Travelling as a family allows experiences to be shared. It can add interest to family time together away from the pressures of work and education. You can gain different perspectives on places when travelling in a group with children. It is often easier to get to meet local people, people can be friendlier, and when picking educational experiences for children you often learn something yourself.

However, it also often means extra preparation to ensure that you can all enjoy the experiences. You have to balance the needs of everyone in the group, and try and avoid many of the additional expenses that can apply to travelling as a group. You may have to deal with bored children in airports or on long trips, extra luggage when they get tired, and some frustration when they complain after going to all the planning effort when you could have left them at home with the grandparents.

Luckily, when you return home the crisis times seem to fade, and the memories of the activities together get remembered.

You know what a child is, but when travelling the definition of a child varies. Normally it is based on age. There may also be minimum or maximum weight and height restriction on some attractions for safety purposes. It is also worth noting that often the definition of a child will differ for hotels, flights and travel insurance. For example while generally we accept that someone may be considered a child up to the age of 18, travel insurance may sometimes let a child remain on a parent's travel policy well into their 20s, depending on whether they are full-time students etc.

• Infants and toddlers under 2 to 6 years – often no charge.
• Children under about 12 or sometimes 14 years – child rates normally apply.
• Young People/Teenagers often 14 to 18 years – child rates in some cases, often there are special youth rates, otherwise the normal adult rates apply.
• Young Adults 18 and up – full-time students under 26 can qualify for discounts with an International Student ID. Some discounts apply to all people under 26. In some places, this is 16 and up.

Often you are lucky enough to be able to choose your destination or the timing of the voyage. Is the destination you think about one that you want to experience with your children, or is it a place you actually would like to visit without them? If the latter, should you wait with it until your children are a bit bigger or when they happen to be doing something else?

If this is a journey you really want to do together, then you might still consider what destinations are the best given realities, such as the distance to be travelled (and the means of transport available) and the child-friendliness of whatever environment you will have to cope with. You may want to do a trade-off between the things you want to experience with your children, and things you can experience with them without everybody getting miserable because of practical issues. If you have a baby, think about development stages – trying to get a child who just learned to walk to sit still might be a fools errand.

If you haven't been travelling together, it could be wise to choose some easy destination first, to find out what you need to do (and pack) to get things work, and to get your children used to some unfamiliar things they will need to cope with: long times seated in a vehicle, not sleeping in their own bed, lots of strangers around, unfamiliar food, what have you.

Articles on travel with children to specific destinations:

• Africa
  • Giza with children
• Asia
  • Japan with children
• Europe
  • Istanbul with children
  • London with children
  • Stockholm with children
  • Venice with children
• North America
  • Charlotte with children
  • Mexico City with children
  • New Orleans with children
  • New York City with children
  • San Diego with children
• Oceania
  • Sydney with children

See also destination guides with dedicated sections or substantial amount of content on travelling with children: Austria, Barcelona, Mayrhofen, Paris, Vienna, Rome.

See also: Border crossing

Take your time. If you try to visit a destination as in adult company, you will soon be miserable. Children often do not understand the grandness of the destinations: a toddler at the Rotterdam Zoo may well be most interested in the ants on the walkway. A picnic, a nap, a visit to a small playground, all of which are simple things you could as well do at home, will help the children keep their good temper. Indeed, keeping things much like at home may be key when children are becoming tired or otherwise might get grumpy.

Attractions such as swimming pools and amusement parks generally require younger children to be supervised by an adult caregiver or responsible older child. Age limits vary but if the child is getting in at the child rate, expect supervision to be required. If in doubt, ask.

There are "family" tickets to many attractions and sometimes on trains etc. Always check this option, as they may in effect give the children free tickets. Often they include two adults and two children, regardless of relationship. However Deutsche Bahn is notoriously insistent that the "free children tickets" discount only applies to actual (grand)sons and (grand)daughters.

