Travelling with Children

When to start travelling with children

If the parents are active travellers, then it’s only logical for them to continue travelling when a new family member arrives. Many people have such a strong wanderlust that giving up on travelling or waiting for the children to grow up a bit wouldn’t make sense. Children, after all, are the most adaptable. If there’s anyone who tends to complicate things, it the parent and not the child. What the child needs is a parent who’s content and who fulfils their own wishes. It’s important for a small child to be near their parents, regardless of where that may be. Besides, children who start travelling in their early years look at travel as a part of them. And when it comes to parents, it really pays off, as they’ve just got new passionate travel buddies. It’s definitely easier for everyone if they travel in an airplane for two hours, rather than ten. That’s because babies usually can’t equalise the pressure in their ears themselves, and so they may start crying. This can be particularly unpleasant for the parents as well as everyone else on the plane. Of course, the discomfort eventually goes away on its own. Children are well taken care of on large planes because stewardesses bring them toys, colour pencils, colouring books etc. TV screens playing cartoons can also come in handy.

Travelling with children as a responsibility?

Some parents decide not to travel with children, especially if they’re still small. There are many reasons for that. Some take the view that children don’t gain anything from travelling at such a young age, others think the children will just get in the way and they won’t be able to enjoy the trip because of it. There’s usually the fear that something will go wrong during travelling. Rarely, though, it’s the finances, since there aren’t any considerable costs children of up to two years would bring compared to travelling without them. If you want to travel, especially if you had been travelling before you got children, then why should you give up on that or put it on hold until the children grow up to an age you find appropriate for travelling? A child can benefit most from a parent who’s content, so it’s useless to stay at home when your wanderlust is strong. Every child needs content parents who do exactly what they love doing. And children shouldn’t be a responsibility during travelling, but rather a pleasant travel buddy.

Choosing the destination when travelling with children

Parents are all different. Some are more laid-back than others. If you fall into the group of parents who get worried every time their child falls or bumps into something, then it’s best to choose a nearby destination, so you’ll be able to get back home in a few hours. It’s also sensible to book everything in advance in such cases. But if you fall into the group of parents who don’t worry and just enjoy the trip, then we recommend making your own itinerary, going camping, and choosing more remote and unknown destinations. Such trips can be quite an adventure for children who are a bit bigger.

Our experience

We continued travelling during pregnancy as well as when our daughter, and shortly after our son, was still a baby. Basically, we never stopped. During pregnancy and when both our children were still babies, we picked European destinations, even if they included the Azores or the Canaries. The reason for that was the fact that the flight didn’t last for hours. Though we didn’t have any problems on the plane either. When it comes to small children, however, it’s only logical to start with nearby destinations, and it that turns out great, you can continue travelling to the other end of the world. That’s what we did.

The destinations we picked

The Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are one of those relatively nearby islands that are warm, different, interesting, and financially accessible for the majority. They’re usually cheaper than a holiday on the Croatian coast. A four-hour flight and there we were in a completely different world. There are seven islands and each one holds so many interesting things that every one of them deserves its own trip. There are no vaccination requirements for the Canaries, and we believe that’s a plus in many a parent’s eyes. We visited four islands, thoroughly exploring them. These were Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. We booked accommodation in advance, since the islands are small enough that you can stay at one place. We picked our location and then travelled around the entire island. No matter which one of the islands you’re visiting, it’s good to rent a car and travel around. This gives you greater freedom and you can see whatever you want. It also enabled us to stop at any playground, beach etc. Yes, children are very well taken care of. The local theme parks are a true paradise for them.

The Azores

If a European wishes for something exotic, they travel to the Azores. These Portuguese islands are very safe, affordable, incredibly beautiful and, most of all, there are no crowds there. It’s true, though, that a trip to the Azores demands a higher degree of organisation because it usually includes island hopping. The islands are a bit smaller than the Canaries, and it takes a bit longer to get there because you usually have to switch between at least two airlines. It’s definitely worth checking out several of the islands. We picked four of them – Terceira, Pico, São Miguel and Faial. It’s good to spend at least three days on one island, so you can see everything and experience the island as a whole. After that, you should take a domestic flight or a ferry to visit the next island. Ferries usually don’t operate during winter, though the season is also suitable for travelling. That’s when you have to choose the airplane. Tourism in the Azores is still in its infancy, so there are no theme parks or a lot of other tourist-oriented things there, unlike in the Canary Islands. But the islands do have so much more beautiful and unspoiled nature to offer.

Road trip around Europe

Europe is an easy continent for travelling, so we picked multiple countries for a single trip. We travelled through Austria to Germany, Luxembourg, which was our destination country, then into France to Switzerland and again through Austria and back home. You can find affordable accommodation anywhere. Accommodation was even cheaper when we decided to travel around southern Europe. Not to mention the food. We travelled through Hungary to Serbia, then Bosnia, continued through Croatia and then headed back home. And there’s no lack of interesting things for children anywhere. For short trips and weekend getaways, we recommend short trips to neighbouring countries. These countries offer plenty of things to do.

Israel and Palestine

We could never imagine Israel and Palestine being so child-friendly. Through a law that states there must be a certain number of playground equipment per certain number of children they’ve made it so that playgrounds are packed with playground equipment. This resulted in us spending a couple of hours each day on the playground during our two-week trip. No matter where we went, we always came across interesting playground equipment. Even the ones we’ve never seen at home. Other than that, we always felt excellent and very safe – which was completely different to the image the media depicts. We travelled around Israel and Palestine, from the south to the north, and visited the Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Lebanese borders. We’d gladly go back for another visit.

The Seychelles

A small African island country that is a paradise for all those who love tropics. Tourism is booming – wherever you go, it’s all tourism-oriented. Travelling is easy there, even between the islands. But it’s still best to rent a car when you’re visiting the larger islands. That gives you more freedom and it can come especially in handy when you’re accompanied by small children. It’s a paradise archipelago worth visiting. The only downside are the prices. It’s really cheap to get there, but once you’re there, everything’s really expensive. It’s not really a children-oriented country and you can only find a playground every once in a while. We winged it and sometimes used the school playgrounds, though they look like they could be from a distant past. Well, the children enjoyed the paradise beaches the most anyway.

Trinidad and Tobago

We ended up on this special Caribbean set of islands because of our wedding. Despite some media writing about the islands as being one of the most dangerous countries, we couldn’t disagree more. Two weeks of travelling this completely exotic place, where tourism is almost non-existent, were wonderful. People were friendly, especially towards the children, the nature was beautiful, and the local children were curious as many of them had probably never seen white people etc. The children really enjoyed it as did we. The main playground area, however, were the gorgeous beaches. We rented a car here, too, because we otherwise probably wouldn’t’ have seen much, judging by the local pace of life.

Trips around Slovenia

The fact that Slovenia has an incredible number of interesting things to see is something we’re just discovering now during our trips around our home country. We really go on trips frequently and we still haven’t run out of ideas. Each time, we discover something new, something beautiful, interesting, and different. There are so many wonderful hills, mountains, caves and many other interesting places.