Choosing Destinations and Route Planning in Europe

Good trip planning can mean the difference between an enjoyable vacation and nerve-wracking stress and/or wasted money.
Involve all travelers, including the children, in choosing the route. They will enjoy being involved in decisions and won't feel like they are being dragged to places they didn't want to visit.

Matching Destinations to Trip Participants:

Destinations should be adapted to the age and character of the participants. Young children need breaks during driving and physical activity much more than older children or adults.
It is important to consider the preferences of every family member, from the youngest to the parents. If your five-year-old gets bored touring museums and your teenager goes crazy from being stuck with their younger siblings all day, nobody will enjoy it. The trip should include something special for everyone.

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Searching Information Sources:

Look through books, the internet, and brochures from travel agencies, and make a list of things you want to see and do. Children like to see things they recognize from a book or movie, so it's advisable to let them look through books or pamphlets as well. Older children can browse the internet searching for information and especially pictures of the various places. This way, children will feel more involved and won't be able to claim: "Where did you bring me?", "I didn't want to do things like this," etc.

Search for Guided Tours Worldwide on Viator:

Choosing Accommodation Location

It is recommended not to switch between more than 2 accommodation locations on a one-week trip, and no more than 3 locations on a 10-night trip. That is, it's best to stay at least 3-4 nights in the same place, and even more if possible.
There are many destinations in Europe where, within a driving radius of less than two hours, there are so many diverse family attractions that even a full week won't be enough.
Small and compact countries where staying in one or at most two locations is sufficient are: the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Slovenia.
In larger countries, it is advisable to focus on a specific region or area rich in sites and activities, and discover the rest of the country on another trip. Excellent examples of such destinations are Lake Garda in Northern Italy, the Salzburg region in Austria, and the Black Forest in Germany.

Use our recommended hotels in Europe or the selection of recommended hotels in the United States sorted by cities, as well as accommodation recommendations in the many articles on this site.

Professional Assistance:

For those who find it difficult to plan the itinerary or are unsure if they selected the optimal route, it is recommended to seek the help of a travel agent or travel consultant.
When choosing the route, you must decide where to fly to and where to return from, check if domestic flights are needed, and determine the preferred location for car rental. Sometimes a small change in route direction, car rental location, or flight destination can save hundreds of dollars per person (and thousands of dollars for a family), as well as significant hassle, so it pays to get professional consulting that will save you a lot of time and money.

Staying and traveling in big cities is not optimal for a family trip, especially with young children. Accommodation is usually more expensive and cramped, driving is more difficult, and everything is much busier, noisier, and more exhausting. It is certainly interesting and experiential to tour a big city, but it should be done in small doses. For example, on a trip to the Netherlands, visiting Amsterdam is definitely desirable and recommended, but one or two days are sufficient, while spent touring "real" Netherlands among villages, small towns, windmills, and amusement parks on the remaining days. There is no need to stay in Amsterdam. The Netherlands is small, and if you stay in its central area, it's nice to drop by (by car or train) to visit the big city and return at the end of the day to the peace and quiet of the towns and villages.
Similarly, there is no need to stay in the city of Salzburg to enjoy its charms. You can stay on a farm in a picturesque mountain town within an hour's drive from the city and dedicate a full day to it.
On the other hand, if you wish to visit Vienna, the capital of Austria, which is full of family attractions, it is advisable to stay in the city itself because it is distant from all other family tourist sites in Austria.

Accommodation is an important component of your and your children's experience on the trip. It is not just a place to spend the night between travel days. It is a place where you can also enjoy, rest, and spend time with the whole family. Sometimes accommodation makes the difference between a wonderful, successful trip and a standard one. Look for accommodations where staying is an experience in itself. It is advisable to stay in an apartment with an orderly kitchen and at least two rooms, where you will have privacy and can organize some of the meals yourselves.

