surfmom

Last year, we took the little people to London (4 days) and Paris (6 days) and had a great trip! (note: they are now 6, 8, and 10 years). Since I have nothing imminent planned, I'm feeling like its time to plan a trip and trying to figure out where.

We'd be aiming at late May/early June and about 10 days again. I would like to be able to find a place where we can stay for a longer stretch and get an apartment again. (so much easier with different bedtimes, meals, etc.)

My latest thinking is Stockholm...

Other thoughts:
Italy: Venice (3 -4 days) and Cinque Terre (5-6 days) - they would love Venice, I'm thinking a few more years before CT might be good ?

Germany/Switzerland: again, thinking a few years older might be better ?

My latest thinking is Stockholm... apparently, it is very kid-friendly. Lots of interesting things for them to see and do - even found this apartment ?
http://www.cocoonstockholm.com/apart...p?appart_ID=96

So, if Stockholm, then, what do I combine it with ?
Copenhagen?
Helsinki? (overnight ferry)
Rovaniemi?
St. Petersburg (flight? overnight ferry?)

I get the most excited about combining it with St. Petersburg (I was there when it was Leningrad in 1987 and remember how gorgeous it was)... but don't know if the overnight ferry will still be operating ? How difficult would logistics be ? It looks like people on the boards have used private guides, so I would probably hire someone while there...

I thought I'd come here and ask the experts...

HappyTrvlr

I think Stockholm would be a great choice for children. I have beeen to St. Petersburg but don't about your travel options. You would all need VISAS to enter Russia.
Copenhagen would be another child friendly city to pair with Stockholm.

padams421

My sons were about 8 and 10 when we went to Denmark, Norway and Sweden (they are now almost 13 and 15). I highly recommend Scandinavia for families. In Stockholm, the boys enjoyed the Gamla Stan area so much it was difficult to get them to leave. A boat trip around the Stockholm area was also a highlight. Stockholm has a wonderful open air museum with a nearby amusement park.

I suggest combining Stockholm with Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a smaller, walkable city with many interesting attractions for children. When my older son had a soccer tournament in Sweden two years ago, younger son and I spent part of the time back in Copenhagen. It was just as much fun the second time around....

I wish we had been able to include the overnight ferry to Helsinki but we did not have enough time (our trip was 2.5 weeks and included more of Denmark, and Oslo and Bergen, Norway). I had also considered St. Petersburg because relatively speaking, we were so close. As much as I wanted to go to those places, with time constraints, those destinations were cut from our travel plans because I decided the boys would find Norway and Denmark more entertaining. That being said, the overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo was fantastic fun. A mini-cruise within the trip. I can only imagine that the Stockholm/Helsinki cruise would also be an excellent experience.

We have also been to London and Paris. My sons prefer Scandinavia. Great choice.

hetismij

Maybe they would enjoy a rafting holiday in Sweden.

http://www.simplysweden.co.uk/raftingadventure.php

surfmom

@hetismij: LOVE the rafting trip idea! Don't know if the weather is ideal for May/June tho ? Some fun ideas on that website tho -

@padams/HpyTvlr: sounds like Copenhagen would be a good 2nd city. I know we'd need visas for St. Petersburg... it just is so tempting b/c we are close. When I mentioned that to Mr. Surf, his eyes lit up ...

Maybe we would consider doing multi-city flights... into Stockholm and out of St. Petersburg ?

hetismij

Perfect in May June - my son and his GF went a couple of years ago, not sure with whom, and they had a great time. It can be hard work - you have to watch out you don't run aground, and you have to build your own raft, but they loved it. Watching otters and beavers and deer birds.

There were a couple of families with kids the same age as yours and they had a wonderful time apparently - they all met up at the end to talk about their experiences.

If you want to go to Denmark do consider the west coast of Jutland for a couple of days of sheer fun on a huge beautiful clean wonderful beach.

RainyDay09

We just got back from Stockholm and Copenhagen. My 3.5 year old loved both cities. Lots to see, lots of parks, playgrounds, and amusement opportunities (Tivoli in Copenhagen; Skansen in Stockholm). The main factor for us was how nice the people were around us. St. Pete will be logistically more challenging and would probably be more for the adults.

I found a website that offers apartments in Copenhagen at a reasonable rates. We didn't use it because they required a minimum of 4 nights stay. We ended up in a hotel, which worked great for us, because it provided free breakfast and a lounge with free booze and snacks in the afternoon.

surfmom

@hetismij, thanks for the ideas..

@rainyday, glad you hear you enjoyed it!

My latest thinking is: we're going! I haven't booked it yet, but one of the big impediments was the cost of flights. I pulled out various credit cards and looked at frequent flyer accounts and discovered... we have enough rewards points on a card we can fly all 5 of us for free! The big hiccup is always finding actual flights and seats. However, if we drive to Newark (about 2 hrs.), we can catch a direct flight to Stockholm and there are seats on the dates I checked.

Itinerary: I think we would fly into Stockholm and spend 4-5 days there. Just for yucks, I checked flights to St. Petersburg and SAS has one direct flight daily. For the days we're interested, it is $850 for roundtrip for all 5 of us to fly Stockholm-St. Petersburg.

When I mentioned St. Petersburg to Mr. Surf, he got interested... I think we'd spend about 3 days there - yes, I know we lose time traveling, but I think we could do good 'kid' things in 3 days... Hermitage (1/2 day), Peterhof (1/2 day), Winter Palace, Church of Savior on Spilled Blood, Nevsky Prospect. I think we would hire a private guide for the two full days of touring...

We could then fly back to Stockholm a day or two before our flight back to the US and maybe spend a night in the Archipelago ? Still need to figure out those logistics...

We may end up doing Copenhagen or Jutland instead (due to ease), but I remember St. Petersburg (Leningrad when I was there!) as amazingly beautiful!

keep the good ideas and thoughts coming.

Next is:
- hotels/apartment recommendations
=> Stockholm (I think we would prefer an apartment)
=> St. Petersburg (I think a hotel).

airline choice:
=> if flights are the same "cost" (ie. points), should we take SAS, Delta, or Continental ?

surfmom

@rainyday, will you be doing a trip report ? I'm still working (slowly) on our from May, but I love to read others' with kids!

RainyDay09

I am trying to work up the courage and the inspiration to write a trip report. On the one hand, I am afraid I won't be able to do justice to Stockholm and Copenhagen, because so much of it was just walking around in awe, enjoying the atmosphere, especially in Stockholm. On the other hand, I am a bit apprehensive about possible snarky comments.

surfmom

rainyday, do it... just do it. I rely upon them for good ideas and actual logistical information. !

HappyTrvlr

We flew Continental transatlantic out of EWR, good experience, and SAS within Scandinavia, inexpensive and impressive.