Travel Dispatch – 3.5 Weeks in Europe with Kids
Crazy? Ambitious? Worth it? Here's the full report of our Euro Summer
Travel Dispatch is a publication for paid subscribers. It features deep dives into the itineraries I build for myself and clients. This one features the full report of our Euro Summer with our 5 and 7 year old children, Malia and Jack.
Our Euro Summer did not start out as a nearly month-long trip. It began as trip to celebrate my friend Laura’s 40th birthday in her favorite place, the French Riviera. Our favorite direct flight to Europe is the United Denver-London flight, so then we decided to tack on a few days in England. Once I looked at a map, I realized that Nice was driving distance from the Dolomites, so we added Sonnwies because I’ve been dying to check it out. Then, we had to add in Paris.
This is how many of my personal travel plans develop. Luckily, I have a supportive spouse who says “yes” to my insane ideas, such as dragging our 5- and 7-year-old children to 6 hotels between three countries and six cities.
I affectionately call our children the Bougie Bunnies, which you will see on my Substack. They are incredibly spoiled when it comes to travel, and they love five-star hotels as much as I do. I love traveling with them. Our 5 year old is still a challenge, but he’s getting there. Our daughter is a blast to travel with at this point. I grew up in a family that took us everywhere, and want to instill that same sense of curiosity in our children.
Was this trip insane? Overly ambitious? Did I overpack? Yes, yes, and yes. We also timed it with the heatwave, got nine million mosquito bites, were yelled at by an angry French dude in a museum, and drove 7 hours instead of flying from the Dolomites to Nice, losing our entire plane ticket fare in the process. However, it was also absolutely worth it.
Our itinerary was:
England: Estelle Manor 4 nights, Covent Garden Hotel 3 nights
Dolomites: Sonnwies 5 nights
Nice: Maison Albar Le Victoria 2 nights, a villa for 6 nights
Paris: Hotel Regina Louvre 3 nights
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