Traveling can be one of the most stressful yet rewarding activities you can do as a family. The memories made on trips are irreplaceable and can last a lifetime, but time away from the comforts of home sure can take a toll! We’ve put together a list of 14 family vacation tips that will inspire only positive experiences to ensure a fabulous trip!
Use these 14 secrets family vacation tips to ensure a fabulous getaway that everyone will enjoy!
1. Make lists, and then make them shorter.
When it comes to organizing a family vacation, lists are a must! Make a list for your personal bag, one for each of your kiddo’s bags and any other common bags. With so many elements to trip preparation, it’s likely something will be forgotten without lists to manage what you need to bring and what goes into each bag!
To help you make great lists, picture you and your family actually doing each part of the trip itinerary and consider any special activities you have planned. In addition to the basics (outfits, toiletries, snacks), family vacation tips like this will help you remember to pack the less obvious items you’ll need.
Does the hotel have a pool? Visualize yourselves leaving the room, walking to the pool, swimming, and returning back to the room; this will help you think of things like bathing suits and flip flops. Going to a zoo? That could mean sunhats, sunblock, comfortable walking shoes, and so on. A little mental imagery will go a long way in helping you make a thorough list (or ten)!
Then, be sure to examine the lists carefully and cross off whatever isn’t absolutely necessary. It is incredibly difficult to manage the children alone, so the less stuff you can add to that challenge the better!
2. Give yourself a buffer day on either end of the trip.
If you’ve never done this before, this is one of our family vacation tips that is a total game changer! Once you do it, you’ll regret it every time you don’t. Taking the day off before you are scheduled to go gives you plenty of time to finish those lists and pack without stress, so you’ll be less likely to forget something. Bonus if you can still send the kids to school or daycare and get an extra shot at thinking straight and focusing on the task at hand!
And don’t forget part two of this family vacation tip, which is giving yourself a day at the tail end of your vacation as well. Instead of tripping over unpacked luggage for days after your trip ends (and adding to everyday chaos), take an extra day to decompress and fully unpack!
3. Lower your expectations…a lot!
Family vacation tips like this one might be hard, but we encourage you to be realistic about things like how long the different parts of the trip will take, how many minor “catastrophes” will happen (you know the ones like meltdowns resulting from picking the wrong shirt or offering the wrong snack), and what you’ll be able to see and do once you’re at your destination.
A family trip itinerary is going to look a lot different than your last college backpacking adventure. Don’t try to cram too many activities into one day or you’ll be setting yourself up for failure. As the saying goes—traveling with kids is just parenting in a different city. This is very true! But there is also so much fun to be had and rewarding memories to make. At the end of the day, babies and toddlers are still tiny humans and can only do so much!
4. On road trips, find stops along your route.
You’ll thank yourself when you’ve got some planned stops along the way for kids to run off some of that built-up energy! Look ahead to find playgrounds, parks, or other recreational areas on your drive. Pack a lunch and plan on a picnic to go along with the stop.
Kids love to get out and stretch their legs, and you’ll get the opportunity to take the family off of the beaten path to see how the locals live (and play!) wherever you may be. If it’s too tricky to predict the best places to take a break, try using an app like Playground Buddy to help you find playgrounds on the fly.
5. Book a place ahead of time, and get a kitchen.
After traveling with the whole family in tow there is nothing you’ll want to do more upon arrival than collapse into the place you’re staying so you can drop the bags and regroup. Do yourself a favor and set up at least the first night’s accommodations before you go. That way you can head straight to your place and take the deep breaths you’ll need in order to enjoy yourselves from the get-go.
Also part of our family vacation tips, we highly suggest booking a place with a kitchen! You can save time, money, and the hassle of bringing the whole crew to a restaurant for every meal by booking a place that has at least a good-sized fridge and a microwave available for you to use. Being able to have basic snacks and drinks on hand is more of a necessity than a luxury when babies and toddlers are involved! Consider making some meals (breakfast is easy!) rather than going out multiple times a day. The whole family will appreciate the ease that comes with this arrangement.
Related articles:
- A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning the Ultimate Family Vacation
- Sustainable Travel: Tips & Tricks to Becoming an Eco-Friendly Adventurer
- How to Get Started Renting Baby Gear
6. Order groceries to be delivered to your destination.
This is another one of those family vacation tips that if you haven’t done it before, you’ll wonder why not! You’ll likely never take another family vacation without doing it again! It’s nice to have a few grocery items on hand while traveling and the last thing you want to do when you get to your destination is going to the store. You want to relax and enjoy yourself! So, shop online beforehand and have groceries delivered to your destination. Easy peasy! A few places you can try are Instacart, Postmates, and Shipt.
7. Bring or rent a car seat and stroller. This is one of our favorite family vacation tips!
Some kiddos do better on airplanes if they are strapped into a car seat the whole time, so depending on their age and personality you may consider bringing one along. The Cosco Scenera is one great option because it’s inexpensive and weighs less than 8 pounds, making it easy to lug around. Bringing a car seat is also helpful if you’ll be renting a car where you’re going. Rental car, car seats are notoriously icky!
