Family Travel Guidebooks

Location-Specific

Around [Country]… with Kids series. Fodor's. Titles include: London, Paris, and Rome. Easily-carried mini-books cover 68 things to do in each city. Nearby eats and cautions for parents round out well-written info on sites.

Europe Through the Back Door by Rick Steves (Avalon Travel Publishing). Great book that stresses people as much as places. Buy it. Then get on Rick's mailing list for more good info: P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, WA. 98020; 425-771-8303 ext 259; www.ricksteves.com. (Web Editor’s Note: check out Rick’s “Travel Advice for Vagabond Parents."). To purchase the book, go to Rick Steves' bookstore on his website.

Eyewitness Travel Guides. (Dorling Kindersley). Wonderfully illustrated European guidebooks, with maps, cutaways, and photos, covering countries, cities, and regions, including Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, etc...

Guide de la France des Enfants by Marylène Bellenger (Sélection du Reader's Digest). Out of print for several years, this classic has now been rewritten and reissued. In French, from www.amazon.fr.

Guide de la Science en France (Guides Hachette, 1994). A wonderful guide to factory visits, nature parks, aquariums, and all things scientific in France. Includes editors’ top picks. In French. Buy it on arrival or from www.amazon.fr.

Guide du Routard Junior…Paris et ses environs avec vos enfants. (Hachette Livre). Exhaustive French guide to Paris activities, restaurants, and shops for kids. Similar guide in series covers all of France. In French, from www.amazon.fr.

Ireland for Kids by Derek MacKenzie (Trafalgar Publishing). Comprehensive. Includes activities, museums, hotels, restaurants throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Italy and Great Britain Discovery Journal by P.L. Byrne. This 164-page book is not available in stores. You pay $8.99 and download PDF files from www.kidseurope.com. Do it, if you’re headed to Italy or Great Britain. These books are filled with activities and ideas that will help kids truly interact with and think about language and culture.

Italy for Kids by Barbara and Michael Pape (Open Road Publishing). Real parent-tried advice with sections for Rome, Venice, Verona, Tuscany, Naples & Amalfi, and Milan & Lakes Region.

Kidookid! A Bilingual Family Magazine and Guide to Life with Kids on the Cote d'Azur. Child friendly restaurants, the insider information on the tourist attractions, accommodation for families.Contact: contact@kidookid.com, www.kidookid.com.

Kids' London: Dorling Kindersley Travel Guides by Simon Adams (DK Publishing). All the great pictures of a DK guide with kid-level text.

Let's Go guidebooks. (Harvard Student Agencies St. Martin's Press. Annual). Series of excellent budget guidebooks include: Britain & Ireland; France; Germany; Greece; Ireland; Italy; Spain & Portugal; Austria & Switzerland; Western Europe, and Eastern Europe. Trustworthy lodging recommendations are updated annually and include triple- and quad-room information. Text of Let's Go guides is also now at www.letsgo.com.

London for Families by Larry and Michael Lain (Interlink Publishing Group). A little more anecdotal and personal than the professional tone of Take the Kids series (below).

London with Kids by Valerie Gwinner (Open Road). Comprehensive with lots of budget tips. Gwinner is the mother of two and an experienced writer—put them both together and you get a very helpful up-to-date guide.

Mona Winks by Rick Steves and Gene Openshaw (Avalon Travel Publishing). Guide to all major European art museums. Saves buying museum-specific guides, helps you plan "treasure hunts" for the kids.

The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-on Traveler by Judith Gilford (Ten Speed Press). Has sections devoted to traveling with babies, kids and teens plus lots of other useful information. Reader recommendation.

Once Upon a Time in Great Britain: A Travel Guide to the Sights and Settings of your Favorite Children's Stories by Melanie Wentz (St. Martin's Griffin). Just what the long title suggests.

Paris for Families by Larry and Michael. Lain (Interlink Publishing Group). Comprehensive; even includes info on short-term apartments and sample letters in French to help you book.

Paris with Kids by Valerie Gwinner (Open Road). A fresh spin on Paris, with all the usual sights, some offbeat ideas, and very useful “side dishes” of kid-friendly restaurants, restrooms, and parks.

Rick Steves' Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler by Rick Steves and Gene Openshaw (Avalon Travel Publishing). Unstuffy history helps kids (and parents!) better understand how different historic events relate to each other.

Take the Kids series. Cadogan Guides. Includes Amsterdam, England, London, Paris, Ireland, South of France, and Short Breaks from London.

Take Your Kids to Europe by Cynthia Harriman (8th. ed., Globe Pequot Press, 2007, $16.95). The real stuff you need to know, from how to get kids interested in museums and new foods to budgeting and family dynamics, plus scores of sightseeing recommendations. (Yes, I wrote it.)