Family Vacation Ideas

I went to a conference in Paris years ago and stayed with my PhD supervisor who had 7-year-old twins. In exchange for staying with her family I babysat the twins for two days - and it was a blast. We took the metro and explored the city, tasting ice cream and crepes and macroons, had a picnic under the Eiffel Tower, ran around the Jardin du Luxembourg (where they pushed wooden boats around a big pond and played in a huge playground), took a river boat tour, and climbed up to the Sacre Coeur to check out the views. I spent about 7 years living in Europe (in Ireland) and have travelled in Europe quite a bit - but Paris with kids was very memorable. It was easy and enjoyable, not exactly 'off the beaten track', but that made it a bit more relaxing for me (I spent two summers traveling through Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Romania - lots of beautiful places but communication was more complicated, I spent time lost or trying to figure out transportation and feeling overwhelmed, and the roads were hectic! I spent one night on the roof of a guesthouse because I took the last ferry to an island where the hostel had given my room away and literally everything was booked up. Memorable experiences, gorgeous locations - but I'd be stressed with a kid on these adventures). Also the family rented a car after and spent a few days in Brittany (Saint-Malo I think, about 4 hours away), and I have heard good things. 

My aunt just took her 10 year old grandson to Germany last year and they went to Christmas markets - which sounded like a very wonderful winter trip! 

Enjoy your trip and 

We had a great time in Stockholm when our daughter was that age. There's the Astrid Lundgren (Pippi Longstocking) museum ( https://www.junibacken.se/en/  ). Skansen, is an open-air museum with miniature buildings and also a zoo. Also, pretty much everywhere you go has part set up for children with places to play. Even the parks have equipment like stilts children can check out. We were there in the summer, I'm not sure how it would be other times of year.

Second the Stockholm recommendation.  Your 7 year old will love it!  We took our kids when they were 1.5 and 2.5 so a little too young but we loved Junibaken, the Vasa Museum, Skansen (animals here), the Nobel Prize museum and the ABBA Museum.  There's a playground around every corner with lots of cool things like in-ground trampolines, ziplines and large slides.  We had a blast and it's an amazing city!

Ireland is also amazing and you could do the Dublin Zoo, Natural History Museum and drive to Fota Wildlife Park where they have lemurs and wallabies roaming the grounds.  Then you could drive cross country to the west (about 3 hours) to see some beautiful landscapes - I would recommend the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands (take a ferry for a day trip) and Ailwee Caves and Birds of Prey Center. They have lots of fun department stores - I would recommend Dundrum Shopping Center where there are several department stores, a great bookstore and a bunch of stores that carry children's clothing (Next, Zara, Monsoon, etc.) and I would also highly recommend the Avoca Handweavers store - they sell beautiful handmade items.  And the food there is delicious.  

Hi I would just throw in Berlin to the mix. I have lived here for years raising my kid and in my opinion traveling around europe that Berlin is uniquely kid friendly.  First there are amazing playgrounds - interesting, imaginative and you'll find one about every 2 or 3 blocks in most neighborhoods - sometimes tucked into places you'd never guess. Even at 7 your kid might find some of these interesting enough to try out - trampolines in the ground, extra tall slides, climbing structures - which means you can fit a 20 minute pit stop to refresh between other things. And no not those generic concrete ones we have in Calif that all look the same.

Berlin is very affordable - hotels, airbnb, restaurants are all quite affordable compared to many European cities. It is particularly lovely during the summer - green canopied streets, filled with sidewalk cafes. Restaurants are very friendly towards kids and it is even common for offices to have a little "kid corner" for kids to play. 

There are too many historical sites to see to name here, the city is filled with interesting things that even a 7 year old might fight interesting. If you are hesitant about exposing your child to the sad past of WWII, you can focus on the Berlin Wall - lots of kids find that interesting and there are many interesting kid friendly museums some with kid specific activities.

