Top 10 Reasons to Travel to Europe with Kids!

When my husband and I first told our family and friends that we were going to Europe and taking our 5 year-old son and 10-year old daughter with us, the overwhelming response went something like this: “Are you insane?” “That sounds terrible!” Or “Why bother? They aren’t old enough to appreciate it.” Well, after spending 24 days exploring France and Germany with our kids, I can strongly reccomend that more families plan to explore Europe together. In fact, we are already saving for our next family international experience to Ireland and Scotland. So if you need a little push to take the plunge, here are my top 10 reasons to travel to Europe with your kids!

10. Steep kid discounts. Throughout our trip, we took advantage of Europe’s steep discounts or free admission for kids. Most museums offered free or inexpensive admission for our kids. This added up to significant savings for our budget concious family. We also found restaurants to offer wonderful quality food on the kids menus that helped us eat delicious food at a reasonable cost. Even train and transportation costs on tours was steeply discounted throughout France and Germany.

9. Out of this world playgrounds and parks. I know, I know, who goes to Europe to hang at playgrounds? We planned a playground stop in about every city. Usually as filler between attractions or after a museum or historical attraction. Our plan was to strategically allow our kids time and space to run and play and to allow us middle aged parents some time to rest our feet and people watch. What we didn’t expect was how epic the playgrounds and parks would be! Our kids still talk about the zip lines we found at every park and the huge towers they could climb. Another favorite experience was sailing toy boats on the fountain at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. If you travel with kids, I highly suggest choosing a few to visit. Better yet, in Germany, they often pair well with a beer garden to be enjoyed by mom and dad!

8. Introduce them to a new language. Nothing sparks an interest in learning foreign language more than being immersed in a culture speaking another language. Ahead of our trip, we downloaded the Duo Lingo app and our 10 year-old studied French with me for about 6 months. We had so much fun trying out our skills on one another which provided some special bonding time in its own right. Once we were in France, we both used a little French (we are by no means experts) to locate bathrooms, order food, ask questions about purchases and more. The French people were so kind and appreciative of us all trying and being interested in learning their language. My husband also used Duo Lingo to brush up on his German skills so we had some basic ability to communicate. That said, Google Translate is your friend. Our daughter is very excited to be able to take more French classes as it becomes available in school.

7. When “kid experiences” become the unexpected highlights of your trip. When we planned this trip, I intentionally chose some experiences that I deemed to be “kid friendly”. It turned out that these became some of the most fun, enriching and memorable experiences of our trip. In Paris, we splurged on a private Louvre tour that featured a scavenger hunt with clues and prizes all with a personal guide who set up the challenges, taught us about the art and led us through the labrynth. It was an incredible experience that can be booked with Paris Muse or via various online Air BNB guides. Without a doubt, we enjoyed the Louvre in a much more meaningful way because we booked this tour “for the kids.”

Then there was the sledding at the summit of Zugspitze in Germany, something we would have skipped had we not wanted to make it more fun for our kiddos. Let me tell you, there is something epic about gliding down a mountainside of Germany’s highest mountain with the sun beaming down on you. Or spending two glorious days in Disneyland Paris because we knew it was a good reward after two solid days of Paris sightseeing.

In Bavaria, we rode an alpine coaster down a glorious mountain whilst being pelted by rain and laughing until our sides ached. In Berchdesgaden we toured the salt mines and road a train deep underground and plummeted down 3 giant slides as a family to learn all about how they exported salt for Bavarian royalty. All of these experiences are things we booked on the trip because we thought they would appeal to the children. It turns out traveling with our kids exposed us to our most treasured vacation experiences.

6. Expose your kids to new food. To be honest. One of my biggest fears about traveling with kids was dealing with picky eaters when my hubby and I wanted to enjoy all the tasty foods we dreamed about. Turned out, we had nothing to worry about. Europe was the perfect place to introduce them to new foods while still having access to tried and true foods we knew they would eat. In Paris we visited boulangeries every day. Our kids loved the gourmet sandwiches and of course all the pastries. We visited crepe stands, tried escargot, beef bourguigon and other delicacies. In Germany the kids gorged on pretzles (though we did have to buy cheese dip at a grocery store as they were apalled that German’s eat their pretzles with mustard) and tried pork knuckles and schnitzle. In Berlin, we enjoyed trying the famous donor kebab that everyone ended up loving.

