Ports in Spain with a 5 year old

[foxesden1]

We are taking our first TA this spring with our five year old dd. I have been to Europe many times, but my husband has not. He is booked on some tours while we are on the ship, and I am going to be solo with my dd in the following ports..

 

Tenerife and Valencia

 

( there do not seems to be any hop on hop off tours.. And we live in San diego so a beach/water park seems a little moot..

 

Any ideas?

[Kerry's Girls]

I suggest you head on over to the Ports of Call - Spain board and ask over there. I haven't done those ports, but my girls and I went to Spain twice this year (Barcelona in January and Costa Brava in June) and I'd love to see more. You could also join your roll call and see if anyone else with kids wants to form a private, kid-friendly tour which usually ends up being cheaper than the ship tours with the benefit of setting the itinerary and pace for yourself.

 

Best,

Mia

[foxesden1]

there are very few younger kids on our roll call.. its a TA, so most families are in school.

[RockOracle]

Hi! My husband and I took my 2 kids on a Med cruise last year (when they were 11 months old and 5). One of our ports of call was Valencia, and we had an awesome time there. It was probably the kids' favorite port. We just hopped on a cab right at the pier and had them take us to the aquarium. We know very little Spanish but we had no problems. The cab was inexpensive - I can't remember how much, but definitely under 20 Euro. The kids loved the aquarium which is the largest in Europe. They have great exhibits (the kids loved the walrus) and a big dolphin show. The aquarium is part of a huge complex called the City of the Arts and Sciences which is amazing just to walk around. The architecture is so cool. We spent most of the day in the aquarium, but if we had more time we would have explored the area more - there is a planetarium, an IMAX theater, an opera house, and a science museum, among other things. We simply caught a cab right outside to take us back. We asked at the tourist desk at the pier and you can also do it via bus if you want to save a few Euro but you have to switch buses and we didn't want to deal with it. It was a painless and easy day for us and the kids (and us parents as well) had a great time. :)