Sassafrass

I hear the enthusiasm for a backpack, bot honestly, you will not actually be a backpacker as in days of old, needing to keep everything with you at all times and possibly using it as a pillow on a bench. You will be sleeping in a room with a bed. When you have a bit of a walk, even a few blocks, from the train to your hotel, or a long walk through an airport, it is a heck if a lot easier to pull a small wheeled piece of luggage and your little girl can pull her own. DD bought GD a beautiful little suitcase at Target for a recent trip. It held everything she needed and GD who just turned 7, but is very thin and small, coul easily handle it herself, through airports and down streets. She has been pulling some kind of small wheeled luggage since she was 4. So much easier. I strongly suggest re-thinking backpacks.

mjs

I don't want to be too critical as the OP is clearly defensive at this time but as someone who has taken his children all over the world I too would recommend keeping it simple and picking 3 places for your 12 day first Europe trip. Its normal to want to accomplish a lot but less is often more. This is especially true if cost is an issue. Even in my 20's I would not attempt the schedule you are proposing.
We often walk 25,000 to 40,000 steps a day while touring as thats basically how you experience much of Europe. You are proposing to run yourself and your 6 yo into the ground. Moving from place to place takes time and money and while I have not taken a night train in years they are not fun and particularly comfortable as a hotel and thats with private cabins. The days will be short and the weather can be nasty and cold. You may think its ok because you live in Toronto but there is a difference between living in a place and being a tourist in poor weather. London/Paris/Copenhagen would work well. You cannot have it all in your short time.

Sassafrass

Look into buying a little doll carrier for your daughter, the kind that has a little holder in the front and straps that slip over her shoulders and criss cross in back. DG has the smallest American girl one. Your little daughter can carry a doll or stuffed animal with her. The front ones are best because she can sit without taking it off.

Speaking of dolls. I know it is costly and commercial, and many people will scoff at the idea, especially taking time to do it on a trip. I certainly did. However, DG wanted an American girl doll for her 6th birthday, and we were in NYC for an event, so I relented and made a trip with her to the AG store and bought the doll as her birthday present from us. I was hooked and so was DH. We enjoyed the store as much as DG, and DG loves that doll more than anything. She "wears" it everywhere. It is becoming a well traveled doll. Think about doing it when you are in NYC for her to take on the trip. Take pictures of her and the doll in all the places you go. Your little girl will never forget it. Best gift I ever gave anyone!

LuxuryTravelExpert

quitagg... in your Apple iphone store, search for "French translator", etc. for each language of each country you will be going too and install on phone. You say it in English and it saves and replays in the language and stays as a recording. It's also a great way to practice learning.

Do the fanny belt, but not exposed in the back. Having the pocket access in the front will make it easy for getting your passport/tickets, etc without having to reach under your clothes.

Another nightmare which is now a funny story but horrific at the time...
I bought an umbrella stroller for my little girl to make it easier to go through airports ( a couple of years ago)... LAX... we're at security and she refuses to get out of the stroller, tantrum...and she insisted on wearing her tap shoes, tantrum #2...was horrible and no one would help.. Then they took away our stroller before getting on the plane and lost it on the other end..

Keep it simple and light...the less you have the less you loose and if you're still hoping around from place to place and sleeping on trains.. those velcro monkeys are fun, the ones that have the velcro on the hands that can hang around your neck or luggage.. I usually pick up fluffy animal at the airport when were waiting..small and easy to keep track of..a buddy for the trip..

My friend buys clothes from thrift stores to bring and leaves them behind as she goes.. Sketchers (shoes) are great to wear especially through airports and when your not in wet weather (they dry fast and easy to clean)... light weight, easy to get on and off, great support, very comfy..

Mimar

I agree with justineparis. A fanny pack is a bad option. Easy to pickpocket, easy to cut the strap and take the whole thing. Your valuables and your daughter's should be stored under your clothing in a money belt. You can keep the day's cash and maybe one credit card more available, say in a zippered inner pocket.

