When we travel I become slightly obsessed with the details. Excel sheet itineraries / powerpoints with examples of activities. I will admit, I love it more than my job. Since moving to Germany, we have always known when & where our ‘next’ trip would be. It gave me something to research and obsess over. Watching youtube videos of the location, reading bloggers experiences of hotels, searching inspiration on instagram.

We were planned to go on vacation end of April with my Parents. The dream plan: We would meet in Paris, Charlotte would try her first French Macaron, we would have a picnic in Luxembourg Gardens and lots of quality time with the Grandparents. (also allowing Andrew and I to have a very rare date night). Then we would move on to Disneyland Paris (a dream of mine to go there… oh yeah, and for Charlotte to go too of course… haha). Then fly down to spend a week in Provence/Cote d’Azur.

Then… COVID19.

All plans stopped. Work. Daycare. Birthdays. everything.

What we thought would only be 4-5 weeks of the daycare being closed turned into 18 weeks. 18 weeks of honestly.. stress. Because although her daycare closed, work did not. In fact, both Andrew & my jobs got even busier. (great for the business, not for parents). The first few weeks were pure chaos. Literally passing Charlotte off to each other in the hallway as we ran into our office (aka bedroom with a small table) to present on a conference call.

We slowly found a new routine. I would take Charlotte in the morning (while taking conference calls from the playground), and then Andrew and I would switch so I could have uninterrupted work time in our ‘office’. And then we would both get back ‘online’ after Char went to sleep from about 8:30pm-1am. EVERY NIGHT. For 18 WEEKS. (We were desperately missing our family back in the US who would have gladly stepped in to take on the babysitting role). Believe me - I was also LOVING the extra quality time I was having with Charlotte. Allowing me to make so many memories with her. But we had no time for ourselves. Any time that wasn’t spent on Charlotte, or work, would be spent on catching up on much needed sleep.

There was crying, exhaustion and temper tantrums. And I’m not even talking about Charlotte.

During quarantine it was impossible to turn work ‘off’. We weren’t ‘working from home’ we were ‘living at work’. Calls/whats app texts/emails/messages at all hours of the day. That is when we decided : we need to take a break. Turn work off and spend quality time together.

Traveling in Europe during COVID19 (July 2020)

Things to keep in mind:

At the time we planned to take our trip, the borders to European countries were open.
We felt it was much safer to drive than fly.
We tried to stay at smaller hotels/bed and breakfasts/airbnbs etc, to distance ourselves as much as possible.
Masks in indoor public spaces were required.
The drive down to Aix en Provence (the furthest location) was only 11 hours. (New York - Orlando, Florida - a road trip our family would do often is a 16 hour drive, so this seemed easy).

Southern France Road Trip Itinerary

For more information on how I built this itinerary and tips on a road trip with a toddler, see this separate blog post.

Location Details

COLMAR, FRANCE: 2 NIGHTS

Location: Beautiful & colorful village. Although its in France, the architecture reminded me a lot of Germany (its just over the border). Quite a small city which made it walkable and perfect for 2 nights.
Hotel: Le Colombier. Great location, easily walkable to all restaurants/shops/activities.
Food: French food with a touch of Germany. Which meant heavier food like meat, potatoes but also foie gras, baguettes, etc.
Kid Friendly:
- Splash Park @ Parc du Champ de Mars
- New Playground @ Complexe sportif de la Montagne Verte

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: 2 NIGHTS

Location: EXPENSIVE. Everything about this city is expensive. The city is built around the lake.
Hotel: Hotel Longemalle: Great location a few blocks from the lake and the center of all the restaurants. Small balcony with great views.
Food: Delicious but expensive. Burgers were starting at $40. It was difficult to find a ‘middle ground’ for food. If it were Andrew and I on a date I could justify these restaurants, but with Char when we rush through a dinner? It was too much.
Kid Friendly: The least kid friendly city on the trip.
What i’d change: We love Switzerland for the mountains. I would have found another city nearby closer to the mountains & more kid friendly.

GORDES, FRANCE: 3 NIGHTS

Location: Beautiful cliffside village. Good location for road trips
Hotel: Villa Hautvallon: I’m torn as I was most excited for this villa but it was unfortunately one of our worst memories of the trip. The hosts were quite restrictive and unfriendly, especially as this was a VERY expensive stay. There are so many other villas in the area, i’d recommend somewhere else.
Day Trips:
- Abbaye Notre Dame de Sénaque: Lavendar Fields (end of June/July when lavendar is in season)
- L’isle Sur La Sorgue: Amazing Provencal Market on Sundays with Antiques
- Avignon
- Bonniex
- Provencal Markets: Do some google researching for the schedule - but they basically have at least one every week in each village.
Kid Friendly: The hotel: quite dangerous for a toddler, but she loved the pool. The city: nice, but no playgrounds
What i’d change: I would have stayed 4 nights (in a different villa). There are so many gorgeous little villages within driving distance that we didn’t have enough time to see.

