Monday 6 February 2012

Where to Travel to in Europe with kids ?

Very interesting question, don't you think ? or problem ? Depends on who you are , who your kids are and what you want to do with travelling to Europe with your kids. For us, we have done many different countries, Czech Republic, Austria, Turkey, Greece, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, just to name a few.

So, where do you want to travel in Europe with your kids? Do you want a relaxing get away, educational experience, or just plain experiences ..... Here are some things to ponder when planning where you could travel to in Europe with your kids.

1) Do you want the Europe experience, but rather just an over the top vacation ? If so, travel at low cost for the flights and get where you want to get to as fast as you can. An example would be saying, we want to take the kids to Europe, but really want to relax, so lets' choose Italy. From that point, after you know your destination, book the easiest route and most cost effective flights. If booking a unpackaged hotel deal, start looking online. See what meals could be included. Pool or lake or beachside ??? Who knows, your budget will tell you. Is a restuarant or multiple restaurants on site ? All things to consider if wanting things as a place to go too and then stay at.

2) Do you want to give the kids a cultural experience ? If so, maybe the flights or flight components might be open-jaw, whereby you fly into one country or town and then fly out of another. A great idea would be to travel to ancient Greece as your travel trip to Europe with your kids. You could start in Athens, see many things, continue to another major city, travel by boats to Crete, Santorini or others. So much to see and show the kids in an experience based trip for your kids. This one is depending on the parents and the kids. The parents will have to have hight tolerance levels and alternative ideas if the kids say " no way " we want something else to do.

3) A life changing experience for the kids and you as a parent ? via.... travelling to a more impoverished part of Europe. Possibly some Eastern European countries. Yes, we know that some of you may say,,,, wait,,,, safety is going to be a concern as the parent. Well, I live in Canada and the news is flooded with the scare tactics over travelling down to Mexico over the last several months due to some unfortunate beatings and shootings. Well, I am not scared to go to Mexico, and just the same, I am not scarred to travel to Eastern Europe. We have been to Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, Russia..... And,,, we have been in small , small towns and communities... It all has to be surrounded with be sensible and appreciative of where you are, not the opposite. We have been in small towns and been very welcomed, even without being able to speak the language because we were nice and appreciative, vs arrogant and saying things like " oh, they don't have what I want or how I like it" This is the whole part of the eye opening experience trip for the kids. You want them to be respectful and to show them the struggles of others so they have a deeper understanding of how you provided for them as a parent,,, so utimately they appreciate the everyday things you provide,,,, a little better.

Happy travels to Europe with your kids. Make memorable experiences and bring this world closer together !

best,