Family Travel Tips - 11 Lessons Learned On Our Trip to London With Kids 

Glad you had a lovely time, this was really interesting! You're jumper is all the colours of the Underground lines!! Love from London xxx

Every trip is a learning experience. We just got back from D.C. and learn something new each time we visit.

I always bring a blanket and pillow when I fly. When I flew to India I bought a pair of hard soled slippers to wear in the airport and the plane.

Our European travel with kids approach was always alternate something for adults with something for kids. Staying centrally lets you walk a lot which means you discover neighbourhood playgrounds or fountains or carousels or whatever that give kids a fun moment. We also usually only planned 1 or maybe 2 activities per day and left the rest for spontaneously chosen activities based on everyone's mood/energy level or interest or new things we discover.

Great tips 👍Staying with family definitely turns a holiday into a different experience, but when you do it time spent with loved ones is the main benefit of the trip - so glad you had such a good time with your aunt. My hubby makes the best travel plans. He times out every journey and figures out how much time to allow for each place we want to see. Together we create an itinerary of activities with something for everyone in the family. Usually we hire a car and spend either 2, 3 or 4 days in each place depending on what we want to do there. We're in the UK and have travelled around different places in Europe, the US, and Canada. Our 'touring' family holidays have been some of our best shared experiences. Together we have climbed the Eiffel tower, seen flamenco dancers in Granada, swum with dolphins, paddled with manatees swimming up to us, watched a sea turtle lay her eggs, seen humpback whales, visited Green Gables and so much more... travelling with your family is the best. You're so right about planning in down time. We pack a LOT into our trips but we always make sure to plan in recovery time after a couple of really busy days. Oh and the fresh fruit thing - I didn't want to leave our rubbish on the plane when we went to America so I took it with me, and we got sent through an extra security check because I had an apple. It isn't always as simple as just taking it from you, it can hold you up in the airport as well!

Such great tips! Happy you all made it there and back safely and got to enjoy time with your family ☺️

You are so right about the difference in international travel, it varies so much. Asian & Middle Eastern Airlines (Qatar/Emirates/Singapore airlines) usually have amazing service. Korean Air and South African Airlines is also pretty good as well. I loved watching your IG stories.

We will be going to London and Paris in May. First time for me and my husband and 3 rd time for my adult children.they planned the whole trip so we shouldn’t run into any problems. Can’t wait . Glad you all had a nice trip. And you never know you might want to go back one day.

Great video as always :) Much like you both, I didn't get to travel when I was younger before because of financial limitations and college. Fast forward to today, I now travel a lot because of work and it's one of my main hobbies (so far I've been to 21 U.S. states and 4 countries). Here are some of my tips: 1) If you only have five days (excluding travel time), I recommend traveling in the U.S., specifically national and state parks. I know it's not as cool as traveling abroad to Singapore or London but I don't think a few days is really enough to explore a city, let alone a country. My #1 reason to go to national and state parks is that they are extremely low-cost (ex. $10 for a car for one week). The national parks are especially great because they often have child-friendly activities (where you learn about bugs or the history of the park) *and* they're included for the price of admission. This can also solve your problem of having two kids with a big age gap. Reeves can also run himself ragged and it's not as big of an issue (like if you were in Louvre for example). Certain parks are extremely popular (in Yosemite where you have to book your cabin/hotel months in advance), but Shenandoah National Park is very close to the DC area that you can do a weekend trip. On my first trail there, I almost bumped into a full-grown brown bear! (They're harmless as long as you don't have food on you :P) 2) The flexibility in travel plans is also super important. Some of my favorite memories from my travels happened spontaneously. One was when I was in Puerto Rico in a local restaurant and randomly got serenaded by a Cuban karaoke singer. Another was when I was wandering in a park around in Montreal, I ended up singing "The Prayer" with a violinist (complete with random tourists watching us haha). The most recent one was when I was in the train in Kaohsuing, Taiwan, and a guy wearing a Spiderman costume hopped on the train. All of the passengers, including me, were so confused why he was wearing the costume. When he got out of the train, he JUMPED OUT like Spiderman haha! A man after my own dorky heart :) 3) When I plan for a trip, I make a Google map of things of interest in the country/city. You can plop things of interest on a google map. I color-code it to things I definitely want to do and then things that I am sort-of interested in. This leaves me room to be flexible, but also to group the things I want to see. Of course I make a Google Doc detailing my daily activities, but I find the map extremely helpful. This makes it easier for me when I have to plan out commuting time as well. My maps tend to look like a serial killer's map when all's said and done, but they're invaluable. I can also download the map offline so I don't need internet access to use them. 4) My final technique for travel, I actually got from my husband. He uses Instagram to check out potential trails and waterfalls in parks a few days before, to give us a sense whether the trail is worth doing or not. This gives us an idea, especially for weather-dependent stuff. This is how we've managed to find frozen waterfalls during the winter or how we figure out if there are flowers blooming in a park in the spring :D The more you travel, the more you learn how to do it. Don't beat yourself up for your "travel mistakes" because that just means your next trip will be that much better :)

