This post outlines our 3 week Europe itinerary with our young kids, who were 18 months and 3 years old. We spent one week in London and two weeks in Italy and loved every minute.
Week 1 in Europe: London
Day 1: Direct flight from Seattle, Washington to London, UK (via Heathrow airport). We decided to take a red eye which was mostly successful except for my 18 month old who had a hard time sleeping. Everyone got 2-3 hours of sleep on the plane, which seemed less than ideal at the time but actually helped reduce jetlag on our arrival.
Day 2: Arrive in Heathrow, taxied to Airbnb in Hampstead Heath. Read my blog post all about why we loved staying in Hampstead Heath here. Dropped our luggage and walked straight to M&S to pick up groceries and snacks. Both of our kids fell asleep on this journey but it was a good hour or so nap in the afternoon to give us a little bit of energy into the evening. We had an early dinner at the Airbnb and went to bed around 7PM. Thankfully, since we all had little sleep the night before, everyone slept through the night.
Day 3-7: Explored London and checked a lot of sightseeing and restaurants off our list. Some of our favorite kid friendly activities in London included:
- Diana Memorial Playground
- Hampstead Heath
- Natural History Museum
- The Dove in Hammersmith
- Borough Market
Week 2 in Europe: Florence and Bologna
Day 8: Flight to Italy. We took a transfer from our Airbnb to Heathrow airport. Even though we were staying in Florence, flights through Pisa were a lot less expensive. We booked a transfer from the Pisa airport to Florence when we landed and arranged with the transfer company to include a quick drive around Pisa including a stop at the iconic leaning tower of Pisa. I would highly recommend if you end up doing a similar route.
Day 9-13: Exploring Florence and a day trip to Bologna. See my post about our top things to do in Florence with young kids here.
Week 3 in Europe: Southern Tuscany (near Pienza)
Day 14-17: Picked up a rental car in central Florence, which was not for the faint of heart. The rental car company was crowded and leaving the city can be tricky with many restrictions on certain roads. I would suggest planning your route out of the city ahead of time. Our agriturismo was located near Pienza, and the drive was around two hours. We shared our guide to Tuscany with Toddlers here.
Day 18-20: Next, we drove back to Florence and stayed two nights before our flight back to the United States. We found an Airbnb with a parking spot so we could keep our car and use it to take us to the airport on the final day.
Day 21: Left our Airbnb in central Florence for the Florence airport. We had an early flight so we arrived at the rental car return right as it opened that morning. The rental car return was quick and there was a very fast shuttle to the airport waiting for us. Our flight was within 2 hours of the rental car return opening but we had no problem making check in – the airport is very small and security was quick. We had one stop on in Paris, with a 2-hour layover, before a direct flight back to Seattle. Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) is notoriously busy, with long distances and checkpoints between terminals. Even with a two hour layover, we only had time to use the restroom before boarding our flight.
