How to do city breaks with kids.
City breaks may not seem the most obvious of places to take children, but if you are a family who enjoyed city breaks before having kids there is no reason why you cannot continue and have a great family holiday.
These are my main tips for continuing to take city breaks with kids.
Book a hotel that is central and also close to the main transport links. For example when visiting Japan, we stayed closed to the main station in each city that the bullet train stopped off at. This meant less travelling across the cities with our suitcases. We simply used the amazing rail network daily to get around from our base each day. Booking.com is a great place to book hotels as you can choose proximity to things like train stations in your search options.
https://booking.tp.st/Qg2lPTTT
For long trips consider a backpack aswell as suitcases. This gives you a more hands free approach. We have done this when taking trips that involve staying at more than one hotel. We take two large suitcases. Then rather than a 3rd suitcase, we take a large rucksack for a more hands free approach, especially whilst we have the pram to push.
Take a pram, even if your little does not use one at home. A busy day of walking round a city can be tiring. It gives them an opportunity to have a break during the day if they get tired. When they are not using the pram it’s a great thing to have to help carry any bags. Consider a foldable small pram that is easy to pop up and down. We also use buggy clips meaning you can attach an extra bag to the back of the pram.
Consider leaving suitcases at stations or luggage holds. Eg in Japan this meant we could travel with the minimum needed for each city and leave the rest at the main train station and collect it as we were moving on.
Take a potty with you if you are toilet training or your little one is newly trained. If it then isn’t possible to find a toilet immediately you don’t have the added worry of your little one needing to find somewhere. My carry potty is fantastic as they seal after use, so you can simply close it and wait until finding the next toilet to empty it.
Take your bag with plenty of spare clothes and bare in mind changes in the weather whilst you are out for the day and plenty of wipes for dirty hands.
Take snacks, snacks and more snacks. These can be great if you are waiting in a queue or if they need a quick snack whilst having a rest in the pram.
Take a blanket if it could potentially get a bit chilly if your little one is in the pram and isn’t moving as much as when they were walking. Or in the evenings when they may be getting tired and the sun goes down. It can also be a comfort for them to have with them as well.
Consider child friendly restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe or chains that you are familiar with. This may not be the most authentic food you have, but at least if you have picky eaters there will be foods that they are familiar with. These also can quite often provide your little one with crayons/balloons/games to play whilst waiting for food. If your little one is an adventurous eater then go all out with the local food!
Some cities have theme parks, these can be great to break up the day of less exciting sightseeing for your kids. Places like Grona Lund in Stockholm and Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen are extremely accessible.
We tend to use Klook https://klook.tp.st/iborr0rJ
Or Get my Guide for booking tickets when we are travelling.
https://getyourguide.tp.st/QzigNPGz
Find child friendly museums, play areas, and exhibitions. These are most likely things that you never considered looking for before travelling with kids. So do some research online beforehand as we have always found fun activities for Teddy to do whilst travelling.
Find open spaces whenever you can to let them stretch their legs and have a run around. Parks can usually be found in all city centres so do your research before and it will give your little one that much needed free play time. We usually take or buy some bubbles/a football/tennis balls to play with.
If you are staying at an apartment then taking a picnic out for the day is a great idea rather than dining in a restaurant. It can also save you a significant amount of money rather than eating out everyday.
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