RajatMakar

Dear All,

As I started exploring on how to make our Europe trip more interesting for our 8 year old son, I realized that we can schedule some kid friendly destinations in our itinerary.
But, we will also visit museums, castles, churches and unless my son knows few trivia about each, he will just run through the routine and not enjoy as much.

My search for Kids Travel Guides led me to "Lets Go". Whoever has used it, I am keen to know your feedback? if we purchase, we plan to get the PDF versions.

Slightly cheaper alternatives I found are :-
1. Kids Travel Guide - Paris by Shira Halperin
2. Kids Travel Guide - Italy by Shiela H Leon & Elisa Davoglio

Looking for suggestions on suitable books with illustrations, interesting facts etc which kids can read up before visiting Paris, Venice, Rome etc.

Thanks in advance,

nytraveler

Let's Go Student Guides are really for high school and college kids - and deal with hostels, pubs/clubs, adventure travel and living on a tight budget. They are not aimed at small children.

If you look above - and at any major travel guide - they will provide a lot of info on what to do with kids. If you want to get your child involved you might go with him to the various web sites which should have lots of pix to interest him.

or2nh4me2

Fodors has a book called "Around Paris with Kids". Check it out. It has some solid advice on things to do, as well as fun facts. I think I got it at B & N. Also there is a book by Cynthia Harriman called "Take Your Kids to Europe". She updated it several years in a row. Harriman and her husband traveled with their kids all around Europe. It is geared towards parents, but with input from her children on what they enjoyed, and what worked for them as a family. Good resource-available at library or on Am@zon.

bvlenci

There are several books for children that aren't exactly travel guides, but that explain some of the history of castles, Roman towns, and so forth.

City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay

The same author has another book called "Castle". There are video versions of these books, but I haven't seen them. He also has other books, such as "Cathedral".

These books are very well written, and interesting also to adults. They may be a little advanced for some 8-year-olds, but they have lots of illustrations, which should help keep them interesting.

Christina

I agree that Let's Go is for teens and especially college students, not younger children. SO don't buy that one.

Most of the travel guides for children I've seen have simply been online articles or tourist offices, although I haven't looked that much, actually.

like these
http://mylittlenomads.com/paris-for-kids
http://en.parisinfo.com/what-to-do-i...tings-in-paris
http://www.timeout.com/paris/en/thin...Paris-for-kids
http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...-kids-to-paris
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/04...-do-with-kids/
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...amily-friendly
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com...y-trips/paris/

Now those do focus more on what to do with kids (activities, sites, etc) rather than general travel tips, but I think for Paris, you don't need to buy a special book with all that is available. And it sounds like you are looking just for things to do and places to go.

You can probably find similar things for Italy.

RajatMakar

Thanks for the replies. I will explore the inputs.

I am actually looking for books which my son can read before or during the travel and get to know about the city and the prominent landmarks we visit. It can have pics/photos/few facts/trivia to make it an interesting read

That way his interest will grow and he will enjoy each of these visits.

Regarding, how to keep our itinerary kid friendly & interesting, we did read up online materials and have kept it so. This part is clear.

Regards,
Rajat

Sally30

Hi Rajat, I am traveling to Venice and Paris with my 9 and 4 year old daughters in April and this is what I have found for guidebooks for my 9 y o daughter:

"Not For Parents Paris" by Lonely Planet - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/174...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Cute, kid focused book. Gave it to my daughter a couple of days ago and she has been very interested it. Good photos, organized by theme. A bit silly in some parts but that is a good thing. It would be a good accompaniment for a kid to a more serious guidebook with more facts but more dry.

"Mission Paris: A Scavenger Hunt" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Looks cute to bring around while we are there. They have this series for other cities but not for Venice so I got this instead:

"Go Europe Treasure Hunt Venice" - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Looks okay. It is actually tiny (like 3"x3") so easy to carry around

I have not yet purchased but am looking at this as well "A Kids Guide to Venice"
http://www.amazon.com/Venice-Allegra...s_a_1_2&sr=8-2

I know my daughter likes to have her own books so all of the above are books for kids (not about what to do with kids). She also likes looking at our guidebooks with pictures like the Eyewitness series or the Knopf guides. We usually leave those at home or in the hotel/apartment when we travel because they are quite heavy to carry around.

I have not had any luck finding guidebooks/info for my 4 yo who doesn't read yet. I was hoping for a picture guide. Think we will have to make our own scavenger hunt for her using photos.

You can click on my screen name for a few other posts about this trip and prior travel as it looks like we are going to the same spots. I was just reading your post about restaurants in Venice!

mama_mia

My kids always liked the DK Eyewitness guides. There is one on Ancient Rome. They also have one on Medieval Life and another on Castles.

RajatMakar

Thanks @Sally30 for your detailed reply. My apologies for replying so late, got tied up with other travel preparations and this part slipped out of our mind.

Your suggestions are great. I am thinking of buying "Not for Parents Paris" in paperback and few others in kindle version. I know Kindle version can be boring for 8 year olds but will at least be with us when we travel

Thanks again. If I find something new, I willshare here.

jacolis

Hi,

Not sure if your travels are taking you to Florence but we read "Pippo the Fool" to our then 8 year old and she was excited to see the Duomo after reading this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Pippo-Junior-L...pippo+the+fool

maxima

There are kid's travel guides with illustrations, by Miroslav Sasek This is Paris, This is Venice and This is Rome... you may want to take a look at these books and see if they would be of interest to your son.

.

some kids enjoy the scavenger hunt books because they turn sightseeing into a game.

RajatMakar

Most of the books we discussed above costs quite high if bought in paperback/hardcopy in India. And till now only one has kindle version.

For example - This is paris costs USD 10.67 in amazon.om and ~ INR 1100 (USD 16.5) in amazon.in
Probably the import costs add up.