One of the problems with traveling in the winter is you need to pack bulkier, heavier clothes. If your jeans get wet, it will take a long time to dry them, even in a European dryer.

travelerjan

I"m also one who is scared of the "fanny pack" even if worn in front ... there are countries where someone with a box-cutter can just cut the strap & grab, in a crowd... and be sure, pickpockets work in Teams, to distract or trip you or the child. Think about a "neck-pouch" -- simplest possible way to carry all your key stuff: Money, Passport, Tickets. Then in one pocket of pants or (preferably) jacket, take a cloth Coin Purse with zipper top that you can PIN inside this pocket -- just put enough $$ you need for this outing. I have used Neck pouch on 14 trips to Europe, and many experiences in/on Metro/busses and "site" crowds in major cities, so I'm talking from experience.

LuxuryTravelExpert

Fannypack hangs above crotch/bellow belly and strap is covered by shirt/jacket. If you're unaware of someone messing with your pack, when it's there, you're in trouble..and you can sleep with them on without being strangled

Fannypacks are bad when they are worn on the side or on fanny..

Do not put important stuff(phones, passport, etc) in zip pocket of backpacks, even monkeys can fool you... Bats Cave, Penang...

LuxuryTravelExpert

Make copies of your passports and credit card leave with trusted person back home. and I also put a copy of passports in luggage.. if you loose original, you have back up..

For daughter, faux fur hat that looks like animal and the extenxions hang down like arms and have pockets for paws, maybe something to consider...they are very cozy and hat/scarf/mitten combo, all in one...hard to describe..

check with you phone company for overseas roaming charges and credit card company for extra charges for overseas charges..

May want to keep phone on airplane mode and do wi-fi at coffee shops...

fuzzbucket

It will be the dead of winter, so you can wear all your heavy winter clothing all week without changing it - unless something gets wet. It will be so cold that nobody will notice if you smell bad or not - and you probably won't. It will probably rain or drizzle most of the time you're in Europe.

Train travel is not comfortable, can be downright nasty, is not especially safe and not always convenient - especially at night.

You can find cheap flights rather than go by train, and that would be a better idea. The places you have in mind are only a couple of hours away from each other by air, but much longer in time and much more uncomfortable by train.

I don't have kids, but every kid I know in Paris gets sick during the winter. Even though you're from Canada and used to cold weather, using mass transport multiple times will expose both of you to some really nasty, different germs. Not offering my parental skills - because I don't have any - but I would think about cutting down on your itinerary a bit so neither of you gets sick.
Chances are your daughter won't realize that she has missed something, if she's already running around enjoying herself.

bvlenci

I've traveled all over Europe with children, mostly by train, including overnight trains, but also on the Hook van Holland - Harwich ferry overnight. None of these were a problem, but doing many such trips in two weeks would have been tedious. My children were older than your daughter, aged 9 and 12. I was working in the Netherlands that year, and we took the opportunity to travel all over on every available long weekend and during my holidays. This was a long time ago, but in some ways things are easier now.

I have to agree, though, that you're trying to see too much in too little time. I understand the temptation, but this will surely not be the last time you or your daughter visit Europe. I would forget the idea of going to anywhere very far from your beginning and ending points, because it will greatly increase your expense, and add a lot of tedious travel, often in bad weather. If you stay in a place for several days, you can adjust your plans to see something indoor on a rainy day and something outdoors on a dry day. If you're moving every day or so, you are stuck with the weather you find on the one day you're there. I'm also sure that your trips in the US haven't been by train. It's quite different traveling by train; you have to haul your bags to the station, and when you arrive, you have to haul them to a hotel, maybe trying to negotiate taxi queues and buses in a foreign language. You can't stop to eat when or where you feel like it. Eating on the train, or even in train stations is usually pretty dire.

