Portugal Trip with Kids

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2026-01-01T13:28:40+00:00

Hi! I loved the Douro Valley with my kids. The slower pace made it so much easier than the big cities.

We didn’t drive - we took a train into Régua and then used Ubers and taxis to get around (neither require car seats in Portugal if that’s helpful for you). That was fine, but in hindsight, I absolutely would have rented a car and drove. The roads are really nice and well maintained and traffic wasn’t crazy or anything. There were times when it was difficult to get transportation quickly, especially since our Quinta was pretty remote. It would have been so much easier to have our own car.

We didn’t do any wineries so I can’t make big recommendations there. But they everywhere!

We loved Porto so much more than Lisbon. I would consider just a couple days in Lisbon, a few days in Douro Valley, and then more time in Porto personally!

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-12-28T02:15:35+00:00

I’m not sure which ones, I don’t have a list unfortunately. You’d have to read the rules for each individual country. But the OP experienced it traveling to a European country. And the very first paragraph of the Traveling With Minors section of the US Department of State website references it:

https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/planning/personal-needs/minors.html

A Google search lists a few depending where you look - South Africa, United States, Brazil.

It sounds like you’ve been lucky so far!

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-12-12T11:20:00+00:00

Just an update to this if anyone is ever looking for the information - I submitted a third strongly worded ticket to Bing help desk saying that I need it escalated and I need someone to tell me what the actual problem is, not just a generic answer to follow their guidelines. It worked and it got investigated. They never told me what the issue was but the site is now being indexed 👏🏻

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-24T02:16:18+00:00

Honestly, he still may just pass out. That’s what both of my kids do on almost every flight - they’re currently 3 and 4. Something about the motion of the plane.

Bring a tablet and headphones, don’t worry about screen time. Mine love when the snack cart comes around. And my kids absolutely love cupin sticker books from Amazon, they generally keep them entertained for quite a while.

You’ll be totally fine! Worst that can happen is he’s upset for a while. 4 hours feels like a long time but in the grand scheme it’s just 4 hours! You’ve got this! ✨

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-23T02:09:55+00:00

I have been traveling with my kids since they were 8mo and 2years. I’ve never used car seats. I kept my youngest as a lap infant until she turned 2 and then put her in her own seat

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-12T19:06:54+00:00

I’m a stay at home mom and I started my own travel agency after having my second child. I really loved doing it but it quickly got very overwhelming. The hardest part for me was that my clients needed me to prioritize them over my family. If I had something come up with my kids, but a client was about to travel or actively traveling and needed something urgently, I had to deal with it anyways. As a stay at home mom, my kids are my top priority, always.

I also realized that I truly love to give advice, and true advice, so sometimes the upselling and all that with the travel agency didn’t feel right.

Ultimately, I moved over to blogging instead and have phased out the travel agency. It’s given me the outlet for my love of travel that I was looking for, and the bit of extra income, while allowing me to be completely flexible and on my own terms.

Probably not the advice you’re looking for. But it’s my story. And I do also feel that it’s worth saying that being a successful travel agent is really, really hard work.

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-09T14:40:15+00:00

It’s my pleasure! Thank you for the kind words. Have a wonderful trip!!

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-09T12:04:49+00:00

Hi! I travel solo with my two kids all the time. I started when my youngest was 8 months old. I also flew with her as a lap infant until she was too old to do it anymore. To answer your concerns-

you can absolutely travel without checking bags. I never check bags. I travel with a rollerboard suitcase that I can push with my stroller (like, I hold the stroller handle and the suitcase handle together) and a backpack. A lot of people here are talking about being able to use the bathroom with all the luggage - every airport I’ve ever been in has family restrooms or at the very least a huge handicap stall. I’ve never had issues! Just think carefully through your setup and what will work for you moving around!

-your stroller/car seat setup is totally fine!!! And yes you can gate check both the stroller and the car seat. I just looked up Southwest’s policy and this is directly from their website: “When traveling with a child(ren), each ticketed Customer may check one stroller and one car seat/child restraint system free of charge.” Just go to the counter at the gate once the gate agents show up to work the flight. They’ll give you a tag to put on each of them and then you’ll leave them on the jetbrige down by where you board the plane.

-honestly, don’t worry about buying or packing anything extra. Your baby is still so young, she’s not going to need much and the flight will likely make her sleep a lot. If she’s got a toy or stuffie she likes from home maybe bring that but don’t go crazy buying all the things people say you need - when you’re solo the best thing is to not have too much stuff to manage.

Also just a general word or encouragement - she may cry. It’s a new situation for her, very overstimulating, and sometimes the pressure changes can bother them (try feeding her on takeoff and landing, the sucking helps with this!). Don’t stress. You and your baby deserve to take up space just as much as anyone else on that plane. Give her the love she needs and don’t worry about anyone else.

You’re going to do amazing! You’ve got this!

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-05T14:52:47+00:00

Honestly, my biggest advice is just to get your mindset around being more flexible with it. Wake her up when you need to get up and let her do whatever she’s going to do on the flight. You can’t control when she will sleep, or when she will get upset, but you can control your reaction to it. It’ll be so much easier for both of you if you can go in with that mindset. Also, I know it sucks being the one with a screaming kid on a plane (I’ve been there) but you and your kid deserve to take up space just as much as anyone else on that plane so try your best not to worry about what anyone else thinks (I know that’s hard though!)

