Travelling With Children – Top Tips For A Stress Free Travel Experience

Travelling with children can be a difficult experience for parents and caregivers – as well as worrying about the children’s safety there are other considerations such as how to keep them occupied during a long journey and how to make sure that their behaviour doesn't turn the whole experience into the stuff of nightmares.

All parents will know that when travelling you need to keep track of where the kids are at all times to keep them safe – this can be quite a challenge when you also need to keep track of your luggage, travel documents, money, etc. Children will often become tired and bored on long journeys and this can lead to challenging behaviour such as temper and tantrums. Here are some top tips on how to make sure that travelling with children is a relatively stress-free experience.

Give yourself plenty of time to get there – this is especially important if you need to be at a particular place at a set time, such as travelling to the airport for a flight or travelling to a station for a particular train. It always takes longer than you expect when the kids are travelling with you and the last thing you want is to be rushing with children and luggage in tow.

If you’re staying in hotels, then check that the hotel you choose is family-friendly and that children are welcome. If you’re on holiday, then so are the children and you’ll need to choose somewhere to stay that welcomes children.

Make sure that you book the accommodation well in advance – turning up and finding a hotel or somewhere to stay can be easy for singles or couples, but it can be pretty fraught if you have the whole family with you and vacancies are in short supply.

Try to choose resorts or hotels that have a Kids’ Club of some sort that offers supervised activities for the children. Not only will this make the holiday more enjoyable for the children, it will ensure that they mix with other children for extra fun and will give parents a well-earned break so that they can kick back and relax too.

Load some kids’ games or apps on your Smartphone or tablet to keep the children occupied during the journey – if you have more than one child, then get them to take it in turns. Let each child pack a rucksack with some favourite toys, pencils or felts, paper or colouring books, etc – this should keep them occupied during the journey. Each child should be responsible for carrying their own rucksack and keeping track of it at all times. Pack a selection of healthy snacks that you can dish out when the children need distracting – small packs of dried fruit, nuts, trail mix and some sweets will not only brighten them up, a munch will also give them an energy boost when they are becoming tired and fractious. If you have small children, then self-catering accommodation can be a far more flexible option. Not only will you be able to make sandwiches to take on day trips, you’ll probably also have laundry facilities that will cut down on the amount of clothes you need to pack.