I started Ciao Bambino in 2004 to help take the fear out of traveling to Europe with young children. There is no reason in the world why you shouldn’t take babies and toddlers overseas—I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, because it’s not ... but thoughtful planning makes these trips possible and worthwhile.
I’ve personally helped hundreds of parents plan trips to Europe—Ciao Bambino used to offer trip planning services—and not once did a family return and tell me that they’d “never do that again.” In fact, the vast majority of parents came back and said that despite the hardship of flights, time changes, travel snafus—all are inevitable at some point—that they had a blast and couldn’t wait to go back.
What you need to know ...
You’ll be traveling seven to twelve hours on airplanes (excluding connections). This is an eternity with kids. Don’t bother going unless you can spend ten to fourteen days on the ground. Time change adjustments are tough for everyone. Know that the first few days may be spent doing just that ... adjusting. Create a schedule with plenty of time to enjoy your destination once everyone has settled into the new place and routine.
Uber-travelers like nothing better than seeing as much as possible in a short period of time. That works well for adult-only trips. Keep the itinerary simple with as few accommodation changes as possible. One of the challenges of traveling with young kids is that they need so much stuff—don’t exacerbate the issue by having to repack and move all time.
Stay at kid-friendly accommodations. This may seem painfully obvious, but do the research required to know that where you are staying is in fact kid-friendly. This is a subject that that deserves a dedicated article, but here are a few main points to consider:
Separate sleeping areas: Do you need this? Consider if your child can go to sleep when you are in the room. City hotels rooms in Europe are small and this may mean that you need a suite or connecting rooms. Unappealing for many families given the expense of larger room configurations. When you are traveling with just one child, a workaround is to ask the hotel to confirm if the hallway in the room or even the closet is big enough for a crib. We stayed at a hotel in Florence where we turned our huge walk-in closet into the “nursery”... it was dark and quiet (we kept the door cracked for plenty of air circulation). It worked perfectly!
Kitchens: In some ways I think babies under a year are the easiest to travel with because they are still breastfeeding or using bottles and/or baby food. Even so, it’s really nice to have at least a kitchenette to warm milk and clean bottles, utensils, bowls etc. Europe has a growing number of apart-hotels that combine hotel services with apartment amenities. We have a number of these properties featured on Ciao Bambino—my favorite option by far with young kids.
Location: Convenience is everything and the bottom line you will have an easier time seeing and doing things if you can simply walk out the door without having to worry about a cab or public transportation.
Kid-friendly management: I think it’s actually harder to find kid-friendly value-oriented properties than luxury properties. Really high-end hotels will cater to every guest. That said, the attitude of the management and staff towards kids is the key to making you feel at ease. A hotel is reviewed in a family-friendly accommodations guide is the best option. If you can’t find a good option through that channel, email prospective hotels and ask if many families stay with them. The answer to this question is surprisingly telling—like the property that told me they loved kids but expected them to be quiet in the garden. Red flag ...
Create a home-base where you can settle in for seven or more days. Plus, many apartment/villa-type accommodations with kitchens and lots of private living space have a week-long minimum requirements anyway. I look for properties that have a safe place for kids to run around—open, flat grass is key. Most of the rural resort properties will have swimming pools. The bigger issue is if they are fenced and/or positioned far enough away from guest rooms. Many properties in Europe have stone stairs, not ideal, but unavoidable. The key is to ensure that any stairs in your unit are “safe” and not open where toddlers can fall through them.
