Family travel tips: 15 ways to make travelling with kids easier

Travelling with children can feel like two completely different holidays happening at once. One person is trying to enjoy the scenery, another urgently needs a snack, someone’s dropped a shoe in the airport queue, and suddenly the “relaxing family trip” you imagined starts looking slightly different in real life. If you’ve ever wondered how to travel with kids without somebody crying before boarding, you’re definitely not alone.

But that’s also part of what makes family travel memorable. The best moments are rarely the perfectly planned ones, and children have a way of turning even the smallest parts of a trip into something unexpectedly memorable.

A bit of planning helps, though. From children’s travel games and smarter packing to calmer itineraries and screen-free activities, these family travel tips are designed to make travelling with children feel smoother, easier and a lot more enjoyable for everyone involved.

What should you pack when travelling with children?

When it comes to how to travel with kids, packing is less about bringing everything you own and more about bringing the things that make the journey feel easier. The items you end up being most grateful for are usually the simple ones: snacks at the right moment, a favourite toy, spare clothes after an unexpected spill, or something familiar that helps children settle when everything else feels new.

Some useful family travel essentials include:

• Travel documents and passports
• Child-friendly snacks
• Refillable water bottles
• Wipes and tissues
• Spare clothes
• A comfort item, such as a blanket or soft toy
• Layers for changing temperatures
• Basic first-aid essentials
• Travel games for kids or activity packs
• Headphones
• Chargers and a power bank
• Nappies or pull-ups if needed
• Plastic bags for wet clothes or mystery spills
• Medication and health essentials already familiar to your child

Top family travel tips: Before you even start packing, it can help to have a simple checklist for everything that needs booking, organising and remembering. A family planner is an easy way to keep track of travel plans, packing lists and holiday countdowns, especially when you’re juggling multiple suitcases, activities and excited children.

How do you keep kids entertained on long journeys?

A mix of children’s travel games, snacks, drawing activities and small surprises usually works far better than relying on one thing all day. Long journeys with children are usually less about avoiding boredom altogether and more about staying one step ahead of it. As any parent can attest to, once kids get properly restless, everything suddenly feels harder.

And while screen time absolutely has its place, especially during delays or long-haul travel days, some of the best moments tend to come from the silly little family travel games played somewhere between the snacks and the inevitable “are we there yet?”

What are the best travel games for kids?

The best travel games for kids are easy to pause, restart and adapt depending on where you are. You want games that work equally well in airport queues, restaurants, road trips or delayed train journeys without requiring seventeen tiny pieces that immediately disappear under a seat.

Some of the most reliable children’s travel games include:

• Travel bingo
• I Spy
• Guess the animal
• Story-building games
• Card games
• Mini board games
• Sticker books
• Colouring books
• Audio stories
• “Would you rather?” questions
• Scavenger hunts for airports, train stations or road trips

Jigsaw puzzles are also brilliant as a kids travel games because they create a calmer moment without needing much setup. For younger children, a small photo book filled with family photos can be surprisingly entertaining too. Toddlers often love pointing out grandparents, pets and familiar faces, making it both an activity and a comforting reminder of home while you’re away.

How can you create a kids’ travel activity bag?

A kids’ travel activity pack does not need to be expensive or Pinterest-perfect to work well. In most cases, the best ones are a slightly random mix of familiar favourites and small unexpected things that buy you twenty peaceful minutes exactly when you need them most.

A good children’s travel bag might include:

• One drawing activity
• One sticker or colouring activity
• One small puzzle
• One card game
• One comfort item
• One surprise item
• One snack
• One screen-based option if needed

Top family travel tips: Avoid giving them every activity all at once. Keeping a few things back makes the journey feel more varied, and somehow, a sticker book they ignored an hour ago becomes exciting again.

How do you plan a family itinerary that actually works?

When you’re travelling with children, it’s very tempting to try to fit everything in, especially when you’ve spent months looking forward to the trip. But most holidays tend to work better when there’s a bit more breathing room built into the day.

It also helps to alternate between busy and quieter days. A late night followed by a slow morning is almost always a better idea than trying to squeeze in another packed itinerary immediately afterwards. A slower itinerary usually works better because:

• Children need time to rest and transition
• Travelling between places often takes longer with kids
• One main activity leaves room for snacks, naps and spontaneity
• It reduces pressure when plans shift unexpectedly
• The day feels calmer and more enjoyable overall

Top family travel tips: build in (at least!) one completely unplanned afternoon during the trip. Some of the best family holiday moments happen when nobody is trying to get anywhere.

How can you keep children’s routines while travelling?

The easiest way to keep children’s routines while travelling is not to recreate home perfectly, but to hold onto the small familiar parts that help them feel settled. Sleep, meals and calmer transitions usually make the biggest difference, especially after busy days, long journeys or overstimulating environments.

Holiday routines do not need to be strict, but a bit of familiarity can go a long way when everyone’s tired and slightly out of sync. A few tried and tested ways to keep routines feeling steadier while travelling:

• Keeping bedtime cues familiar where possible
• Bringing a favourite blanket, toy or bedtime book
• Keeping meal times reasonably consistent
• Building in downtime after long journeys
• Using familiar bedtime phrases or rituals
• Preparing children for what is happening next
• Avoiding too many late nights in a row

How can I remember a family holiday?

Family holidays are rarely perfect, but that’s often what makes them memorable. The moments that stick are usually the ones you never planned for in the first place: the card games during delays, the snack stops, the blurry family selfies and the little laughs and silly conversations that only happen when you’re away together.

Printing a few favourite photos or turning the trip into a Photobox family photo book is a lovely way to hold onto those memories once the bags are unpacked and everyday life starts up again.

Create your family photo book

Travel activities for kids Top Tips – FAQs

How much screen time is okay when travelling with children?

Screen time can be really helpful during long journeys, especially during delays, flights, or when everyone’s a bit tired, and patience is running low. In most cases, it works best when balanced with offline activities, snacks, rest and family games rather than becoming the only form of entertainment for the whole trip.

It can also help to set expectations before the journey starts, especially with older children. A mix of children’s travel games, drawing activities and screen time usually keeps things feeling calmer overall.

What are good snacks for travelling with kids?

Good travel snacks are easy to pack, not too messy and familiar enough that children will actually eat them rather than dramatically rejecting them halfway through the journey before professing their insatiable hunger…

• Crackers or rice cakes
• Fruit pieces
• Vegetable sticks
• Sandwiches or wraps
• Cheese portions
• Yoghurt pouches
• Cereal bars
• Dried fruit
• Plain biscuits
• Small snack boxes with variety

Top travel snacks tip: Most parents already know this but it bears repeating: packing slightly more snacks than you think you need is almost never a bad idea when travelling with children.

How can you create family moments during the trip?

Family travel is most memorable – and the least stressful! – when everyone has small ways to join in. Some easy ways to create family moments while travelling:

• Letting each person choose one activity
• Creating a shared holiday playlist
• Playing family games at dinner
• Choosing together the best family photos to print
• Taking one family selfie every day
• Asking everyone for their “best moment of the day”
• Creating small rituals, like morning postcards or evening memory notes
• Keeping tickets, maps or drawings for a travel memory book

What should go in children’s travel luggage?

The best kids’ travel backpack is usually the bag they can carry themselves. We’ve already covered the basics, but the go-to items are always worth repeating: a few snacks, something to keep them busy, a comfort item and a spare layer are often all you need. Leave a little room for the stickers, stones and mysterious treasures that somehow seem to appear during every family travel.