Best European Ports with Kids?

Hoping to do a European cruise in 2019 with a 6 and 8 year old. Would love ports that are kid-friendly... the priority would be ports that have lots of things within walking distance from the ship.

Open to any cruise line, leaning towards leaving from an Italian port but flexible.

Thanks so much!

Our two European cruises with kids (3.5 years and 2 and 6) were both incredible. The Baltics are amazing - you generally dock close to the city centers (with the exception of Germany, in which travel to Berlin is very long but there are nice things to do in small local towns near where you dock). You need to choose a cruise that docks directly in Stockholm. Aside from St. Petersburg (where you can hire a private tour with driver for just your family) all of the cities are very easy to travel, with lots of great things for kids - the fountains at Peterhof, Tivoli Gardens, canal cruises in Stockholm, Copenhagen or St. Petersburg, Vasa and the animal exhibits at Skansen were incredible, plus Tallinn is a lot of fun to walk around and explore. My 6 year old loved this trip when he was 3.5, and he wants to go back so his younger brother can see everything (I was pregnant with the younger one on that cruise)

Norway was incredible too - in a very different exploring nature kind of way. Tourism exploded after Frozen was released, so there are lots of attractions for young children to see nature without needing to hike. The thing to note about Norway for families is that cabs refuse to transport children without car seats, so if it is cold and rainy you can be stuck with unhappy kids who don't want to walk.

There's a lot of details in my reviews in my signature lines.

Following. I would love to do a Med cruise with our kids. What port in Europe is the cheapest to fly into from Texas?

My kids are 9 and 7 now, so maybe next year or the following year.

Just choose carefully if a big concern is attractions within walking distance to the port.

There is no good/always correct answer to the question of cheapest port to fly into from Texas.

Use this webpage to search for airfare, then book directly with the airline:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

On our Med cruise, none of the stops were walkable from the port. We hired a private guide in each place which made it very easy. I believe you have to do a Baltic/No. Europe cruise in order to have ports that are walkable from the ship. That said, I think pretty much any European port can be kid friendly - just avoid museums and shopping stops and make sure no one gets hungry or thirsty. My girls were 5 and loved exploring everything else.

You do know that all ports have kids living there.....I mean, it's a "tourist" spot for you, but NOT for the residents! A guidebook will be very helpful to find things that will suit EVERYONE in your party!

Check with your local library for the Rick Steves books - Mediterranean Cruise Ports and Northern European Cruise Ports.

His books have very specific information about the sites and how to get there. It will help you make the right decision for you family. We had a wonderful, memorable Baltic Cruise when our son was 6. We did several Med cruises both before and after that but the Baltic Cruise was truly special for him at that age. He still displays the miniature Viking ship in his room.

You do know that all ports have kids living there.....I mean, it's a "tourist" spot for you, but NOT for the residents! A guidebook will be very helpful to find things that will suit EVERYONE in your party!

I guess my thing is, because I would be paying so much to get there, I want my kids to get as much out of those destinations as they can. Airfare alone will probably cost more than the cruise itself.

You do know that all ports have kids living there.....I mean, it's a "tourist" spot for you, but NOT for the residents! A guidebook will be very helpful to find things that will suit EVERYONE in your party!

Thanks for the insight, my hometown has plenty of children living here but I'd never recommend someone pay thousands of dollars in air and cruise fare to get here :D:D:)

I've been perusing websites and a couple of books but it would be great to hear from some parents that have first hand experiences.

I'm finding information on port walkability especially hard to find.

We don't do many European cruises just because we have no interest in driving one or two hours to visit a place.

One easy European cruise we did take was the Adriatic out of Venice, ending in Rome.

At most of the ports we could get off the ship and walk into town.

If you find such a schedule to your liking, you could google the ports and see what would be interesting to your kids

We are taking our grandkids (5 and 7)this summer to Alaska. We plan to get off at each port and find something easy to get to that will be interesting for the children.

Following. I would love to do a Med cruise with our kids. What port in Europe is the cheapest to fly into from Texas?

My kids are 9 and 7 now, so maybe next year or the following year.

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Hoping to do a European cruise in 2019 with a 6 and 8 year old. Would love ports that are kid-friendly... the priority would be ports that have lots of things within walking distance from the ship.

 

Open to any cruise line, leaning towards leaving from an Italian port but flexible.

 

Thanks so much!

We have been to all these ports all walking distance.

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Thanks for the insight, my hometown has plenty of children living here but I'd never recommend someone pay thousands of dollars in air and cruise fare to get here :D:D:)

 

I've been perusing websites and a couple of books but it would be great to hear from some parents that have first hand experiences.

 

I'm finding information on port walkability especially hard to find.

The Rick Steves books recommended in post #7 will tell you how walkable things are from the ports. That should be your first stop. For the ports he doesn't cover, visit the Ports of Call boards here. EM

Barcelona (Spain)Ajaccio (Corsica),Ephusus(Kusadasi Turkey) Venice(Italy)Malaga(Spain),Gran Canaria, Tenerife,Vigo(Spain) Funchal (Madeira),Valetta(Malta)

We have been to all these ports all walking distance.