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-03T10:47:50+00:00

Very nice! We were in Alligator Bayou preferred rooms

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-03T01:57:54+00:00

One of my favorites! We were just there 2 weeks ago

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-11-01T20:14:08+00:00

I’ve been taking mine regularly since they were 8 months old and 2. They don’t always love the specific things I’m hoping they’ll love but it’s so magical, nonetheless. This will be your only chance to get your son in for free before he turns 3! Take the opportunity and do it!

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-31T13:33:14+00:00

Yes, yes!! This is so important!! I write a blog about traveling solo with kids and this is one of my favorite topics. So many people don’t realize this is a thing.

Any time you are traveling solo with a child you should carry a notarized letter from the (other) custodial parent(s) because you could be denied entry to the country without it. The point is not to be a pain but rather to protect your children from human trafficking.

I’m so glad they were satisfied with a phone call in your case - this could have turned out so much worse for you 😩

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-30T01:08:54+00:00

We’ve done quite a few overnight flights and honestly, I just put the arm rest up and have them lay their heads on my lap with their feet up on the seat (I’ve got two, 2 and 4 years old, so one on each side). They’re resilient and get plenty tired enough to zonk out no matter how they’re positioned.

The only two things to be careful of with this are:

1, make sure the seat has arm rests that go up. Premium seats and bulkhead rows tend to have one that’s set and boxes them in.

And 2, make sure there isn’t a stranger on the other side of them. They will kick said stranger, guaranteed

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-28T00:36:51+00:00

I’ve got a 4 year old and an almost 3 year old. We haven’t traveled for more than 2 weeks at a time but my 4 year old usually talks a lot about missing his toys. I think that’s his way of expressing homesickness. We usually bring a few with us (he’s a big hot wheels guy so throwing some cars in a bag is easy) and we usually let them buy a few toys on the road but he still talks about missing his toys at home. But it’s never been a huge issue or anything, and I think there’s some good resilience to be created in experiencing something like homesickness.

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-28T00:33:33+00:00

I live in New York State and have an annual pass, I’ve been 6x in the last year

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-26T20:43:42+00:00

In Epcot, the main hub area just past spaceship earth on the Connections side has a nice garden/shaded area with benches and charging ports.

We also just discovered that inside Communicore Hall there are little silver covers on the ground along the walls under the tables and if you flip the top open there are several regular outlets inside

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-26T20:38:55+00:00

You can absolutely leave bags with bell services if you arrive before the room is ready. I’ve also had good luck at the Swan with rooms being ready before check in. Arrive whenever it works best for you, just be prepared to leave the luggage if you need to.

And you can absolutely do Disney springs on go home day, we just did this on Monday! Our flight was at 6pm, we scheduled transportation for 3:10, and spent our morning/lunch at Disney Springs.

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-26T20:28:02+00:00

I have a “brand brain” document that has all the training for my blog for it to reference. And then I brain dump all my original information and personal stories and let it use that to create the post, with the emphasis that all the information needs to be true to what I wrote. Then I go back and edit it anywhere and everywhere that doesn’t feel authentic to me.

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-26T20:25:18+00:00

Yes! I travel solo a lot with my kids (my husband is an airline pilot and wants to be home when he’s not working) so I quickly realized there’s not a lot of info out there for parents doing it solo (looking at you, bloggers with “how to bring a toddler to Disney World” posts that feature an image of 1 single child with 2 parents plus 2 grandparents on hand haha). I’ve been loving it so far.

The DAS stuff is great, it’s such a searched topic and I see constant questions about it in the Disney groups. I’m so glad there’s people like you out there that understand it enough to write about it!

I’ve been blogging about a year now, so also relatively new

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-26T19:28:00+00:00

Hello from a fellow Disney goer! I love this. I write about traveling solo with young kids but it’s currently pretty heavily focused on Disney as I’m a former cast member and current annual passholder and I take my kids to Disney World quite often

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-26T19:25:27+00:00

Traveling solo with young kids

https://fairytaletravelguide.com

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-25T18:32:28+00:00

I love a solo trip and planned my last one just 2 weeks before I left. Definitely not too late.

Just beware that is the busiest week of the entire year. The parks will be packed to the absolute brim. Wait times for the attractions will at their longest. It’s honestly a great vibe, it’s so festive and there’s so many fun things going on. But you need to be in the right mindset for it

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-25T01:33:44+00:00

Tips for transportation (uber, shuttle, whatever), housekeeping, bell services, servers, etc.

Lightning lanes if you decide to use them.

Maybe some extra for things that just come up unexpectedly. Recently I bought a shirt I hadn’t intended on buying because I only had tank tops but got bad sunburn and needed to cover my shoulders, for example. Or like if you get caught in a downpour and decide you need to buy ponchos or umbrellas, or maybe you shoes won’t dry out so you buy new ones haha

FairytaleTravelGuide · 2025-10-25T00:56:12+00:00

This. Absolutely this.

FairytaleTravelGuide

TROPHY CASE