Our Europe Vacation Turned Babymoon: Our Itinerary + Best Travel Tips

My husband and I recently took the Europe trip we’d been dreaming about for years. Finding an entire week away from work is hard enough, but finding childcare for two kids makes it even more challenging. So when we finally made it happen, we were beyond excited.

What we didn’t expect when we booked it? That our Europe vacation would turn into our babymoon!

Thankfully, we found out we were expecting baby number three before the trip, and everything fell during my second trimester. I was feeling good, had my energy back, and it ended up being the perfect time to travel.

We booked our flights using points first and built our itinerary around them, which gave us one unforgettable week through London, Rome, Positano, and Paris.

London (Layover)

We flew from Austin to London, had about a six-hour layover, and then continued on to Rome. It was an incredibly long travel day, but it gave us the chance to experience a city neither of us had visited before.

Since we checked all of our luggage and only carried backpacks, leaving the airport was surprisingly easy. We hopped on the high-speed train into the city, connected to the Tube, and spent about three to four hours exploring.

Unfortunately, London greeted us with cold, rainy weather, so we ended up buying an umbrella and embracing it. We saw Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, walked through Paddington Station for souvenirs for our kids, and grabbed fish and chips before heading to Rome.

Tip: If you have a long layover, leave the airport! Traveling with only backpacks made it quick and easy.

Rome

We arrived in Rome late that evening and desperately needed some sleep because the next day was our big sightseeing day.

I’d visited Rome before, but my husband hadn’t, so we packed as much as possible into one day.

We visited: The Vatican,the Colosseum, the Pantheon, ate incredible Italian pizza, enjoyed plenty of gelato, and finished with one of the best dinners of the entire trip.

It was definitely a long day, especially after international travel and adjusting to the time difference, but it was absolutely worth it.

The next morning, before leaving Rome, we visited the Trevi Fountain, grabbed cappuccinos, and started another travel day.

Tips:

Book tours ahead of time to skip the long summer lines.

Express tours were perfect for us since we wanted to see a lot without spending hours at each site.

Don’t overthink dinner—our favorite restaurant was one we stumbled upon because it was packed with locals.

Positano

From Rome we took a high-speed train to Naples, then caught the ferry to Positano. It sounds complicated, but honestly, it was much easier than we expected because we booked every ticket ahead of time.

Positano was where we intentionally slowed down. This was the part of the trip where we decided to splurge on our hotel, and I have zero regrets.Our hotel had an incredible breakfast every morning, an amazing pool, restaurants, bars, concierge service, and was in a great location. Since we planned to spend a lot of time relaxing there, it was worth every penny.

The concierge also helped us make restaurant reservations before we arrived, which took all the stress out of figuring out where to eat each day.

We also spent a full day on a boat exploring the coastline and stopping in Capri. The boat day was one of the highlights of the trip.

Tips:

Splurge on your hotel if your budget allows—it completely changed our experience.

Use your hotel’s concierge for restaurant recommendations and reservations.

If you’re visiting Capri, have a plan before you arrive. I’d book a beach club or lunch reservation next time.

Paris

We wrapped up our trip in Paris with one busy day. We started with baby announcement photos at the Eiffel Tower, did a little shopping (including a stop at the original Chanel boutique), visited the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe, and ended the evening relaxing near the Eiffel Tower.

Tips:

Use the Metro! Google Maps makes it incredibly easy and it’s much cheaper than taking Ubers. Skip a formal dinner and grab food for a picnic by the Eiffel Tower instead. We wished we’d spent more time soaking up the atmosphere there.

Final Thoughts

Before we knew it, we were flying home to Austin. It was one of those trips that felt both incredibly fast and incredibly full.

Would I do anything differently? If possible, I’d extend the trip to two weeks. There were several places where we would have loved another day or two, and having less travel packed into such a short timeframe would have been even more relaxing.

That said, I wouldn’t change the experience itself.

Italy was hands-down my favorite. The food, the scenery, the slower pace—it completely stole my heart.

More than anything, I’m so thankful we still took the trip, even though it unexpectedly became our babymoon. It gave us one last adventure together before becoming a family of five, and those memories are something we’ll cherish forever.

If you’re planning a Europe trip and have questions about our itinerary, hotels, restaurants, or anything else, let me know! I’m always happy to share all the details.

Bon Vogue, XXX McKenzie