To take a 3 yo backpacking/inter railing?

Absolutely do it! Just be prepared for all eventualities and do your research, but why not have an adventure with your little one!
And take photos, so your little one has those visions to help build their memories when they're older ♥️

It's one of those ideas that sounds nice on paper but would probably be horrific.

It depends on your child, if they are happy to amuse themselves whilst on transportation, not in a strict routine, fairly chilled, can stay up with out it being catastrophic.

My niece could easily have done that type of holiday, we used to get comments that people didn't even realise she was on the plane as she was so happy and quiet. Genuinely content to colour, play with little toys, watch a film.

My children at 2/3 more closely resemble the Tasmanian devil and must be in bed by 7:30 if we don't want to ruin the next day, so transport for us is the part we endure to get to where we're going and do short trips from there. Thankfully my almost 5 year old is now a lovely travel companion so there's hope our days of proper travel will begin again in the next couple of years!

Haha 50/50 split pretty much. I'm in the do it camp!

Do it!

Personally I think 3 is a great age to do it.

I think to be thinking about it, you must be reasonably comfortable with travel anyway.

Depends on the child, as PPs have said. Ive taken 4yo twins to Paris and Brussels on the Eurostar and lots of train trips in the UK

• it's not a mad idea per se, and certainly no worse than an airport at that age
• check out things like "family lounge" at KX, go find local Instagram accounts etc. You will not be having a cheeky glass of rosé on the concourse.... You'll be checking out European climbing frames 😜
• where's the wedding. Like if you're going to lake Garda with a couple of nights stopover, definitely yes. 3 weeks whole interrail trip? No way, it will be whinge-tastic by day 5
• look at man in seat 61
• aim for empty Corail/InterCity type trains in the middle of the day, not commuter ones at rush hour!

Good luck if you do it 👍

I remember taking our DCs to Kualar Lumpur when they were 1.75 and 3.75. I found a lovely art studio that allowed members of the public to have a go. The two DCs produced brilliant pictures on silk and they still have them framed in their rooms.

Also had a fantastic time in Switzerlwnd when they were toddlers. Lots of kid friendly activities.

As long as you are prepared to do lots of toddler-oreiented things, such as explore all the playgrounds and zoos, it should work. It's not quite the same as an adult break , obviously, but I used to have fun doing that.

Do it, you'll have the time of your lives

I think it could be great OP. I was taken travelling for 6 months when I was 4. Everyone lived to tell the tale. I can still remember bits of it. We came home, I started school and holidays were restricted to term time for ever more.

If you don't do it now it could be a while before you get the chance again.

Enjoy!

Personally I found I worst holidays were often the ones that were supposed to be family friendly. The kind of simple beach holidays that we wouldn't really have done without kids. The problem with those were that if my children were grizzly (and they often were!) and we couldn't relax then it all seemed completely pointless. If we were a bit selfish and did city breaks, travelled about, saw new and interesting things for us, then it didn't matter so much if it didn't all go completely smoothly as at least we still got something out of it. We were realistic, both in terms of how much we could do, but also recognizing that it was mainly for us not them, and it was altogether much more successful!

I don't think it is necessarily a crazy idea. I assume you wouldn't do it in the same way as you would have done as a student. I wouldn't do overnight trains. I wouldn't do very long train journeys and I wouldn't move on as often. I'd stay in nicer places, booked in advance. But no reason why you can't have a one month holiday in Europe with a 3 year old, travelling by train and moving on every 3-5 days.

We took our 5 and 6 year old to Japan. Travelled by train. Moved on every few days, for two weeks. Obviously not the same, but not that different either!

Personally I'd probably go for two fortnight holidays rather than a month, but whatever works for you!

We regularly take out 3 year old on 3/4 week road trips and we have a great time. Often it’s a new location every 1/2 nights with decent drives inbetween.

We love it and our little one has no problems adapting, just go with the flow and have low expectations.

Last year we did 3 weeks driving around Iceland and this year it’s a road trip around Costa Rica, all at relatively fast pace to get around the whole country. It suits us and our child but I realise that it wouldn’t for all families.

Well, I wouldn't, but I'm pretty uptight and so were my toddlers .
But I think it could be great for the right people!

Took mine backpacking for 3 weeks aged 2&4 including ferries, trains and a plane. Loads of fun just remember to take minimal luggage relying on washing every few days

I've taken mine on various trips around Europe and we normally have a good time, although you definitely need to factor in a lot of time at play parks and water parks.

Both of mine love sleepers, which can be easier than long daytime journeys.

Island hopping is good too - particularly if you're somewhere you can spend some time on the beach every day.

The worst thing was the luggage!

My 3 year old would love this. He's in his element travelling around, seeing the sights, eating out etc. Weirdly he's much more high work at home than when travelling so it's actually more relaxing for all of us. My child may be atypical though.

Do it! We traveled by train around Europe when ours were 2&3, they still talk about it now at 7&8 and we are doing it again this summer.
Just plan it so train journeys aren't too long or travel over meal times. The longer journeys we did overnight by sleeper. And look for a playground or something fun in every place you stop.
You will have an amazing time!

My best holidays with my three year old were city breaks. They were the right kind of busy for her, whereas beach holidays were much more hard work because they weren’t pacey enough for her. She’s have been fine interrailing but I would take a stroller if I were you

We’re discussing next summer’s holiday with our 9yo. He has made it very clear that he doesn’t like moving around lots (we’d thought of inter railing for 2 weeks).
It depends on the child though.

I’d love to do something like this. But it really depends on what your child is like. Only you know how they’d be. If you do, maybe pick a few key destinations for spending at least a few days each, rather than all the time on trains.

Do it then start a real time thread on Mumsnet to update us how it's going 😁

I wouldn’t do it. Too much for them (and me) personally I wouldn’t enjoy it, and I love travelling.

We were just at centreparcs for 5 days and my 3 yo lost his shit numerous times due to over-tiredness, over-stimulation due to new surroundings / new experiences, change of routine and also the heat.

Oh and The Man in Seat 61 of course, essential for any train journey!