Traveling with kids can be amazing.
It can also be… a lot.
There are passports to remember, suitcases to pack, snacks to bring, flights to survive and, inevitably, someone who suddenly needs the toilet five minutes after you left.
After travelling around the world with our two daughters, we've learned that family travel doesn't have to be stressful. It just takes a little preparation — and knowing which things are actually worth planning.
From packing and choosing accommodation to keeping everyone entertained and dealing with the unexpected, these are the things we've learned along the way.
1. Choose a destination that works for your whole family
The perfect family destination isn't necessarily the one with the most children's activities.
For us, it's about finding the right balance.
We love destinations where there is something to discover during the day, but where we can also slow down, enjoy a pool or spend an afternoon at the beach. Sometimes that's a city trip, sometimes an island, and sometimes a completely different adventure.
We've travelled with our girls through places like Japan, Puerto Rico, Malaysia and Thailand, and every trip has been completely different.
The important thing is to think about what your family actually enjoys.
Do your kids love water parks? Museums? Beaches? Theme parks? Adventure?
And perhaps just as importantly: how much sightseeing can everyone handle before somebody says, "Are we nearly there yet?"
2. Don't plan every minute
This is probably one of the biggest lessons we've learned.
When you're travelling without kids, you can spend an entire day sightseeing, walk 20,000 steps and spontaneously decide to have dinner somewhere completely different.
With kids?
Not always.
We love planning our trips, but we also deliberately leave space in the itinerary.
A morning exploring can be followed by an afternoon at the pool. A busy day can be followed by a slow one. And sometimes the best family memories happen when you don't have anything planned at all.
Especially with younger children, downtime isn't wasted holiday time.
It's what allows everyone to enjoy the rest of the trip.
3. Pack smart — not everything you own
Packing for children can quickly turn into:
"But what if she needs this?"
"What if it rains?"
"What if she spills something?"
Before you know it, you've packed enough clothes for a small expedition.
Our advice? Pack for the trip you're actually taking.
We've also learned that organisation matters just as much as what you pack.
We now use compression packing cubes for everyone in the family. Each family member has their own colour, which means we don't have to empty an entire suitcase every time someone needs a T-shirt.
Even better: we usually pack one extra cube specifically for dirty laundry.
It sounds like a small thing, but when you're moving between hotels, it makes life so much easier. We wrote more about why packing cubes have become one of our favourite travel essentials — especially when you're trying to keep a family's worth of luggage under control.
And if you're staring at an empty suitcase wondering where to start, our Sunny Packing List is a great place to begin. We've found that having a list makes it much easier to pack what you actually need instead of throwing half the house into the suitcase "just in case."
4. Make the journey part of the adventure
Long flights, road trips and train journeys can be challenging with kids.
But they don't have to be something you simply have to survive.
Bring snacks. Download a few films. Pack headphones, books or games. And give children something to look forward to along the way.
For longer journeys, we often let the girls choose a few things themselves.
And don't underestimate the power of snacks.
Seriously.
A well-timed snack has saved more than one family travel day in our house.
For younger children, also think about the practical things: spare clothes, wipes, a small activity and anything they might need during the journey should be easy to reach rather than buried at the bottom of your suitcase.
5. Think carefully about where you stay
With kids, accommodation can make a surprisingly big difference.
We don't necessarily need the fanciest hotel, but we do look for things that make family life easier.
A pool is a big plus for us.
So is enough space for everyone to sleep comfortably. Sometimes that means a family room, sometimes an apartment and sometimes a resort.
Location matters too.
A beautiful hotel that's an hour away from everything might not be the relaxing choice it initially seems.
We always look at what we actually want to do during the trip and then choose accommodation that makes those plans easier.
And yes, sometimes paying a little more for a better location saves you money — and a lot of parental patience — later.
6. Keep some routines, but don't become a slave to them
Kids often feel more comfortable when some things remain familiar.
A bedtime routine, a favourite cuddly toy, a familiar snack or simply having some quiet time at the end of the day can help.
But holidays are also holidays.
We don't try to recreate our entire routine from home when we're travelling.
Sometimes bedtime is later because we're watching the sunset. Sometimes dinner happens much later than usual. And sometimes everyone falls asleep in the car after a long day.
That's part of travelling.
A little routine helps. A little flexibility helps even more.
7. Make sure you're connected when you arrive
One thing we no longer want to worry about when we arrive somewhere new is mobile data.
Especially when travelling with kids, being able to check directions, contact your accommodation, order a taxi or look something up quickly is incredibly useful.
That's why we often use an eSIM when travelling.
We recommend installing it before you leave home, while you still have reliable Wi-Fi. Then you can arrive at your destination and get connected without searching for a local SIM card at the airport.
If you've never used one before, don't worry. We've put together a simple guide to installing an eSIM on your iPhone so you can set everything up before you board your flight.
8. Don't forget travel insurance
This isn't the most exciting part of planning a family holiday.
But it is one of the things we would never skip.
Kids get sick. Flights get cancelled. Bags go missing. Plans change.
We've been lucky on many of our trips, but we've also had moments where things didn't go exactly according to plan.
One of those moments was arriving in Puerto Rico and discovering that one of our suitcases hadn't made it. It was late, there wasn't much we could do at that point, and all we could do was fill out the paperwork and hope the suitcase would make its way to our hotel the next day.
Thankfully, it did.
It's exactly the sort of situation that reminds you why travel insurance is worth having. It's something you hope you'll never need, but when something does go wrong, you'll be very glad you arranged it.
We've written more about why we think good travel insurance is one of the most important things you pack — long before you even put your suitcase on the scale.
9. Let the kids be part of the trip
One of our favourite things about travelling with our girls is seeing a destination through their eyes.
Let them choose a restaurant.
Give them a map and let them navigate.
Let them pick an ice cream flavour you've never tried.
Ask them what they want to see.
Even small choices can make children feel like they're part of the adventure rather than simply being taken along.
And those are often the moments they remember.
Our girls don't always remember the name of a temple, museum or viewpoint we visited.
They do remember the funny little things that happened along the way.
10. Expect the unexpected
This might be the most important tip of all.
Something will go wrong.
Someone will be tired.
A restaurant will be closed.
The weather will change.
You'll miss a train.
Your child will have a meltdown in exactly the place where you hoped nobody would notice.
It happens.
The trick is not to have a perfect family holiday.
It's to know that the imperfect moments are part of travelling too.
Some of our funniest family stories started with something going completely wrong.
So take a breath, change the plan and keep going.
You're not trying to create the perfect Instagram holiday.
You're creating memories together.
And sometimes those memories involve beautiful sunsets and incredible adventures.
And sometimes they involve a child crying because their ice cream melted.
Both are family travel.
And honestly?
We wouldn't have it any other way.
