Toddlers are the most unpredictable and impatient little fellas you could ever meet. Now put boredom and a long road trip into the mix and you will not be happy with the outcome. Emilia is now a little over three and we already have some trips behind us that went better than expected.
this aren´t the best requirements for a long road trip and that is why I have been putting together a huge tote with lots of surprises to keep the mood up.
What to pack into your toddler road trip tote
Occupations
First of all I have ordered lots of new things off of amazon. They have Melissa & Doug stuff which is both affordable and cute for toddlers.
They have sticker boards, water color writing pads and so much more, perfect for long car rides. Another thing we already got is a busy board. This was a huge hit last year when we spent a few days at Lake Garda, not only in the car but also at restaurants.
Magnets have also been a great hit. The magna tiles or just dolls to dress.
Snacks
It is a save bet to say snacks will works no matter the age. Whether you have cut up fresh fruit or little sandwiches or a container filled with puffs. You need to bring snacks. Our girls like puffs,
Tablet
If everything´s falling apart give them a tablet. Now this is one thing you´ll need to know upfront cause you might want to download some Disney movies or shows or anything else they love and give them an hour (or half an hour) of screen time.
The amazon kids table would also work great plus it has games for different ages as well.
Now this will only work out if
a) you have any kind of that device and take it with you and / or
b) you kid does not get car sick. Fortunately it isn´t the case here (I am not sure if this might come later or is it an impromtu thing – I have heard both). We used our tablet twice and always only for the last hour.
Another great tip we got is taking breaks at rest stops with a playground so that your children can run around and get some energy out, but this will only work if you don´t need a bathroom break earlier than you´d arrive and the weather has to be good too.
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At the end of May we took a trip to the Europa Park in Rust with our girls and while Helena was tagging along just fine, Emilia had the perfect age. We have been a huge group of people cause my parents joined us as well as my husbands parents and his sister with her boyfriend. Everyone loved it and we had a total blast.
The Parc
It is the biggest amusement parc in Germany and I can really tell why. The parc is divided in countries. There is Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Russia, Ireland and so many more. The shops, restaurants and also the rides are down to every detail like it would be in said country. The love for detail is unmatched in anything I have ever seen (except for Disneyland). It is beyond clean. You won´t even find a chewing gum on the ground.
We spent the main part of our day in Ireland – the kids section. There are plenty of rides for smaller kids to go on alone or to ride with parents or an older sibling as well as lots of diaper changing rooms and kids restaurants plus a huge playground and resting area.
But what I really liked and wasn´t aware of is that every other country has 2 to 4 rides for smaller kids as well as the really really fast and dangerous ones. Other things for small kids are all the different shows you can watch. There are some that will only take 15 to 20 minutes which should be fine to keep them entertained. Also there is a huge parade everyday with lots of different characters and the mouse of the Park – Ed.
The Hotel
We stayed at the Colosseo Hotel, one of the Europa Park theme hotels. It really gives you a touch of Italy with the rooms and all the interior decor also if you step outside there is a huge piece of the actual Colosseum of Rome rebuilt into the backyard of the hotel.
If you can I would highly suggest to stay at a theme parc hotel. It makes the experience whole and there are so many merits to it. You have early parc access as well as characters at the breakfast. There are kids pools and wellness and you have a separate entrance to your parc from your hotel.
I just love how kid friendly everything is. People are nice to your kids, you don´t have to apologize for them running around and/or spilling food.
We had a normal room but definitely are going to take two rooms with a connecting door the next time we go cause it is hard to do anything after the kids are asleep. Our room was very italian. We had a huge Leonardo painting over our bed and the curtains had little Cesar heads on them. The attention of details is just so amazing.
The Food
If you are „trapped“ in a parc all day you have to eat there. Even if you take some stuff with you there is no way to stash this much to last for days without a cooling opportunity.
The parc itself as well as the hotels have a lot to offer in terms of food.
Food in the parcs
There are plenty of restaurants you can choose from, always with a great palette of kids menus. There are many booths where you can get waffles, ice cream, coffee and sweets as well as slushies or fruit.
You do not have to have dinner at the hotels but the parc closes at 6 at night (or at least the rides do) so this might be a little stressful to manage.
