Fantastic 4 Backpack
Travelling to Europe with a 2 year old?
Me and my husband are thinking of going to Europe this year (from Australia) and take our 2 year old girl with us. We have both travelled before (I am actually from Europe and I met my husband while backpacing). However we have never travelled with a 2 year old. We did take her to the UK when she was only 9 months and she was fantastic but this time we are planning on going to Italy and Croatia and staying in 3-4 different places (probably hostels). In the UK we stayed with relatives.
Are we crazy for doing this? Is it ok to take a 2 year old to hostels? We would of course book a private room but just wondering if anyone has backpacked with a child and how they went. We are planning on just bringing one backpack, small bag and a stroller with us. Does that sound reasonable? No “smart” comments please.
In my experience: she won’t appreciate it and she won’t let you appreciate much either. You had better check the hostel policy on children, too. It will not be restful for you. Even regular vacations are not restful with a two-year old. With mine, it was extremely difficult to do things like eat in restaurants with a toddler. A long wait goes from being an inconvenience to being a torture.
Can you wait two years?
I think you would be well advised to stick closer to home and save your money for the big trips later on. IMHO. Sorry if this is not what you want to hear – maybe other people have had better experiences but it did not go so well for us.
02.20 Dirty Dutch 2008 Patch Park – Spaceshuttle Backpack