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You Are Going on a Vacation, Not Basic Training:

Do not plan an overly stressful trip. Leave yourselves enough time for flexibility. You will enjoy it much more if you organize a relaxed trip while considering every family member (including yourselves, of course!). Leave enough time to enjoy small, nice places you didn't encounter in books, such as a nice park with swings, mini-golf, bowling, and also for spending time at the holiday village, farm, or hotel where you will stay. Overly tight schedules do not leave time for these pleasant activities, which are the source of happiness for many children.

Children also like returning to places they enjoyed. Eat several times at the same successful restaurant or stop again at the same toy store.

It is very important that the trip be as diverse as possible. Even the most avid amusement park fans will get tired of running around a different amusement park every day. There is no need to visit more than two large amusement parks on a 7-10 day trip. Children also enjoy many other attractions. A diverse and enjoyable trip should include the following combination: nature (preferably with options for active recreation such as boating, rafting, walking among waterfalls, swimming, cliff climbing, etc.), amusement parks, tours of large and special cities (such as Venice, Copenhagen, or Vienna), visits to a zoo, safari, or aquarium (most children of all ages like being near animals, touching them, and seeing them in action), visits to picturesque towns or authentic villages, visits to various factories where you can observe the manufacturing process up close (chocolate factories are especially popular), and museum tours.

Children like museums where touching and operating exhibits is allowed, especially science, nature, aviation, and space museums.
"Open-air museums" that teach interactively about past lifestyles in the visited country are also popular with children.
Most children are not enthusiastic about historical sites, archaeological excavations, churches, and art museums.
This doesn't mean you have to skip such sites completely. They should be integrated into the trip in small doses and in proper combination with other activities.
Try to include several activities each day: a museum visit followed by a picnic in a park where kids can feed ducks and climb playground equipment. Shared shopping at a supermarket stocked with products can also be a fun family experience.

Active Recreation

Another type of trip generally suitable for all family members is active recreation. It is recommended to stay a few days in a town on the shores of a magical sea (for example, in Croatia), in a hot springs park (the most successful ones are located in Slovenia), in the heart of a forest, or on a lake shore (Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands abound with great options). This is an opportunity to sail, swim, hike, ride bicycles or horses, and even relax a bit before returning home.

Internet Information

An endless and diverse source of excellent travel information is available to almost everyone right at home: the Internet!
There are countless travel websites, and patience (or recommendations from books and friends) is required to find the good information available.

Good websites on the internet for searching travel destinations in general and for families in particular:

Author's website: ../../index.html

This website, contains hundreds of articles on interesting travel sites with recommendations for destinations, attractions, hotels, transportation, and more.

The internet is full of sites where users write their first-hand recommendations and warnings about travel destinations and tourist sites. The best and most comprehensive site of all is: https://www.tripadvisor.com.

It is important to note that websites on the internet constantly multiply and change, so it is worth searching for new successful travel sites using basic keywords such as: tourism, names of destinations you are interested in, etc.
The internet is also a great source for finding special events at your destinations, such as exhibitions, fairs, festivals, etc. Sometimes it's worth changing the trip order just to visit a colorful festival held once a year, while on the other hand, it's advisable to avoid arriving at a place holding a large exhibition that doesn't interest you but spikes hotel prices in the city and increases crowds at tourist sites. An excellent site for searching events worldwide: https://www.eventguide.com.

Don't Forget Travel Insurance!

The trip is expensive and you pay for a large portion of it in advance before departure, so don't forget to get travel insurance as early as possible before travelling, so that if you are forced to cancel the trip, you will have insurance coverage for the cancellation!

Article on Insurance:

♦ Travel Insurance Abroad - When and How to Get It

And once again, for those who find it difficult to plan the travel itinerary or are unsure if they chose the optimal route, or got lost in the sea of information on the internet, I highly recommend getting professional trip planning, which saves a lot of time and money and will send you off much more relaxed on the trip of your dreams.