Ten cities that hold a child's attention and spare the adults: zoos, science museums and theme parks, transit that takes a pushchair, and streets you can relax on.
Ranked by what each city gives children and the adults with them: sights built for or loved by kids, transit that works with a pushchair, and safety. Every pick hands off to a full city guide.
Built for families: the zoo, the Night Safari and the free water play of the Children's Garden at Gardens by the Bay. Children up to 0.9m ride trains and basic buses free with a paying adult, and every MRT station has a barrier-free entrance.
Low crime, clean streets and punctual trains with lifts in most stations. Up to two children aged one to six ride Tokyo Metro free with an adult, and Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea sit a short train ride east in Urayasu.
The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum charge nothing to enter, and up to four children under 11 ride the Tube free with a paying adult. Buses are free for under-11s and every bus has a space for a pushchair.
The ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo is the best twelve minutes of a family day in Sydney. Patrolled beaches at Bondi and Manly, and harbour parks with playgrounds, fill the rest; children aged three and under ride Opal services free.
Australia's theme-park capital: Sea World, Movie World, Wet'n'Wild and Dreamworld are a short drive apart. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary adds koalas and kangaroos, and patrolled surf beaches run the length of the city.
Hans Christian Andersen's birthplace, and H.C. Andersen's House, opened in 2021, turns his stories into rooms a child walks through. Odense Zoo is a bike ride along the river, and the compact old centre is flat and easy on foot.
Liseberg, the amusement park, is a walk from the centre, and Universeum next door keeps a rainforest with sloths and an ocean hall with sharks. Slottsskogen park has a free animal park and one of the city's best playgrounds.
Children aged 12 and under ride TransLink buses, SkyTrain and SeaBus free. Stanley Park's seawall is a flat ride for small bikes, Science World sits on the waterfront, and Granville Island has a market built for kids.
City beaches a metro ride from the centre, CosmoCaixa's science museum, and the old funfair on top of Tibidabo with the whole city below it. Late family dinners are normal here, so children fit in at any hour.
NEMO, the hands-on science museum with a free roof terrace, Artis zoo and the playgrounds of Vondelpark. Hire a cargo bike and the city opens up, and children under four ride GVB trams and metros free.
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