Traveling with children: 21 tips and tricks for parents

Traveling with children can be so beautiful. No matter if the classic summer vacation with the family in Spain, Italy, Greek islands or Croatia or a long-distance trip. Every vacation with a child requires a little preparation and planning.

For example, more and more parents are taking their parental leave to travel to distant countries with their children and to show them foreign cultures and regions outside Europe as early as possible.

There is also a lot to consider here.

We have compiled the best tips for you and your children on how to make traveling with children an unforgettable experience.

1. Find out

No matter which country you travel to, inform yourself in advance about your destination. For Western European countries, you can set yourself up to the same standards as in Germany.

The situation is often different for countries outside Europe.

Here you should make sure that there is sufficient medical care for emergencies. You can also find out which offers are available in the area for your holiday accommodation and which offers are available for children. Many hotels now offer child care or the like.

2. Plan together with the children

You should involve your children when preparing for the trip. Of course, this depends on the age of the children. Ask them about their ideas and wishes and look around the potential holiday region for possible excursion lines and activities.

So the children also know what vacation awaits them:

Adventure vacation with lots of exercise or beach vacation with plenty of time to relax.

Our tip: Provide your children with child-friendly information about the country before you go on vacation – use books or other media for this. This way your children have an eye-opening experience when they recognize things that they have read or seen before.

3. Stay relaxed

Don’t take on too much for a day. Turbo tourism is not possible when traveling with children. Plan enough free time in which the children have time to play. This way they process their travel impressions much more easily.

4. Check your vaccination protection

This is especially true for trips to distant countries, such as Asia or South America. Special vaccination regulations apply here, which you should definitely follow. Ask your pediatrician what vaccinations your children need.

Our tip: Before a long trip with children, you should have them checked by the pediatrician.

5. Use your parental leave

In recent years, more and more new parents have been taking their parental leave for a trip with their children. Whether several months in Asia, a tour of Europe or a trip around the world. During this time you have enough opportunities to make your travel dreams come true.

Of course, you have similar options if your children are a bit older and not yet attend school.

6. The right weather

When planning your trip – no matter in which region of the world – you should consider the weather. Temperatures that are too high are not good for children who are too young. You should also make sure that you are not on the road during the rainy season.

7. Relaxed arrival and departure

No matter whether by car or by plane, so that the trip on vacation does not become a nerve test, you should pack enough toys. With small children – in the plane or car – painting and picture books or entertainment electronics are suitable, on which they can listen to music or stories.

For slightly larger children, video games, films or other entertainment apps are suitable. Radio plays are ideal for car trips. So you can all deal together.

Our tip: If you are traveling by plane, your children should sleep as long as possible when traveling east. When traveling west, you should try to keep the kids awake as long as possible. So you avoid jet lag.

  • If possible, you should interrupt long-haul flights with a stopover lasting several days.
  • Before the flight, take care of the right equipment on the plane. Baby baskets that are hung on the wall and thus give your toddler up to 12 months of space to sleep are often no longer available in the high season. So register your needs before the flight.
  • Children up to two years of age are not entitled to their own seat. Treat yourself and your child to long-distance travel and book extra space.

8. First short trips, then the long tour

If you want to go on a somewhat longer trip with children, then it is advisable to take a short trip first to get used to the great vacation as a family. Because what can be a challenge for two, it is especially for three or four.

You can find our offers for a weekend trip with children here.

9. Stay calm

Don’t plan your vacation days until the last minute. Going on a trip with children rarely goes according to plan. If you don’t make yourself too big, you can’t get stressed. Better use the moment, even if you imagined it to be very different in the morning.

Our tip: Instead of a tourist attraction, children enjoy small things. They prefer to watch the cats on the street than to queue at a temple complex.

10. Ensures routine

With toddlers in particular, it is important to maintain a structured daily routine like at home. Adhere to fixed rest and meal times and integrate them into your vacation day. When traveling with children in other time zones, you should set the clock to the time of arrival. So you have the right meal and bedtime in view.

11. Vacation is for everyone

Avoid doing activities on vacation that your children enjoy. You too are on vacation and should have an unforgettable time. Strikes a balance between what your children enjoy and what they enjoy.

Our tip: split up the day. In the morning you go to a museum or go on a hike. In the afternoon you can go to the beach or to a playground.