We were amazed to find delicious Italian food everywhere we went. Our kids ate a lot of bolgonese and spaghetti dishes when they were unsure about a menu. It was an added bonus that we found gelato stops on nearly every corner. We found Europe to be a perfect culinary experience for mom and dad to enjoy elevated eats while our kids got to try new things while still having old reliable options to fall back on.

5. Teach your children travel skills, teach them life skills. We all know experiential learning is the most impactful way to grow and develop. Travel, especially international travel, is an incredible way to teach your kids so many life lessons and skills. We learned to navigate airports and train stations. To be flexible when plans changed, like the days of fog that prevented our summit of Zugspitze and forced us to change our itinerary. The trains that changed platforms last minute and we scrambled to run between platforms to catch our ride. They learned how to be responsible for carrying their bags. How to navigate in an unfamiliar world and interact with people who spoke a different language and held a different world view. Plus, the learned to walk…..a lot. To take naps in the car to preserve their energy for the fun stuff. To never pass up a bathroom when you have the chance. They even learned a lot about the value of money as we discussed our budget and our philsophy in life to have less stuff so that we can spend more on experiences like this. This trip helped our kids grow and mature in immeasureable ways.

4. Ignite a passion for history. Travel can make history come alive and Europe is rich in history! We spent about 6 months prior to our trip reading books about the making of the EIffel tower, WWII history, The Berlin Wall, Jewish culture and experiences, European art and artists and even Bavarian kings. After reading these stories, our kids were thrilled to walk the roads and see the artificats that made history come to life. We went to the top of the Eiffel tower. Navigated our way through the Catacombs (our son loved this). Visited Hitler’s Eagles Nest and Documentation Center to learn more about how the Nazi party came to power and the atrocities committed. We visited the Berlin Wall and DDR museum and our kids got to learn about the Cold War. We visited castles and walked the walls of medevil town Rhotenberg ob der Tauber. We even learned all about the history of whaling and narwhal hunting in the Frisian island, Fohr. No amount of school, could come close to replacing the experiential learning of this trip. Most excitingly, it sparked a real love of history in our oldest. She has been reading about WWII and historical fiction avidly in the year since our trip. Taking your kids to Europe is giving them a front row seat to history.

3. Show your kids that a big world calls for big dreams. International travel helps give your children a sense of how big, and yet, small our world is. It expands horizons and encourages them to dream big about what their life can be and how they can play a role in stewarding our world. We live in a small town with relatively low diversity. Travel provided an opportunity to learn more about our place in this world. After this trip, our kids have begun dreaming and planning for future travels. They explore maps and choose to read travel or world history books. Our daughter even talks about embarking on study abroad experiences. All international travel can accomplish this, but Europe is a great introduction to international travel for families.

2. Build global relationships. One of the best parts of our trip was getting to spend quality time with friends and family who live in Germany. My family hosted exchange students when I was growing up and we had an opportunity to stay with one of them in her home town. It was a unique experience to see typical German family life. To have our kids play together and become friends. We also visited my ancestral home and connected with family who hosted us for meals and traditional tea. These friendships enriched our trip but also touched our hearts. In fact, we just had a Zoom call with one of the families as our sons were missing one another. The relationships built as you get to know people from around the world outweigh all of the amazing sights and experiences.

1. Make memories to cherish forever. Prepare for sappy. People often told us it was a waste of money to take the kids to Europe when they won’t fully appreciate it. Here’s the thing. They did appreciate it. Maybe not as deeply as I did, but they still gush about our trip and the experience is now woven into the fiber of their being. They dream of the next great adventure, and with each trip we embark on, their depth of appreciation will grow. In the meantime, life is so very short. Childhood is even shorter. If you have the privelage, and I do recognize that travel like this is a huge blessing-take it. I see so many people waiting to “do Europe when I retire.” For me, the real desire to start traveling internationally with our kids came from an unwillingness to wait to see the world ourselves. So, we dipped our toe into European travel and now we are ready to dive right in…..well, once the travel budget is replenished anyway!

So, if you are a parent on the fence about taking kids to Europe. This might be your sign to dive on in. The water’s great!