Planning a family holiday is not an easy task. You have to take each family member into consideration from traveling with young babies or toddlers to traveling with older family members and teenagers. Everyone has a different idea of what they want to see and do and of course, younger children means taking a pushchair and an extra bag of bottles, drinks, food and more.
One of the best ways to plan the perfect family holiday is to plan in advance. You should be planning this holiday for months before the date, so you can do your research, gather all the information you need, book your hotel and car hire if that’s your choice. Planning in advance helps you secure family rooms in hotels before they are fully booked, it enables you to put an itinerary in place on what to do and see and then schedule it so that everyone gets to have an enjoyable experience.
Look at flights and start booking your flights based on your dates as early as possible. Many flights these days enable you to book online and choose your seats immediately to secure them. This ensures that you get the whole family sitting together throughout the flight, rather than being all split up around the plane. In addition to this, you are able to speak directly with the airline, advise if you are flying with younger children, as they often make certain considerations for this, which may help make your flight a little less stress-free.
Now start looking at hotels. Bear in mind, not all hotels are children friendly, so you will want to identify the top hotels in a certain location and ensure that they cater to families with children of all ages. Speak directly to the hotel when enquiring to see if they are able to offer a family room, or if traveling with older children, maybe adjoining rooms. Most hotels will be able to accommodate their guest’s needs so your family can have a comfortable and enjoyable stay.
Once you have selected a hotel that may meet your needs, look at the places you want to see and explore during your stay to identify how far they are from the hotel and whether you can access them easily. Look at top attractions that will interest you and then the other family members, such as top museums and galleries which the entire family can enjoy.
With your adult entertainment secured, look at things for the younger children to enjoy. Depending on where you are staying you will probably find parks, play parks, indoor entertainment and more which you can schedule into each day so that you are assured that you accommodate all family members. This also enables you to do the museums and top sights in the morning and finish off with a play in the park, which is also motivation for children to behave as they know that their turn is coming up next.
Put an itinerary in place based on your family’s ages. Toddlers will have less concentration time and will get bored and irritable quickly, so you want to ensure that you add some fun things for them along the way, ensuring that you have their pushchair so that they can take a nap and don’t have to walk long distances. If traveling with older children your schedule can be spending more time in a certain place as the children are able to manage longer periods.
The final decision you need to make is whether to use public transport or hire a vehicle. This should also be a personal preference based on the age of the family members and what you will be carrying with you each day.