Did the New York to Montreal to Quebec City drive in the heart of winter and honestly wasnât too bad. We nearly froze our faces off but loved it (Quebec City is like some idillic Canadian Christmas card around the holidays). But imagine itâd be lovely in spring/summer too.
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Bro making your 19 month old âmost likelyâ is next level shit. Do what my parents did when I was 1 years old and drive to the Grand Canyon like a man
I dont remember a thing and was proly on my moms lap front seat no seat belt
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In all seriousness rent a cabin in the mountains. And go off and enjoy being outside. Teach your kid about flipping over rocks and dead trees to look for bugs. Lwt them roast a marshmallow on an open flame for a smore.
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+1 for Montréal and staying around Plateau/Mont Royal. Pretty easy to get to Old Montreal from there, which has both historical stuff and tourist stuff. Biodome (basically a mini zoo) was an easy activity for a little one, though ours was a lot younger than yours when we went.
Other vote would be for the hills/mountains of New England. On the way to Montréal we did a day around Burlington and wished we had a little more time to pop around the small hamlets around there.
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This will sound like the most hillbilly shit ever but you can have a hell of a time renting a cabin in pigeon forge area. Plenty of stuff for kids too.
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OK, Jazz is right. Your little one isnât going to remember a thing about this, so indulge yourself and wife on this one, because soon all the vacas will be about the little one.
I would second the âget outsideâ thing, because thatâs my deal, but I donât know what you and wife are in to.
My family recently did the Maine coast/Bar Harbor thing, and it was awesome, lots of outside stuff â sheâll be totally happy watching waves and toddling around in woods. But itâs a little crazy busy in summer. Maybe get off the Bar Harbor center and find a cabin, let her play in the woods.
I would def recommend Williamsburg/Busch Gardens/water park in a few years, but sheâs probably too little to enjoy it rn, and having a baby would keep you from doing some of the cool stuff there.
Iâm also going to pooh-pooh pigeon forge for about the same reasons. Though the woods around the Smokies are pretty cool, and would be for a little.
I donât know enough about Montreal to comment, but now I want to go there.
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Hershey PA is a manageable car trip. Amusement park, water park and nothing like a toddler hyped up on unlimited chocolate.
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Except for the French Canadians. Toronto is also a great city to visit though my favorite Canada starts around Alberta and goes west from there.
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Pigeon Forge is great. We have it on our list. Its a cool spor lotta outdoor activity
In college weâd go down to Gatlinburg over winter break or summer break. Bunch of us rent a house and party it up.
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Flew to Burlington last summer and drove to Quebec City. It was a great trip other than checking my phone to see we blew our lead against UNC in the CWS opener.
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Headed to Lucca, Italy next week. Who got the recs?
Will be with a bunch of young kids, staying just outside the city in a villa. Will have a car.
- Beer (yes, beer)
- Wine
- Hiking
- Restaurants in Lucca, Florence, San Gimignano (lunch, mostly)
- Any good things for young kids 5 and under in those cities
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Unfortunately, I have not been to Lucca or San Gimignano (yet). But I can recommend that Lucca has a level path for biking and hiking on the city wall. You can rent bikes at numerous places along the path. I think that helps with the hiking and kids under five criteria.
I have been to Florence, but canât think of much that is great for young kids. Perhaps the Piazzale Michelangelo and the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace would provide some space to let the kids run around a bit to unwind after hitting some of the museums and churches. Most of the museums are going to be pretty crowded, though we found that the Bargello was the least crowded and has an excellent collection.
Depending on how many kids and your ability to carry them, climbing the campanile could be fun for the kids.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Il Cinghiale Bianco (The White Boar). However, you may not be able to get a reservation at this late date as Stanley Tucci featured it in his CNN series on Italian food, so it is quite popular. It is very traditional Florentine cuisine. The locals also recommended the Gelateria La Carraia to us as the best in the city. It was certainly good. Also, it has the advantage of being located on the south end of the Ponte alla Carraia. I recommend taking your pictures on the Ponte Vecchio, then using the other, less crowded bridges like Ponte alla Carraia, whenever you want to cross the river.
As for lunches, we always avoided places with pictures of the food on the menu. In Florence, you should try, though not necessarily for the kids, the lampredotto. Sort of a French dip, but with cowâs stomach instead of beef. We generally grabbed a sandwich at little bottegas on out-of-the-way side streets, but Iâd recommend finding a place on one of the piazzas where you can sit outside and maybe let the kids run around a bit. Iâd probably avoid the Piazza della Signoria and the Piazza del Duomo as theyâll be crowded and have more touristy restaurants. The Piazza Santa Maria Novella has quite a few options.
Have fun, and sorry to not be of more help.
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I second the White Boar, not stuffy, AMAZING food. Easily one of the best dining experiences Iâve ever had. Our visits were pre-Tucci too, Florentine steak, wild boar ragu, and the best panna cotta. Just wow.
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I had the best sandwich of my life at lunch at this restaurant in Lucca right on the North side of the main square in the walled city. Iâll find out. Also had amazing dinner there. Iâll find names.
Went to listen to the live opera in the chapel one night that was amazing. Had bikes at our hotels biking on the wall around the city was fun. Lucca is the best.
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Thatâs it! The While Boar was amazing for dinner.
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Is that the town that randomly has a bunch of like 14-story towers? If so, we stopped there on the honeymoon and it was fun. There were a couple tours of the towers we were able to go on, lunch was good, and it was super walk-able.
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The first pic is the sandwich place if I remember. Second place is called Buca di San Antonio. Fantastic place for dinner.
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Any Lucca or Florence recs I have are 10 years out of date and pre-kids. Should be a great trip tho.
Between Florence and Lucca, stop at the Autogrill for some espresso or a glass of wine and wonder why we canât have that at the Maryland House or wherever,
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