EU without Borders: Schengen… with Kids!

Is it too early to teach “geo-political history” to your 3 and 7-year old kids?

On the way to Freiburg, Germany we scheduled a stop at Schengen; a day following a kid-friendly one-day visit to Luxembourg City. After all Schengen was only a 40-kilometer (35-minute) drive. And it was where the whole idea of a “European Union without borders” was born. You know, the one that lets us travel from Spain to Poland and back, crisscrossing many other countries in the Schengen area, without the need to show passports?

A young boy playing in a plaza with European flags. A river and a bridge in the background.

Text on picture reads: www.FreeElectrons.Family. — Our kids find a way to play among the flags and Kaj “waves” the Spanish flag at the Columns of Nations, Schengen, Luxembourg.

Yup, it was here, in this wine-growing village, where the Schengen agreement was signed aboard a ship on a river where 3 countries meet in 1985. A buoy marks that point on the river. So, is it worth a stop and a strut?

Various informational brochures about Europe and the EU; one appears to be catered to children.

www.FreeElectrons.Family — Get FREE informational brochures, maps and books in multiple languages, especially one titled “Discover Europe” (for children).

SCHENGEN: FAMILY-FRIENDLY ONE-DAY ITINERARY . . . WITH KIDS

First stop: Go to the “Centre Européen” (the European Information Center) with a small museum that, of course, lets you interactively experience the history of the Schengen agreement and everything you need to know, it seems, about a borderless Europe. This museum is FREE!

A photo of a brochure titled "Excursion of Schengen: a stroll around historical terrain" with a picturesque view of small village overlooking the river and the vineyards on the other side.

Other text on picture reads: "Schengen" and www.FreeElectrons.Family. — **Excursion of Schengen**: a self-guided walking tour that gives a picturesque view of the small village overlooking the river where Luxembourg, Germany and France meet.

It’s fun too for the kids and the family, with its interactive modules, and especially a small area for the little ones with activities where they can create and stamp their own “Schengen Passport”. Groups and schools (for children between 8 and 12) can also apparently arrange for a tour catered specifically for youngsters.

A photo of a book turned to the pages with caricatures showing how to say "bread" in all the 26 countries of the EU. Children's dolls posed on the sides.

www.FreeElectrons.Family. — From one of the kid-friendly informational brochures about Europe: how to say “bread” in all the countries of the European Union.

The center is where you can also obtain tons of informational materials about Schengen and the EU, like maps, brochures and even a kid-friendly book called “Discover Europe“–all available in multiple languages. You can even request several maps and copies for your own school; just request it from the receptionist.

A young boy smiles as he listens to one of the interactive modules inside the European museum of Schengen.

www.FreeElectrons.Family — Have fun learning about history inside the interactive European museum of Schengen.

Two young boys engage in interactive activities at an area for children inside the European museum of Schengen.

www.FreeElectrons.Family — Children’s small but engaging and fun section inside the European museum of Schengen.

From the same place, request a self-guided tour booklet called “Excursion of Schengen“. It is a guide for a walking tour that goes around the village and gives you a higher vantage point to observe the vineyards overlooking the historic Moselle river while proving bits of history about the following places of interest:

Centre Européen” (the European Information Center)
A Pontoon where the Tourist Information Center is located
Columns of Nations
Berln Wall
Alley of Limes
Promenade “Esplanade”
Monument of the Schengen Agreement
Pavilion
Passage
Winery Lucien Gloden
Winery Paul Legill
Winery Domaine Henri Ruppert
Markus Tower
a former treadmill
Sandstone Crucifix with Sundial
Metal Sculpture
“Kockhaus” (Congree and Conference Center
Europlatz (Europe Suare) with memorial stone
Salvator Mundi parish church
Castle of Schengen

Two young boys playing in a plaza with a Polish flag; A river and a bridge in the background.

www.FreeElectrons.Family — Polska! Polska! “We found it!”

In actuality, this is no more than a half-day trip. But you can stretch it to a full day if you really want to just chill and take in the beauty and tranquility of the surrounding wine regions of Luxembourg, Germany and France.

Have some rest and recreation at the nearby Krautergarten or some freeplay at Schlosspark. A rental bicycle from the tourist office can go a long way. Or a walk along the quiet river. Perhaps enjoying white Moselle wine, if time and the children would permit?

A section of pontoon with parked bicycles for rent, on a river with a buoy that marks where the Schengen Agreement was signed. . . in the distance.

www.FreeElectrons.Family — Rental bikes available at the tourist information office. In the distance, you can see the buoy that marks where the Schengen Agreement was signed.

Schengen could have given us a chance to slow down and take a deep breath and take in the beauty and tranquility of this small dot on the face of the earth. And yet, we had to move on after a couple of hours because we had to be in Freiburg at a certain time tonight for a date with a friend whom we had not seen in a while.

So, on the 26th day (in total) of our camping road trip this summer. . . we had to move onward and southward!