The thought of traveling with children in tow may bring you out in a cold sweat but provided you plan ahead it can hopefully be plain sailing.

From my experience, the less traveling time the better, particularly if you are holidaying with under-fives who have limited tolerance when it comes to sitting still!

There may be no avoiding traveling further afield if you have a family occasion or are planning to visit relatives but after several disastrous attempts with two little ones I have put long-haul flights on hold. Toddler tantrums are not a pretty sight at the best of times but in the confines of a small space, it can be super stressful!

If flying further afield, prepare yourself for the disruption of traveling across time-zones. Kids like routine and the onset of jet lag can be extremely difficult to deal with. Some families like to remain on UK time but this can prove extremely difficult as there is no way your child will agree to go to bed when it is bright outdoors.
A few tips though if you do travel abroad, especially if it’s somewhere exotic, be sure to know when the rainy season is or if the country gets a period when extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, are possible. Places such as Florida and parts of the Caribbean, for example, can get torrential rainstorms that last for weeks in the early autumn.

On the other hand, remember that while some countries – such as those in the Far East Ocean – have quite a long rainy season that doesn’t mean you’ll get rain all day, every day. During this low season, you can get much better deals and you may only get a short, sharp tropical downpour each day while the rest of the time the sun will be out.

Also, keep in mind if traveling within Europe, August is peak holiday season time so the beaches of Italy, Spain, and Portugal can be heaving. If you can travel either side of August it is worth doing so, especially as most hotel prices dip towards the end of the month.

As for the best form of accommodation, if you have younger kids I always found self-catering was the way forward. The last thing my kids wanted to do was sit in a restaurant for more than five minutes and on the rare times we have dined out abroad of spending a huge amount on a kid’s meal only for half the food to be wasted proved too much to bear.

Last modified: February 26, 2021