, or just really wanting to go next year), then have a great trip. There are lots of good ideas from this post---if you choose a cruise as part of it, there are varying rules for under 3 and whether (or not potty trained), so keep that in mind when choosing a cruiseline.
I took my 15 month old from DC to Pacific NW for 2 weeks--my sitter took 2 weeks off and I would have been home with her and I had FF miles. My mom met me and we had a great time. Good luck. Elaine

 

[Pompey Family]

If there is a troll to be found it's you lady. You barged into this thread, pushing your kids in our face, and started calling us names. YOU started the name calling lady, not me. You've been hanging around your kids for too long protecting them and acting like them, a spoiled child that can't get it's way. Grow up troll.

Now where were we, o'yeah having another fine glass of red Italian wine and planning that next adult trip to Italy, including 3 nites at the Molino Stucky, with no kids screaming and crying.

Actually, I'm a bloke but lets not allow such arrogant assumptions get in the way of a good rant shall we.

 

[npey]

Here is a challenge for you Euro-experts.
If you were taking 4 children (ages 2-10) to europe for a 2-3 week vacation, what would you do?
There are an endless amount of choices for destinations, tours, activities, transportation, etc. We would like to give our kids a nice overview of a few european countries (Italy for sure) and are having difficulty narrowing down our options.

Speaking from my own experience…My parents took my brother (7) and me (9) to a 1 1/2 month trip to 5 European countries and Morocco that gave me, like you said, a “nice overview of a few European countries”. It was fabulous and I enjoyed every site and experience. Jet lag didn't affect me and I remember a lot of places I went to. But I am a great observer and I love history, even at that age, and arts and foreign places interested me. My dad’s appreciation of culture, knowledge of history and arts, combined with great narrative skills, guided me through the sites of the Old World. I vividly remember, from Rome: the Catacombs, the Coliseum, riding the famous Via Veneto (my parents mentioned it over and over), Ostia beach (cold for me even in the summer), the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. Paris: the Louvre and being mesmerized by the Mona Lisa for a long time, Notre-dame, the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysées, Paris Zoo, the Seine. Madrid: the Prado, the ample Gran Via, the Madrid Zoo, a Madrid circus, the Corte Ingles (girls will be girls), train trip to Algeciras, London: Buckingham Palace and the immobility of the Queen’s guard, Hyde Park, Big Ben, Madame Tussauds, London Zoo, Harrods, the double decker buses and the rain. Morocco: eating sitting on the floor at a restaurant, the style and decoration, an enchanted cobra around my neck, the fez hats; from Lisbon, unfortunately, I don’t remember much except the zoo and vaguely, the city. We also went to other iconic attractions I can’t remember if it isn't because of the photos as well a lot of churches and cathedrals (my mom had to go to all of them), the central market of each city, gardens and plazas. For some adult attractions, we were left with a hotel babysitter, my parents didn't own resorts. The only drawback is that we think my brother was too young to really appreciate the different cultures and he wasn't interested in history or paintings but in playing or to go to Disney Paris, which fortunately for me, wasn't opened at that time. My daughter wasn't interested in any European sightseeing until now that she is 16, so taking her to Europe before this age would have been a waste of educative trip, so you should consider your children personality and interests when deciding to take them to Europe and/or choosing the European must do’s.