[uncertain]

DH is going to attend a conference in Rome this May, and we are thinking that I'll fly to Europe with DS (who will be 18 months old at the time) after the conference is over and meet DH "somewhere". Just don't know where would be good, I've never been to Europe before. So, can anyone suggest a place that would be nice and family friendly, anywhere in Europe? I know that Europe is big, but we don't have it narrowed down to anywhere in particular...
Thanks so much for any ideas and pointers!!

 

[karina5]

I've heard good things about Copenhagen! Never been but would love to someday..

 

[Flor]

There was a Cookie article about this. . .
http://www.cookiemag.com/travel/city...ndex_cityguide

Guess it was Stockholm-- made we want to go!

Check out the rest of that site, though. There is also an article about the Lake District and I think there was an article about Italy sometime, too.

 

[velochic]

We used to live in Munich, Germany. VERY family friendly and beautiful. Actually all of Germany is family friendly. London is nice. Venice would offer a lot to see for a young tot. I would avoid Amsterdam and Brussels... dd was 3 when we were there and she was bored to tears. She did like Paris, though, and still talks about it. Plus you could do EuroDisney there if you are so inclined. We were just in Zurich over Christmas and it is family friendly, but not very wallet friendly... very, very expensive.

Have fun!! May is high season, so book ahead and remember that everywhere will be very crowded.

 

[Shaki]

I was about to suggest Amsterdam (then read the above post

and decided to suggest it anyway). DH and I lived there for awhile (pre-DD) and know several folks with little ones living there now. There's lots of fun stuff to do there with little ones. Vondlepark is lovely. You can rent a houseboat and stay on a canal or at least go on a boat ride on the canals. Avoid the "canal buses" those are too big and you don't really get a sense of how the locals travel via canal. When I lived there I drove a small tour boat on the canals for "Boom Chicago" they are an american comedy theatre. The show is for adults but if they are still doing the boat tours take one of those with your little one. And Efteling amusement park (outside Amsterdam) is hands down the most magical amusement park I've ever been too check it out; http://www.efteling.com/home.aspx I can't wait to take DD there!

Wherever you go have a wonderful time!
eta: when you go to the efteling website scroll down the welcome page and click on the british flag for english

 

[velochic]

Well about Amsterdam, the other big turn off was that all of the affordable places to stay were upstairs. The stairs are all these ridiculously narrow, impossibly steep flights that are next to impossible to carry much of anything up, including a stroller, luggage and toddler. We asked the restaurant downstairs if we could keep the stroller in there and they were nice to let us, but it was just a nightmare trying to navigate those stairs. Very family UNfriendly. The main hotels were outside of our budget.

 

[mommajb]

I was going to suggest Munich as well. We loved living city center with little ones.

 

[nonconformnmom]

Copenhagan is a good suggestion. Or any town in Italy, maybe Siena, where you can also have a short drive to the beach if the weather is good.

 

[miss_sonja]

We had a great time in Venice with our then-6 month old. Italy felt very family friendly, nice people, great food. Venice is cool because there are no cars there, due to the canals, so walking is quite safe.

We also really enjoyed Munich. Beer halls you can bring your kid into? Absolutely!

Or, why not meet him in Rome? There's a ton to see, and you can take a train out to Ostia (sp?), an ancient Roman port. You can see ancient remains of a toilet there, too frikkin' cool.

 

[ashleyhaugh]

we're just back to the states after living in germany for 3.5 years, and id say as a whole, the whole country is pretty child friendly, at least the parts we visited

 

[Jennisee]

:

 

[RedWine]

Go to Rome! It's beautiful, and when we went with our 7-month old, the waiters at every restaurant passed her around and around, ooh-ing and ahh-ing. We also went to Cortina (north, Italian Alps). Also got lots of smiles.

I'd say anywhere in Italy is good. Why not stay in Rome and see the sights?

 

[lalaland42]

Greece, definitely! I went to Greece right before conceiving DD and I was asked all the time when I was going to "give DH a son". Ok, so it was a little sexist but I think that everyone would greet kids with open arms. The islands are gorgeous (esp Santorini, and Crete is a must-see on my list). I think Italy would also like kids but I found the people to be a little rude. I was there for ~2 months and I thought that the whole time. Could have been the timing with the war and all but who knows.

 

[sunnysideup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedWine Go to Rome! It's beautiful, and when we went with our 7-month old, the waiters at every restaurant passed her around and around, ooh-ing and ahh-ing. We also went to Cortina (north, Italian Alps). Also got lots of smiles. I'd say anywhere in Italy is good. Why not stay in Rome and see the sights?

: Go to Rome!

 

[amitymama]

I'd suggest Germany, Italy or Greece. They're the most child and family friendly, IME. The Scandinavian countries are as well but they are very pricey.

 

[amitymama]

Oh, and another great place is Croatia. Absolutely gorgeous and not quite as touristy as these other places.

 

[SweetGoddess]

My husband and I spent a month in Europe this summer and we saw people travelling with kids everywhere. I would definitely go back and take my kids. We saw London and Paris but spent the bulk of our time in Italy; we had a villa in Tuscany for three weeks. We made it up to the Cinque Terre and down to Rome and a bunch of places in between (we rented a car once we arrived in Italy). All of it was beautiful and seemed to be very family friendly.

Depending on how long you are going to stay you may want to look into a rental of either a flat or villa. I used http://www.slowtrav.com/ to find a company to rent our villa. We ended up booking our villa with http://www.labellatoscana.net/. You can rent by the week and really explore the area that you are staying in.

 

[SwissMama]

I'd say Spain, Holland or Switzerland, or any scandinavian country. Haven't been to the later, but we vacationed in Spain, Holland and Switz with our baby and found it very easy. The only problem with spain is that the restaurants aren't open until later, so if your child has an early bed time, that kind of sucks.

It's so funny how all these answers are so different. I LIVE in Southern Germany and wouldn't call it children-friendly at all.

 

[uncertain]

Thank you so much, everyone, for all these terrific suggestions!!
I think that I will meet DH in Rome after all, since so many are saying great things about it, spend a few days there, and then rent a car and drive to Cinque Terre area. We're still doing lots of internet searching! I like the suggestion to rent a little flat, I think we will try to do that. I'm somewhat nervous about finding the right place, but I'm starting to get excited about this now that you all have such positive things to say about bringing a child.
Any other tips and suggestions would be most welcome!! Does anyone by chance have any suggestions on a good spot in Cinque Terre region to stay?
Based on the replies so far, it sounds like we're going to have to plan more trips! Perhaps some day to Germany, Spain, oh so many places to see! Kinda sad that it took me till my mid-30s to get over to Europe, huh?!

 

[sunnysideup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uncertain I think that I will meet DH in Rome after all

That's great! You'll love it. There is so much to see.