As we continued our trek across Europe to visit our Austrian exchange student, we stayed a few days in beautiful Bavaria, in Southern Germany.

We spent a day at Legoland in Gunzburg.

We slid down the double banister at Berchtesgaden Saltmine tunnels, wearing the traditional leather aprons used by miners long ago.

Although the mountainous terrain was tricky on our travels, and one tunnel was closed, our roundabout journey across the mountains led us to a lovely restaurant in Garmische, which an equally lovely playground.

From our room in Fussen, we could actually see Neuschwanstein Castle from our window (see the spires to the lower left in the above photo.) The next day’s visit to the castle which inspired Cinderella’s was, in fact, magical.

We also found playgrounds each day in Bad Urach, Strasbourg and our favorite of the entire trip, was Aumeister Biergarten in Munich – the most fabulous family/neighborhood gathering place I think I’ve ever seen.

Travel with Kids in Europe Series:
A Playground in Every Town (more still to come)
Colmar, France
Bavaria, Germany
Carinthia, Austria
Venice, Italy

When we landed in Paris to start our two-week tour of Europe in 2004, we were jetlagged, but excited. Our first night was already booked in Colmar, at the border of Germany and across the French countryside, so we turned down the offered Mercedes upgrade with GPS and drove off in our rented Opel sedan.

By the time we arrived at our darling room in Colmar, a Disney-esque town with half-timbered houses along cobblestone roads, we were so exhausted we crashed into our room and slept for I don’t know how long.

The kids thought for sure they had landed in heaven, since the room had bunkbeds.

The next day we enjoyed the first of many picnics with food gathered from a grocery store. This is how we ate through most of our trip.

And of course, we found a lovely playground in Colmar – setting the stage for the way we’d approach European travel with two young kids.

Travel with Kids in Europe Series:
A Playground in Every Town (more still to come)
Colmar, France
Bavaria, Germany
Carinthia, Austria
Venice, Italy

In 2004, our family traveled to Europe to visit our wonderful foreign exchange student, Maria (wearing the hat), in Austria. We ended up on a whirlwind 15-day tour of France, Germany, Austria and Italy, in a rented Opel sedan. At that time, our kids were only ages 5 and 7, and this was our first trip abroad with them. We traveled with only two Rick Steve’s backpacks, while the kids each carried their own school-sized packs. Without a doubt, this fantastic trip was worth every moment (and every dime) we spent.

(Picnic near a church at the top of a Carinthian mountain.)

We walked a lot, ate a lot, played a lot and found a playground in every town. You’ll notice in most photos, Craig is eating something, if he’s not on a merry-go-round, or in a sandbox.

(At the school playground, in Grafenstein, Austria.)

I’ll share photos with you in the coming weeks. I was looking through old photo disks and came across the pictures from this trip. Since that trip was pre-Pass the Torch, I haven’t shared these photos before – enjoy!

Travel with Kids in Europe Series:
A Playground in Every Town (more still to come)
Colmar, France
Bavaria, Germany
Carinthia, Austria
Venice, Italy

Worried about the impending teenage years? Wondering how to get more than a one-word response from your kids? We can all benefit by brushing up on our active listening skills. For a few tips, please read my Positively Speaking column at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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