There’s a lot to think about when you’re planning a trip with kids, especially if you’re used to being a solo traveler that can just chuck some clothes in a bag and grab your passport.
From ensuring they’re entertained on long travel days to balancing the holiday experience with sticking to some form of routine, a well thought out and structured plan is essential for making the process stress-free and enjoyable.
Planning a trip with kids in tow is about more than just choosing the perfect destination, it’s about making sure that every part of your trip is tailored to the family experience. It required a bit more foresight and creativity but the reward is an unforgettable family adventure.
What’s in this post
In this post we delve into what you need to consider when planning a trip with kids based on what we’ve done right, done wrong, and leant while traveling with our own two children.
We also answer some common questions about traveling with kids including where to start planning, how to make traveling with kids easier, and what is the best age to start travelling with your kids.
If there’s something on this list you’re particularly interested in you can skip straight there by clicking on that section in the contents below. If not, then scroll down to read about what you need to consider when planning a trip with kids.
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Be consistent with some routine
I’m a huge advocate of going with the flow and letting some things slide when you’re travelling with kids but I do think it’s less stressful if you can consider their routine and try to stick to some of it.
Of course, you’re going to need to flex if you’re in a different country or on a travel day but don’t just throw everything out of the window.
It could be as simple as planning to leave for a road trip early in the morning if they’re car sleepers, or choosing an overnight flight for long haul so they can get settled and fall asleep around their normal bedtime.
Start with somewhere familiar
If you’re new to family travel or travelling with your own kids then start off with places that you’ve been to before. You won’t feel the need to rush around and see every single sight and attraction because you’ve seen it all.
You can take it a little slower and hit just the highlights. It doesn’t even need to be abroad, you might just book a weekend break a couple of hours away to get used to not being in your own home.
Pack the essentials
There’s tons of things you need to think about, remember and pack when traveling with kids so consider what your essentials are and be prepared. These are the two pieces that we’ve found most useful and that people often forget,
Extension cable: a lot of hotels have one or two single plugs, this isn’t enough to charge phones, tablets, battery packs and still use your hairdryer. Bringing an extension cable gives you 4 or 5 plugs off one hotel plug and you only need one adapter too.
First aid kit: I speak from experience when I say that if you need medicine for your child when you’re abroad and you don’t know what to get or where the nearest pharmacy is it’s so stressful – even worse if they fall sick in the middle of the night! As a minimum I always take the kid versions of antihistamines, paracetamol, ibuprofen, plasters and painkiller tablets for the adults.
We also prepare an individual backpack for each of our kids every time we travel, we’ve found this to be particularly helpful when flying. They include stickers, favorite snacks, a couple of drinks, a small new toy, a book, and their tablets. They’re young kids so need to be entertained or it’s more stressful for everyone – if you prepare something simple to keep them busy you’ll find traveling so much easier.
We LOVE the Hype Backpack, both of our kids have their own one and it’s always the travel bag we use for all of their games and snacks. The reason they’re so great is that they have plenty of pockets, they’re really hard wearing, and have a surprising amount of room. You can pick them up in tons of different styles on Amazon for around £30.
Just start!
I hear so many parents who say that they’ve put off traveling with their kids because it’s too difficult, too stressful or they just don’t know where to start. Honestly, traveling with kids isn’t as hard as you think, it’s less stressful if you plan well and will be easier the more they get used to it. Ultimately, you don’t know what your experience is unless you just start!
When Jacob was just 6 months old we decided to take him on holiday and he didn’t agree with something while we were there. He was fine in himself but projectile vomiting and diarrhea all day for 3 days. We were first time parents and really didn’t plan very well. We ran out of nappies, melted a bottle in the microwave and had to buy soap to try and scrub the many sheets he’d ruined.
We still had a great holiday and now look back and laugh at the image of us scrubbing sheets on the balcony. It also didn’t put us off travelling with kids and taught us a lot about what to do when you’re away from home and things go wrong. The next year we took Jacob abroad again and if Finley hadn’t been born in 2020 we would have taken him abroad in his first year too.
Create a plan
I wish I was one of these people who can be spontaneous and arrive somewhere with no accommodation booked and no plans at all but I just can’t! I’m an organiser at home and in my day job so I like to have plans. I was like this before I had kids but now I’m even more planned, it just makes it easier and way less stressful.
Knowing exactly how we’re getting around, where we’re staying, what the area is like, where the good places to eat are, and what you can do around the area are all things you don’t need to think about when you’re trying to get from one end of the airport to the other without losing a child or passport. It also gives you time to find some cool kid friendly things to do and make sure you’re able to get them booked if they’re particularly popular.