 

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This is so helpful, thank you!

This is so helpful, thank you!

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Barcelona (Spain)Ajaccio (Corsica),Ephusus(Kusadasi Turkey) Venice(Italy)Malaga(Spain),Gran Canaria, Tenerife,Vigo(Spain) Funchal (Madeira),Valetta(Malta)

If you dock in Kasadasi (we did), I think you dock about 10 miles away from the ruins of Ephesus. There might be something else closer to Kasadasi that the original poster liked, but I think your kids might like exploring the ruins.

Malta was beautiful - we didn't know much about it ahead of time (we visited before Game of Thrones) and were very happy there.

If you dock in Kasadasi (we did), I think you dock about 10 miles away from the ruins of Ephesus. There might be something else closer to Kasadasi that the original poster liked, but I think your kids might like exploring the ruins.

Malta was beautiful - we didn't know much about it ahead of time (we visited before Game of Thrones) and were very happy there.

There is lots of port shops and restaurants and a couple of large Bazaars within a few hundred yards and beaches nearby.

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The ships dock in the town on Kusadasi.

There is lots of port shops and restaurants and a couple of large Bazaars within a few hundred yards and beaches nearby.

 

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It is upstairs and you can skype or browse the internet and there are phones you can use which are much cheaper than using the outside phones.

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Venice - there is a nice play park just across from the plaza where the buses park. And Venice is very walkable and lots of interesting places, plazas, green spaces. Very cool place to play "I spy". very short shuttle ride :D

Split - very walkable cool kind of cavern-y shopping area built atop ruins. Or take a bus tour a short way out to one of their national parks. Can walk from dock in many cases

Rhodes, has a medieval history, grassy areas in former motes. Can walk from dock in many cases

Mykonos is very walkable - has pelicans, windmills, and some nice pebbley beaches all very close to the port (<5 minute shuttle)

Copenhagen - very walkable great parks, palace, little mermaid statue (typically a short shuttle)

I completely disagree with th3 advise to avoid museums. Your kids are the perfect age for museums - as long as you are interested in them too. At art museums you can play I spy (look for things in pictures such as a dog). At historic sites you can talk about how things were dufferent a long time ago. I would choose museums carefully to pick ones that would best match your kids interests, but museums and historic sites are definately something you can enjoy as a family!

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We don't do many European cruises just because we have no interest in driving one or two hours to visit a place.

 

One easy European cruise we did take was the Adriatic out of Venice' date=' ending in Rome.

 

At most of the ports we could get off the ship and walk into town.

 

If you find such a schedule to your liking, you could google the ports and see what would be interesting to your kids

 

We are taking our grandkids (5 and 7)this summer to Alaska. We plan to get off at each port and find something easy to get to that will be interesting for the children.[/quote']

We did this 2 summers ago and a couple of ports on our alaska cruise had Jr. Ranger programs that were fantastic for my kids (6 & 9 at the time)

We did an eastern end cruise with similar ages and it was our best trip yet! I did a review here that specifically focuses on kids:

Connie Review - 11 nite E.Med with 2 kids

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2392798

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We did this 2 summers ago and a couple of ports on our alaska cruise had Jr. Ranger programs that were fantastic for my kids (6 & 9 at the time)

Thank you for the information.

Is it easy to find?

Our youngest DS celebrated his 5th birthday on our first Med cruise 11 years ago and both our kids have been on every one of our cruises since (see my signature). So which itineraries are you considering? It’s easier to state ideas in particular places for the kids.

I used to put together a journal which they had to complete during the cruise. Each day would have several pages of questions for them to fill in on the port for that day (researched pre cruise by myself), and space for photos, coins, leaflets, drawings etc. as keepsakes. They would love completing their own travel book, usually in the MDR whilst waiting for their dinner, and I’d also include a section at the front about the particular ship we were on e.g. waiter’s name, where they were from, Godmother of the ship, best arcade game, how many decks - you get the idea. They are great to use for school studies when they are back home. I know my kids used them when they were studying Anne Frank, the Titanic and Pompeii at school.

Our youngest DS celebrated his 5th birthday on our first Med cruise 11 years ago and both our kids have been on every one of our cruises since (see my signature). So which itineraries are you considering? It’s easier to state ideas in particular places for the kids.

 

I used to put together a journal which they had to complete during the cruise. Each day would have several pages of questions for them to fill in on the port for that day (researched pre cruise by myself), and space for photos, coins, leaflets, drawings etc. as keepsakes. They would love completing their own travel book, usually in the MDR whilst waiting for their dinner, and I’d also include a section at the front about the particular ship we were on e.g. waiter’s name, where they were from, Godmother of the ship, best arcade game, how many decks - you get the idea. They are great to use for school studies when they are back home. I know my kids used them when they were studying Anne Frank, the Titanic and Pompeii at school.

VERY cool idea!!!! I might just steal it :) I'm still researching itineraries, I'll definitely come back with some specific port questions soon.