Even big kindergartners get tired after a day of sightseeing, so make sure the kiddos have a place to rest their legs (and maybe even their eyes!) when they’ve reached their limit. Read one of our favorite family vacation tips carefully: You can rent (very clean!) car seats, strollers, and even wagons from a baby equipment rental service like BabyQuip so that you don’t have to drag bulky gear with you!!
8. Plan downtime each day.
Be careful not to pack the itinerary to the brim as this can make for a tired and cranky family! Follow Real Simple’s “Rule of One” and plan just one major activity per day. Then, whether it’s naps or just quiet time in the room, plan your family travel schedule to include some downtime in the middle of each day. Use this time to let the kiddos (and yourself) chill and recharge.
9. Research museum reciprocity.
Check out the local kid’s museums, botanical gardens, aquariums, zoos, and more! There are so many great kid-friendly museums around the country, and if you have a membership to a museum in your area, do some research to see if they have reciprocal benefits at any museums you plan to visit at your destination. This can save a lot of money on admission fees! The North American Reciprocal Association is a great place to start. This is one of our family vacation tips that will also come in handy as a great rainy day activity in the case of inclement weather.
10. Seek out the small town gems.
Well-known landmarks and museums are fabulous for vacations in bigger towns, but for smaller towns look for local “gems” like arboretums, historical sites, birding centers, and local or state parks. On a beach trip, think about a local sea turtle rescue or a nature preserve! Another great rainy day plan. After all, it does rain at the beach on occasion!
11. Look for deals on savings websites.
There are lots of ways to save on travel! Check sites like Groupon, Living Social, or CertifiKID for local deals. Depending on where your family vacation takes you, this could be a way to save money, and what family isn’t looking to save when traveling?! Search for deals on hotels, meals, activities, and more on the websites or download the apps. Also, remember to check your credit cards to see which ones will offer you the best points when booking the different parts of your adventure.
12. Keep the little ones entertained.
To combat the occasional dull moments that come with travel, consider easing up on your usual screen time rules. Whether you’re in the car for long hours, relaxing during downtime in the hotel room, or just getting through dinner at a restaurant, phones, and tablets help keep kids occupied, which is worth every second of sanity!
Another one of our great family vacation tips is to make a little bag of surprises for each child ahead of time and keep it in your personal backpack or purse. Include a dozen or so small items that will delight them and hopefully keep them occupied for a little while, and then pull one out whenever you need one. Even the youngest babies can benefit from simple distractions like sets of keys and fidget spinners!
13. Pack extras of everything.
When traveling with small kids there are bound to be accidents, messes, or blowouts. Whether you are flying or driving, make sure you have extra diapers, bottles or formula, snacks, and clothes for you and your little one. Think about the essentials of each family member and make sure these essentials are accessible at any time for unexpected upsets. If you are checking bags, be sure to put these items in your carry-on just in case your luggage gets lost. No one likes arriving in a new city without an extra pack of baby wipes close at hand! Need a good packing list for flying with baby? THIS ONE is great!
14. Make happy family memories!
Things will go wrong, and meltdowns might happen, but in the end, taking family vacations is a wonderful opportunity to show your kiddos the country (or world) and make wonderful memories together. The first time you travel with the family will be foreign in more than one way, but a little experience goes a long way, and the more you travel the better you’ll get at predicting what you can do along the way to make things easier. Don’t sweat the small stuff, just relax and enjoy the ride!
What other family vacation tips would you add? Please comment below!
Hello! My name is Lisa and like a lot of you – I’m a very busy mom! For full time work I’m a corporate trainer. In my spare time I hustle – side hustle that is! I do baby gear and equipment rentals in the San Antonio and Texas Hill Country areas with BabyQuip! I have 3 boys under 6 years old. I LOVE to travel and we travel as much as we can as a family. I love sharing all of the family travel hacks and tips I’ve come across over the years!
I loved what you said about making surprise bags to help keep little kids entertained. My husband and I want to take a family trip this summer with our three kids. I’d love to find a resort that is specially made for families so it will be easy to bring them.
It really helped when you said that creating a list is a must when it comes to family vacations. I think that also having a plan that we can follow can help us stay within the budget. Once I write one, I’ll be sure to prioritize finding a condominium rental that can help us feel comfortable during our trip.
Love these tips! It took me a long time to learn #3 on my own! Thanks for the concrete suggestions.
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I read every word of this. I can do it. I’m gonna keep postivie thoughts.
Dining out on vacation with children can add up fast. Thanks for the reminder about booking lodging with a kitchen.
I think this is an informative article and it’s very useful.
I really enjoyed reading this post. big fan, thank you!
King regards,
Bailey Henneberg
I will take some of these into consideration. Not letting kids eat at reststops is a great idea. I didn’t think about how it occupies them while driving. Thanks for these tips and I hope to see more good stuff like this soon.
I have a park finder app on my phone so I know where we can stop along the way. Really useful to get the wiggles out of the kids for a while.