While it’s true that family holidays are the stuff that lifelong memories are made of, no parent is going to pretend that travelling with small children doesn’t involve a certain amount of stress. Thankfully there are a variety of precautions you can take to make sure your time away with your young children is everything you (and they) hoped for.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

You may be one of those people who spent your twenties backpacking around the globe, making up your route as you went, but you’re a parent now and, believe me, the best way to have a laid back time with young kids is to plan in advance.

From searching online for cheap family travel insurance to booking flights which won’t disturb your little ones’ routines too adversely, it’s worth starting your planning at least a couple of months before you travel.

Research pays so spend some time on the internet in the run up to your holiday looking into the various services you’re likely to be using. Check out the child-friendly credentials of your accommodation (they may claim to welcome kids but is there a games room, babysitting service, play equipment?), find out what your airline’s policy is on buggies and car seats, and what the weather is likely to be like when you’re there.

Insurance is important whenever you’re on holiday but even more so when you’re travelling with children. We’re used to the NHS if things go wrong at home but when you’re abroad you’ll want to know that you and your family are covered in the unlikely event of illness or accident. Remember, cover doesn’t need to be expensive to protect you and your little ones – just do some research to find the best cheap family travel insurance you can.

Tips for a Calm Journey

Okay so you’ve done all your preparation, you’ve booked a flight at a reasonable time, found good, cheap family travel insurance and booked a family room in a hotel with lots of things for the kids to do. Now you just have to get them there.

For us, Germany dependably has been a storied land that must be experienced. My better half and I have needed to go there for quite a while, however all way of diversions made us set it aside for a considerable length of time. We have experienced numerous American military families who have appreciated voyages through obligation in Germany, and never one that had a terrible affair. Or maybe, couples disclosed to us how they missed it so much and that they enthusiastically plotted an arrival trip. It was the kind offer of a companion, who had lived in Germany for a long time that moved us to arrange and take a ten day trip.

We needed to see southern Germany, and wanted to have a solitary flight from the terrain U.S. keeping in mind the end goal to maintain a strategic distance from a long delay in another European nation. Delta Airlines offered non-stop flights between Atlanta, Georgia and Stuttgart, DE, which we gobbled up. We had our international IDs and we chose two charge cards (an essential and a reinforcement) for each of us to use in German bank ATMs to get our Euros. Our companion exhorted us to get our first Euros at a Stuttgart air terminal ATM as opposed to through a cash trade of our U.S. money, keeping in mind the end goal to overlook exorbitant exchange expenses. I had an International Drivers License that I acquired from a vehicle affiliation. I got data that I expected to buy extra risk protection with the rental auto unless the charge card that I used to pay for the auto offered such protection at my European goals (they didn’t). I particularly acquired protection for my driving in Germany and Austria, and I discovered that I should likewise purchase a vignette (a sticker to be set within the windshield, left of the driver’s position) to enter Austria. The vignette must be purchased at a rest stop benefit station (real expressway rest stops have benefit stations and an eatery) before entering Austria. I discovered that Switzerland is the main other European nation that requires a vignette to enter.