If you're flying into London and home from Copenhagen, I would suggest London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen. All are great places for kids. I would allow the most time for London and Paris. You can take the Eurostar train from London to Paris, a regular train from Paris to Amsterdam, and you can fly or take a train to Copenhagen.

My whole family, including children, their spouses, and my granddaughter, spent Christmas in London three years ago. The city was fantastic at that time of year, but I must say that on Christmas day it was the emptiest I've ever seen any city. Nothing at all was open, and there was no public transportation open. The next day, which is also a holiday (Boxing Day) was only slightly better. We had an apartment and fixed Christmas dinner there.

There are a few tours you can take on Christmas Day, including some walking tours, but we just chilled in the apartment, and I took my granddaughter for a walk to visit Harry Potter sites. (I'm not sure it was a good idea, as the streets hadn't been cleaned after the drunken orgy of Christmas Eve.)

You might want to leave London on the 23rd or 24th and head to Paris. I've not been there on Christmas, although I hope we can meet there next year. (We all live scattered about and most of us have to travel somewhere for Christmas, so we usually have every fourth Christmas in some spot we all want to visit.)

We went to a special Christmas play in London, based on <i>Wind in the Willows</i> ; I considered a pantomime, but reading the descriptions, I thought there were probably too many specifically British cultural references for an American child to get much out of it.

Most people don't realize how far north most of Europe is. I live in Italy, and we're as far north as Boston. Most of the places you're thinking of visiting are further north than any city in the US. You'll definitely have less light than you're accustomed to. I remember that when I lived in the Netherlands, it was still dark when I got to work, and dark again when I left in the evening.

In Copenhagen, Tivoli Gardens is open and has fireworks on New Year's Eve. They also have a Christmas market. That might be a much better place to see in the New Year than most of the other public gatherings, which in most countries are really risky, with illegal fireworks, drunken people, and mobs of people. Tivoli Gardens is a nice amusement park, with lots of twinkling lights. There are places to eat inside, although it might be cheaper to eat elsewhere and go to Tivoli after dinner. It's one of the places I took my kids when we were living in the Netherlands. There is an entrance fee to the gardens, and I think the rides are extra.

So here is a possible plan:
December 20-22 in London.
December 23rd arrive in Paris and get set up for Christmas. Stay there until December 27 or 28.
December 27 or 28-29 Amsterdam
We took a night train from Amsterdam to Copenhagen when we lived in the Netherlands, if you really want a trip on a night train.
December 30 -January 2nd Copenhagen

Most things will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day no matter where you are. Transportation in all cities is greatly reduced on Christmas Day; in London it's nonexistent (and very reduced on the 26th).

The time in London is really short, but if you stay there for Christmas, be aware that you'll be stuck on one place on Christmas Day unless you take one of those bus tours. That could be fun, but they're not cheap. At the very least, get a hotel right in the thick of things, so you can at least take nice walks on Christmas day, weather permitting.

Here are some of the things my granddaughter loved in London at Christmas:

The Tower of London, although we got caught in a downpour.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, which has a fashion exhibit she loved. They had costumes that kids could try on. (Most museums in London are free.)
The Christmas play we took her to.
Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols at Westminster Abbey. You have to order the tickets (free) the minute they go on sale. We didn't get in line early enough to get good seats, but the music was glorious.
The Christmas Village in Hyde Park.
Your daughter might also enjoy a ride on the London Eye, although that's not cheap.

In Paris, other than the Eiffel Tower, I'd try to see the Sainte Chapelle, to see the beautiful stained glass windows; Notre Dame, where maybe you can catch some sort of Christmas concert or service; the Luxembourg Gardens; the Rodin Museum, which has a great sculpture garden. If your daughter has any interest in art, there are many museums in Paris to see, but you haven't mentioned art in any of your posts, so I don't know if that interests her.

All of these places will have great Christmas displays.

