Most school kids in Zurich usually have spring break around the last week of April to first week of May, sometimes including Easter weekend. While this is too early for mountain hiking, it’s a great time to travel Europe, since it’s a little off season and you can avoid some of the crowds. There are endless options, but I thought you might like to see some of the places we’ve traveled during spring break to get a few ideas.
Our spring trips are pretty evenly split between city tours and beach breaks, with a few countryside road trips. From Zurich and Basel, you can often find very affordable flights to many European capitals but best to book early. If you are driving, especially to Italy, note that most of the rest of Europe many also be traveling on these school holiday weekends, so expect heavy traffic at the tunnels.
Amsterdam & Keukenhof Tulip Gardens
This is a must-do at least once during your time in Europe. The famous Keukenhof gardens boast over 7 million bulbs in bloom with over 800 varieties of tulips. It’s amazing and well worth the long drive, about 10 hours from Zurich. The park is great with kids, with plenty of room to run around, a large playground, a petting farm, a hedge maze and yummy treats like waffels and poffertjes eat. Just outside the park, you can rent bikes and ride around the numerous nearby tulip farms, which is always our favorite part of the visit.
Read more about our trip to the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens and tulip field bike ride
Barcelona
This vibrant city is like a playground, with whimsical architecture to admire, churros and chocolate a legitimate breakfast option, lots of interesting pedestrian zones to wander, and beaches for lounging. It’s one of our favorite cities for kids, with so many family-friendly activities to choose from.
See my 10 reasons to plan your next family trip to Barcelona
Berlin
What a great city! We walked and biked all over the city, soaking in the history and practicing our high German. We loved the biking tour of the Berlin Wall, which kept the kids active and engaged while learning important things. The food market at Markhalle Neun made feeding the kids much easier. We balanced the sightseeing and serious history with silly fun for the kids, like the Spy museum with a laser maze. A good time was had by all.
Read more about our family trip to Berlin
Read more about taking the overnight train to Berlin with kids
Paris
Even if you’ve been to Paris before, this is a city that always pleases. We’ve been a couple times on our own and taken the kids three times, twice when I was very pregnant. So we know what’s like to travel a city at slower pace, as you must often do with kids. But Paris is a great place for this because you can easily mix sightseeing in with free time in parks, accompanied by the best picnics ever supplied by yummy French cheese, bread, and pastries. We still see famous stuff, but try to enjoy the city at a family pace, eating lots of crepes, playing in the parks, strolling along the Seine, wandering quirky neighborhoods, and searching out yummy treats.
Read more about how we enjoy Paris as a family
Tuscany
Technically we visited lots different cities and towns during this trip, which gave wonderful variety to the trip. Of course, the kids were happy to sample gelato everywhere we went. We sought our parks and playground in each town, which gave us more of a locals-only feel and a break from the pavement.
Read more about our tour of Tuscany with our toddler
