This post is all about planning a 21 days in Europe Itinerary with young children. We just returned from this exact trip and are excited to share why it was perfect for our whole family!
In summary, here is a high level summary of our Europe Itinerary:
Day 1: Oxford
Days 2-6: Cotswolds, United Kingdom
Days 7-11: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Days 12-14: Edinburgh, Scotland
Days 15-21: London, United Kingdom (including a day trip to Cambridge)
How We Decided on This 21 Days in Europe Itinerary
After a successful 3 week Europe trip almost two year ago (see the itinerary here), we were excited to plan our next family trip to Europe. We are based out of Seattle, and wanted to prioritize getting a direct flight from Seattle to our destination. A direct flight with young kids is one of our biggest travel tips for streamlining a long travel day. It minimizes travel time and risk of getting delayed. We evaluated flights and booked our trip in and out of London Heathrow.
Once we knew we would be starting and ending in London and the amount of time we had (21 days), we went through a list of places on our bucket list. We wanted to devote around 5 days to each destination, which meant we could fit around four places into our 21 day Europe itinerary. Around five days at each destination is our sweet spot for travelling abroad with young children.
Ultimately, we decided to do a loop from London to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Edinburgh and then back to London.
We also considered the time of year (June) and that the weather would be a little milder at these spots than some of the Mediterranean counterparts. We hoped this would give us less crowds and an easier climate for having active days outside with young children. As you probably know, hot climates can be tricky with kids depending on what kind of activities you are trying to do. Our priority was sightseeing and taking in the culture through restaurants, museums, parks and walking through local neighborhoods.
Also, based on our last trip we knew our kids do better when we have lots of opportunities to visit greenspace or playgrounds, and take breaks from congested cities (we learned this after 7 days in Florence, Italy on our previous trip).
Highlights from Each of Our European Destinations
Oxford
We decided on a night in Oxford as a way to break up the drive from Heathrow to the Cotswold’s. We absolutely loved Oxford as a family friendly destination for a few reasons. It was easy to navigate on foot, and had so many fun activities to do. We visited and loved the natural history museum (free) and did an audio tour of Christ Church College (a must stop for Harry Potter fans). We also had fantastic food at Gees and stumbled upon a sweet riverside restaurant, Cherwell Boathouse, that’s already on our list for next time.
The Cotswold’s
The Cotswold’s have been on my bucket list since we first visited the Daylesford store in Notting Hill . The Cotswold’s are a large region north of London known for its stone-built villages, towns, rolling hills, meadows and gardens. We stayed at a cottage through The Wild Rabbit which was a splurge but totally worth it. Everyone was instantly relaxed and the kids could not have been happier visiting little villages, taking walks in the countryside and eating pub fare. We specifically stayed in the town of Kingham which has two fantastic pubs and is well situated to visit the more famous Cotswold villages. We did have a rental car but recommend booking a local driver for a day of sightseeing. It was so helpful having a local driver considering some of the villages have tricky parking or can be congested.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam was another favorite for the whole family. We stayed in the “9 Streets” neighborhood and loved having quiet and quintessential Amsterdam was right out our door. It felt safe walking around any time of day, and was fun to be in the mix as locals biked to work, or people spilled out of restaurants onto the streets for dinner. We took the whole family to the Van Gogh Museum (book ahead), which had a fun kids scavenger hunt, and we booked a private canal tour to see the city from the water. We also had a fun time taking a day trip to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills, and wished we had been able to fit in a trip to Haarlem (definitely next time!).
Edinburgh
Edinburgh was a new to me city and I cannot wait to go back. We barely scratched the surface on all the amazing activities for families in this city. I also want to add time to see the Scottish countryside on our next visit. Our highlights were:
- Hiking Arthurs Seat – Ambitious with a 3-year-old but we did it.
- National Museum of Scotland – Free and very kid friendly. We loved both the natural history and transportation exhibits.
- Greyfriars Kirkyard – Fun to learn about Greyfriars Bobby and visit some tombstones that inspired names used in Harry Potter
London
Our last stop was London. We have visited before with kids so we focused on revisiting some of our favorite places while also trying a few new things. The highlights were the Natural History Museum (free but book ahead), a Jurassic Afternoon Tea, walking the top of the Tower Bridge and riding a double decker bus. Every time we are back in London we don’t have enough time to accomplish everything we want to! Our biggest piece of advice is to give yourself more time than you think, there is so much to do and see!
Related Post: Best Area to Stay in London with Family