Amazing tips! I'm visiting London in about a month (single, no kids) and I am staying with good friends in Reading, which I know is super far out. Thankfully, I am going for 2 weeks so I am planning to sneak in a side trip to Paris. I think I'll try and do 2 or 3 trips into the city. Some of these didn't apply to me but many will be super useful!

this was very helpful! thank you!

Wish you'd asked for recommendations and advice before your trip to London! Could have given you some of these tips in advance for sure as a local and made it a bit better. Glad you had a good time regardless! :)

Norwegian (we booked it going to Madrid) is lower than jet blue, spirit, and southwest...and it was a Norwegian flight attendant who told me that.

I can easily fix number 2 for you...never check a bag. If I can go to Antarctica for 3 weeks with nothing but a carry-on, you can go to London with only a carry-on. We'll be traveling to London with our 2 YO but I'll only pack enough diapers for 2-3 days and just buy more when we get there.

great video!!

PS: Just ask your audience in advance for travel tipps. :) A stylish (and also) quick way to get around london is in a red double decker bus. ;)

Ha! Towel on the floor - definitely one of my children- not a guest 😑

I almost booked a London trip with Norwegian- but I was warned against it. Instead, I almost as stupidly, booked American Airlines which costs $60 for each suitcase.

who is Alexis?

Travelling with a little one is not the easiest thing to do especially there are a lot of walking.

Some great tips. As an ex-pat living in London, I would add that it's great to get your itinerary checked by a local. My brother and his family came to visit and gave me their proposed itinerary in advance. I was able to point out a few things I thought would cause issues (the distances between attractions, when an attraction was in a nice area and they might want to build in a buffer for spontaneous sightseeing, etc) and shuffle some days around to make it more comfortable. Also, if you are flying a budget airline (where checked bags cost extra), have a baby/toddler and are staying with family or friends, order things like diapers online and have them delivered to your relative's house before you arrive. My sister-in-law probably saved on paying for an entire suitcase by getting all the baby's essentials delivered in advance and it really reduced worry about lost bags.

I would go as far to say that people should purchase travellers and medical insurance when leaving the United States for their peace of mind. No exceptions!

Never assume you will never go back. You missed a lot of great places-Victoria and Albert, theaters, Hyde Park, Harrods....

I wanted to say "you guys should've done a meet and greet day" but hearing all your days been packed with plenty of things to do, I'll let you off 😂. Hope you enjoyed England. Great tips !!!

I feel like no one in their right mind staying in London would stay somewhere an hour and a half out of the city. I wish you guys had put this issue to your followers. There are tons of cheap places to stay that are really lovely quality e.g Travelodges and Premier Inns.

I always buy my insurance right after I book the first thing for my trip (usually flights). You never know what might happen before you even leave for the trip!

When you realized that your Aunt's house was so far away why didn't you book a London hotel for a few of those days instead of traveling back and forth? BTW, that really is a beautiful top that you purchased.

