European Vacation with 5 Kids - Nice, Monaco, & Milan
As you may know, our family of 7 spent the month of August traveling across Europe. It was jam packed full of fun, adventure, and memories to last a lifetime! If you missed our first stop, you can read about our time in Barcelona here. After spending nearly a week in Barcelona, we started hopping around from city to city. Over the next 6 days we visited Nice, Monaco, and Milan.
Nice
Where We Stayed:Old Town, walking distance to Ponchettes Beach
How Long We Stayed: 4 Nights
Favorite Outing: Le Petit Train
Favorite Restaurant: Movida (overlooking the beach!)
What We’d Do Differently: Spend more time at Castle Hill
Nice is just a short flight from Barcelona, and we arrived mid-afternoon. We then took a tram from the airport to the city center. But learn from our mistake — Apparently it’s free to ride from the aiport to the first stop, and then if you purchase your tickets from there, it’s only 2 euros to the city center, as opposed to buying them directly at the airport (like we did) for 15 euros.
We stayed right in the heart of Old Nice, which was such a beautiful area. This particular area of Nice has been around since the 14th century. You can endlessly walk around the mazes of tiny streets between colorful buildings, with shops and markets at every corner. Our time in Nice was a little bit slower, as we enjoyed roaming the city, tried to stay out of the heat, and juggled work. While we were there, we also had some of the best gelato we had in our entire time in Europe — make sure and check out Fenocchio!
Le Petit Train
We did a small tour of Nice on Le Petit Train. It was a cute/fun little train ride that went through the main parts of Nice in about 45 minutes (the perfect amount of time for little ones). The main reason we took it was to get to Parc de la Colline (Castle Hill), which is atop a mile long, steep hill. While we waited for the train ride, the kids also enjoyed a nearby carousel.
Parc de la Colline (Castle Hill)
As I mentioned, the little train took us up to Castle Hill, which had the most beautiful views of Nice and the French Riveria. The only downside was that the train ride only gave us 10 minutes at the castle before heading back. So if we were to go again, we would probably take more time at this site!
The Beach
One of the things we were most excited about staying in Nice was spending time on the French Riveria. These beaches always look so gorgeous and dreamy in photos, movies, etc….but no one ever seems to mention that every beach is formed by stones rather than sand! My kids just kept crocs on in the water and seemed unbothered by it, but us adults were dying! It was so painful to try to walk into the water barefoot while the waves pushed up against you. It was very clear who were tourists (those wincing, flailing, and falling into the water) and who were the locals (those with padded swim shoes and yoga mats for the “beach”). We were only in Nice for a few days, so we just suffered through the pain and let kids enjoy themselves!
Promenade du Paillon
This promenade runs through the main city center and is a great spot for children to unwind. There are fountains to play in on one end, and a very fun playground on the other side, complete with in-ground trampolines, obstacle courses, and a giant whale to climb.
Monaco
How Long We Stayed: Day trip
Favorite Outing: Prince of Monaco’s Car Collection
What We’d Do Differently: Choose the Hop On/Hop Off bus immediately
During our time in Nice, we took a day trip to Monaco. It is a quick 30 minute train ride to Monaco. Once we arrived, we headed over to the Aquarium along the water. I hear it is very nice, but since we had just been to one in Barcelona, we opted not to do this. However, we had planned to take another Le Petit Train around Monaco which picks up just outside of the aquarium. We arrived just before the train was supposed to start running for the day, and we kept waiting and waiting, thinking they were just slow to open up that day. After waiting nearly an hour, we gave up and walked over to Grimaldi Palace. So word to the wise, just skip it.
Grimaldi Palace
Everyone enjoyed seeing a palace up close and checking out the guards posted outside (even got one to give a quick wave). Once we were there, we decided to do the Hop On/Hop Off bus to get around Monaco. Most of the time we really prefer to navigate cities on our own; however, Monaco is extremely hilly, sites aren’t particularly close, and the Hop On/Hop Off allowed us to get around quickly and easily. It came every 20 minutes and the ride itself was fun for the kids to ride on the top.
Monaco Grand Prix Statue
Every year the Monaco Grand Prix races through the streets of Monaco, and this statue was a quick must-see!
Prince of Monaco’s Car Collection
This museum is actually the Prince of Monaco’s private car collection. The kids (and adults) all loved checking out the race cars!
Monte Carlo Atrium
Our last stop in Monaco was the Monte Carlo, a world famous casino. This was a quick stop for us, just explored the outside, and a look around the atrium (where kids are allowed!).
Monaco was neat to see, but I am glad we only took a day trip there. So much wealth in this tiny city-state, which is very apparent as you walk along the piers where million dollar yachts are docked. It is clearly a billionaire’s playground, and otherwise, most things can be done in a day there.
Milan
Where We Stayed: Near Piazza Duomo
How Long We Stayed: 1 Night
Favorite Outing: Duomo
Favorite Restaurant: Gino’s
What We’d Do Differently: Spend more time here
After our time in Nice, we packed up and headed to Milan. This was the first longer train ride we did around Europe. It was about a 6 hour train ride from Nice to Milan, but it was a beautiful ride along the coast of southern France. We definitely prefer to travel by train. Yes, the ride itself is longer that an airplane ride, but you don’t have to arrive early to go through security and customs, wait for boarding and luggage afterwards, etc. Plus you have more room to spread out, can see some of the countryside along the way, and it was far cheaper for us, as kids up to 11 years old ride for free!
We only spent one night in Milan, as it was a stopover for us before we headed to Zurich the next day. The second we got off the train in Milan, we were smitten. Milan has a big city feel, and so we immediately felt at home here. We arrived mid-afternoon and were able to roam around the Piazza Duomo area. We enjoyed an amazing dinner al fresco where everyone treated the kids like tiny princes and a princess (One waiter kept tucking Anders’ napkin in for him, making sure he was well cared for the whole meal!). I love Europe and the way they treat families.
After dinner, we roamed a bit more, taking a quick trip to FAO Schwartz. The original famous toy store is in NYC, and my kids have been many times, so it was fun to visit in another country. Bonus, this location was not crowded!!
The next morning we went to see one of Milan’s main attractions — The Duomo. This cathedral is breathtaking. We marveled at the ornate architecture both inside and outside of the church. One important thing to note — women have to have their legs covered to their knees, and if you are not covered, you can purchase a lovely over-priced paper gown from their gift shop :)
We opted to take the elevator ride to the top of the Duomo, which was amazing to see. It is a lot of stairs back down, and for us, it was already extremely hot out that morning. We were wishing we could have taken an elevator down! And note that you will need to fold up and carry your stroller if you have one!
After our quick turnaround in Milan, which left us wishing for more, we boarded our next train heading to our next stop…Zurich!
And if you’re curious what it took to plan an epic trip like this, make sure and check out these two posts!
Travel Planning with a Family of 7
Packing for a Month Long Trip with 4 Carry-ons