We had lunch on all three days at the restaurant in Ireland. It had healthy options like salad and chicken as well as burger and fries and super pretty cakes. You can also just have a quick coffee or refreshing drink. The choice is yours. The possibilities are endless. Every country has a bunch of their own restaurants, of course always matching.
Food at the hotels
Not all hotels have the same type of restaurant. For example at the first night we had dinner at our restaurant but you weren´t able to reserve a table upfront so the managed to squeeze us in but it might not always be possible with a group of ten people.
There are several hotels who have their own all-you-can-eat restaurant (like the Bell Rock Hotel – we had dinner there the first time we visited and it was so good I will never forget it) as well as a fine dining option, but to be honest both aren´t a great fit for small children/babies.
If you are a hotel guest you can have dinner in any other hotel as well, you just need to reserver upfront if that is possible, but of course prices are higher than in the parc itself. We had dinner at the Castillo Alcazar Hotel on the second evening and it was beyond delicous. If you go definitely try the Crema Catalana.
The month of May has been a very busy one. We squeezed in 2 vacations and a ton of day trips cause my husband was on paternity leave for 4 weeks and you never know when you will get this much time off again plus when the weather will be this gorgeous to things outside every single day.
As you may have seen we have spent a few days at Lake Constance (Bodensee) at the beginning of May and I wanted to recap our trip plus share what to do with little ones.
We stayed at Constance the biggest city on Lake Constance (like the name already gives away). Since we had a ———– at Lake Garda we opted for one again cause it was just super easy with the little ones and we did not get dissapointed. We stayed at Appartmens Constance and it was a very well equipped aparment big enough to stay in for four days. You can check it out here.
What to do at Lake Constance
Visit the Stilt Houses in Uhldingen
We went there on our first day to break up the drive in two halfs so it wouldn´t be too much for the girls. The Stilt Houses are super cool. They are out on the water which gives you a great view onto the lake plus you can follow a guided tour or do some exploring on your own. Each house has new things to see inside like a family home, a carpentry and so on. It might not seems for small children at first but Emilia really liked it and had a lot of fun so I would suggest to just try it. It is 12 Euro for grown-ups and free for children under 5.
You can enter easily with a stroller or a wheelchair. It is open every day of the week. The city of Uhldingen is also very picturesque with a small harbor, a few restaurants (you have to stop and eat fish at some point cause it is very popular and super fresh) and overall such a Disneyland Main Street feel to it. There is also a huge playground as well as a mini golf course.
Visit the Rhine Falls in Switzerland
The water falls are across the border in Switzerland. Is is a super quick drive from Constance across the border to Switzerland (about 10 minutes) and then there may be 45 minutes left to get to the Rhine Falls.
A ticket for the highway costs 40 Euro a months no matter if you want to go for only one day or more often so I would suggest to take the secondary road around. Also no matter what you want to buy in Switzerland EVERYTHING costs a lot more than in other countries here (I´d say at least double).
You can buy a ticket to the viewing platform or a ticket to a boat ride as close to the Rhine Falls as possible. We just got the ticket for the viewing platform and it was totally worth it. It wasn´t too crowded and we could take all the pictures we wanted. You can reach the platform with a stroller as well as with a wheechair cause you go down by an elevator. There is fine dining in small castle as well as snacks in the fast food restaurant. For children there is a great playground as well as a miniature world (we didn´t go in cause it was 23 Euro per person).
Just strolling around the Falls is pretty as well. We spent about 5 hours here which we have never thought would be possible but it was a great way to spend the day and Emilia had a blast from the beginning to the end.
Visit the Flower Island of Mainau
Anyone ever seen an island full of flowers with a little castle in the middle ? This is Mainau. It is very easy to get to if you are coming from Constance – you can walk over a small bridge – takes about 5 minutes and you are at the main entrance. If you are coming from Meersburg (which is on the opposite side of Lake Constance) you can take the ferry. The entrance fee is 25,50 Euro per person. There are several restaurants. One for snacks, one for fine dining, one on top of the hill in the castle and one right outside the castle. So there should be something for everyone.