12. Explore the area with the children

Regardless of whether you stay in the same hotel for 14 days or change accommodation several times on a longer trip. Upon arrival you should take a look at the hotel and the surrounding area. How do the children get to the room? Where’s the reception or dining room? Also arrange a meeting point in case you should lose sight of each other.

13. Do not justify yourself

Especially the grandparents are afraid when they hear that the grandchildren are leaving for other distant countries. Have been daring for several years always more Parents also travel with their young children on a long-distance trip. Many people do not understand this.

If you, as parents, like to travel, take your children with you on trips. After all, they belong to you and you know best what you can expect them to do. Nobody will take away the experience they have on long trips to distant countries.

14. Keeps a travel diary

Record your trip with children in a travel diary. Take lots of photos and collect tickets and postcards. So you can stick all the snapshots together with the memorabilia in an album at the end or even during the trip. A great reminder for the children and you if the holiday was long ago.

15. Don’t pack as much

If you are traveling with children, you will often have a pair of spare trousers or a fresh T-shirt with you. When you go on vacation you are well equipped and equipped for all eventualities. And these are mostly not as many as you plan.

Avoid unnecessary ballast, in most hotels you can do your laundry. And you will also find a laundrette on an adventure holiday with children.

Our tip: Use vacuum packaging. They are space-saving. The only requirement is that you also have access to a vacuum cleaner before the return flight. In addition, items of clothing that can be easily combined are recommended.

16. Leave the hotel

14 days in Turkey, Greece or Spain: this is what holidays look like for many families. Often you only move between the beach, pool and buffet. Go exploring outside the hotel walls and see what there is to discover in your holiday region.

Use the guided tours offered by the hotel or rent a car and go on a day trip, regardless of package deals.

Our tip: Very young children like to use public transport. For them, driving a bus is still an experience. For older children and teenagers, however, this type of transportation is usually nothing. A rental car is the better alternative here.

17. Find the right accommodation

The overnight possibilities when traveling with children are endless. Many hotels are designated as child-friendly facilities and have certain offers such as children’s clubs or entertainment. Nevertheless, there are a few tips that you can take into account when traveling with children – no matter where. This includes a pool. Even if the sea is near, with a toddler nobody goes to the beach for half an hour.

You should also note a central location. Short distances to the beach, restaurants or public transport are worth their weight in gold with children who complain quickly.

So that you can also enjoy time for two, make sure that your accommodation has at least two rooms or a terrace or balcony. If there is good WiFi, you can also make a detour to the hotel bar with baby monitors or the corresponding app.

18. Don’t be so strict

At home, do you make sure that your children are in bed by eight at the latest and that films on the iPad are also not allowed? Makes an exception to these strict rules on vacation. After all, it’s vacation. A nice evening in the restaurant or the way back from the amusement park just take longer. And a film more on the iPad will suit you at the latest when the children stop complaining on the way back.

The only important thing is: At home, the familiar rules apply again.

19. Don’t worry about bad eaters

In addition to other cultures, you get to know their eating habits on vacation. If you worry that your offspring refuse to eat, don’t worry. The little ones often surprise you and eat unknown or new things with great enthusiasm. Let them try the regional cuisine a little.

Just pay attention to the hygienic conditions, especially with street food, and wash your children’s hands before and after eating.

If you want to be on the safe side with babies and toddlers, you should take glass food with you for the first few days and then slowly switch the children over to the food available on site.

20. Read travel blogs and ask friends

Before you travel with your child, find out which tips other parents can give you. Use travel blogs, magazines or your friends. You are not the first parents to venture on a (long-distance) trip with a child. Get rid of your concerns about safety and dangers and don’t let yourself go crazy about what could happen.

As in everyday life at home, the same applies when traveling with children: if the parents are relaxed, so are the children.

21. Makes traveling a habit

What awaits us in the holiday country and how will we like it? A vacation is exciting and exciting and will remain so, no matter how often you travel. However, not only you, but also your children become more experienced and deal with changes, such as climate fluctuations or other time zones, the more often you go on vacation.

It doesn’t always have to be a six-week long-distance trip. A short vacation in Germany is enough for that.

You can find more tips for traveling with children in this video

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Christina Cherry
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