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!

@limes888

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!

I wouldn't drive for more than 2 hours at a time.

It's knackering. I know that means more stops but so important to have regular breaks.

Three hour stint is fine. Just stop when you need to.

@limes888

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?

Absolutely no way would I

I would break up with a travel lodge

I wouldn't drive for more than 2 hours at a time.

Interesting - I’ve done 3-4 hours in one go a few times. Three hours is okay I find, but I wouldn’t do any longer than that without a decent break to relax and recharge.

3 hours at a time is easily doable if that's what you want to do. Pre- DC3 we did 3hrs, stop, 3 hrs. And I'm the only driver!

Friends solved this by driving overnight (all night).

We took train, actually (midlands to Scotland).

If you have the sort of toddler who is happy in the car then driving gives you more control and flexibility. My son is sickly and shrieks in the car after about half an hour. He's always hated it. Nor does he sleep. So for me the idea of an 8 hour drive during daylight hours makes my blood run cold.

If it wasn't for the length of trip I'd say train is better but you'll need to carry a lot of luggage for 10 days.

When we go to Cornwall or Devon we tend to break our journey up by staying in a Premier Inn. It would be a non stop 9 hour journey otherwise - and obviously we couldn’t drive non stop so it ends up being far longer.

We tend to pick a hotel a bit further than half way, stop, find a park to have a run around in to stretch everyone’s legs and then go and get dinner. Means we get most of the driving done on day 1 and on day 2 we are a bit closer and can arrive at a decent time.

It’s a fun part of our holiday - we always get a dominoes 😂

And we would do more than 2 hours if we could - we go as long as we can until someone needs the loo / wakens and needs food.

We pack a picnic, download loads of programmes on CBeebies etc.

We did a big car journey when Dd1 was 2.5 years old no bother. Like you say we break it up.

We just prefer an overnight stay now. It’s easier on us all and part of the adventure.

Definitely have an adult in the back if you can. Then the driver just has to drive, other parent entertains.

If its just a single adult though... train.

If you post roughly where you are travelling between people could recommend stops.

We have done a couple of 8 hour drives with our 1.5 and 3.5 year olds. No way would I attempt to take them on the train for that length of journey!

With the car you can stop wherever and whenever you want, though it's definitely worth planning a couple of stops in advance. We did one longer stop for lunch and a play outside, and a shorter toilet and snack stop. Kids slept a fair chunk of the way, and when our youngest got restless and cried towards the end at least there weren't any other passengers to annoy!

1000000000% car.

I'd go by car, we did some long old trips down to southern Spain when ours were babies and it's just easier to load up with everything you might possibly need and just get on with it. One of you can always sit in the back for a bit to keep your DC amused.

I don't know why you need a stopover though, we were doing 11 1/2 hour drives through Spain with 2 fairly short stopovers for toilets and one for a meal? We might swap driving but usually didn't.

We did something similar last week with our just turned 2 year old. No way I would have wanted to take train. We stayed overnight on the way and way back - premier inn was way cheaper than train tickets would have been. It meant just driving 4 hrs a day, dd slept for a lot of it so very straightforward. It was my first time doing all of the driving so I was glad of the split too. I could have probably done it in a day but I was glad we didn't.

OP it sounds as if you are having to do this just toddler and you. If you give us a vague idea of where you are going some of us might be able to recommend some stops en route that aren't motorway service stations so DC can have a runaround and then hopefully sleep.

If the toddler is still in nappies , change/check them more often than you would normally to avoid a sore bottom in a car seat.

At that age DD used to have a CD of nursery rhyme songs that we kept on a repeat on journeys until she fell asleep.

We've just got the train to Cornwall and our friend's toddler really struggled. In principle it sounds lovely but the train is loud and many passengers in close proximity can be quite daunting for a toddler. I agree with the others, leave as early as possible and hopefully your little one will sleep for a couple extra hours! good luck :) xxx

I'd take the car in that situation, much more convenient. Spread the driving out over a day or two, time breaks for just after nap time, it'll be fine. Plus less exposure to other people while on the train.