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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

1 hour, 40 minutes

131 replies

Pinkponyclube · 03/09/2025 14:02

Would you go out for the day to a place one hour and forty minutes away, so drive there for one hour, forty mins, spend the day there and then the same back-with a 6 year old? Or would you make a weekend out of it
Do you consider that a lot for one day?

OP posts:
Crunchienuts · 03/09/2025 15:28

We don’t like driving much so this would be around our max drive time for a day trip.

thisfilmisboring123 · 03/09/2025 15:29

shuggles · 03/09/2025 14:41

@Pinkponyclube That's just a bit longer than my daily commute. You know that people drive longer than that just to go to work 5 days a week, right?

Edited

Do people usually take their 6 year olds to work?
Presumably that’s part of the reason why OP posted.

notacooldad · 03/09/2025 15:30

Yeah, I used to do that all the time with the kids to go mountain biking or hiking in the lakes, Dumfries and Galloway or the Peak District.

notatinydancer · 03/09/2025 15:32

Yes , I’ve done it. Fine.

ilovepixie · 03/09/2025 15:34

Of course! That’s some people’s daily commute!

Dontcallmescarface · 03/09/2025 15:35

1 hour 40 minutes is around the same time as it would take to get to our nearest zoo/beach by car so yeah I would drive there and back in a day....in fact I did quite often with a 6 year old and younger. It's no big deal.

Messingwithmyheadagain · 03/09/2025 15:35

That’s my commute for work so I wouldn’t bat an eye at it for a day trip

Original poster
Pinkponyclube · 03/09/2025 15:39

CoralOP · 03/09/2025 15:07

Of course I would, it's just like a trip out to a theme park, zoo, beach etc, it's nothing.
Get a kids playlist together, snacks and get the tunes going.

Maybe i’m seeing it differently as the beach is a 7 minute walk from us and zoo’s etc 25 mins away. I used to drive across countries, now I can’t be bothered as much 😅

OP posts:
midlifemumma · 03/09/2025 15:39

I would and do it and do do it with toddlers, age 1 & 3. Just plan ahead.

BilbaoBaggage · 03/09/2025 15:41

Would never have occurred to me not to.

Most of my family live that far away.

Velvet010 · 03/09/2025 15:41

Pinkponyclube · 03/09/2025 14:02

Would you go out for the day to a place one hour and forty minutes away, so drive there for one hour, forty mins, spend the day there and then the same back-with a 6 year old? Or would you make a weekend out of it
Do you consider that a lot for one day?

id prefer a weekend

HarperValley · 03/09/2025 15:53

Depending on the destination I’d be happy with up to about three hours each way for a day trip, given where I live we’d barely ever do any day trips if 1hr 40 was an issue.

TeenLifeMum · 03/09/2025 15:56

Yep. We’d go to about 2 hours each way for a day trip.

MoreThanOverwhelmed · 03/09/2025 16:00

Ha! Living in the arse end of nowhere, we'd never do anything if we didn't travel upto 90mins in the car.
That said, if we had the opportunity to make a weekend of it, I probably would.

FormerlySpeckledyHen · 03/09/2025 16:02

What is the purpose of the journey OP?

KoiTetra · 03/09/2025 16:02

Absolutely, we recently did that 3 times in a 2 week period with a 1 & 3 year old. Saturday we went to the coast which was a similar journey to your post. Had a day out with another family with similar age kids and went home. Bank Holiday Monday we went the opposite direction and had a day at a wildlife park just the 4 of us.
The weekend after we went to another park type place with another family all were between 1h20 and 1h50 each way.

No issues, everyone had a great day out.

But then we have family at the opposite end of the country and since before any of the kids were born have been doing 7-8 hour drives in a single day to get there (stay 3-4 days and drive home) the kids are now used to this journey so 2 hours or less is nothing for them.

FollowSpot · 03/09/2025 16:08

I wouldn’t think twice about it.
Completely normal for a day trip.

LegoPicnic · 03/09/2025 16:09

Used to do that quite often when I was that age, but weekends away weren’t really a thing then and we lived quite far from any coast.

I’ve also done it for Legoland with a 6 year old who was desperate to go there and it was fine, but for a “normal” day out would probably prefer to keep it more local.

DaisyChain505 · 03/09/2025 16:10

That’s not an excessive amount of time to spend in the car for a day trip. I wouldn’t waste the money on staying overnight.

TheChosenTwo · 03/09/2025 16:11

Absolutely I would and indeed do!
mine are now older but we have regularly driven for a day out that was 2 hours away for something that we would enjoy or visiting people or whatever really.

pontipinemum · 03/09/2025 16:18

I do that regularly enough. My family live about a 2.5hr drive away. Several times I have taken my baby and toddler down for a 1 day event.

childofthe607080s · 03/09/2025 16:19

No need to make a weekend out of it

MrMucker · 03/09/2025 16:19

Saw the thread title and was hoping for a story of in-bed joy to balance out the earlier "20 minutes ffs" thread.
Disappointed.

daysfilledwithdappledlight · 03/09/2025 16:22

I’ve done more than that in a day with a pre school child.
However, everyone has very different levels of what amount of travel they deem appropriate / enjoyable to do in a day. So many variables, particularly how much the parents are happy to travel and how used to / good the children are with it.
Generally just go with what’s right for you! Sometimes worth taking yourself out your comfort zone if a particular reason, but if that’s too far for you in a day then that’s ok.

Isobel201 · 03/09/2025 16:26

When I used to do agility shows with a dog, I limited my journeys to an hour and a half for a day trip as I never camped. Dog being similar to a child in terms of needs like boredom etc. he was fine as I kept pulling him out for classes and I made sure he had a wee before I went home again. However he used to sleep and would just keep quiet with no need for entertainment, so he's not like a child in that respects.

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