Europe has been on our bucket list to visit as a family, and a few weeks ago, we finally crossed it off! We decided to split up two weeks between Iceland and Switzerland, and I’m sharing our entire Europe itinerary in this post. Our boys are 7 and 9 years old for reference! 

Planning the Europe Trip

We booked our entire Europe trip through Robyn Crist with Sea Wings Travel. She booked all of our hotels, excursions, and car/train transports for both Iceland and Switzerland. We booked flights on our own.

Navigating some of the international websites can be very confusing and I’m so glad we had someone experienced to book everything for us! We didn’t have to pay any extra money to book with her, either!

First Half of the Europe Trip: Iceland

We decided to fly Icelandair out of Orlando (MCO) so that we could catch a direct flight. When you fly transatlantic with Icelandair, you can choose to add a Stopover in Iceland at no additional charge (up to 1 week).

This was a red-eye flight (most from North America are) and took roughly 7 hours. We did upgrade our seats to Saga Premium, which is Icelandair’s premium cabin class (very similar to first class on a domestic flight in the USA), and loved having a little extra room.

The seats are a lot bigger but do not lie flat so be prepared for little sleep and powering through the first day! This is exactly what we did!

I wore and brought some of my favorite staples so that I could feel comfy but also put-together.

Shop my red-eye flight to Europe #OOTD here.

Lodging in Iceland

After arriving in Iceland, we took a 45 minute cab from the airport to the Reykjavik EDITION, a 5-star hotel in the heart of downtown Reykjavik by Old Harbor port.

We loved being in the middle of downtown! There are so many restaurants and shops within walking distance and various spaces for the kids to run around.

A note about transport – there isn’t Uber in Iceland but we had no issues getting taxis through our hotel! There are also local taxi apps if you want to book a ride that way.

Whale Watching Tour + Nature Museum

On our first full day, we did a 3 hour whale watching tour with Elding. This was a 10/10 experience and something I highly recommend doing! We were able to explore Faxaflói bay and saw several humpback whales, minke whales, and dolphins, too!

Shop my whale watching outfit of the day here.

For lunch, we stopped at Mama Reykjavik – a plant-based eatery within walking distance and absolutely delicious! I ordered the curry dish + we shared several appetizers!

We spent the rest of the afternoon learning about Icelandic nature at Perlan Interactive Nature Museum, which was a short cab ride to our hotel. Check out the ice cave we got to go into! The kids especially loved this part.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then walked over to Loo.Koo.Mas for vegan-friendly Greek donuts, complete with whatever toppings you want. Highly recommend a stop here for dessert if you visit Reykjavík!

Golden Circle and Snowmobile Adventure

We knew we wanted to see as much of Iceland as possible and booked a 10 hour Pearl Tour, which included the Golden Circle and snowmobile adventure! There was truly a treat and something we all enjoyed. The kids loved riding in the Super Jeep!

We stopped to see waterfalls, visited the Geysir hot spring area, stopped at Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park (where you can walk directly between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates) and went on a one hour snowmobiling tour over Langjökull Glacier!

Kids must be at least 6-years-old to do this part and ride as a passenger. It was a long day but didn’t *feel* like it because of the various stops we did along the way! 

Here’s my Europe #OOTD for the 10 hour tour. I highly recommend my easy-to-pack rain jacket! It is waterproof and wind resistant and kept me SO warm + dry!

The Blue Lagoon: Officially Crossed Off My Bucketlist!

We went to the Blue Lagoon on our last full day in Iceland. This is something that was on my personal bucket list and it didn’t disappoint! The water is 98-104 degrees warm and felt SO good!

We signed up for premier tickets, which includes:

• Unlimited use of the steam bath, sauna, and colder lagoon
• Silica mud mask at the mask bar + two additional masks of your choice, as well as a 10 ml Silica mud mask 10 ml to take home
• Use of towel, bathrobe shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizer, and one drink of your choice at the in-water bar.

My husband and I also took turns getting a 1-hour in-water massage treatment! 

There’s a sit-down restaurant and also quick-service cafe with food. We wore normal clothes there and changed into our bathing suits when we got there.

Shop my swimsuit here.

We did an early dinner at Himalayan Spice, a Nepalese restaurant within walking distance of our hotel.

There were several vegan-friendly dishes on the menu! This was one of the best meals we had during our stay in Iceland! 

Second Half of Europe Trip: Switzerland

We then began the second half of our Europe trip: Switzerland! This day, we took a relatively quick flight to Zurich which is just under 4 hours from Iceland.

Here’s my Europe travel #OOTD:

We stayed at Alex Lake–a 5-star hotel on Lake Zurich, and a 30 minute ride from the airport– and were absolutely blown away by this property! We booked a suite with 2 bedrooms and had ample room for us and the kids. The views of the lake are incredible here!

