We’re soon embarking on our fourth summer of extended travel in Europe. We’ve certainly learned some lessons along the way and developed our own preferences and resources. Our goal with these extended travel itineraries is to go at a slower place and have fun as a family; prioritize the highlights; get a sense of the history, people, culture, and cuisine; avoid overly exhausting sight-seeing days; give ourselves some breaks with babysitting; and factor in some part-time/remove work parameters. For specific recommendations by country/city, navigate to past posts via the blog’s Destinations drop-down menu. Feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions via IG or the blog contact page.
- The Planning: We start about six months in advance by reviewing Rick Steves’ region and country-specific books to generally map out how many days/nights to prioritize in each location. Traveling with a young child, we typically add 2 extra nights to each stop (Rick Steves’ standard European city itineraries move a bit fast and rarely take into account the need for a nap, playground, or ice cream break). I also cross-check with searches and posts in the Facebook family travel groups (see Favorite Family Travel Planning Resources). I reach out to fellow family travelers on IG or Facebook to gut-check itineraries and ask for more specific recommendations. I use the TripIt app to track and store all reservations/bookings, and also keep a shared Google spreadsheet organized in the following column headings to store all the relevant trip details in one place:
- Full Date, e.g. Friday 21 June (organized by night to correspond with the Accommodation Details below)
- City/Destination
- Accommodation Type: Airbnb, Resort Name, e.g.
- Accommodation Details: Confirmation Number, Payment Details (including deadline for free cancellation), Address, Check-In Time, Check-Out Time, Contact WhatsApp/Phone Number/Email Address
- Transportation
- Things to Do/Activities/Experiences
- Babysitting
- Restaurant Reservation
- Prioritizing Slow Travel: as mentioned above, we prefer to stay places at least 2-3 nights and often longer.
- Lining up babysitters: Check out my post about how to find babysitters when you travel. I usually start scouting and interviewing babysitters about 2.5 months in advance, especially given that many potential sitters in some European cities may be out of town in the summer (particularly in late July and August).
- Meeting up with friends along the way: When possible, we invite friends to join us in different locations (or strategize to meet up for a stop on their itineraries). This is a great way to reconnect with friends, give the kids an opportunity to play together, and share lodging and meals.
Coming up this Summer 2024 – 6 weeks – combination of train, rental car (Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria), and flights
- Dolomites, Italy: Alleghe (4 nights) and San Candido (3 nights)
- Trieste, Italy (3 nights)
- Rovinj, Croatia (Istria Peninsula) (3 nights)
- Ljubljana, Slovenia (+ daytrips to Postojna Caves/Karst Region/Skocjan Caves) (4 nights)
- Lake Bled, Slovenia and Lake Bovinj (5 nights)
- Zell am See, Austria (Austrian Alps)(3 nights)
- Salzburg, Austria (4 nights)
- Train from Salzburg to Vienna
- Vienna, Austria (3 nights)
- Direct flight from Vienna to Billund, Denmark
- Billund, Denmark for Legoland (6 nights)
- ΓrΓΈ, Denmark (4 nights)
- Hamburg, Germany and vicinity (5 nights)
- Train from Hamburg to Amsterdam
Summer 2023 – 7 weeks – combination of trains, rental car from Lithuania to Estonia, ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki
- Krakow, Poland (6 nights)
- Warsaw, Poland (7 nights)
- GdaΕsk, Poland (4 nights)
- Flight to Vilnius
- Vilnius, Lithuania (4 nights)
- Kaunas, Lithuania (3 nights, but would recommend 2 nights for others)
- Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit, Lithuania (4 nights, but would recommend 3 nights for others)
- Riga, Latvia (5 nights)
- Sigulda, Latvia (3 nights but could have stayed longer!)
- Haapsalu, Estonia (3 nights)
- Saaremaa, Kuressaare, Estonia (3 nights)
- Tallinn, Estonia (4 nights)
- Helsinki, Finland (4 nights)
- Turku, Finland (4 nights; 3 nights would have been sufficient)
Summer 2022 – 7 weeks – primarily by train using EuroRail pass, one rental car in the Rhine Valley
- Venice, Italy (3 nights)
- Milan, Italy (4 nights)
- Varenna, Lake Como, Italy (3 nights)
- Zermatt, Switzerland (3 nights)
- Lausanne and Lake Geneva, Switzerland (4 nights)
- Murren, Berner Oberland, Switzerland (3 nights)
- Luzern/Lucerne, Switzerland (3 nights)
- Zurich, Switzerland (2 nights)
- Munich, Germany (6 nights)
- Nuremberg, Germany (3 nights)
- Farmstay at Hubertushof Eifel in the Rhine Valley, Germany (5 nights)
- Daytrip to Luxembourg City
- Brussels, Belgium (daytrip to Bruge) (5 nights)
- Amsterdam, Netherlands (5 nights)
Summer 2019 (maternity leave trip) – 5 weeks – primarily by train
- Berlin, Germany (1 week)
- Dresden, Germany (3 nights)
- Prague, Czechoslovakia (1 week)
- Vienna, Austria (1 week)
- Budapest, Hungary (4 nights)
- Flight to Paris
- Paris, France (5 nights)
