Kids going to Europe....are we crazy?

[chipmaster]

Our kids were 14, 12 and 8 when we did our whirlwind. We did make considerations about duration, but pretty much saw everything we would have w/o kids. They got a fullon western history experience.

 

Now did they really appreciate some of the signficance of some stops or the churchs and art, likely not, but we had a blast. Ask them today a few years older/wiser and I know they will treasure it, but I know they might tell me Hawaii or Skiing would have been more fun :o

[koalagurl]

We used ROme in Limo when we went a few years ago, and I highly recommend it. It was so worth the cost to have a private, air conditioned car bring us right to the "sights." We also hired a Vatican guide and that worked for the kids as the guide was able to make the info appealing to them. The kids in our group were between 18 months and 6 years old. The oldest two still talk about it.

[canadakath]

Yes, yes, yes! We took our boys (age 9 and 7) on a 12-night Med cruise last year with Disney and they absolutely loved it! We are going back to Europe next year - hoping for the Baltics this time. I think the key with travelling with kids that age is preparation.

 

My boys LOVED the series of books "You Wouldn't Want to Be..." - there's one for Roman Soldiers, Roman Gladiators, Medieval Knight, Greek Slave, etc. When we walked into the Colosseum on our tour, my 7 year old started talking about how the gladiators only got to eat oatmeal when training but had a big feast the night before they had to fight. He went on to talk about a bunch of other little details we had read about - the adults in our tour group were very impressed! The books are fun for this age group.

 

We also set little fun goals - like trying gelato in every port to see which one was our favourite. We avoided Florence, and instead spent a great day taking the train to Pisa where we could eat Pizza (boys - thought this was hilarious) - they then ran up the stairs of the Leaning Tower. I maybe had to tell a little white lie about my 7 year old's age that day.. :D (supposed to be 8 to climb - but it was the one thing he wanted to do most on our trip).

 

Your 7 year old will probably also like the PBS series "Travel with Kids"- they have several videos posted on YouTube and the Rome ones are fun to watch.

 

Have fun!