Trips to child-friendly amusement parks such as Disneyland, Legoland, or those at the Gold Coast may keep children keen and even be enjoyable for adults. Wildlife sanctuaries or places where children can get up close with animals, or museums with dinosaurs or any other interests your child has, can all keep kids occupied and may make them put up with the "boring bits" of the trip their parents want to do.

Especially with smaller children, the important bit is to really have time for them; be attentive to their questions, observations and thoughts. If worries about the schedule or distractions around made you just rush forward and give orders rather than your ear to them, try to compensate at some nice place where they have your full attention – and make sure you really listen this time.

Places that serve only or primarily alcoholic drinks may prohibit children, either due to the local laws or due to the owners' belief that they'll make more money if they provide an adults-only environment. Check the local bylaws before entering bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. There may be a special family entertaining area that that can be used or an attached restaurant.

Tap water can not be presumed safe to drink in many countries of the world. Parents need to take precautions to ensure children don't drink unclean water. Provide bottled water, sodas, or other drinks for them. Show them how to brush teeth with bottled water. Parents with babies will want to plan how to prepare bottles. Bringing your own pre-mixed formula (sold in disposable sterile bottles) is a good solution for shorter trips, but if weight or airline restrictions become an issue, powdered formula and locally purchased bottled water may work better. If your children are breastfeeding (and you find spaces for that, see above), then most of the problem goes away – plain bottled water and safe local food pose no big challenges.

Many accommodation places are set up for adult singles and couples. Travelling as a group of three or more may require you to reserve an extra room or a special family suite. You should always reserve accommodation well in advance so that the proprietor can make appropriate arrangements, such as installing an extra bed. There may be additional charges for extra people as well.

Although there are hotels especially catering to families, most hotels built to be hotels, especially modern ones, are standardized to the two-per-room concept (often with the option of an additional bed) and optimized as to square meters per room. Older or odd buildings and other kinds of accommodation often have rooms more suitable for families. Some youth hostels have suitable facilities. Cottages are quite a safe bet, although you should check the standard (you probably want to avoid surprises such as lack of hot water).

In some locations there may formally be strict rules about number of persons in a room (enforced by booking software), while the proprietors could not care less and are happy to make needed arrangements. A phone call before doing the booking can help in such situations.

Hotels often offer in-house babysitting services or can refer you to a local service. You might also want to check facilities such as playing yards or parks in the vicinity. Check the language issue.

A vacation rental or a second home might provide security and comfort suitable for families with children.

Campsites are often very family friendly and you can either use your own camping or caravaning equipment or – at least at the bigger, more popular sites – rent a tent or caravan already built for you, or a cottage. Some of the companies that offer such services are so family-oriented that their default nomenclature for a party of guests is even "family" (though they of course also take the business of anyone not a family if they so chose).

See also: Tips for female travellers#Pregnancy, Medical tourism#Childbirth

Travellers, especially those on long trips for business or study, may have children born while outside their home country. Aside from making sure that local birthing or medical facilities meet your requirements (including budget; also if there are complications), you will wish to make sure that your child's birth is sufficiently well-documented that you can at some point take them home!

If the circumstances of your birth, residence or citizenship are odd in some way, check that children born abroad indeed have the right to become citizens where you live; in some countries, being born there is one ground for citizenship. On the other hand, they may get an automatic citizenship in the country where they are born – in some cases, like Iran, a non-renunciable one. If either country doesn't recognise dual citizenships, you have a mess.

If you are already pregnant, consider whether, when and how to travel, and whether your destination is safe. Some of these considerations apply if you get or plan to get pregnant during your stay.

