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We have 2 weeks in late August/early September to visit Europe with our 7 year old daughter, and I was hoping for suggestions for some interesting and beautiful places to visit that might not be on most top 10 lists. We love architecture and my daughter does really well with outdoorsy vacations (think U.S. national parks, boat rides, waterfalls, etc.). We've been to many of the most popular places in western Europe and would really love to find somewhere a little quieter and less expensive. I know that August is hectic and expensive all over Europe but I imagine that Budapest is not as bad as Barcelona, for example. A few ideas we've had are below and we'd love to hear any other suggestions:
-Slovenia and Croatia
-Baltic States
-Croatia and Montenegro
-Budapest/Vienna/Prague
-Malta and Sicily
Don't leave Romania out of consideration. It's got beautiful countryside, nice castles, is cheap, interesting fall of communism history, European-style town squares, easy to get around by bus/train, and has the whole vampire/Dracula angle that is played up in the Transylvania region that your average 7 year old would love to experience.
It has enough unspoiled nature that there are still bears, wolves, and lynx found in areas relatively close to some cities.
Scotland. Do the grand tour from Edinburgh up through Aberdeen, the highlands, up to John O'Groats, back down the West side, Loch Ness, Glasgow. Beautiful roads, lots of castles and interesting buildings. Safe beyond words, great people.
Scotland. Do the grand tour from Edinburgh up through Aberdeen, the highlands, up to John O'Groats, back down the West side, Loch Ness, Glasgow. Beautiful roads, lots of castles and interesting buildings. Safe beyond words, great people.
This is a wonderful idea! The weather will probably be better in Scotland in August/September than in the other places OP mentioned.
Sicily would be fun, but probably beastly hot at that time.
Budapest, Vienna, and Prague are big cities -- OP said the daughter likes outdoorsy vacations. I personally enjoy city vacations, but I found Budapest to be a very difficult city to walk around in.
Wales is good too- an insane number of castles and great walks and beautiful wild areas. It's not on the radar for many Americans but has a well-developed and relatively reasonably priced tourism infrastructure for UK folks who don't want to fly somewhere for a holiday.
Try to go as late as possible as September is much quieter and hopefully a little cooler than August.
The Puglia region of Italy could be worth considering. Sicily is hardly off the main tourist trail any more. It is extremely popular with European tourists and gets inundated with cruise ship passengers in parts. However, it has amazing variety and Mt Etna is beautiful.
I also think Scotland is beautiful, we planed to get back there again.
My 7-yo's were amazing, I loved traveling with them. Everything is an adventure. Keep the itinerary tight and simple, she won't want to spend half o every day stuck in a train seat. To her, the next town with a funny name is a million miles away. Think of things to collect, like leaves or candy wrappers or discarded lottery tickets. Birdsong will all be new and unfamiliar species, learn to distinguish and imitate them, be sure you notice the cuckoo. Share her enthusiasm, always. Renting a car or a few days would be ncie, aimlessly get lost on back roads you can't see otherwise, overnight at zimmers.
Make it strictly her trip, and tag along behind her -- she will give you a memory you will cherish for a lifetime. How I envy you.
Don't leave Romania out of consideration. It's got beautiful countryside, nice castles, is cheap, interesting fall of communism history, European-style town squares, easy to get around by bus/train, and has the whole vampire/Dracula angle that is played up in the Transylvania region that your average 7 year old would love to experience.
It has enough unspoiled nature that there are still bears, wolves, and lynx found in areas relatively close to some cities.
I love this suggestion. Bucharest does not seem especially great as large European cities go, but the countryside looks wonderful and my daughter would love the castles/Dracula angle. Thank you!
This is a wonderful idea! The weather will probably be better in Scotland in August/September than in the other places OP mentioned.
Sicily would be fun, but probably beastly hot at that time.
Budapest, Vienna, and Prague are big cities -- OP said the daughter likes outdoorsy vacations. I personally enjoy city vacations, but I found Budapest to be a very difficult city to walk around in.
If it were me, I'd take the Scotland advice.
Thanks to both of you re: Scotland! And the suggestion of Wales is also a really nice one. My only hesitation is we have been to the UK and Ireland in recent years and we rarely have an opportunity to get away for 2 full weeks, so we were thinking of going a little deeper into Europe for this vacation.
My 7-yo's were amazing, I loved traveling with them. Everything is an adventure. Keep the itinerary tight and simple, she won't want to spend half o every day stuck in a train seat. To her, the next town with a funny name is a million miles away. Think of things to collect, like leaves or candy wrappers or discarded lottery tickets. Birdsong will all be new and unfamiliar species, learn to distinguish and imitate them, be sure you notice the cuckoo. Share her enthusiasm, always. Renting a car or a few days would be ncie, aimlessly get lost on back roads you can't see otherwise, overnight at zimmers.
Make it strictly her trip, and tag along behind her -- she will give you a memory you will cherish for a lifetime. How I envy you.
Oh, by the way -- it doesn't matter where you go.
Thanks Cebuan! Our daughter is over 6 now and she is an absolute joy to travel with. And yes we try not to spend too much time in transit and moving from one hotel to another. Slow travel works much better for us.
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