enop82

Hi all,
we are planning to visit Europe in Sept.
we have only 2 weeks ( exclusive the flight ) and want to get a glance of Western Europe
Cities we have in mind are:
Amsterdam Paris London Rome and Vienna.
trouble is that we are taking our 20 month old munchkin
We dont really want to rush and get really tired at the end of the journey.
Although young, we are not that sporty and prefers to travel at old ppl pace (we once went on a canada tour with a bunch of granmas and grandpas and really enjoyed the trip, so u get the picture
Do u think all those cities are feasible to achieve in 2 wks? If not, which one shld we skip?

Thank u

qwovadis

Biting off way more than you can chew.Usually cheapest to fly
into LON ryanair.com easyjet.com cheap booked advance from there.Lose Vienna Amsterdam.eurocheapo.com great tips
cheap hotels booking.com for more upscale.
ricksteves.com great site for clueless euroewbies.
Out of LON Globus has great tours
that go all over affordabletours.com I enjoyed mine and saw
a lot more as a newbie sort of a whirlwind tour though..
So might check on those 2... Good luck!

jpie

I agree with quovadis here. You also should look into an open jaw flight, meaning in one city and then the flight home from another. With 2 weeks, I think you could be happy with London, Paris (vis Eurostar) and then Amsterdam and home. Rome and Vienna are quite a bit further afield, especially Vienna. But if you have your heart set on one of those 2 places, you could also choose London and then one (either Rome or Vienna) and fly. Then you could have a relatively calm 2 weeks. Enjoy your trip with your toddler! Having a child with you seems to open doors on trips to get to talk to folks you might not meet otherwise.

mamcalice

With a 20-month old, you will have a far more interesting and enjoyable trip if you select 2 or, at most, 3 cities. London and Paris will be your best choices as they are near to each other and it is easy to travel from one to the other. You could add a couple of days in Amsterdam if you decide you have had your fill of London and Paris (very unlikely).

Rent apartments in each city - it is convenient for naps, meals, etc., for a toddler. You can find lots of apartment recommendations by searching on this board.

TexasAggie

We traveled to Europe with our son last summer when he was 7 months old and will be traveling again with him to Europe this summer when he is 19 months old. We've also done several US-based trips. A few tips :

-expect your little one to have a really tough first 2-4 days due to the time difference. It will get better every day, but you almost certainly will not be able to hit the ground running with your sightseeing. For your first couple days, plan a really slow and flexible itinerary.

-expect to take turns with your spouse at major sights. One watches baby and another sees the museum. It works great but it means that each sight takes twice as long . My husband and I really enjoyed talking over each sight later and it was interesting to hear which things caught his eye versus mine.

-naps for baby are super important! Everyone will have a much better vacation if baby isn't exhausted so do whatever you have to do to accomodate baby's nap schedule. At 7 months old, we found that our son would nap great in his Beco Baby Carrier. At 19 months old, we are planning that someone will need to return to our hotel/apartment in order for him to take a nap midday on most days.

-high chairs are really rare in European restaurants. Just FYI!

I'll post any more if I think of them. Have a wonderful trip. We wouldn't trade traveling with our son for anything on earth.

Best, TA

P.S. If it were me, with 2 weeks, I'd cut it down to 2 or 3 cities. Travel between destinations takes a lot of time and iesn't particularly easy with a little one. I'd make the most of just a couple places by seeing them really thoroughly!

annhig

honestly - who are you doing this for? the munchkin? s/he wont' care. for you? you'll wish you hadn't. What with strange food, water, climate, sleep patterns, and lugging the buggy everywhere, even 2-3 cities could be a nightmare.

an alternative - pick one [or two] family friendly places. Lake Garda springs to mind. you can have a hotel or apartment near the water, most resorts around the lake are reasonably flat, and you get around by boat, which means no hassle getting on and off trains, buses, parking cars, etc. playgrounds for the little one to run around in, no cobblestones, and many areas with pedestrianised streets.

there are excursions you can do all round the lake, and to Verona, Padua, and even Venice - and when you get there and see all those bridges, you'll be so pleased you didn't go for longer.

this is what we did when our kids were a lot smaller and we were really glad that we left the cities til they were older or we could get babysitters.