We took a cab into town and grabbed an early dinner at Cantinetta Antinori. This is some of the best Italian food we have ever had and would go back here again! 10/10!!

Here’s what I wore to dinner:

Lake Cruise + Lindt Chocolate

The next day, we did a tour of Zurich, which included a lake cruise and stop at Lindt Chocolate! This was a lot of fun and allowed us to see parts of the Old Town, and end the day with taste testing chocolates (our kids especially loved this)!!

My Zurich #OOTD:

For dinner, we stopped at the first vegetarian restaurant in the world, Hiltl! This is a buffet style and everything tasted SO fresh!! There were tons of vegan options, too! 

We ended the day with a dip in the lake, which we had access to right at the hotel. We visited Switzerland during a heatwave and there were so many people in the water! It felt great!!

The Zurich Zoo: A Surprise Animal!

We spent the following day at the Zurich Zoo and wow! This is such an impressive property with SO many different kinds of animals! This is definitely the nicest zoo we have ever been to. You could easily spend all day here and there are several places you can stop and eat or get a snack.

Our kids were SO excited to see a red panda, especially since they are an endangered species and rare to see!

My zoo outfit here: 

For dinner, we went to Portofino, which was right down the road from our hotel. This restaurant is situated on Lake Zurich and has the prettiest views!

Here’s what I wore to dinner:

There’s also a playground next door, which our boys loved! They played while we waited on the food and it felt like my husband and I were on a date 🙂 We ordered various pizzas and pastas and everything was a 10/10!

Lake Lucerne: Traveling and Lodging

We hopped on a 3 hour train ride over to Lucerne for the next leg of our Europe trip to stay at the Grand Hotel National Luzern, a 5-star lakeside property with gorgeous Alpine and Lake views. 

We were starving and grabbed dinner at Ristorante Salvatore, a delicious Italian restaurant on the property.

After dinner, we walked alone the lakeside promenade and grabbed some sorbet from one of the stands nearby. This path featured paved walking paths and tree-lined docks, plus beautiful views of the lake!

My #OOTD: 

The Golden Round Trip: A Full Day Excursion

The next day, we did the “Golden Round Trip.” This is a full day excursion from Lucerne and takes you to nearby Mt. Pilatus. The trip includes a boat ride on Lake Lucerne, plus rides on the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, aerial cableway and panorama gondolas the breathtaking spots around Mt. Pilatus and to the summit.

You could truly spend all day doing this and I wish we would have gotten an earlier start to the day so we could have done more! There’s lot of hiking, a really cool playground we stopped at, rope park, toboggan run, ziplining and more!

Afterwards, we ate at the Restaurant Pilatus Klum and it was delicious! 

My outfit for the Golden Round Trip here: 

The Train Ride to Geneva

The next day, we headed to the train station for a 3 hour train ride to Geneva.

My train travel #OOTD:

Overall, we have been very impressed with the Swiss trains. They are on time, and there’s ample places to pick up food in the stations that you can bring something to eat on the train.

It’s a little stressful getting on the trains when you have a lot of luggage like we did (4 pieces). My husband handled all of the luggage and I went up grab us 4 seats as soon as the doors opened. We upgraded all of our train tickets to first class and it was 100% worth it to us! Tons of room and places to put your luggage!

Final Stay in Europe: Mandarin Oriental in Geneva

We checked-in to the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva for our final few days. This is a 5-star hotel in a great location (within walking distance of restaurants and shopping) and beautiful views of the mountains and Rhône River. We booked a 2 bedroom suite and it was humongous! The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful!

We didn’t have big plans in Geneva other than shopping, eating and exploring around town.

Two of our favorite meals were at Pasta People and Da Paola, both Italian restaurants. We found that it was easiest to find vegan-friendly and kid-friendly foods at the Italian restaurants and loved both of our meals here! Most places had English menus and the servers spoke (some) English as well so it was fairly easy to order around Switzerland!  

We also stopped at the local merry-go-round and Ferris wheel in town and the kids really enjoy that! My husband found a really gorgeous park with a cool playground, Parc La Grange, just on the outskirts of the city and we spent one afternoon there. It was nice taking a few days slow!

We dabbled in some luxury shopping in Geneva and took advantage of the VAT refund upon our return to the USA. If you are resident outside the EU, you are entitled to a VAT refund (this is the value added tax) on goods you have bought during your stay if the goods are shown to customs on departure.

I purchased a bag from Chanel and they actually filled out my initial VAT paperwork there, which was very helpful!

Traveling From Europe Back to the US

We returned to Zurich for our flight back to the United States and made it home with no issues!

My Europe to USA travel #OOTD: 

We were shocked at how easy it was to make our way through customs upon arrival in America. Our flight landed around 9 p.m., so maybe this is why there were lighter lines.

All in all, we had an incredible trip to Iceland and Switzerland and are so excited to plan our return to Europe next summer!

Need more ideas for family vacations? Check out all my other travel posts.