It is super easy to get around with public transportation. Buy a visitors pass - that will work on the 4 forms of transportation - S-bahn (above ground); U-bahn (subway); Metro (M-car a street-train) and bus. All by honor's system (they DO check randomly so be prepared - but no going through ticket-stalls or scanning tickets. Just hope on!)  Most of their buses are double-decker which kids love. If hot, lots of great lakes nearby too - crystal clear and clean, sandy bottom and wonderfully warm. 

Here are a couple of places you might want to check out.  Machmit Museum - a must! https://www.top10berlin.de/en/cat/family-276/museums-children-1981/machmit-museum-children-2121#1 This huge 3-d maze is built in an old church. Kids LOVE it. Costs about $8 per person to enter. Plan on spending at least 3 hours there - as besides this maze, there is a mirror room, an interesting exhibit downstairs and about 8 tables of activities kids can just sit down and join in - I think they switch them around but they are hands on craft stuff oriented toward old ways of creating - soap, chocolate making, etc. And right there where you can watch your kids is a nice little coffee area for you to sit and have a snack. All located in a charming kid friendly neighborhood. A few blocks away is playground for kids 6-16 called Kolle 37. Here every spring the kids build but these 2 story forts - exactly how they want. The framework is there, then they just grab hammers, nails and build away. There is (or was) an old car, which they could smash away out, there is often a big bonfire they can roast brotwurst or even put bread dough on a stick and bake bread. And crafts. So much fun for the kids. https://www.kolle37.de/angebote/abenteuer/

Here are a couple of links

Oh just a couple of other tips about Berlin Neighborhoods to stay - Mitte (Center) is of course most central. Anything close to the S-bahn line that cuts through the center. The Melia Hotel is right in the center, right on a canal and across the street from a main station - and it's affordable! Of course depends I suppose when you book. Had friends stay there and loved it.https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/germany/berlin/melia-berlin/index.htm?esl-k=sem-google%7Cng%7Cc323767288961%7Cme%7Ckmelia%20berlin%7Cp%7Ct%7Cdc%7Ca66571514547%7Cg1657182201&&gclid=CjwKCAiAwZTuBRAYEiwAcr67OWOdZt4rCYsYdzF--gvwi08U1ezkh1I3AVW3T4z3smVj_Nw6mhV4lBoCaesQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 

Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood (just a little east) is completely set up for kids and charming. But most areas are of Berlin are charming, depending on how much they were destroyed int he war. I would suggest try to stay within the "ring" of the s-bahn ring.

If you stay in a hotel, definitely make sure you buy the "breakfast" package - these are lovely healthy european buffets and not the reconstituted powered, microwaved scrambled eggs we see in the States. Of course you may want to book an airbnb and these are affordable and handy when traveling with kids. On one hand you get to feel you are part of a neighborhood, and have the ease of making snacks and so on. On the other hand, I think there is a charm with European hotels that for a week should not be missed. And since the cafes are relatively affordable, you won't save that much making your own meals. One last thing, not so important but I think most people don't know about it, in central mitte, the new shopping mall (Mall of Berlin) has the tallest indoor slide - it's just randomly put there with no real fan-fare so people don't realize it's there, no fees, no lines just a super tall slide and worth the couple block walk to get there from the numerous historical sites nearby. Here's the link https://www.mallofberlin.de/en/anfahrt/xxl-slide

I would also recommend a boat trip on the canal, they can be as little as an hour and you can order a ice cream for it for the kids. Bring your bathing suit in case it's hot and there are some nice pools.

Re tips, the important thing is not to get to worked up about planning or worrying about your kid. You could come to Berlin with nothing planned but your hotel reservation and you'd have a blast and easily figure out fun things to do every day. TV screens on the back of the seats in planes have made a huge difference for traveling with kids. There are no direct flights from SFO to Berlin, we prefer to use BA via heathrow (great mall like airport), KLM through Amsterdam, or Lufthansa/United thru Munich. There are 2 airports but you'll be flying to Tegal. Take a taxi from there to where you are staying - they have a taxi stand with rows of nicely maintained mercedes waiting. The cab drivers view it as their career and have pride in their work. In all my years of using them I have never once been cheated. It will cost you about 25-27 euros to get from TXL to Prenzlauer Berg. Less to Mitte. Berlin is cash based (as is much of Germany) expect to pay with cash (or a european debit card). Credit cards are becoming more accepted but not regularly used even in restaurants! But taxis do take credit cards.