Get the kids involved
Travel is exciting no matter what age you are! Get the kids involved in some part of the planning and build the excitement for your trip with them too. Here’s some ideas of how we’ve got our two boys excited in the holiday planning process before,
- Let Jacob click the button to book our holiday to Ibiza
- Watched Youtube videos of the rides before we went to Disneyland Paris and spoke about what rides we all wanted to do
- Let them choose an excursion or activity and actually do it!
- We teach them to count to 10 and say please, thank you and hello in the language of every country we’ll be visiting.
Let your expectations go
You’ve probably got a plan and vision for how your holiday is going to go, and it can be hard to put that aside if things don’t go exactly as you thought they would.
You need to learn how to let go of your expectations and be open to flexibility or you’ll risk letting what you thought the holiday was going to be ruin the holiday you’re having.
This could be the kids going to bed a bit later than planned, not doing an activity you’d expected to do, a restaurant not being open, arguments with the other people on your trip, bad weather – there are so many things that can start to go the wrong way, and even small things can have a big impact.
I quickly learnt that even the best plans can go awry in our 12 day visit to NYC with trips planned to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC along the way. I made a very detailed and colour coded plan for us to follow to make sure we saw everything we wanted to.
To save money we were staying in Hoboken so had to get the PATH into NYC each day, and on the first day we got on the wrong PATH train and ended up heading towards the wrong end of Manhattan.
It felt like all of that planning was wasted! We re-grouped and decided that rather than wasting more time travelling up Manhattan to start the day off as planned we would be flexible and switch our days around.
We also didn’t get to do everything we’d originally set out to but we still had an amazing time and got to experience tons of different things.
FAQs for planning a trip with kids
The easiest place to start planning a trip is with your destination, there’s really not much you can do until you’ve decided that.
What about if you don’t know where to go, where’s in budget or what kind of holiday you want to have?
Then the first thing you need to do is research and see what’s available. There are a few easy ways to do this,
– Search on travel agent or package holiday websites at destinations close by
– Look at popular travel destinations
– Read a few travel bucket list books
– Use social media for inspiration
– Look at existing bucket lists, you can even find specific bucket lists for families that have many things suitable for traveling with kids.
Once you’ve done this you’ll know what you can get for your budget and have a pretty good idea of the destinations that appeal most to you.
Don’t think you need to do this when you’re ready to book your holiday either, it’s a good idea to do this step when you’re thinking of starting to travel more and create a bucket list for you to pull ideas from when you’re ready to book.
I cannot stress enough that unless you’re a confident traveller, planning is really important to have a stress-free travel experience with kids.
At a bare minimum you should plan where you’re going to stay, an outline of an activity, plan where you’re going to stay, and plan something to keep them entertained on those long travel days.
I know there’s supposed to be the perfect time to book holidays but we’ve always booked at different times and managed to find a deal.
If it’s a long haul destination we normally try and plan a year ahead as we book flights as soon as they’re available and do a DIY holiday with separate accommodation.
However, for short haul we’ve booked anywhere from 18 months to 6 weeks ahead and found great deals for package holidays and DIY vacations.
If you’re nervous about traveling or aren’t very experienced then you might find it easier to book further in advance so you know what you’ve got booked and have plenty of time to plan all of the details.
We’ve found that the easiest age to travel with kids is age five and above.
They understand what’s going on, get really excited, are relatively easy to keep entertained and you don’t need as much bulky equipment with them like a pushchair.
We’ve found that the hardest age to travel with a child is under three years old.
They don’t understand what’s happening, they’re more susceptible to catching an illness, everything has to be correctly sterilised, there’s so much equipment to bring with you, and they don’t get their own seat on some transport like planes meaning they’re on your lap.
Summary of planning a trip with kids
By most standards we’ve travelled pretty extensively with our kids and these are the top three tips I always stick by when planning a family trip.
- Be prepared and take the stress out of your trip. Two things I absolutely could not travel without is a go bag for the kids with snacks, toys and electronics. Plus a first aid kit or just some basic medications, if something goes wrong and you need some painkillers or antihistamines there’s nothing more stressful than trying to figure out the name of what you need and where to find it.
- Get the kids involved in planning and booking the trip. It keeps them engaged, excited and ensures that when you get there you’ve included some stuff they really want to do – this is particularly important if they’re a bit older.
- Just start! If you keep putting it off and waiting for the perfect time or the perfect age you’re going to miss out on such amazing experiences. Some things may go wrong and that’s okay – you learn and know what to do on your next trip.
No matter how much more stressful, expensive or time consuming it is to travel with kids there’s nothing that compares to exploring the world with them and introducing them to new sights and experiences.