I live in Italy, and love Rome, but with such a short time, and such a distance from London and Copenhagen, I would leave that for another trip. You could easily spend two whole weeks in Italy. The same goes for Berlin and Prague, and anything else east of Copenhagen.

cdc

I did not read all of the other comments in full so my apologies if some of these points were covered already - my personal experience taking overnight train to and from Holland from Switzerland (through Germany) was wonderful. The train staff was super helpful. The kids were so excited - so stayed up later than they should have (and in one direction the departure time was later than their normal bedtime). I brought foam ear plugs for all of us, and that made a difference. The sleeper car was very snug - in part because I wanted us to have our own bathroom. You have to pay attention as some sleeper cars have their own toliets and some do not. Our trip came with breakfast - which was an added bonus and I loved having a cup of hot coffee first thing! I felt safe the entire time - but note that it was in early spring and not over a school holiday (in any of the countries we passed through), so it was not that crowded. While the kids slept well, even with the ear plugs I did not sleep that great. It was a crammed bunk bed, on a noisy train - - and I was admittedly a bit anxious. A great experience - one that my kids probably will remember as much as the actual places they visited... but not one that I would do multiple times in a week.
Since you asked about safety, I will offer a tip I learned a while back - when I travel with my children, I will put a business card with my cell phone number in their pocket or even a luggage tag with key contact details attached to their belt or jacket - if they are lost or god forbid something happens to me, there is a US and European cell contact number listed.
Safe travels,
cdc

quitagg

Hey everyone.. I'm going to read once I get my daughter ready for bed.. I'm not ignoring you all just a busy day...

quitagg

Ok so what is DD DH OP and all these acronyms.. I'm not familiar with this..

halfapair

DD = Darling Daughter
DH = Darling Husband
OP = Original Poster (you in this case)
DW would be a Darling Wife
DS would be a Darling Son

quitagg

So honestly.. the thought of doing some of the things that you all have brought up sounds so amazing.. the little christmas markets (never heard of).. nutcracker.. etc

I'm still thinkin this through.. I will have something soon.. thanks for all the ideas and suggestion.. greatly appreciated

quitagg

Ah lol.. Ive always saw these acronyms in blogs and knew it was daughter and son etc but never looked up with the D meant.. thanks

ellenem

Dear Daughter
Dear Husband
Original Poster (quitagg)

nytraveler

As far as the Sol you will not be allowed on the ferry with a luggage sized backpack - that will have to be left at the hotel. And for climbing to the crown you can take only a camera - everything else has to be checked in a locker downstairs (and fit inside the locker). Check the web site for details.

I climbed to the Crown when I was about 12 and it was a LONG climb - and going back down is more difficult since the steps are very narrow and curving. But that was before it was renovated.

Honestly think you daughter too young, but that's for you and her to decide. Do remember that you only have a couple of minutes at the top to take pix and then have to make way for others. There are a couple of places on the stairway where you can step aside to let others pass if it gets to be too much - but they're small - won't hold a bunch of people.

travelerjan

I have found OP useful as a shorthand, but as for the others, I have been happy to see usage gradually fade away on these forums over the past 7 years or so, much more common in early 2000's ... I think that DD, DH business is too cutesy by half, reminds me of corny greeting cards, pleez everyone stop. If doing a narrative and don't want to use your spouse's name, Jerry, just use the initials J,or JT, same for kids. Funny thing, when men write reports on these forums, they never use "DW" for "Darling Wifey" ... so ladies, can we please leave those Hallmark Card memes behind? Just my opinion, of course.

quitagg

Lol @traveler Ive seem this on the baby connect or whatever it's called site a lot.. and a bunch of other places.. just was trying to figure out where was I when this became a thing lol

@NY well luckily it wasn't expensive or anything so if she feels she can't do it then I guess that's the end of that.. she is kind of like her mom tho.. once she is determined to do something she goes for it, ex.bike riding, she was determined to do no training wheels and she didnt give up, been w/o training wheels since age of 4.. so I don't see her turning it down lol.. so I will allow her to take the challenge if she wants...