hatondog

We've decided on a trip to Europe this summer with our 9 year old son, a good traveler (well, most of the time). We have 2 weeks for the trip, and a moderate budget. We're thinking Italy or the UK, but are otherwise stuck at square one...where to go, where to go?? Experience indicates that we get the most out of travel when we go to a few places for a few days, and when we travel independently (no group tours). Maybe plunk down in Tuscany, and do a side trip to the Lake Como area (relaxation, food, art, castles)? Or might a easygoing tour around the UK be a better kid's introduction to European travel (castles, riding, Harry Potter, familiar language)? Any thoughts, experiences, suggestions will be much appreciated...thanks!

laurie_ann

Both would be great for a family. For inspiration check out these two books which I found for a friend of mine:

Once Upon a Time in Great Britain : A Travel Guide to the Sights and Settings of Your Favorite Children's Stories

Storybook Travels : From Eloise's New York to Harry Potter's London, Visits to 30 of the Best-Loved Landmarks in Children's Literature

I don't think you have to be a kid to have fun finding these places.

sandi_travelnut

show him books and travel videos from some of those different areas and see if he has a liking to one over the other. My son was excited about seeing Pompeii so we made sure that was part of our plans on our first trip.

travelatte

We've travelled quite a bit with our boys 6y, 9y. The 6yr old does not add too much, he doesn't care much for flying. Our 9yr old is another story. We ask his input and where he would like to visit. He's loved France, UK and Italy. He just a traveller kid. Italy was fun last summer. The kids loved Venice and how everything was via boats. They loved the Dolomites and Tuscany. We stayed a few days in each, but a week in Tuscany and did a day trip to Rome via train. Our 9yr old loved Rome. We also visited a couple of pools in Tuscany, so they enjoyed that too.

I'd ask him and explore the process with him. I've let my 9yr old browse VRBO to look at different places as well. Lauri Ann's book ideas look great, I'll be looking for these as well.
Fodor's publishes books "Around Paris with Kids" , also, London and others. It may help after you make your choice.

Have fun planning, and Have a great trip too!
Travelatte

surfmum

With cheap european flights would you consider both? Our boys 8,11,13 love London & Rome. So much to do for kids & adults in each city, but also completely different to each other. Try low-cost-airline-guide.com for cheap flights. Good luck

MFNYC

I also think either trip would be great. We've taken our kids to London, Paris, Amsterdam, and around Italy. My son's favorite is Italy, I think primarily because of the food, but also a very child-friendly country in general (and Pompeii was a huge hit with both my kids). My Daughter's favorite is London (I think because of the youthful trendy scene and music roots).

My kids aren't big museum kids, but they are city kids so they do like to walk around and explore. When we plan these kind of trips, we try to mix the museums with more kid-friendly activites and some down time. I let them look through the guide books and pick out some things that may interest them. I also try to rent a move or 2 before hand that takes place in the area.

padams421

You should consider what your son likes to do. On our sons' first trip to Europe when they were 6 and 8, we went to the Alps in the summer because we like to hike and be outdoors. I knew the boys would have much more fun riding cable cars and funiculars than spending a couple of weeks museum hopping. We visited numerous castles because they like history. We spent a day at an amusement park because I knew they'd love checking out European roller coasters (and it turned out to be a great way to meet European kids their age). I planned the trip around places and activities I knew they would enjoy. The trip was not about my husband and me (we've been to Europe and will do trip in the future without the boys). One day while we were hiking in a meadow in Austria, my son smiled and said "Mom, I had no idea that European kids have so many fun things to do." I knew then that I had planned the perfect trip for my children. We wanted them to come away from the trip with a desire to travel, and specifically, to want to go back to Europe. This summer, we are spending a couple of weeks in Scandinavia and they can hardly wait.

In comparison, some friends took their daughters to the UK last year. Their girls loved shopping, going to museums, having tea and staying in a "fancy" (5*) London hotel. Their trip was the perfect match for their girls' interests. It, of course, would never be a trip I'd plan for my boys.

We know another family who rents a villa in France each summer. Their kids don't like to "travel" (going from place to place) but they enjoy very much just hanging out in a small French town and living the daily life of the French countryside. We like to stay at a location for 2-3 days and then move on to somewhere else.

Go to the library or a book store and look at books on Italy and the UK with your son. Get a couple of travel books and let him help make the decisions on where to go and what to do.

hatondog

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions, particularly the encouragement to involve my son in the planning process. My husband and I were inclined toward a UK trip (Harry Potter driven--I will check out the storybook travel books) as being the most likely to appeal to our son when he proposed Italy instead (though when pressed, he admitted it was the food that interested him more than the country). The suggestion about the Alps struck a chord too--I loved a trip to the Berner Oberland years ago, and think my son would love it too. It wouldn't break new ground for my husband and I, but maybe novelty for us shouldn't determine our choice...anyway, thanks much to all!

itsv

We took our two kids (then ages 11 (son) and 7 (daugher) to England, France and Italy for 19 days two years ago. As others definitely get your son involved, (my kids love Ric Steves dvds, movies set in those places and books set in those places for books about those places.) Each day we would say the morning was adult choice and in the afternoon we would let him pick an activity and sometimes my husband and I would trade off to let one adult stay behind in museum or shopping. Here is what my son liked:
1. London was a good start since language was not a barrier. We stayed in the Chancery Court since they have two queen beds in their rooms and location was great. Son loved tower of london, cabinet war rooms, kensiginton park, hamleys toy store, riding in a cab, seeing lion king and climbing top of St. paul's cathedral. Checked out king's cross station (scene of platform 9 3/4)
2. We went to Oxford because son wanted to punt the thames as they had done in the amazing race show and check out stonehedge. Also all of the dining hall from potter were filmed there.
3. In Paris our son love doing the boats in luxembourg gardens, pompiu center and its "wierd art", effieltower, shopping in Rue Cluer to see how many pain chocolates he could buy, napoleon's tomb and attending a carnival.

4. By this time kids need a beach break so we went to cinque terre. I find that for trips like Europe, kids need a swimming break ever so often so hotel in florence and beach in cinque terre came at the perfect times.
5. Rome was son's least favorite city because it was very busy, but he still enjoyed seeing all of the Roman Forum, etc. We had gotten him some books at that topic and they were great at making him interested. Son also love the food and gellato which we made into a game (for every 3 rick steves books he saw he got gelato). We hired a private tour guide who geared her tour of the roman forum to our kids and that worked out great.

6. Florence-kids loved David and just hanging out at pool. There is a great book for kids which has all the art from florence in a look and find format (but I can't remember the name of the book but we bought it in Florence).

7.Venice-kids loved gondola ride, visiting the glass factories, but we gave them time to hang in a video arcade.

I find a trip with a child to Europe is all about balance, your interests versus theirs with down time for them periodically. Plus with a child it really does pay to have a "plan" everyday-you don't always have to follow it but kids like structure. Our friends went the same time and everyday started out with "what shall we do today?, they ended up doing very little and their kids hated europe.

Also rent audioguides for every museum (kids can play with the buttons if all else fails) give them some spending money (daughter collected snow globes and son collected hats) and put a card in your son's pocket with relevant info in case he gets lost (which our son did).

I think you can visit both countries and have a good time. Sometimes kids get burnt out with too many castles etc. and with airfare so cheap its fun to have different experiences.
Good luck and maybe we will run into you (we are going to belgium, holland, scotland and england).
itsv