Has anyone done a city break with young children children in Europe?

[NightOwlGirl]

This is really a follow on post from a previous post I made about options for an October half term holiday. We have budget of £1500 (including spending money), but more importantly dh only has 3 days a/l. My preference is an all inclusive break to the Greek Islands, but dh thinks that 7+ hours travelling time each way ( including airport transfers) is too much. He favours city break in southern Europe somewhere, but where? Has anyone done city break with a 5 Yr old & 7yr old? The idea doesn't fill me with any enthusiasm. What worked or didn't work? I'm open to ideas or suggestions. Main requirements are a destination that has a reasonable prospect of warm sunny weather, and a maximum three hours flight time from Heathrow or Gatwick.

South of France is usually nice that time of year - Nice/Cannes or nearby beach towns.

Seville is usually nice that time of year. So much to do and not a long flight.

Weirdly, DH and I had exactly the same discussion this evening. We haven't decided yet between city break or a week in the sun although I am leaning towards the former. I think Seville would be great.

I only have one DC who is 5 but I took him on a solo city break in May and we had a brilliant time. You obviously can't fit in as much as without children but it worked really well for a few days.

Rome is great, and Italians really make young children feel welcome everywhere.

We took DD to Lisbon for a long weekend when she was 5 and had a great time - loads to do to keep kids occupied. But maybe not guaranteed the weather in October?

Barcelona has lots to do with kids that age - an aquarium, musical fountain show, Tibidabo amusement park, beach, science museum, chocolate museum, zoo….

I agree, Greece is too far. What about Copenhagen? It’s got Tivoli gardens.

Porto fills all the boxes.

Valencia is lovely. It has a great arts and science park, a beach and Albufera nature reserve nearby

Try a European centre parka maybe?

Alicante. Fantastic beach, small city for walking around, would be great for kids.

We’ve done city breaks with our two Dds. When they were a similar age we went to Lisbon, Madrid and Bilbao. My tip is to research places for everyone-I always scope out a couple of playgrounds, some kind of child friendly museum/aquarium etc to balance out the sightseeing. Throw in some ice cream or a novelty lunch spot and we all have a good time!

We haven't done it yet, but planning to in future. Our son is 3 and hoping to start with a Christmas trip this year to Prague or Copenhagen and Bordeaux next Spring or Summer.

Other places on our list are Rome, Genoa (alongside Portofino and Cinque Terre) Barcelona, Lisbon, Budapest, Vienna and Dubrovnik for future trips. Cities with beaches very close by are a good compromise for us.

Lisbon is lovely (but very hilly). Ride the tiny trams and take your kids to the amazing aquarium.

Or there's always somewhere mainstream like Paris which will still be nicely smartened up from the Olympics and has absolutely tons of stuff to do.

We took our DS to Bruges when he was 18 months old and it was a success but at 5 and 7 your kids are old enough to do more so you have plenty of options.

Cinque Terre is beautiful but if you are planning on walking the clifftop paths between the various villages I would wait until your DS is at least 10. If you plan to take the train between them it won't be an issue but there isn't much to actually do there other than enjoy the (gorgeous) scenery.

I've just got back from bilbao 2 hour flight and would fit the budget. The guggenheim is really good for kids surprisingly lots of interactive exhibits and cartoon things. There are lots of play parks with sun covers that presumably keep the rain off as well. A very good idea. If you wanted to sit with a glass of wine and a pinxtos whilst the kids play it would be possible!.

There's a funicular, river boat trips, and an aquarium as well as other museums. I'd want to do a day trip to San Sebastian (an hours drive not sure about train) where there's a beautiful beach. It was mobbed in August but would be quiet in October. Might rain there though.

I always think Prague is a lovely city for kids. There's that beautiful park.

Amsterdam is fun: NEMO science museum, moco museum of contemporary art would be fun, there's vondelpark, you could do a boat trip. Its a short flight.

Lisbon is a good call.

City breaks with kids are difficult. I'd stay somewhere with an indoor pool for a bit of splashy fun.

Good tip! I’ve been to Genoa and Portofino before so just casually added Cinque Terre on without actually thinking about the logistics. You might have saved DC’s life 😂

I'm just back from Kos. It was pretty much a full day travel each way.

What about Barcelona? They have city and beach there and an excellent water park.

Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely wonderful place to visit! But you look at those coastal paths on Google maps and it tells you this section of path is only a couple of 2km which seems doable enough, and then you actually do it and it's all steep steps and scrambling over large rocks which is fairly strenuous even for an adult. The views are breathtaking but you wouldn't want to be dragging a small child along! I think the youngest children we saw on the path were about 10.

We loved Amsterdam. V short flight time and loads to do with the kids. Might be a good option if it’s your first city holiday rather than beach one. Not sure what the weather is like in October though. However, not sure it needs to be particularly hot for a city break as I associate those with sightseeing and indoor stuff which with little kids, is no fun if it’s too warm.

Rome was great with children. Plenty to see, and lots of pizza and ice cream ! Shortish flight and easy to get around,

We've done quite a few, and every single one was great with children.

Budapest
Rome
Florence
Malaga
Valencia
Barcelona
Vienna
Paris
Dubrovnik
Berlin
Amsterdam
Istanbul
Riga
Talinn
Stockholm
Bergen
Helsinki

Just the change of scene was great, really. I think city breaks are pretty easy with children - they need a bit of planning but can be really fun.

I think my two actually prefer city breaks to beach holidays! We’ve done Edinburgh, London, Paris and Venice as 3 night stays but also day visits to lots of other cities from where we’ve been staying like Amsterdam, Verona, Florence. On my list to take them to for 3 nights - Rome, Budapest, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Lisbon, Dubrovnik! Just make a decent plan, don’t wander aimlessly, know where you’re going and balance the culture with fun for kids. Eg in Paris we did the PSG stadium as big football fans as well as the Louvre and always make sure to find a play area to burn off some steam.

We frequently do mini-breaks to European cities with our toddler. We do so many trips with her, she’s got BA status already!

I can’t say I’ve had many issues, the airport is getting easier with fast track and the lounges having children’s areas. Unless there is something we want to do, which is adult only, everything we do can accommodate the little one.

If you want warm, check out Nice. I love Nice and the surrounding areas. Was easy to drive to Italy too.