WORLD TRIP with 3 year old

What an exciting trip to be planning! Good luck with it all.

Just my 2 cents regarding the cultural festivals though... I am a brave soul when it comes to travelling with my kids, but I would personally avoid most of them with a toddler in tow. I think anywhere that will have a large influx of revellers, (especially rowdy / drunk ones etc), is probably going to amplify the difficulties of travelling with a toddler. I imagine queues for toilets, longer than usual waits for food / hotel check ins / transport etc and trying to navigate through a crowded street with an independant little one who doesn't want to be held / sit in a carrier or a pram.

Having said that, you are asking in the right place, perhaps someone on here can point you in the direction of the more child friendly ones. Again, good luck with the planning!

We are also taking off round the world with our kids ( 8 and 6) and hae travelled extensively with them already. I'd say not staying put for more than 2 weeks would be a mistake, slow travel is easier on families and you get a better feel for a country. But I understand that you want to pack as much as you can into 12 months. I wouldn't take a child to Tomatina, I know of young backpackers being injured there, a 3 year old would be in danger.
I can't think of any festivals for little ones off the top of my head, I think generally, as the above commentator said, best avoided. Shivaratri in Kathmandu in July was OK, not too crowded, but the saddhus may frighten a 3 year old. You will find plenty of cultural interest without hitting the crowds of the big festivals. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice of caution regarding festivals.

We actually will stay a MINIMUM of 2 weeks in any location to keep a slower pace of travel, preferably 1 month when possible.

I'm still hoping there will be some suggestions for festivals that might be better for a child.

Thanks again for the feedback!

wonderful plans! ;)

as for child-friendly festivals.... in mid August there is a street painting festival in northern Italy which is not too crowded nor rowdy

you can have a look at this video to get an idea of the festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7iq4gAWSeE

The "Madonnari":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89bM5TyF13g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_painting

And this is the small town where the festival is held
http://www.comune.curtatone.mn.it/index.php/sezioni-speciali/fiera-delle-grazie-sezioni/97-i-madonnari

Very exciting trip! I suggest you guys try the Yi Peng Lantern Festival Chiang Mai, Thailand held every November. Plus it would be a treat for your 3 year old to experience riding an elephant while you guys are in Thailand. Also Hongkong has an annual Winter Festival held late Nov.- January they have great firework displays and the city is alive with lights for the Christmas Festivities.

Happy Travels,
James @ BackpackerUniverse

We live in India and some of these festivals can be overwhelming. I think you'll miss most of the biggest ones though - Diwali is nice if you can attend it in someones home (a homestay perhaps?) or find a good vantage point to watch the fireworks (without being amongst them). Dussera before that is quite nice - no big celebration but everyone decorates their cars etc. Ganesh is also nice (it has a nice history attached to it) and I've always wanted to see the end of the festival, but it is very male dominated. Alot of tourists come for Holi, but I don't think I'd want my kids doing this with a bunch of strangers. Shivaratri is probably the one that you may overlap with. I have never been in India for it though. You could ask on the India branch what happens.

You can get a list of many Indian festivals on the website site. If you miss the big ones, you may be able to overlap some of the small ones which would be a nice time to visit the associated temples. Indian temples are nice for kids since they are often colourful, and kids don't have to be quiet! We recently attended a small dance in a local temples and it was really nice.

Thanks for the advice! Although we originally planned on focussing on Festivals, we had to finalize our itenerary based on weather and flight availability. We are actually circling the globe 2x- Yikes (with 3 year old!)
We would love suggestions for any of the areas and information on events/ festivals that might be happening during the times we are visiting.

Our tickets are bought and below is the itenerary:

June 2013-August 2013- Flying into London and tentative plans are to visit France, Italy, Croatia and Turkey.
Question here- Considering The Luberon in France- kid friendly? Where in Italy would anyone suggest parking for a few weeks? Croatia good idea?
September 2013- Flying to Nairobi for 1 month. Planning on Safari, but still researching kid friendly options. Might also visit Tanzania.
October 2013- mid November 2013- India. FESTIVALS PLANNED-Navratri in Gujurat, Diwali in Mumbai or Delhi, Pushkar Camel Festival in Rajastan
mid November 2013- mid- January 2014- fly into Hong Kong and will use as a hub to visit areas in SE Asia. Like the idea of Chiang Mai Thailand for lantern festival Nov 15-18 and Hong Kong for Christmas. Will definitely visit Vietnam. Any other suggestions welcome.
Mid January 2014- mid February 2014- visit home- Honolulu- for life logistics.
Mid-February 2014- late March- fly into Mexico City. FESTIVALS PLANNED-Mariposa Monarch Butterfly festival end of Feb. Then plan to vist Ecuador to go to Glapagos. Considering Peru. Again, suggestions welcome
April 2014- April 10, 2014- Fly into Helsinki. My son wants to see reindeer :)
April 10- Fly into Bangkok. FESTIVALS PLANNED-Songkaran Water Festival in Thailand
mid- April 2014 till July 2014-We use Bangkok as hub for SE Asia again and end in Australia or New Zealand. We want to enjoy the winter scene in Australia and hope to end there in June before heading back to Honolulu in early July.

Welcoming all suggestions!!

There are holidays over Diwali / Dussera in India. You'll need to book any train tickets well in advance (really well in advance). With a small child you should look at 1st Class if you can get it, or 2AC (but narrow bunks, which you have to share with the child). I don't know anything about Navratri but generally you are better trying to see something at a small scale with a child (in India). Crowds can be very large at times, and Indians just love children - particularly foreign ones. It can be overwhelming. For Diwali, try and stay in a homestay somewhere that might do the lighting of the lamps around the house. Preferably somewhere with a roof where you can sit out and watch the show. You don't want to be walking around the streets at this time. I live in a much quieter city and it can be like a war zone with crackers going off on the streets under cars etc. One of my kids really hated Diwali at around 3 - it was too loud and scary. The cheapest crackers are the really loud ones and they might be set-off outside your window all night....

Wouldn't it be better to fly from India to Thailand - particularly if you want to be there by mid November? Diwali is early November this year.

You are planning alot of flying in the space of a year. Each flight takes time and will probably get to be a hassle.

Just a thought, but one festival you have missed is Ramadan. In the right place (where you probably won't be I guess, since it is around July this year) it can be worth seeing. We live in a city with a large muslim population and Ramadan brings lots of special food dishes and the muslim sector of the city comes alive at night during this period. Of course this isn't terribly exciting for a 3 year old, but then I guess most of the festivals won't be.