Best European city breaks with kids

[kkelly82]

Hi. I’m looking for recommendations of European city breaks you’ve been on with kids. Mine are 11 and 8 and we’re looking to go away at the beginning of April. Initial thoughts were Amsterdam as flights were reasonable but Airbnb accommodation looks very pricey so ruled that out. Next thought was Barcelona or possible staying down the coast in Stiges and then getting the train into Barcelona on some of the days. Anyone stayed there?
Recommendations of other affordable city breaks welcomed. TIA.

---

We can see that this thread is quite old now but If you’ve landed here looking for recommendations, we've put together a handy guide to the best family city breaks according to Mumsnetters featuring recommendations from families that have visited cities across Europe. Spoiler: Copenhagen, Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin and Rome all loved by Mumsnetters.

Hope this helps! 😎

Rachel - Travel Content Editor, MNHQ

Barcelona is fabulous for older kids - there's loads to do. The Gaudi buildings and parc Guell. Cable car over the harbour. The fountain show. Aquarium and Zoo. Boat trips. Mount Tibidabo. I would find an apartment in the city rather than travel in or out.

You could also look at staying in Haarlem instead of Amsterdam, it's a lovely town, should be cheaper and the train is only 15/20 minutes to Amsterdam. It's also not far from the beach at Zandfort which might be nice to go to if the weather is good.

Lisbon, stay in the centre and go on tram rides, to the beach and eat pastel de nata. You can also go to Sintra for the day to see the fairytale syle palace.

We vowed that if we ever went to Amsterdam again, we'd stay in The Hague and get the train in every day.

The Hague is lovely itself, accommodation is far more reasonable and better, loads of nice places to eat and you can get the tram to the beach at the end of the day.

Compared to spending a fortune on crappy accommodation in Amsterdam.

We went to amsterdam with DC this year and stayed on Botel. Not luxurious at all as it's a converted ferry but the DC loved it, we caught the ferry along the river into Centraal
Station every morning and had a blast.
They are already asking to go back.

Took our 8 year old to Rome last year and he loved it. Coliseum, the ruins at night, street food, gelato, general wandering, saw some art, went to the park.

Ours loved Rome as did we, such a great city.

Another vote for Lisbon. We went with our 8 & 4 year old earlier this year and stayed in an apartment in Caiscais, hired a car and did a day trips (we’d been to Lisbon before). My eldest really enjoyed Sintra and the Peña Palace , they both loved the Time Out market and trams in Lisbon, and one day when the weather wasn't great we went to the aquarium.

Barcelona is on my list to do with them maybe next year, and Rome too so good to see them mentioned. We love a city break!

Some great suggestions- I'm making a note. Thanks.

Ours loved Rome, Brussels, Delft/The Hague at that age.

All great suggestions. Thanks everyone. Thanks @AnnaMagnani and @givememarmite for the suggestions on where to stay outside of central Amsterdam to keep costs down.
Lisbon also sounds like a great choice so thanks for all the info there.

Has anyone been to Lisbon or Barcelona and stayed outside of the city and travelled in via train?

We went to Amsterdam this year and stayed just outside of the city centre and biked around (we had car and bikes with us but most hotels have hire bikes). The children loved it.

Barcelona is brilliant with children, mine enjoyed it (apart from us dragging them round the Joan Miró museum!).

We went to krakow as a family and the children really enjoyed it. It's nice and compact, cheaper to eat and drink than many other city breaks. The children loved the castle, the pinball museum, the underground museum in the main square and a trip out to the salt mines.

Reykjavik
Edinburgh
Bergen
Paris
Rome
Venice (spring will be better than summer when it smells a bit)
Nottingham (The Castle and the Tunnels particularly good for DC), good buses, TRex exhibition at Wollaton Park.

We rented apartments in all but Reykjavik and Nottingham for flexibility.

We love Amsterdam- so much to do, easy to get around, lovely people. I actually found that a hotel worked out cheaper than Airbnb where we wanted to stay in the Museum quarter.

We have just done Vienna and Venice with our kids and arrived in Rome last night, they are loving all of it. We aren't going hard on museums though, more walking through the streets and spotting landmarks in between buying snacks, fridge magnets and figuring out our next meal.

Highlight of Vienna was apparently the cakes in the cafes and schnitzel on tap - of Venice they liked the bridges and the hot chocolate but not the smell. Glad to see they have absorbed some of the immortal culture of these great historic cities...

@Xiaoxiong we spend a lot of time looking for the ‘perfect’ fridge magnet every time we go away somewhere new. It’s a great bribery tool over the course of the trip!

Palma in Mallorca is a fab mini break destination. Cheap and plentiful flights. Short transfer. Loads to see. Great tapas. Marina and beaches just minutes away. Great day trips too. Loved the little train over to Soller.

Rotterdam? Much to see and do, eg boat tour of the harbour, go up the Euromast, plus many museums etc. Well-placed too for getting the train to Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and many other places. One of my favourite days out from there is to get the Waterbus to Dordrecht.

I've been to Lisbon twice and loved it, but years ago and not with children. The first time I went we stayed at Cascais which is on the coast. Was about a twenty- thirty minute train ride into the centre of the city on local trains and was fine. Also got the bus from there to Sintra, stopping at Cabo da Rocha on the way- which was spectacular.

Prague has something for everyone. Lovely walks, museums, parks etc. It’s also really easy to get around by public transport.

@TeaAndToastest how old were your children? What is there to do please finding limited info online thanks x

Ours were younger but we love Nice. Sun and city!

What about Berlin? DP and I went a few years ago and said it would be a great city to take children. The spy museum was really fun and there's also Berlin zoo, loads of other things too.

Valencia ! Extremely child friendly