Car vs train for long journey with toddler

[limes888]

We're taking our 16 month old toddler on holiday in the UK for 10 days later this month.

We can either drive to our destination (approximately 8 hours) or get the train, which would take 5.5 hours. We would then hire a car at the other end.

Which option is best with a toddler this age? I'm thinking car for convenience as we can just chuck all our stuff in and go, plus he will nap in the car. But I'm tempted by the train as it's such a long slog of a drive and it means we wouldn't have to stop off anywhere overnight!

I'm not confident driving at night so we'll be travelling during daylight hours.

Any advice?

Car
Mine would have wanted to walk around the train at that age and it's not safe

Car since you have to travel one hour to get train( where are you going to from that you one hour from station???)

Premier inn look in area find cheapest to stop

Definitely car, and I wouldn't bother stopping somewhere overnight for an 8 hour journey. Leave at 5am and you're there by 1pm! Even with two hours of stops factored in it's still only 3pm when you arrive. As PPs have said, just switch drivers every couple of hours.

Can you not cancel it and book somewhere closer?

Drive. Toddlers on a train? No ta. We’re flying to Scotland this year!

Definitely car. No concerns about inflicting toddler noise on other people. Safely strapped in so even if frustrated for a bit you can just grit your teeth and drive through it.

You can play music out loud without pissing anyone else off. If you need to stop unexpectedly to change a poo you can do so with much more elbow room.

All the stuff you need to carry.

More likely to sleep in the car. Etc.

I’ve done several long train journeys at that age. It’s a bit of a nightmare entertaining them but presumably you have to entertain them in a car too, and at least on a train they can move about a bit and aren’t stuck in a car seat for 8 hours.

If you can book ahead, get a seat with a table. Sticker books, crayons and paper, tablet with all the games you can load and if you have a child that will wear headphones at that age put some CBeebies on it too. Sleep in pram or on you.

I'd drive. You can take all you're shite then without the aggro of carrying it.
Leave as soon as it gets light if you don't like driving in the dark. Or just before so you're still in familiar areas

Why this destination so far away?

100% car. The thought of having to keep my toddler entertained on a train for over 5 hours would fill me with dread. All those suggesting colouring books and stickers must have really patient toddlers because I can’t imagine mine being even remotely interested in any of those activities. In fact he would be more likely to throw the stuff at the other passengers!
It’s a long car journey but it’s doable in a day with a few stops. No reason why you cant leave early in the morning when it’s light. At least even if they kick off and scream in the car, they are restrained in their seat and cant go anywhere. Good luck!

I’m sure the train journey would be easier with a toddler, but to train it and then hire a car seems to conflict and probably significant extra expense. Travelling with toddlers means carting some extra kit (compared to adults or older children). Take the car, make the journey part of the holiday.

We didn't drive so it was train. And this was before iPads. DS1 was quite easy, he slept in the morning, so we'd travel then. It really depends how he naps.

All those suggesting colouring books and stickers must have really patient toddlers because I can’t imagine mine being even remotely interested in any of those activities.

Not particularly patient, just not any more patient in a car than in a train! If you’ve got the kind that’ll sit patiently playing with a teddy bear for 8 hours in the car but not elsewhere though then absolutely car is preferable

I always sit in the back on long journeys. That way we can read stories, do stickers, etc. together. I

Car for me. Though I personally wouldn't book some where so far away if I thought we'd struggle with the travel.

Surely a week's worth of hire car (plus having to lug a car seat) would be more expensive than booking a cheap premier Inn/Travelodge at the half way points. We went to Devon a couple of months ago and split the journey with 2 X £29 room offers. On the journeys we normally stop in a town rather than a services and have lunch and a good run round before carrying on.

Car all the way.

Def sit in back as pp suggested

You'll be ready for a wine when you arrive

Car 100%. Train journeys are great fun but a long one with such a young child could end up being torture.

My DD would sleep far more on long car journeys - sometimes for up to two hours. We would then stop and take a break, have something to eat etc, stretch our legs.

The thought of having all of my holiday stuff and a toddler on a train makes me sweat!!

Thanks everyone - I’ve read all the pluses and minuses for both options and have decided that on balance, driving is probably best as we will have so much stuff. I also can’t see DS dropping off in his pram on the train - where do you put the pram for starters, and surely it would be too noisy?

Would you do eight hours in one day (with breaks) if it was just you driving? Or would that be too tiring for one person?

Car. You can stagger the trip as you need to. Trains with toddlers are a nightmare at the moment as many train companies are using covid as an excuse to close toilets so you may end up having to trek across several carriages everytime he needs a nappy changeS

Another thing that’s convinced me to do the car option is that we won’t need to stay overnight as I initially thought - two three hour stints followed a final two hour leg and we’ll be there!

Thank you for all your advice and insights, it’s been real helpful

Would you do eight hours in one day (with breaks) if it was just you driving? Or would that be too tiring for one person?

Yes. Whilst 8 hours seems like a long time with regular breaks and rest stops it's more than doable. The person driving probably won't enjoy the experience especially if they are not used to doing long distances but it would still be more enjoyable than lugging a toddler and all their crap into taxis, trains, sorting out car rental and then squashing everyone including a likely overtired toddler into the hire car at the other end.

@FuckingFlumps

Would you do eight hours in one day (with breaks) if it was just you driving? Or would that be too tiring for one person?

Yes. Whilst 8 hours seems like a long time with regular breaks and rest stops it's more than doable. The person driving probably won't enjoy the experience especially if they are not used to doing long distances but it would still be more enjoyable than lugging a toddler and all their crap into taxis, trains, sorting out car rental and then squashing everyone including a likely overtired toddler into the hire car at the other end.

Yes so true. I took my toddler to London on the train recently and it was horrible. We realised at Bank station that we couldn’t do it and then returned home. Thankfully the plans we made only affected us so we could abandon them.