Endless park areas, children’s museums, amusement areas, zoos – Europe is crowded with kid-friendly attractions. Instead of sightseeing and regular tours, take your beloved ones on a trip they will love! These are the 5 best cities in Europe to take your kids.
- Barcelona, Spain
Beautiful Barcelona is one of the best places to visit with your kiddos. In Barcelona, families are spoilt for a wide range of activities to choose from, including traditional sightseeing and outside play. In Park Guell, one of Spain’s cultural attractions, your kids can play hide and seek, enjoy the playground, touch the tile lizards, and run around the pillars. Park Guell is an ideal place for a family picnic lunch so make sure to prepare some sandwiches before you hit the place. https://parkguell.barcelona/
https://www.zoobarcelona.cat/en/space-zoo/land-of-dragons
The Barcelona Zoo is located just a few feet from the Parc de la Ciutadella and is an absolute must to see. Surrounded by luscious greens, this zoo is a home for 80 animal species. You and the kids can visit an animal farm where children ride ponies and donkeys, terrarium, the land of dragons, aquarama, or hit the playground.
An absolute must-see when in Barcelona is the Barcelona Aquarium. Experience the underwater sea life as you walk through this 80-meter-long tunnel. Kids will be amazed by seeing some of the 11,000 animals that live here. https://www.aquariumbcn.com/en/
What would a family trip without a visit to the amusement park? The oldest in Spain, the Tibidabo park offers endless fun to kids and teens, but parents like to join as well. The Hurakan, Giradabo, and the Roller Coaster are top 3 attractions in the Tibidabo park. https://www.tibidabo.cat/en/the-park/amusement
- Bern, Switzerland
Surprisingly, of the oldest cities in Europe, Bern, offers a lot of fun for families visiting with kids. Most family-friendly spots here are easily reachable on foot. Holding the UNESCO World Heritage Site status, Bern boasts charming streets to wander through, all until you come to the famous Bear Park.
Just a few meters from the Aare River, this park is a great place to visit with kids who like animals. Watch the bears roam around the treed area, get more familiar with the city’s history, and move on to the next destination (where you can see some bears as well).
Gurten Park is an absolute favorite among kids visiting Bern as it offers a bunch of fun activities for children of different ages. This wonderland of playgrounds, riding cards, and miniature trains will make the kiddos run off their energy. They will love the observation tower as well! Offering a 360-degree view of Bern, Gurten Park is a nice place to have a family meal at.
If you are visiting in summer, you should check out the Aarebad Marzili pool area. There is a 50m swimming pool, diving pool, and kid-friendly wading pools. Nested within an extensive green area full of lawns, the family can enjoy the day swimming.
Bern also boasts an amazing aquapark – Bernaqua that offers unstoppable fun for the whole family. Kiddos are absolutely into a wide range of waterslides Bernaqua features – the Magic Eye, Black Hole, and the Emotion Ride, each of them offering a unique experience. Let them fly down these waterslides, jump into paddling pools, or embark onto a pirate ship, and they will never forget Bern.
https://www.tierpark-bern.ch/index-de.php?frameset=201
https://www.sportamt-bern.ch/sportanlage/marzili/
- Vienna, Austria
Vienna holds a lot of fun for the youngest ones. Dragging them through historic buildings won’t have them entertained, but these places we are about to list here will make the kids want to go back to Vienna.
Every kid dreams of time travel, and that’s exactly what Vienna offers in their Time Travel musuem. It will take the whole family through 2000 years of history of Vienna. Laser effects, 5D cinema, animatronic shows, and many more will present different historic events, including the attack of Turks, VR music ride, the Habsburg family, the process of signing the Austrian Independence Treaty. All this is accompanied by endless humorous scenes, so your kiddos will enjoy their time here to the fullest, but also learn a lot.
All kids love amusement parks, and Vienna boasts one of the largest and most entertaining ones – Prater. Impressive, giant constructions, roller coasters, park area, arcades, fairground rides – everything here is set for fun. Prater truly offers an iconic and unforgettable experience for both kids and adults. The best of all? Numerous attractions here are available even if you are visiting in the colder months.
It would be a pity to miss a visit to the Therme Wien. This place will make your little ones enjoy like never before. Numerous slides and giant serpents at the water playing park, diving pool, bonding activities – kids are non-stop active when here. The Adventure Stone is their absolute favorite here, but wilderness gardens are as entertaining. Youngsters will make numerous splashes here and giggle all day.
https://www.timetravel-vienna.at/en/
https://www.praterwien.com/startseite/
- Nantes, France
Nantes will blow you away with a wide range of family-friendly activities. A water sprinkler area and play park get crowded with kids during hot summer days. Let them cool off here in-between sightseeing and take them to a free wooden park that hides a breathing dragon structure. Boys love the Esplanade Carre Feydeau, a football field famous for a uniquely-shaped large reflector.
Machines on the Island is probably the hottest attraction for little scientists. A large (40 feet) mechanical elephant is waiting for the family to explore. To spice the things up, even more, the elephant moves and sprays water at visitors. Kids like running around the elephant, provoking him to spray them. Everything here is about giggling and endless fun. You can also take a workshop tour and let the kids see the whole process of creating the elephant.
Don’t miss the Jardin des Plantes, Nantes’ botanical garden. The family can take a picnic lunch here and enjoy numerous picturesque areas around. There are a lot of trees and interesting plant sculptures kids are fascinated with, such as giant green chickens.
Grand Parc du Puy du Fou takes the family a couple of centuries back. This spectacular history theme park is crowded with visitors, especially the youngest ones who like watching gladiator games, sword fights with musketeers, puppet shows, etc. If your child likes Vikings, they can see full-size Viking boats here as well. In the meantime, make sure to attend a medieval lunch (kids won’t believe what they see).
https://jardins.nantes.fr/N/Jardin/Visite/Jardin-des-plantes-Visite.asp
- Prague, Czech Republic
Prague has become one of the favorite destinations for families. Peaceful, tucked away, but overflowing when it comes to family-friendly activities, here is what Prague has to offer. The Black Light Tether is a kid-friendly theater that blends illusions, mimes, dance, and animations. You can also visit the National Marionette Theater if the kids would like to watch the Magic Flute.
Czech people like encouraging kids to interact with art. The Art Gallery for Children is a great place for your little ones to get more familiar with the art, but the fun way. They can touch and create in the workshops (available for children 5-12 years). Prague is home to the largest Lego Museum in Europe so this is a must-see.
If you are visiting during the summer, don’t skip the Children’s Island – a large playground full of sandpits, slides, climbing nets, and swings. It is located on the bank of the Vltava River so there are numerous cafes around where you can sit and relax while your beloved ones are having fun.
If the family likes something more peaceful, Petrin Hill is the way to go. Kids enjoy pony rides and running through mirror maze here. Once they get tired, you can take a romantic walk through a large rose garden and capture some amazing pics. Little ones also like to climb the Lookout Tower, where the observatory is located, gaze at the stars through one of the telescopes (there are many!).
https://www.prague-stay.com/lifestyle/review/1594-art-gallery-for-children-gud
https://www.prague.eu/en/object/places/456/children-s-island-detsky-ostrov
https://www.prague.eu/en/object/places/504/petrin-gardens-petrinske-sady