AIX EN PROVENCE, FRANCE: 3 NIGHTS

Location: Amazing, everything we needed. Mix of old world & new. Everything within walking distance
Hotel: Hotel Aquabella: PERFECT location. Just at the edge of the city which allowed them more space for a gorgeous pool / restaurant / etc
Food: Unlimited choice of restaurants. Brasseries / Bistros / Italian / Burgers / Mexican / Healthy (amazing avocado toast) / etc.
- Le Petit Bistrot Place Richelme - the most memorable meal. Escargot, steak tartare, foie gras - we ordered all my faves.
Kid Friendly: YES! our first experience with ‘kid menus’. Char loved the pool at the hotel. But there were no playgrounds nearby in the city
Shopping: Markets!! Amazing food markets & my most favorite outdoor antique market on Sundays at Cours Mirabeau (I bought some gorgeous antique linens)
- La Fromagerie du Passage - amazing cheese & wine store.
What i’d change: I would have stayed 4 nights.

NICE, FRANCE: 3 NIGHTS

Location: PERFECT. Amazing city + oceanfront. Mix of affordable x expensive. Very close to other cities
Hotel: Hotel West End Nice: Great location. Oceanfront, easily walkable & small balcony facing the ocean. It was a bit ‘older/outdated’ - but for the location I didn’t mind.
Food: So many options. Every meal was memorable. And the staff at every restaurant was wonderful.
- Z Tapas Restaurant
- Hotel Amour Beach: Laid back French restaurant on the beach with great staff & live music
- Le Grand Cafe de France
Kid Friendly: YES! All restaurants had kids menus & high chairs.
- Playground: Promenade du Paillon: The most AMAZING playground. It was massive and brand new.
What I’d Change: I would have stayed another night so we would have had time to do a day trip to a nearby city (Cannes, Monaco, Menton, Antibes, etc)

LAKE MAGGIORE, ITALY: 2 NIGHTS

Location: Amazing. Honestly better than we expected. We visited Lake Como 2 years ago on a road trip with Charlotte when she was 3 months old, so I wanted to find a different location, but in the same general area. We absolutely loved the Stresa region of Lake Maggiore. A gorgeous lake, a cute little downtown with italian restaurants, gelato & live music every night.
Hotel: Hotel La Palma: When I was researching Lake Maggiore - EVERYONE was recommending the La Palma hotel and now I understand. Great sized rooms, huge balcony facing the lake, great breakfast buffet. But the most important part? The POOLS. Yes, 2 pools! One lakeside and one on the roof with a great bar (which they will serve you drinks while you’re in the pool, yes please). Oh and both pools had a massive shallow end great for kids.
Food: Pizza, Pasta & Gelato: what more do you need? The prices were great. about 8 euros for a pizza? yes please!
Kid Friendly: Yes! Walkable town, a nice street to walk along the lake, playgrounds everywhere, kids menus & then of course - our hotel pool!
What I’d Change: We only stayed 2 nights (aka 1 full day) so we wished we stayed longer. There are also a lot of other towns along Lake Maggiore, so we could have spent time visiting those.

ALLGAU, GERMANY: 2 NIGHTS

Location: The drive from Switzerland to the Allgau was absolutely stunning. But unfortunately once we got to the hotel, there wasn’t a beautiful mountain view. But I wanted to stay in this area because it was the perfect halfway point to driving home.
Hotel: Tannenhof Sport & Spa: Nice, but also very expensive. It is known for being a very nice tennis hotel. They had at least 8 different courts, but unfortunately Andrew and I didn’t use them (and I did not want to embarrass myself in front of serious tennis players)
Food: We had 1/2 board at the hotel (breakfast & dinner) so we never left the hotel. The food was wonderful, and they had a kids buffet section which was great.
Kid Friendly: Yes, they had an indoor & outdoor pool. A small outdoor playground, and a massive and beautiful indoor playspace (with beautiful toys, i wanted to take them all!)
What i’d Change: We always like to end our trip at a nice spa hotel. Before heading back home to the chaos, its nice to have one last relaxing hotel stay where we don’t need to worry about finding a restaurant in the city, that everything is at the hotel. This hotel did all of those things, but i was missing the beautiful view that I know exists in the Allgau region.