2 nights with 4 year old - European city break

[Martibum]

Any suggestions of a nice city break for 2 nights with a 4 year old? Can't do any longer as I'll have family minding baby twins.
Flying from either Dublin or Belfast. My first thought is Lisbon, zoo and aquarium is a bonus but open to anything with Europe and shortish flight time.

Valencia is lovely, very walkable and lots of things to keep the children amused

@barbace oh I was there a few years ago (before kids). We stayed closer to the town, I must look at hotels closer to the beach! Yes they have a huge zoo/aquarium which would be ideal. Forgot about it actually 😅

I did Copenhagen for 2 nights with my then-4 year old last year. Brilliant, so easy to get around and very child friendly.

Lisbon is lovely but very hilly - depends how your child is with walking.

What time of year?

What is there for a child to enjoy in Copenhagen? I'd love to go there and my boy is 4 next year.

Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, and Rome were great! I’d say Amsterdam if only for 2 days.

@OhMaria2 DS loved Tivoli Gardens and the rides. There some great museums and lots of activities for kids to do as well as being good for adults eg the museum of the danish resistance. The National Museum has a wonderful children's museum too. There are also plenty of castles/palaces to explore and loads of playgrounds. DS also loved riding the metro too.

Barcelona! Did 2 nights as the first city dip in April and they loved it.

April or may time

Some great suggestions. Yes lisbon hills are a nightmare. She can be hit or miss.

Copenhagen is somewhere I'd love to visit. Also Rome... is there child friendly things to do?

DS enjoyed Paris at age 2 and age 7 and Florence twice aged 4 (DH was working there) and aged 8. As a preschooler he lived in New York - also DH work. I think doing big child specific things like aquarium etc. can be the wrong choice for a short break. Little payoffs are best. Ice cream and walks around were his favourite things in Florence. A short visit to the toy shop made him quite relaxed and able to enjoy the art gallery. In Paris there were trampolines in the Tuileries and that made Notre Dame very acceptable.

Totally agree with Copenhagen. We spent a week there with our son when he was 5. Amazing for kids

Rome Is very child friendly. Loads to do and haven’t met a child that doesn’t like pasta!!

I want to take mine to Stockholm - boat trips round the archipelago, some great museums and parks/playgrounds, and dead easy to get around.

Utrecht. Miffy Museum and Train museum were both awesome. Found it to be a lovely city with a two and six year old in tow!

Wroclaw
there are loads of bronze drawfs around city which makes a good motivator for walks.
the zoo is excellent.
the food was surprisingly cosmopolitan,
we were able to stay right in centre of old town inexpensivky.
it is very pretty.

Center Parcs Longford.

Seems you are somewhere on the island of Ireland, and this would be a stress free few days for you and a 4yr old. No airport etc. stress either.

Just a suggestion. I'd leave the city breaks until child is older. They are not bothered where they are at that age as long as they have plenty to occupy them.

But obviously if you want to fly somewhere then there are great suggestions so far!

Nuremberg- some nice parks and if your kid loves playmobil then the playmobil fun park is AMAZING. Close to the airport if you get a taxi and Nuremberg city itself is on the subway/metro from the airport.

In Florence we walked up the steps to the view of the city. I do remember him loving this.

There were a lot of cafe stops on some days, this was partly because he was enjoying our walks and sightseeing and occasionally just forgot about needing a wee until a bit last minute.

Literally going to center parcs this week 😂 I haven't been so we are excited to get away.

It wll be a long time before we'll be able to get on a plane again so just using this opportunity to go away while we can.

Some great suggestions! I think I need to narrow down flight times then ease of transport since we only have a short travel time.

@Printedword that's an interesting take on parking the big child centered things. I'll have to have a think on that one... my little one is a sentimental soul, loves a hotdog in the park or hot chocolate on the beach type of kid.

As Copenhagen keeps coming up - a great destination for families - I'll add the other popular Danish destination, Billund. Legoland one day, Lego House (better than Legoland) another day, plus the activities at Lalandia. Or WOW Park later in the summer. Not a city break, but a great break for a 4 year old.

Ryanair fly Dublin-Billund this summer if you can stretch to 3 nights away - they fly out on Thursday and back on Sunday (and for others reading the thread, there are of course also flights out on Sunday and back on Thursday).

It wouldn't have occurred to me to go on a short break then do zoo/aquarium type things as surely they are the same as at home?
My DC are older and we weren't able to go abroad when they were younger, but in recent years we've found the public transport in Milan area of Italy, and in Geneva to be excellent and cheap! DC1 went with friends to Nice after his alevels and found it very easy to get from airport to the main areas by public transport there too.