Top 3 Travel Destinations to Explore with Young Children
Giraffes at the Sydney Taronga Zoo (February 2015)
If there is one thing Tahmina and I always enjoy and are ready to do, it is to hop on a plane and go somewhere. Travel used to be much easier before we had two kids (although we didn’t appreciate how easy it was back then), but nonetheless there are destinations that are much easier to explore with young children.
This post highlights our top 3 picks. Remember - these are based on our personal experience and are relative to the destinations we visited.
1) Sydney, Australia
Sydney is one of our favourite spots around the world. We have been there twice in the last 4 years! Both times were with our children. The first time in 2015 was with Maya when she was almost a year old. Our second time was in early 2019 when Maya was five and Emma was one.
Our reasons for choosing Sydney were:
Easy to use transit system that is Children-friendly.
The greatest family/breastfeeding rooms we’ve seen in public spaces around the world. Very comfortable and designed for the whole family. They had changing stations, sofas to relax, play areas for children, etc. We were most impressed with the ones at David Jones.
Taronga Zoo: One of the best we’ve visited, and has the most breathtaking views of the Sydney harbour (pictured at the top of this post).
Taxis with children car seats were readily available at the airport without prior booking required.
Stroller-friendly Downtown. You can get a lot of sight-seeing done on foot by simply pushing a stroller.
A multicultural city with a big variety of restaurants and places to eat, making it easy to find a place to eat for both the adults and their children.
This one is not related to children - but the vibe, architecture, and natural beauty makes the whole trip enjoyable!
A view of CBD, the Opera House, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge from Broughton St Lookout (March 2019)
A view of CBD and the Sydney Tower Eye from Fleet Steps at Mrs Macquaries Point (March 2019)
2) Singapore
Much like Sydney, Singapore is a beautiful city to visit with gorgeous weather year-round (Feb to April is best time to visit as it’s dry season). We chose Singapore as our second Children-friendly destination for the following reasons:
Well connected through its transit system. Additionally, the transit system is stroller-friendly. At each station, there are highlighted areas on the floor that leads from the street to the elevators, and then to the trains. When you go into one of the stations, or out of the train, you don’t have to look for signs - just follow the special flooring and you know you will make it into a train or out of the station.
Many areas of the downtown core are connected underground. This is helpful during rainy or hot days. Nothing beats a covered and air-conditioned walk when needed!
Night Safari: Kids love going to the zoo, but why not go in the evening when it’s cooler. The kids will also get to see another side of animal life.
Food: A lot of great options for adults and children. Our favourites were Bornga at Suntec City Mall (Korean), and JUMBO Seafood - Dempsey Hill (For the best Seafood and especially Singaporean Chilli Crab).
A view of The Merlion and the downtown core from The Merlion Park (February 2016)
The Entrance at Night Safari Singapore (February 2016)
3) Vienna, Austria
Vienna is a city that should be on everyone’s bucket list (whether travelling with or without children). It packs a lot of beautiful architecture and lots of sight-seeing opportunities in a small walkable city core. Getting away from the city core is easy with Vienna’s well-connected transit system.
Here are the reasons Viennas is on our Top 3 list:
One of the easiest, most convenient, and cheapest transit systems we’ve seen. Vienna’s roads are beautifully lined with different lanes that respect all modes of transport (separate lanes for cars, trams, bicycles, and sidewalks).
Lots of different activities, nice restaurants & cafes, and beautiful architecture packed in a small city core that is easy to walk through.
Food (especially. Coffee/Hot Chocolate and Dessert): Cafés are very popular in Vienna. They serve great coffee (and hot chocolate for the children), and most importantly mouth-watering desserts. Our favourite was the popular Café Landtmann.
Horse carriage rides - very popular in Vienna, these rides are children-friendly and gets kids excited! They are a nice way to either explore the city core or explore touristic spots such as palace grounds. We took one at the Schönbrunn Palace. The kids were ecstatic and it was a nice way for us to sit, relax, and enjoy the grounds. Do not worry If you have a stroller, as you can leave it safely with one of their assistants.
View of Stephansplatz and the rest of Vienna from St. Stephen’s Cathedral (October 2019)
Bicycles, cars, trams, and pedestrians using their designated lanes in Vienna (October 2019)
During the Horse Carriage ride at Schönbrunn Palace (October 2019)
We hope this is helpful if you are looking for your next vacation destination to spend with your children. Each of these cities weren’t perfect, but in comparison with other spots we visited around the world, we thought they were more suited for travel with children. Leave a comment below and tell us about your experience.
Kid’s Corner
We’ll be sharing plenty of our travel stories and tips for traveling with young kids. In the meantime, here’s some cute colouring pages that we recently created for our kids.