• Risk of pregnancy complications, miscarriage or premature birth varies between pregnancies, and you should consider your own risk when planning travel where you will be away from your own medical practitioners, or away from medical facilities of the kind they are used to. Statistically, the safest weeks to travel are between the 18th and 24th week.
• Many vaccines (specifically, live ones) are not considered safe for pregnant women (or often even women who are planning a pregnancy) to receive due to a risk to the health of the fetus. You might not be able to travel to destinations that require vaccinations you haven't had before getting pregnant. A waiver for the yellow fever vaccine can sometimes be obtained, depending on the prevalence of yellow fever at your destination. Some inactivated vaccines are considered safe, including varieties of the influenza vaccine and Hepatitis B. Even if you don't normally get vaccinated for influenza, some doctors may advise you to take this precaution as the disease can be more severe in pregnant women. In any case, consult a medical expert at least 6 weeks before travel.
• The mosquito-borne Zika virus can cause severe damage to a child in the womb. There are defences, such as long sleeves and mosquito repellents, but there is no vaccine and no cure. The epidemic has ended, but the US and Canadian governments advise pregnant women to talk to a health care provider before travel to areas with a risk of Zika, and to take precautions against transmission.
• Malaria, in addition to its danger to the woman, can also cause miscarriage or premature birth. Not all anti-malarial drugs are safe to take during pregnancy.
• You should seriously consider getting comprehensive medical or traveller's insurance that would pay for you to be medically evacuated if needed. Should you plan on travelling to a country with restrictive abortion legislation, the need may include situations where an abortion is needed for medical reasons, but not legal or available at the destination.
• Travel at high altitudes is not advised.

Some forms of transport have their own issues:

• Air travel is not recommended for pregnant women beyond 36 weeks (earlier for complicated pregnancies or multiples), and most airlines impose restrictions on pregnant women close to term. You may need to present a letter to the airline from your doctor stating that you are less than 36 weeks pregnant and that it is safe for you to fly. Inquire with your airline. Also keep in mind that pregnant women have an increased risk of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clots. If travelling by air, get up and walk around to stretch regularly.
• When using a seat belt, make sure to fasten it below your belly.

Some activities are not safe for pregnant women, particularly alpine and water skiing and scuba diving. Unaccustomed strenuous activity, hottubbing or saunaing might also cause complications. Check with your health provider, but in general the guideline is to maintain about the same level of activity that you did before pregnancy.

If you aren't very early in your pregnancy, you must take into account the possibility of giving birth unexpectedly. Make sure to check where to call and how to handle the situation.

• What birthing centre are you planning to use? How do you get there? If planning to give birth "at home", how will you call a midwife? What are the procedures if there are any complications?
• What about emergency births? Can you get an ambulance quickly? Should somebody staying with you get a quick course on how to assist if needed, especially if things don't go as they should?
• Check with your home country's embassy about how to register the child's birth and apply for or record the child's citizenship.
• Children born in some countries become citizens of that country by right of birth, with any benefits and liabilities that follow; see Medical tourism#Childbirth. If they don't, you will not only have to establish their citizenship of your home country but also meet any visa requirements and so on for them to stay with you.

Your children should have age-appropriate knowledge of what to do when lost. Have an age-appropriate plan, and make sure everyone knows what they are going to do before setting out.

Younger children should always carry a card with their name, your name, contact details (hopefully including a mobile phone and accommodation details). It is too much to expect a young child to remember all this in an emergency situation. Children below school age may not even be able to tell strangers their names, especially if they're lost, frightened, and don't speak the local language.

Consider giving older children (usually at around 10) a mobile phone, or money and instructions on how to use a public phone.

An example of a plan could be for a child to go to last place they knew you were together, while the adult retraces their steps. Another plan includes nominating a particular location to meet on a particular trip.

Teach children who you would like them to approach. Consider whether you would like them to approach someone in uniform, which is something most children will recognize. Conversely, you should also teach your kids what kinds of people and situations to avoid.

There may be dangers neither you nor your children are accustomed to from home: deficit railing, rocky shores, wildlife big and small, toxic substances, lack of sidewalks, what have you. Check in advance and plan how to cope.