There are flower themes around the whole island. Tulips in April and May and then Peonies for June and July and so on and so on.
Visit the old City of Meersburg with its Castle
I have never seen such a cute, clean and colorful old city. There are flowers everywhere and so many pretty half-timbered houses. Meersburg itself has an old castle we wanted to visit but there is no chance to get in there with a stroller (or wheelchair). It is an old castle and has many stairs and narrow aisles. The tour takes about 45 minutes so this would have been to much too carry our little girl the whole time. Maybe next time.
Also the city of Meersburg comes closest to all of the cities from Lake Garda with its little promenades on the water and all of the little cafés and shops. It has a cute harbour to sit and look out on the lake.
Visit the Monkey City of Salem
This was a suggestion from friends of ours but we just didn´t have any time left to do this. There are lots of things to do at Lake Constance so we could have easily spent two more days here.
There is a little zoo in the city of Salem where monkeys are everywhere and they run around free.
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We love Lake Garda! I have been visiting for about 15 years and still love it. It is such a mediteranian place but still so close (about 5 hour drive) to home. There is something about the Italian way of life, the little old towns, the Italian food, the history and of course the huge lake.
Every time we go we drive to our favorite restaurant and have lunch there. It is right at the shore and waves crash against the little stones, the water smells so fresh and the lake breeze goes through your hair. This is when we have finally arrived at our vacation destination.
There are several places we always visit when we are there. The same cities and same coffee shops but we always make sure to also go to new places we have never seen.
Area
We exit the highway at Lago di Garda South which means we are on the east side of the lake about in the middle. The charmful little cities are all close and reachable by car. Parking places are available everywhere. We love that everything is close together either way you are driving. The cities we love to stay or visit are Bardolino, Lazise, Garda, Peschiera del Garda and Sirmione. We have stayed in Sportsman Creola, Lazise, Bardolino, Peschiera and Castelnuovo.
Activities
There are so many different activites you can do at Lake Garda. Besides lying at the pool of course. If you want a little more action there are plenty of things to do on land as well as on the water. Of course they are all charged seperately. We headed to Gardaland with the kids this time and it was amazing. I have also done parasailing and it was a great experience but you shouldn´t be afraid of heights. Another thing we did was rent a bike which is a great way to get around faster but keep in mind that there are lots of people around which doesn´t make it easy.
Parasailing
Rent a boat
Rent a bike / scooter
Gardaland Theme Park
Movieland
Caneva World
Take the ferry
Sea Life
Olive Oil Museum (I love to add this all the time cause it is such a funny thing)
Food
Rock´n Roll Dinner Show – Right after the Movieland you can book different dinner shows where there is food and entertainment.
There have opened up a lot of different restaurants over the last few years. You can now have Bohemian cuisine, of course Italian, Sushi, a nice Burger and there is also a MC Donalds.
Of course all the great waterfront restaurants are Italian cuisine but that mustn´t be bad am I right. Prices are pretty normal in my opinion. You can choose from noodles, pizza, fish or meat dishes to salads and lots of desserts. Keep in mind Italians normally eat noodles as a first course so the serving won´t be as big as you´d expect it. Meat and fish always comes alone. You have to order the side extra.
If you are sitting down during the day or later in the evening most of the restaurants will get you snacks with your beverage. For example you order a glass of wine and you get a plate with nuts, olives, crisps and little sandwiches.
If you are looking for a small snack or lunch there are plenty of options to buy a piece of pizza or a panini on the way or at restaurants, bars.
Overall restaurants are very kid friendly cause the Italians really like children and they also don´t mind if you are sitting outside at a bar with kids.
The choices on ice-cream are incredible everywhere you go and there are definitely flavors I have never heard. The prices are very reasonable and the ice-cream just tastes fresher and better than anywhere else. Sirmione is THE ice-ceram mekka of Lake Garda.
Shopping
There are many opportunities to get rid of your money at Lake Garda. I personally have two shops I like to frequent when we are there other than that I love the local market. They have such a great variety of clothes, leather goods like shoes, handbags and belts. Toys of course for the little ones. The prettiest ceramic pieces you have ever seen and table cloths.
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