A practical guide to travelling through Europe with children
Not a list of child-friendly attractions. The logistics that decide whether a European group journey is enjoyable or exhausting when you are travelling with a four-year-old.
The Global Tamil Travel teamPrepared and reviewed in-house
Published 8 March 2026
Updated 20 August 2026
3 minute read
Reviewed by The Global Tamil Travel team
What this guide will help you understand
- What documents children need, and what surprises people
- How to think about travel days rather than destinations
- What to ask us before you book
- What we can and cannot arrange with hotels and airlines
This guide contains information that changes. This guide contains information that changes. Entry requirements, airline rules and official guidance can change. Confirm the latest information with the relevant official authority before travel.Last reviewed by our team on 14 July 2026.
The question we get asked is whether a trip is suitable for children. The more useful question is which parts of it are hard, because the answer is almost always the travel days rather than the destinations.
Documents, and the thing that surprises people
Every child needs their own passport. They cannot travel on a parent's, and have not been able to for many years — this still catches people whose own childhood worked differently.
If you are travelling with a child who is not your own, or whose surname differs from yours, carry a signed letter of consent from a parent or guardian and, where you have it, a birth certificate. Border officials apply this at their discretion, which means preparing for the strictest version rather than the most likely one.
Think in travel days, not destinations
A day that reads as 'transfer to Lucerne' on an itinerary is a four-hour coach leg with two stops. That is the day that decides how the rest of the trip feels. Look at the itinerary and count the days that involve more than three hours of moving; those are the ones to ask us about.
| Age | Manages well | Worth asking about |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 | Short legs, flexible days | Cots, lap seating on flights, pram storage |
| 4–7 | Most of our European journeys | Long transfer days, late dinners |
| 8–12 | Nearly everything we run | Whether there is anything to do in the evenings |
What we can and cannot arrange
On coaches we seat families together without being asked, and we can reserve front seats for anyone who gets travel sick. Hotels will usually hold adjoining or family rooms if we ask early, and adding a cot is normally straightforward.
Flight seating is the airline's to allocate. We request family seating at ticketing and it usually comes through, but we cannot promise it and we will not pretend we can. If sitting together is essential rather than preferable, tell us and we will explain the options honestly.
Ask us these before you book
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About this guide
Prepared by the Global Tamil Travels team in London — the same people who plan the departures and answer the phone. We write these because the questions come up often enough that a proper answer saves everybody time.
This guide is reviewed whenever the underlying process or requirement changes, and at least twice a year. It is not legal or medical advice, and we do not present it as such.
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