Children may have special health needs while travelling:

• Very young children may not be able to receive any vaccines, even routine ones, and will be very ill if infected with the associated diseases. Check with a healthcare provider about travelling with a child who is not vaccinated, either by choice or for age reasons.
• Your healthcare providers can advise on the suitability of travel vaccinations for older children, if they cannot receive them you may wish not to travel to some destinations. Some children have difficulty swallowing tablets, and if they cannot, it can make things like malaria prevention extremely difficult (many tablets cannot be crushed; while some can, always check with the prescribing doctor or a licensed pharmacist before doing so with any given medication). Practice e.g. with M&Ms (a candy resembling medical tablets in shape and size).
• Children may have difficulties swallowing pills without chewing them. It might be worthwhile to test and train at home, e.g. by using pills instead of liquids for things you give to your children anyhow (such as vitamin D during winter darkness in some regions).
• Children get cold faster than adults. If in a cold climate or participating in winter sports, your children may need warmer clothes than you do, and it's likely that by the time you feel the cold your children are already on the way to hypothermia.
• Children suffer motion sickness more easily than adults, particularly since they are usually relegated to smaller seats with less visibility. You might need to give them travel sickness medication and prepare to clean up if they are sick. Regular pit stops on car trips to let them get out and walk around help. If possible, choose seats with windows at the right height and in the front in buses.
• Children and especially babies have trouble equalizing their ears on airplanes; see Pressure adjustment above.
• Train your child a couple of weeks beforehand to brush their teeth and rinse out of a water bottle (if appropriate) and to wear slippers in the hotel rooms as well as flip flops in the shower to avoid picking up any foot fungus. Spraying feet with a fungicide may be a good preventative measure, but ask your physician first. If the doctor approves, consider making it routine for a while before leaving.

Make sure your kids are well rested before any long distances of travel. You do not want to bring a tired and grumpy child through security, or have them squirming and complaining in the coach or car. Do not overfeed your kids before a trip either. You do not want to get up every ten minutes to go to the bathroom with them and you do not want them to vomit.

Make sure your child has enough to keep him or her busy, entertained and satisfied for the duration of the trip. Think about all the on-flight entertainment available for adults – drinks, food, movies, sitcoms, soaps, documentaries, newspapers and music. Now double that and you are somewhere close to what your child needs.

Pack a rucksack full of toys for each child (they will use it the whole holiday), including one or two new ones that are wrapped. These do not have to be expensive: a sticker book, a new matchbox-sized car, a small can of cheap modelling dough, or a book with mazes or other pencil-and-paper games will all work for different ages. Don't let them open them until they get on the plane or in the car. Build up the excitement for them. Versatile toys that can be reused in various ways, like craft supplies and construction kits, are better than single-function toys. Also consider making a toy wallet full of little surprises for the child to explore.

If you are packing something that needs batteries then make sure you have spares. If it is an item with rechargeable batteries, such as a handheld console, make sure it is fully charged before you leave and keep the charger handy. For items that can be charged via USB, such as tablet computers, it is worth investing in a decent external battery pack so you can recharge while on the move. There are also adapters for using the 12V system of cars.

If you think you might want to leave a toddler in a kindergarten or with a babysitter, it's always a great idea to first make such an experience in your home country, in less unfamiliar conditions:

• make sure a toddler is generally comfortable to stay without parents with a stranger [and with other children]
• escape a language barrier that is much more likely to be found when travelling
• avoid putting time-sensitive travel plans for a day at risk

Motion sickness, traveler's diarrhea, or even just a bit of unexpected bump while your child is holding an open cup of juice can mean you may need to access and re-distribute your suitcase's contents pretty quickly. Think about how you could deal with dirty laundry if you need to, both while you're still en route and after you have arrived at your destination. Bringing lots of disposable plastic bags is recommended.

• Tips for women travellers#Pregnancy
• Organizing a group trip
• Vacation camp, a way for children to spend vacation without their guardians