Share your top tips for surviving long car journeys with SEAT for a chance to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!NOW CLOSED

[ZaneKhan]

Painfully long car journeys, we all have them! SEAT have asked us to find out Mumsnetters’ tips for surviving long car journeys.

Here’s what they say, “The new Alhambra can’t settle family arguments like where to stop for lunch, but everyone is bound to agree that long journeys feel shorter in the new Alhambra. Maybe that’s because it’s as big on technology as it is on space. It’s packed with features to keep you comfortable, entertained and in control, from the SEAT Media System to Park Assist. All you have to do is find a song the whole family likes.”

So how do you cope with those insufferably long journeys? Do you have an iPod playlist at the ready to keep you all entertained? Maybe you give in and hand your DCs your iPad to keep them happy and quiet? Or perhaps you just break the journey up by making some stops along the way? Whatever your tips are, we’d love to hear them!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a draw for the chance to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks and best of luck.
MNHQ

Lots of chatting and singing, d's is a massive little mix fan at the tender age of 3 so we have Their album on repeat.
Also a charged ipad and a sticker book works wonders :)

Audiobooks are always a winner.

Also wipeable window markers.... great for playing hangman, drawing pictures, (sometimes cheeky ones!)

If possible, travel in the evening with kids in PJs so they sleep through the journey and then ideally can be transferred straight to bed (that is the ideal, reality can be sadly different)

MP3 players here with audio books and music. Dd1 and ds will read too but dd2 gets car sick so either listens to mp3 or asks hideous number of annoying questions!

We give ours maps and spend some time beforehand drawing the route we'll take so they can follow it, they like to draw interesting things they've seen onto the map, this varies as they get older, where as once it was 'a bush shaped like a fox' it's now 'an awesome yellow Porsche' they mark service stations, interesting landmarks we can stop at etc.

We also pack snack a small rucksack for each child with snacks, drink, books, pencils and Nintendo DS/MP4 player with audio books etc.
For super long journeys (11 hrs from West Sussex to Aberdeen!) we have twin screen in car DVD players.

Then there's the usual stuff, comfort with blankets, cushions and the like and games, I-spy, shopping list game, spelling bees.

We regularly take the car (and four kids) over to France and Spain by car. Looooooong car journeys are our speciality! We always swear by:

• plenty of snacks and water. Nothing fizzy. No chocolate- bad chocolate fudge cake vomit experience many years ago taught us a lot.
• no electronic games or reading on journeys.
• towels, plastic bags and baby wipes (not usually used, but see above!)
• keep putting the windows down and circulating some fresh air, to avoid above or remove smell if not.
• plenty of loo & leg stretching breaks. Take your own tissues and hand gel as some motorway loos have neither. I remember my kids shock at a simple squat hole in the floor in France- good opportunity for a laugh and topic of conversation for the next leg of the journey too.
• iPods in case they disagree on the radio station.
• DVD's with an agreed running order and age appropriate for all kids.

-assigned seats so older ones I. Third row can see over second rw heads to avoid arguments about not being able to see the DVD.

• eye spy, inside car, outside car, in a different language and imaginary we spy when driving through tedious landscapes with nothing but sky, hills, fields, grass with no notable landmarks or signs of life.
• silly sings like, "She'll be coming round the mountain....". Queue hysterical fits at jelly knickers, spaghetti bra and anything vaguely rude they think they can get away with!
• take pillows, cushions and coats to snuggle up, as they will inevitably fall asleep ( just when you need to get petrol, have lunch, one kid announces they need the loo).
• leave plenty of time- traffic and kids can be unpredictable.
• put the GPS on even if you know the way, as it shows how many minutes are left so they don't keep asking you!
• Stay patient and focused. The ultimate goal is to arrive safely.

We recently had a 2.5hr journey turn into 4.5hrs with a 4yo & a 2.5yo. We did loooots of singing & chatting about all the things we could see that got harder when we were on dark country lanes! We've used audiobooks at other times but DC2 gets a bit bored of them & talks over them & DC1 gets cross. Singing is definitely a winner for us, especially if it's making up silly songs or something like Old MacDonald where they can choose animals.