We took our then 7 year old to Singapore last Christmas. There are SO many things to do for kids there, everything is super safe and clean. The only downside is that it’s hot and humid all year round. But the food...the food is amazing. If you go, definitely check out the water park in Sentosa Island. I thought it was a waste to go to a water park abroad but it was so clean, so fun, so well organized, and so nice and cool as it was super hot. 

A couple of last things, just in case you are considering Berlin...you mentioned animals - there are 2 large zoos (many things are double in Berlin due to the wall) but I love the one on the former west https://www.zoo-berlin.de/en it's very central, like finding a huge beautiful zoo in downtown SF. But more importantly are several little "farms" scattered around neighborhoods https://www.top10berlin.de/en/cat/family-276/kids-farms-2668.

For touring, Rick Steves suggests bus 100 or 200 to save $ instead of the Hop on/off tours but both are good and double decker (public transport here is clean, safe and frequent - wait time is usually 2-10 minutes tops so it doesn't feel like a hassle). Go down Unter den Lindon, the main street to see all the big historical buildings (both the 100 & 200) will do so.  Eating - Clarchens Ballhaus in Mitte has charming outdoor eating in a cute neighborhood. Museum Island area is lovely. Walk thru Hackescher markt and grab a snack. Hang out in a lounge chair in James Simon park in mitte next to museum island or better yet, also close to Melia hotel is Monbijou Bridge, beautiful at sunset, listen to street musician, watch the dancers at the sand bar next door. Go to the impressive 6th fl food floor at the KaDeWe dept store (5 min from the Zoo) and grab a snack.

The one suggestion I have about Berlin is because it is not a medieval city, instead mostly built between 1880-1920 and then heavily destroyed, it lacks medieval flavor. I would suggest one night in Bamberg, one of the prettiest little cities in Germany, and easy to get to. If you are staying in mitte, you will be about 5 min from the main train station (called Berlin Hbf/or central station) there you pick up a train to Bamberg a 2.5 hour direct ride. The trains are comfortable, great scenery. Don't miss going down to the cafe car for a coffee and sit in the little cafe seats. You get off at the Bamberg central station. Walk the 10 min or hop in a cab to the old section. You can see most of it easily one afternoon and the next morning. Then back to Berlin that afternoon. Here is train ticket link https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?ld=43176&country=GBR&protocol=https:&seqnr=1&ident=gu.031657176.1573724427&rt=1&OK#focus - have your hotel help you buy the tickets, second class is great, but I suggest you reserve seats. Sometimes you'll find people sitting in them because they don't realize but no problem, just point out they are reserved. Not usually full except during the holidays. The trip is less difficult than walking from a Union Square hotel to pick up BART to go to Walnut Creek, really. If you arrive in Berlin on a Saturday, I would wait til perhaps Wed morning to head to Bamberg, then spend that afternoon, night there and leave the next afternoon back to Berlin. Definitely stay in the medieval center - I have stayed here before  https://www.hotel-nepomuk.de/en/ but there are a lot of choices.

Aim to visit May-Sept, it's definitely the prettiest time. My kid is now a teenager so I'm a little rusty with suggestions, best to search for kids activities. The one thing I would caution you about is you may get swept up in - I could do this, or maybe I should include that city, or we'll be so close to this... and everything will begin to be appealing and just remind yourself, next visit I'll do that, but now I focus on just 1 or 2 places.

We took our then-7and 5 year old daughters to Italy last summer and had an amazing time. We spent a few days in Rome (did a walking food tour, a kid-friendly Colosseum tour, and just explored the city), a couple nights in Florence, and then a week in Tuscany at an agriturismo (specifically, Al Gelso Bianco). I can highly recommend all aspects of the trip since we got a great mix of city + country, activities and relaxing. Italians are incredibly warm and welcoming of children and food is obviously easy -- who doesn't love pizza, pasta, and gelato?? We even did a pasta-making class while in Tuscany which was a favorite of our girls.