StCirq

14 days and 5 destinations means loads of your time abroad will be spent getting packed up and moved to another place. Hardly a recipe for a pleasant trip with a baby. I lugged my kids all over Europe at all ages, but never on a schedule like that. We went somewhere and stayed there. And even that had its challenges.

Pick two places at most. Better yet, pick one, rent a house or apartment, and make daytrips.

nytraveler

Five cities in 2 weeks is way too much - esp with a 20 month old. IMHO you need 6 mights (5 days) just to beginto see London, Paris or Rome. I wuold have at last 4 nights (3 days for either Amsterdam or Vienna.

With a toddler I would do 2 or at most 3 cities, rent an apartment so you have more room and stay in an area that has access to parks/playground - or you will have a very cranky child. Also - much easier to do snacks and breakfst for a little one with an apt. If you decide on hotels either get a suite or a very large room - perhaps a family room - so you're not falling on top of each other all the time.

suze

Way too many places!!! Doesn't matter which ones you pick, you can figure out where you most want to go yourself, but narrow it down to just two, and stay a week in each place. My personal pick would be Amsterdam/Paris but any two cities you want will be OK.

That way you can not stress out moving every other day and more easily rent an apartment which I think would be key traveling with a baby instead of trying to make do in regular hotel rooms.

enop82

Thank you for the great suggestions. I think we might reduce the number of cities from everyone's advice.
If anyone could answer these questions I would really appreciate it:
1.Does anyone know whether a baby car seat is essential for most taxis in Europe
2.could you please advise me the websites for renting appartment in these cities.
3.do u think I should stay within the city areas or slightly off the city. better if u could suggest names of places to stay in (we take our holiday seriously and usually stays in 4* plus hotels. We had bad experience staying in bad hotels and vow to never do thia again)

BigRuss

TWO PLACES MAX.

Sheeyoot, it's tough enough doing one place with a toddler.

You have a toddler, not a baby. Your plans would be easier with a six-month old potted plant hobbit who was far more dependent upon you and less able to voice an opinion on what s/he liked in a given day after getting his or her schedule all farked up by travel. The toddler will be even more of a handful.

And do your strength and conditioning exercises early. Consider the possibility of carrying toddler through the Tube or Metro systems (did that), carrying toddler whilst walking up Regents Street in crowds (I did), carrying sleeping toddler up and down the Tower of London (did that too), dragging fussy toddler through museums (yep), pushing toddler through exhibitions in _____ (uh-huh), etc.

Finally, get a compact stroller that doesn't suck (NOT umbrella stroller) like a Combi or (if you like to spend more money for no more utility) a Maclaren that folds up very small.

TexasAggie

We did not find any taxis in Greece that were equipped with car seats. Standard practice is to hold your child on your lap. Easier done with an infant than a squirmy toddler. If you bring your own with you, you should be able to use it.

Sally30

I wouldn't dissuade you from doing the trip but, for my family, that 20 month age is the hardest because the kids want to walk every where but can't really do so. i would plan a morning playground visit or something to burn off some steam before you head out to sight see. hopefully your child will then rest in the stroller for a while.

i actually disagree that cities are difficult. most cities have open spaces (a square, park etc) for the kids to run around in and it is easy to get between places by walking. also, generally quick places to eat good food and some child friendly amusements. i wouldn't feel like you have to go on a countryside trip.

victoria_reynolds

I think this is a very ambitious plan if you are coming from the US. We took our children on every vacation until they were adults but started with the long European trips when the youngest was 5 years old. The main reason is the overnight flight from the US...too hard to predict how comfortable/noisy a toddler would be and how much sleep the parents would get. I always felt it would be unfair to the other passengers if the children were fussy. I love Europe, too, but there are so many interesting, family friendly destinations stateside. If you do it, the apartment rentals would be a blessing, given the child's needs and your stated travel style. We once spent two weeks in a London flat and never ran out of things to do, places to explore. I'm sure Paris, Rome, would be the same....