It’s widely known that some countries and cities are very “baby-friendly,” while others might be a little scarier. Choosing a destination for travel with a baby is a big deal, as it will determine the course of your trip!

A lot of baby-friendliness comes down to how widely babies are welcomed (resorts and cruises, as well as some hotels) or how child-friendly the available activities might be. Let’s take a look at what to consider.

Tips from other parents

The best thing to do is to ask other parents what their experiences have been like.

Ask around friends and family

Even better, ask friends and family who live the closest to you. Where did they go first? How long did they spend? When did they take their first flight with their baby?

Early on, we learned from my aunt and uncle that when my cousin was born, they had to go to a wedding that was already on the calendar and flew with my cousin when she was three weeks old! The more you ask around, the more you learn, and the more you’ll see what can be done.

Post in Facebook groups

Post questions or ask around in Facebook groups where great baby travel destinations have been for others. Try groups on Facebook like Families Love Travel and Families Who Love to Travel.

Read family travel blogs!

Of course, read our travel blog, but read other ones, too! Use search phrases like “best destinations for traveling with a newborn,” or “best easy family travel destinations.” If you’ll be driving, use phrases in your Google search like, “Best baby-friendly destinations near city.”

Availability of “baby things”

If you take your first trip and you realize, “OMG, where are all the changing tables?” it may be because you’re not in a baby-friendly place. What we realized is that a baby-friendly destination means there will be high chairs and changing tables in public places.

Some generalizations

After traveling quite a bit with a child under 2 years, we realized the things we needed in order to successfully (and politely) travel with a baby. We were even sometimes shocked in NYC if we went to a small restaurant, that the tiny bathrooms did not have changing tables, and we had to do a diaper change on two chairs pulled together, with the permission of the waitstaff, at a quiet off hour.

Generalizations from our experience: Canada was great (changing tables in public restrooms), Colombia had barely had any changing tables anywhere and the same went for Mexico — and that was in major cities, for both those countries!

In general, you will find the most baby-friendliness in the US and Canada and much of Western Europe. For other countries, be prepared to do diaper changes on the ground, and to bring your own high chair.

Helpful Tip

You can bring your own collapsible high chair and attach it to the seat, when your child starts the age of needing a place to sit at meals. If you don’t have a high chair, your child can sit on your lap or in their stroller.

Reviews of cruises and resorts

  • Are there lots of families with babies?
  • Are things like cribs available? Babysitting? Baby pools? Child activities?

Attitude toward parents with babies in a place

  • Would bringing a baby to local restaurants be welcomed, or looked down upon?

General safety

  • We’ve never considered bringing our baby to a “dangerous” place, even though we’ve been to “developing countries” as a young family. Check travel.gov for all things safety.
  • Research safety and crime beforehand, as well as general safety on being out after dark.

Sidewalks, strollers and elevators

These are things we never thought twice about as parents before we had a child with us on our trips. But this is actually a HUGE consideration, and we’ll tell you why.

Stroller-friendliness

Using our stroller in a destination is a big deal! It’s something we nearly HAVE to do, with our baby. We’ve had different experiences in different places and having learned from some experiences, it’s something we are now looking for in our destination choices.

Example: In the Poblado neighborhood of Medellin, Colombia, which is known for being incredibly hilly, most curbs weren’t cut for wheels, and there was a lot of traffic. The sidewalks were pretty busy as well. We’ve been before and knew that the stroller wasn’t going to be easy. We decided to carry our daughter or use the baby carrier instead of having the stroller all day. This was TIRING, to say the least.

Second example: In Mexico City, we did some research and found that it is VERY-stroller friendly–even to a surprising degree. Most curbs are cut for wheels, and in most areas that we went to, there were plenty of accessible sidewalks. This is the kind of thing we now tell families when they’re deciding if they should go to Mexico City! (And you can read our guide all about Mexico City with a baby or toddler.)

Elevators

Find out from families who’ve gone, or by asking in Facebook groups, if public places equipped with elevators, or will you have to be carrying your stroller and taking out your child in places like train stations, metros or even your hotel?

Even the “close-to-home” destination of NYC shocks a lot of visitors in that the large majority of subway stations for riding the city’s metro system do NOT have elevators. They’re just too old and haven’t been updated. Many of the newer stations, or those that service multiple lines and act as hubs, have elevators (but a lot are dirty!). It’s things like these that tend to make or break a trip with a stroller. You can even see more at our guide to NYC travel with a baby.