Babble

Hey folks,

We're considering a family trip for late summer or the fall -- me, my wife, and our twin boys, who will be just shy of three years old by then.  We'd like to do somewhere in Europe -- kid-friendly/safe, and the flight's not oppressively long -- and we hear Paris is great with kids.  Does anyone have any thoughts on where else we might go?  Or, if you've done Paris, suggestions on how/where to book and stay, ways to get low-cost packages and deals, etc.?
 

Definitely go to Paris if you can in summer! We went last year with our boy-girl twins a few months before their 3rd birthdays. They'll love Paris Plage, with sand, lots of kid stuff and even trampolines down on the Right Bank of the Seine. Boat ride was a big hit and just wandering the streets separately with them or together was also much fun. Discovered a very cool little playground in the Places des Vosges that I'd not noticed on earlier trips. 

As for price, I got a somewhat reasonable hotel deal through expedia, but I wouldn't call it cheap. Maybe it was $130 a night or so ... but kids under 4 go free on French rail, including the TGV, which is dirt cheap when you book in advance online.  

You could also go in for Le Camping ... the French do it way better than KOA. At the campground they'll have a pool, cafe/bar, fresh croissants in the morning, etc. Before we stopped in Paris for 3 nights, we camped for 10 days in Provence, near Sanary-sur-Mer, which was a blast.

I've never been to Paris with kids, but we lived in Germany for three years and it was so easy to go anywhere with the kids. Driving is much easier than in France, and there are so many straight flights to Frankfurt, that it's easy for those too, who are not lucky enough to live in NY. While Frankfurt isn't really my favourite city in Germany tourist-wise, it is really easy to fly in, rent a car and drive off to smaller places like Wiesbaden, Heidelberg or Würzburg - Frankfurt right in the middle, if you want to drive around to other places. 

My parents took me to London when I was 3 and its one my clearest early memories.  London was great for a 3 year old because of the zoo, the palace guards, the Beefeaters, the Tower, the parks/birds, Harrods, the taxis with backward-facing jump seats and the Egyptian stuff at the museum.  Get a bulkhead row of seats on the plane and let the kids play on the floor.

Italy is fantastic for 3 year olds as well -- Venice and Florence are my two favorites.
I also think that a great family vacation is Tulum, Mx. We were there with our two year old this past spring and we all had a good time!

Having taken a trip with my son earlier this year to Austria... I DEFINITELY would never fly abroad with a child unless you have a bulkhead seat where there is at least SOME play room. Honestly, if the tickets cost double it would still be worth the price! HA!!

 Also, European airlines (in my humble opinion) tend to be MUCH more child friendly than domestic ones. I fly a good bit for fun and have found this to always be the case.

On a side note: all of the mothers sitting in bulkhead with me on our way to Frankfurt (our first stop coincidentally) agreed that they should clear out a few rows of seats and make a play area for the kids on planes. Sure it wouldn't jive with safety standards... but man would us parents appreciate it!