Travel, Europe, grandkid, youngest age?

[davebarnes]

At some point we would like to take our grandson to Europe for a 3-week trip.

What is the youngest age we could shoot for to make sure he has a good time and appreciates it?
We are museums, walking (a lot) and FOOD people.

I know some of you are going to say: 32. But, I will be dead by then.

 

[braumeister]

Some tour operators won't take children under the age of 12, so that's one benchmark.

Personally, I think a little older would be best, say around 14 or so.

 

[Freedom56]

At some point we would like to take our grandson to Europe for a 3-week trip.

What is the youngest age we could shoot for to make sure he has a good time and appreciates it?
We are museums, walking (a lot) and FOOD people.

I know some of you are going to say: 32. But, I will be dead by then.

I was 5 and my brothers were 3 and 8 when our parents took us to Europe for the first time (London and Zurich). I have some vague memories of that trip but not much. The trip when I was 10, I remember reasonably well.

 

[cathy63]

It depends what you mean by "appreciate". Even if he doesn't remember everything about a trip, he'll be developing a deeper and closer relationship with his grandparents, and you'll enjoy spending the time with him, and that may have to be enough if you go when he's quite young. If you want him to appreciate the history and exposure to other cultures, you'll have to wait until he's internalized his own culture enough to recognize how others are different, which will probably be sometime in his teens.

We took our daughter to Amsterdam for a week when she was 8.5, because the opportunity arose to have her and DH meet me there after a business trip. She remembers the Van Gogh museum because she'd just learned about him in school and she got to see some paintings that she recognized. Her other fondest memories of that trip are ice skating outdoors and playing giant chess in a park. Everything else is pretty vague for her, though I can tell you that at the time she enjoyed the canal boat tour and getting out into the countryside to see windmills and a cheese factory. She also liked the Anne Frank house, but she hadn't yet learned about the holocaust, so she didn't really get it and was just experiencing it as a place where people had hidden for a long time. She did not love the Rijksmuseum because it was big and she was tired of walking that day, but even at that age she knew that not everything on a trip would be fun for her and she was a good sport about it.

Whatever age you choose, I'd recommend involving him in the planning and doing what you can to make connections before hand. You can visit museums with European artworks before you travel, read history books or watch documentaries and talk about them together, etc.

 

[athena53]

I'm interested in this, too, but my oldest granddaughter is only 4 so it may be awhile. My response would be that part of it depends on whether they can be away from their parents for that long. As an experiment I kept the 4-year old with me in a hotel in her home city overnight. She loved it- the night view of the river from the 4th floor, the big, fluffy beds, the big, white bathroom, the breakfast buffet- it was all new. If she'd gotten homesick in the middle of the night I could have had her back in 20 minutes. Didn't need to, though. Next step: take her on an overnight trip to ORD (one-hour nonstop from her home airport) and stay at the Hilton. I'm guessing more like 8 or 9 before I take her to Europe. Will do the same for her little sister but right now she's not quite two so I wouldn't even do an overnight. The selfish part of me wants them to be old enough that I can get in a cardio workout at the end of the day (gym or pool) and feel confident leaving them in the room for an hour.

As for activities: I've seen most of the major European cities so I'm not concerned about whether they'd enjoy/appreciate it; plenty of kid-friendly stuff to do all over the world and I can squeeze in a little art and history on the side.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

We took our kids (then 10 and 13) to Scotland and Ireland with us last year for 2 weeks. We thought it was a good first Europe trip as we all spoke the language and the food was fairly familiar looking. Everyone had a great time including us. The youngest surprised us in that he ordered (and generally liked) every unusual menu item we encouraged him to try. And we all loved Haggis! They loved the history- it was a great trip and were (finally) a pleasure to travel with.

I think the homesickness thing varies by kid and doesn't have much to do with age. My kids are very independent and have been going to camp for weeks at a time since they were 7. They would go away with my parents for 3 weeks with no problems. My sisters kids would not.