We started travelling to London 4 years ago and we’ve been back almost every single year since! I gather you were really due to the long commute. We knew we did not want a long commute (we did that at home in Toronto). So every time we go we stay in the West end in and around Notting Hill. That is a game changer! Every morning we would walk through or ride rented bikes through Kensington Garden then go on tours, trips the rest of the day. Being on the central line in Zone 1 we were only ever a few stops away from key places to visit. Just discovered your channel - kudos - you have a lovely family.

When I heard about your plan to go to Paris in the other video I wasn't surprised that you didn't make it because that plan seemed a little bit crazy 😅 There is always so much to see in one place, crunching in a whole different city and country for a day is just too much. Glad you still had a wonderful trip!

Norwegian Air is a budget airline. Now JAL (Japan Airline) is top-notch quality and models itself on Japanese hospitality, which is highly rated ha! :) Peace.

Hey Tasha I saw you in O magazine

It’s interesting to hear you call it a Europe trip when you just visited Southern England. Glad you had a great time though.

We were in London this month as well, March 14th - 20th. I never plan anything for our first day of a trip and boy am I glad, our plane was delayed almost 6 hours, we left at 3AM, I never sleep on planes but I was exhausted and slept 5 out of the 7 hours, had just enough time to watch Crazy Rich Asians. We stayed at a place right above Hyde Park and the location was great, there were 2 tube stations within a 2 minute walk. Our first day we didn't do much as previously mentioned I didn't plan anything, roamed around the hotel area and got some goodies at Sainsburys, Day 2 we explored Hyde Park, Sunken Garden, Kensington Palace and had tea at the palace (it was a bit expensive but delicious) then went to the Natural History Museum then Victoria & Alberts museum next door ; Day 3 we took a Jack the Ripper tour (was so awesome, our guide was amazing), went to the London Eye (I thought it was super boring and cramped but worth it to do it once, never again most likely), then explored Camden Town and had the most amazing fish & chips at Poppies (they have a few locations in London); Day 4 we went out for brunch at Flesh & Buns, explored Soho & the Gay Village, bought 2 purses at Vendula London, went to Chin Chin Ice Cream (liquid nitrogen ice cream, was absolutely delicious) then Sunday roast at Blacklock (omg best meal of our trip); Day 5 we went to a place called Waffle Factory for breakfast, then to Tower of London (the Beefeater guide we had was hilarious) we had about 4 hours there but wish we had more because there was more to see, then we went for pre-theater dinner at Hawskmoor, saw Wicked (great show, amazing vocals); Day 6 we went back to the Natural History museum for a bit because we didn't have a chance to see the dinosaur and human exhibits the other day we were there, then we went to E. Pellecci for a full english breakfast and cuppa, I highly suggest everyone check out this place, not only is it cheap (under 20 for the two of us and a dessert to go) but the family that owns it is amazing, hilarious and so welcoming, they have a book showing off pictures of some of the celebs that have come in there, went to Marble Arch & Primark (I love Primark, have to go there anytime I'm in Europe or somewhere that has them), Kings Cross/Platform 9 3/4 (the line wasn't nearly as long as it was for you guys, I think we only waited about 10minutes), had pizza at Pizza Union then to Buckingham palace, then the next day we had an early flight. I researched A LOT for this trip, there was more that we wanted to do but we wanted to have a stress-free trip so kept it pretty easy, I will say we travel with carry on only which makes things way easier, might not be as easy with kids though.

My favourite thing to do is literally have a folder on me that has information on all the places I wanne go to, so that I know when things are closed, how much they cost and how to get there the fastest. For me this is essential. I plan out the days in a lot of detail with trip times and visiting times etc. But usually when I am actually there I might not want to go to a park on the day I planned it, because it is rainy foir example. So my collection of information helps deciding what to swap from other days. Unsually works out perfectly.

So where else did you go? You said it was your Europe trip?

London😍

Have you thought of meeting with a travel advisor or getting a groupon trip?

Great tips!

Hey first

How is it expensive to rent a car while traveling???