It has been so super fun to start to get more questions about whether or not a trip to Europe is possible now. Gosh, how I have missed that! Even if it doesn’t work out for you to come, it’s still fun to think of all the possibilities. Here are some thoughts on whether or not it’s a good time to visit – and what might be fun if you plan to bring your kids:

Is now a good time to visit Europe? What’s the current COVID situation?

Now is an excellent time to visit Europe in terms of COVID status. Vaccination rates are much higher vs. in the US (countries like Portugal, Denmark, and Ireland are well over 90% among adults; Germany, France, Italy, and Spain are all over 75%). In most countries, there is still a mask mandate while indoors in public spaces – on trains, in hotel common areas, and in restaurants – which can be seen as a negative, but which we quite like as it means that public life remains open and safe. And in many countries, you might be asked to show proof of vaccination, recovery, or a recent COVID test at many places you might eat at, stay in, or visit – again, this might seem like a hassle, but it’s easy once you get used to flashing the App on your phone. In the future, these mandates will likely be lifted – like they already are in Denmark – but this depends on the evolving COVID infection rates.

The other reason it’s a great time to visit is that crowds continue to be really low in cities and regions that are normally huge tourist draws. Matt has co-workers who were alone with the Mona Lisa just last week – we have friends who stayed right next to St. Mark’s in Venice without breaking the bank – and we ourselves were able to get seats on the most notoriously overcrowded trolley in Lisbon (up to 2 hour wait for this thing in high season). Visit now, before the crowds come back!

Any recommendations for things to do? What would our kids like?

One of our biggest learnings since moving here is that a good vacation means making sure every day has something for everyone – and not relying solely on tour books and Instagram to tell us what we ‘should’ be doing. We – along with many people we know here – have made the mistake of thinking that we needed to cross off full bucket lists of monuments, museums, churches, and landmarks – only to make our kids miserable and, by association, Matt and I as well. For us, that trip was Paris; but this has happened to friends in almost every major city (Barcelona, London, Athens, Rome – to name a few). Ours were super excited to go up in the Eiffel Tower, but not much else we did in Paris made any sense to them. Giant arch? Old paintings? Burnt-out shell of a cathedral? 1.5-mile long street with trees and restaurants? Wedding-cake church? Red windmill? When you look at it through their eyes, it’s easy to see why they weren’t super excited, especially because I hadn’t done a great job setting the stage for them. (it wasn’t a terrible trip – it’s Paris! – just not the magical time I’d pictured in my mind) The truth is, that unless you have a kid who is already obsessed with a particular city or culture, you’re going to have to work a little bit to get them interested in things that we as adults have dreamed about our whole lives. So my suggestion is to either pick a place and start watching movies, reading books, and finding relevant TV shows and podcasts now – or, plan a vacation that’s more naturally appealing to the whole family.

So what would that look like? Here are some ideas based on things that our kids (and therefore, Matt and I) have loved in Germany – and if Germany is on your list, we would love to re-do any of these places with you:

• Day trip to the Rhine River – start in a cute Rhine River town, take a chairlift up above the vineyards to the top of the ridge, hike about 2-3 miles along that ridge, experiencing vineyard views, fun caves, and tunnels along the forested path, and then take a chairlift back down to the next Rhine River town. Have lunch (adults have a glass of Rhine wine!), then take a Rhine River boat back to the town you started in (wine available on the boat!)
• Alpine coasters in Bavarian mountains – take a chairlift to the top of a mountain, then ride a summer bobsled all the way back down, to the chorus of cowbells and the promise of a Bavarian biergarten at the bottom
• Visiting thermal pools and spa towns – where every pool is warm – in any season – indoors and outdoor pools, too
• Walking a barefoot path – taking off your shoes for a 3-mile barefoot walk across all kinds of different textured paths – sand, stone, water, mud, brick, fording a small river, to name a few. Views of the Rhine River hills and jumping on Parcours stations along the way. Biergarten at the end while the kids continue to tire themselves out
• Visiting any market in Germany – where food trucks and crepes are almost always available
• Amusement parks – there are almost as many amusement parks here as in the US – and the rides and attractions are just as good, and in some cases even more interesting because they are different from back home. It’s just as much a cultural experience, or more, vs. the tourist spots – since the visitors are almost all Europeans simply enjoying life. We have had so many quirky experiences, like operating our own rides, or having a driver along on our roller coaster who stands the whole time, doesn’t wear a seatbelt, and spends the duration of the ride laughing like a maniac and turning lights on and off in the tunnels you are racing through.
• Fun but compact towns that pack a sightseeing punch without tiring out younger legs. Rothenburg is a perfect example of a perfectly preserved medieval town, with ring walls that you can walk all the way around, views out over the Tauber river, a torture museum that appeals to many, the headquarters of the largest German Christmas store in the world, swords & capes & helmets for sale everywhere, and ridiculously cute views around every turn. We also found a super Biergarten (see a theme here?) just outside the town walls and right on the river – a perfect place to relax and take a look at all the fun pictures from the day.
• Outdoor open-air ‘museums’ that show what German life was like in the old days – where you can watch people churning butter, cutting wood, and baking pastries – stroll through streets modeled after real German villages of yore, and interact as much as you’d like with the ‘residents’. Like Colonial Williamsburg, but in a totally different culture. Our kids love these places!
• Science and Technology Museums – as you might imagine, Germans love a good science museum, and cities like Munich and Speyer have some renowned examples of these. Frankfurt also has a great hands-on science center, and we have also found Zeppelin museums, air force museums, and soccer museums.
• Escape-the-Room game at the Chocolate Museum – speaking German not required – where the prize for getting out is a giant chocolate bar for each member of the family.
• And finally, I just have to add that the great outdoors in general here are really fun – it’s so easy to find a hike that leads to a forested Biergarten – we have found really spectacular hikes through waterfall-filled gorges – and the southern region with the German Alps is packed with castles, half-timbered houses with hunting scenes painted on the walls and window boxes filled with flowers, along with great food and beautiful mountains.

In this list, I’ve avoided mentioning almost anything specific to a particular city or sight in Germany – the Berlin Wall, Munich’s glockenspiel, the Hofbrauhaus, concentration camps, the Eagle’s Nest, the Romantic Road, or the cathedral in Cologne – all left off. And it’s not to say that you couldn’t or shouldn’t include those places – you definitely should pick your favorites and make a point to go – but perhaps consider mixing those in with some other experiences that are just as culturally rich, without the crowds and expectations. Assume you will return one day – with or without kids – and it will make your once-in-a-lifetime trip a lot easier on you and on your fellow travelers.

And finally, I just want to add that while the list above is specific to Germany, there are cultural experiences in every country in Europe just like those – you just have to look a little further, and be open to doing things that might not make a top 10 list, but are still a ton of fun, and will give you and your family unforgettable memories. Riding TukTuks in Portugal, visiting the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark, hiking a Musical Tone Trail in Switzerland, and eating gelato all over Italy are just as cultural as anything the guidebooks will tell you – without the crowds, the time and money investment, or the high expectations.

Good luck and happy planning – let me know if I can help you, no matter where your travel dreams take you – and I hope we see you over here at some point!!