 

[braumeister]

And we all loved Haggis!

Well, who doesn't?

I'll never forget attending my first Burns Dinner here in the US many years ago, and discovering that haggis was actually delicious. OK, I take some ribbing for it, but I really do like it.

I'll be over there next month and will definitely be partaking of my share.

 

[NOLA Rob]

My grandfather took me to Europe when I was 14 and it was one of the best trips of my life and I remember it with great detail. He and I still talk about it (and our other trips) regularly a couple decades later. I’d say that is a good age.

Edit: it was actually 20 years ago almost to the day. We arrived in Paris the morning of the day France won the World Cup, hosted in Paris. It was quite an experience and introduction to international travel. I’ll remember it the rest of my life.

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

My parents took me to Germany when I was 14 - took me out of school for about 10 days - freshman year of high school - I had a great time and still remember a lot of life lessons from the trip. But I agree you have to gauge the grandkid - do they play sports and will resent going - are they really interested in traveling - just be realistic.

 

[brett]

My son went on two high school trips to Europe.

I waited until he was 18 to take him on a three week trip to Europe. For him, I believe it was the right age. I really think it depends as much on maturity and interest than it does on age alone.

Our daughter only wanted beach. So DW took her to Hawaii.

Worked well for all of us!

 

[Souschef]

Well, who doesn't?

I'll never forget attending my first Burns Dinner here in the US many years ago, and discovering that haggis was actually delicious. OK, I take some ribbing for it, but I really do like it.

I'll be over there next month and will definitely be partaking of my share.

Here is a photo of the Captain of the Hebridean Princess cutting into the Haggis he just piped into the dining room

 

[MBAustin]

We moved to Germany when the kids were 6 and 3 and traveled all the time (obviously, this is an unusual situation). They don't remember much of the early trips but even the younger one has distinct memories from trips starting when he was 4. Food really isn't that much of an issue unless they are terribly picky eaters or you plan to go to Michelin star places.

That said, after 9 or 10 they''ll be able to participate more in the planning and hopefully will have some specific interests you can incorporate into the trip.

 

[athena53]

I waited until he was 18 to take him on a three week trip to Europe. For him, I believe it was the right age. I really think it depends as much on maturity and interest than it does on age alone.

Totally agreed on that. I would have KILLED to go at age 13. Fascinated by all things European and I still am. I have siblings who could well afford to go there and never have. I may take my older granddaughter snorkeling in the Caribbean first because she's so fascinated by our local aquarium- but I want her to learn to swim first. Playing it by ear.

 

[45th Birthday]

We have taken our children to the Caribbean every year since they were both in diapers, and did an annual spring break trip to Europe every year starting when the youngest was 10 or so. We made them do short reports on interesting (to them) subjects pertaining to the country we were visiting. Always only one country at a time. Everything pretty much planned around them, and it worked out great. Based on the kids and your relationship with them.

 

[CardsFan]

We took a "National Lampoon European Vacation" when our son was about 12. 3 weeks. Eurail passes, Paris, Brussels, Lucern, Interlacken, Kitzbul, Pisa, and back to Paris. (Pisa, actually a little town in the mountains 30 miles away, was a chance to see where his grandfather was born, and there was still family there to visit.)

Almost 25 years later, he still talks about it, so I guess he was old enough to enjoy it.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I would think 12 would be a good age. We took our boys to Washington DC when they were 11 and 13. We walked all day, they got to pick some of the things they wanted to see and were a pleasure to travel with.

 

[Red Badger]

Lots of good advice. I will toss in that, if/when including them in the planning, compromise a bit with what they like and what you like.
Example: maybe the urchins like outdoorsy stuff - several European cities have both hop on - hop off buses and boats (that will take you to museums and food).

 

[Teacher Terry]

We planned the trip for a year and all 4 of us had equal number of things that we wanted to see. Planning was a big part of the fun.