travelinmomma

We will be traveling to france and Italy for 2 weeks in march with my mom coming with as an extra set of hands. We will fly into paris stay two nights, train to venice for two nights, 4 nights in Rome and 5 nights in Tuscany. Instead of training back to paris for the return flight, we are considering eurofly from milan to paris. It is very cheap but I do not know anything about them. Does anyone have any feedback? Also any "must do's" for/with the little ones on the itinerary? They are 3 and a half and 18 months. Thanks!

annhig

hi' momma,

how much travelling have you done with your kids at home?

I just think that you are being way too ambitious.

with kids that age, I'd reckon on two places, max, and I wouldn't be bringing them to windy and rainy northern europe.

they won't enjoy the sights, they'll be tired and fractious, and you'll have rotten time. the only must dos for kids of that age are eating and sleeping, preferably at regular and predictable intervals.

I'd take them somewhere nice and warm with a beach, where you can do the odd day trip,to stop you going mad, or stay at home.

Sorry, but you did ask!

if you have to do it, just choose two places, and book large apartments near parks.

in case you question my qualifications, my kids now aged 17 & 20 are stil travelling with us, so we must have done something right. they STILL hate moving around too much.

regards, ann

quokka

Why travel around that much, especially with two toddlers? Backtracking to Milan doesn't make sense to me since you are not planning to visit the city. Venice, then Tuscany, then Rome and flying back from Rome makes a more logical itinerary.

Two nights in Paris and two nights in Venice makes but one full day for each city. That's not doing either of them justice. Are you sure about that?

travelinmomma

Thanks for your advice. The older has been on 42 planes and the younger on 18. They seem to travel well and are not on any schedules. We try to study where we are going and print pics of things we will see and have "scavenger hunts" for art, buildings, and natural wonders. Any experience with eurofly or any recommedations for other low fare airlines?

Thanks!
Travelinmomma

annhig

hi again, momma,

well, we have had good experiences with easyjet. they always allow parents with small children to board first.

you are lucky to have such adaptable kids. i would still cut down on the no. of destinations - and Venice is very unfriendly to buggies - those bridges are murder.

why not Paris, tuscany, Rome?
then fly back to Paris from Rome.

regards, ann

travelinmomma

Thanks for the advice on easyjet...we will reevaluate number of stops and go from there. Thanks again!
T-momma

GSteed

If you travel somewhere once a month, what more information could Fodor supply?

speckles

Hi travellin. Venice is a lovely city, but as Ann states, it is not very good for strollers and prams due to the frequent bridges that require crossing.

Mimar

First time I ever recommended not going to Venice, but ditto the bridges. Also there are no railings along the canals, so millions of places for a kid to fall in.

When travelling with children, you need to make them the priority. Longer stays are better. Nonstop or direct flights are better. And look into apartments or small villas. There's more room, and the kids can nap in the bedroom while the adults are, say, in the living room reading or watching TV.

travelbunny

..others have said it. This should be a child focused trip..I would max out at 2 bases (with day trips). Think apts or cottages (or at least an apt hotel.) Having had 3 kids who fly a lot (and my youngest are now in their late teens), I noticed that my wonderful travellers sometimes werent so wonderful depending on their age. (A ghastly trip cost to coast at 22 months still is a recurrent nightmare). Best of luck.

markrosy

We have a two and a half year old and no matter how much you try to introduce culture intoi their lives - at that age for my son there only seems to be three destinations that mean anything to him. They are in order of preference :

a beach
an aquarium
a zoo

we tried to drag William around cities but after an hour things just denegrated. One beach on Elba, which was 50m long kept him going for 12 hours a day for each of the 7 days of a holiday in September.

wliwl

"The older has been on 42 planes and the younger on 18."

Now I'm feeling sorry for those little kids. LOL

rhmuir

And the fellow passengers? LOL

swalter518

We just got back from Paris and Sicily with our then 20 month old and it was a great trip and I'm all for travelling with little ones. But, having been to Venice when I was pregnant with our daughter and loving Venice, I don't believe it's a very toddler friendly city-other posters are right about it being not stroller friendly and the canals are amazingly open and easy to fall into. Maybe I'm paranoid but I know how fast my daughter can bolt and I'd be nervous.

rebeccaG

I agree with cutting back on number of cities. We've been to Paris and Spain w/our daughter (at 2 and 4). Since you've traveled so much, you must realize that the time change is deadly for this age. I'd add an extra day in Paris, let them run around in some parks and adjust to the change, then continue the rest of the trip.

Renting an apt is the only way we travel now. It's wonderful to be able to relax and let the kids go to bed early. But if they're not on any sort of schedule, perhaps that is not a consideration.

I would say flying back is a good idea.

markrosy

rebeccaG

"Renting an apt is the only way we travel now"

Yep - I agree totally - after having the trials at breakfast with our 2 year old - never again (well not for 15 years in a hotel!

Worst moment was on our trip last week to Norway. Some Norwegian women underline their stunning looks by close cropping their hair - great effect but a little difficult when your darling sits there for 10 minutes pointing and saying "what's that little boy doing". After that amount of time one of us had to move tables - we did the decent thing!

W9London

Belated, but agree with others that Venice would be rather inpractical. I would increase the nights in Paris instead--parks, more child friendly attractions. As you'll be with your mom, you can take turns going to more grown-up oriented attractions. Don't miss Tuileries garden, the little train up on Montmartre (but give a miss to Sacre-Coeur with many stairs), and Cite des Science.

Also second the suggestion for renting apartments--my kids often get jet-lagged, asking for breakfast at odd hours in the morning.

Paris Metro is not buggy friendly with its stairs and turnstiles. I found bus to be much easier to navigate with buggies. Are you planning one single buggy or two-seater? You might want to consider a buggy-board for the older one. And don't forget the rain cover!

Carolina

I travelled happily with my children when they were little - long plane and train rides, London, Athens, lots of cities in UK, Scotland, Rhodes, Crete

I agree with the comments about Venice being unsuitable. I can't think of a worse city with small children. It would be so very easy for them to fall in a canal, or off a bridge that you would have hardly a minutes to relax.

Other than that, I think you can make a trip enjoyable for young children, especially if you don't try to see everything wherever you are. Mine enjoyed museums, but we focused on things that would interest them, didn't stay in one too long, and added in stops at parks, toy shops, ice cream parlors etc. where possible.

Good luck.