Europe's best experiences for kids

Thirteen things the kids will love in Europe

Every kid has her own tastes, of course, but the following seldom fail to please. By the way, these have all been tested and approved by a genuine American kid: me, back when my family lived in Europe (ages 11–13).

• Stonehenge, England. Ancient ruins and sites are prime fuel for kids' fertile imaginations.
• Brass rubbings in London. A giant sheet of black paper, some oversized gold and silver crayons, and a tomb relief of a knight in full shining armor to transfer occupies kids in the crypt of St-Martin-in-the-Fields church, and it gives them a souvenir, too (no, they don't offer this at Westminster Abbey anymore).
• Edinburgh Castle. Actually, just about any castle is fun.
• Disneyland Paris. For when only the kind of fun only an amusement park will do.
• Anne Frank House, Amsterdam. A great learning experience that kids can relate to. It introduces children to the sobering message of the Holocaust through the eyes of one of their own, a young girl trying to grow up in a land that was against her. It's a tough lesson, but an important one.
• Hoge Veluwe Park, Netherlands. The kids can ride a bike through the greenery and climb around on some of the works in the outdoor sculpture garden of the museum.
• Deutsches Museum, Munich. This museum is one of the best hands-on science and technology museums in the world.
• Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. The children can play medieval soldier, patrolling the ramparts of the perimeter wall.
• The Ice Palace, Jungfrau. This place is fun to scramble around in, plus you ride a seemingly gravity-defying train to get up here.
• Ski-lift gondolas in the Alps. Riding a ski-lift gondola is a white-knuckle activity with jaw-dropping panoramas and the thrilling rush of gliding along hundreds of feet off the ground.
• San Gimignano, Italy. This place has it all: medieval ambiance, towers to climb, and a torture.
• Picnics. These are a money saver for you, and a break from the best-behavior rules and funny foreign dishes of restaurants for the kids.
• Anywhere they can climb or crawl around in tunnels. This means lots of castles, ancient ruins and tombs, catacombs, the sewers of Paris, town hall towers, cathedral domes and spires… but very few elevators.