Try to travel late or early, to get in some child sleeping time.
Bring lots and lots of snacks.
Bring even more stickers.
Sing.

Leave at bedtime if humanly possible, or failing that naptime so at least some of the journey can be done in blessed silence.

If neither is possible, endless, endless snacks, and singing songs.

Also a lover of audio books, something everyone will enjoy. We have 3 Dcs so we normally put a film on the ipad for Dc3 to watch with headphones whilst the rest of us listen to a book.

We also joined the National Trust, there's normally a National Trust property along the route to break up particularly long journeys.

The Dcs also love games, I Spy, first one to see, 20 questions etc. but must admit I find these a bit tiresome!

Audio books were our life saver. They last the whole journey and keep the DC spellbound. (Except Horrid Henry. Avoid. They always ended up fighting like brats when listening to HH.) Anything by Malorie Blackman, Hive series, Just William, Horowitz etc all kept the whole family entertained.

Steady stream of bland food: cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks and apple slices etc. Not too much sugar or salt.

Car bingo. You have to call out who's first to see a purple van, a car carrying bicycles or bits of fairground rides etc. That's a good one if they feel car sick as it gets them looking out of the window.

Sing-alongs and Family DJ requests. Plug in the I-pod and each family member takes turns to request a song. Which means you don't have to listen to The Wiggles on a loop (though we've done that for hours too.)

No screens, ever.

Now they are teens it's a mix of R4 comedy shows 9which DC have sweetly grown up loving as much as we do) and letting them get stuck into I-pods and phones.

We always plan a legstretch/loo break/ lunch break in the middle of a long car journey. Two lots of 75 minutes with feeding of faces in the middle of it is so much more comfortable than a single 2.5 hour run.

simple eye spy does the trick with my two boys also we right some colours down before the journey and we have to spot the car colours the person with the most wins very fun !x

In car DVD players a must as is fresh sir through one of the Windows as if it's hot in the car and uncomfortable he wants to get out

Portable games and reading a no no for my son as it makes him travel sick.

We plan travel around nap time and food time. It can pass some time nibbling through lunch. Also the iPad is essential.

In car DVD players from now on in here. It's a treat of course and they love it. Separate ones! Food is vitally important too.

Take the train! Might are awful travellers. Plan your stops around decent play. Places or national trust place/walk. Let them burn off energy.
Choose food wisely. Nothing too sugary.

I plan long journeys carefully around naps and meal times. If it's more than 4 hours, if possible I try to make a day of it - find somewhere half way, like national trust/adventure park, so it feels like a fun day out rather than a big drive.

If travelling for a long journey, we make sure we have enough food to keep everyone me happy, and favourite music. I have, over the years , found that my 3 are happier singing along to anything, than listening to audio books.

As a child, we used to have a game that revolved around motorway signs and things. Was an A4 sized board with pegs in it,which you moved when you saw what you were looking for. I have no idea what they were called, or if they still exist, but many hours were spent playing them. (Everywhere seemed to take longer to get to in the 70s/80s

CDs ready, lots of water and actually love a long journey with dh as stops us watching the tele and gets us talking properly :)

We have an in car DVDs player and peppa is brought out, we also like to sing songs like the wheels on the bus and for the final stages I bought a buckle toy, it's a ladybird with 6 plastic buckles that my daughter an clip together and a zip. She loves it. We are still rear facing at 21months and fully intend to keep facing that way for as long as possible. Love car trips.

Can any body help me about my pip appeal

I recommended a great one for my nephew on his trip to the States this year - I gave him a list of all the 50 states and got him to tick them of when he saw a licence plate from each state. He enjoyed it so much my sister and brother-in-law drove around parking lots just to look at the licence plates. (they got 42 of them)
Obviously this is no good for a UK trip so you could try the one I lovev as a kid - making words out of the numbers on licence plates or writing down the names of the Eddie Stobbard trucks you see if you are doing a lot of motorway driving.

We download loads of Twirlywoos and Mr Tumble onto the ipad and have it mounted to the seat so when she wakes up from a nap we can keep her happy until we can stop for a break

Breadsticks and cheesestraws seem to help so far but my DS is only 1, liking the idea of audiobooks though for the future!