I recently came across City Walks With Kids travel guides and can’t believe Little M and I ever traveled without them! They make me want to ditch the traditional guidebooks and grab these ‘travel decks’ which consist of a beautiful fold-out map and a set of 50 compact cards. Each card features a kid-friendly adventure through the city on one side, on foot of course, with a handy map on the other.

Little M and I got copies of the New York and San Francisco guides and we loved them so much that we couldn’t put them down! Well, I loved reading them and he enjoyed pulling each card out of the box and putting them all in again! Parks, museums, historical sights, hidden gems and popular tourist attractions are just some of the places listed on the cards. Family-friendly places to stop for a bite are listed too; the New York guide includes everything from the best place for frozen hot chocolate to family-friendly gourmet pizzerias.

The idea of an entire itinerary on one card is especially appealing, who wouldn’t love spending each morning mapping out your day, tossing just those cards into your bag and hitting the road? Walking is definitely the best way to explore any new place with Little M. Not only can we take our time and go at our own pace, but it also allows him the opportunity to stop along the way and examine all the little things that spark his interest. After all, as most parents know, traveling with kids is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.

The guides are available for New York, Paris (pictured below), London, San Francisco and Washington, DC. You can find them here and on Amazon.