What are your best tips and ideas for great days out by train with the family? Share to win a £250 John Lewis voucher, courtesy of Great Northern and Thameslink.

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

We have been asked by the team at Thameslink and Great Northern to find out your top tips for great days out with the children on the train, your tips on travelling by train with children and how to keep the kids entertained on the rail journeys.

Here’s what they have to say:
"Family days out create lasting memories but can sometimes be costly! To help combat this, did you know that you can get 2FOR1 tickets on certain attractions around London, Brighton and Cambridge when you travel there by rail with Thameslink and Great Northern?

Thameslink operates train services to and from the heart of London, between Bedford and Brighton via Luton and Gatwick Airport, and St Albans and Wimbledon.

Great Northern connects King’s Lynn, Cambridge and Peterborough, via Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City with London King’s Cross. Metro services run to and from Moorgate weekdays, late evening and at weekends.

^Kids travel for just £2 when accompanied by an adult on our great value Off-Peak tickets, plus get 2FOR1 offers to heaps of attractions when you travel by train: thameslinkrailway.com/spring^

We'd love to hear how you manage to have your own great day out using the train with your family."

Please share on this thread your top train tips for all thing family - whatever it is that you do, Thameslink and Great Northern want to know*.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 John Lewis voucher.

You can find out more about the Great Northern and Thameslink 2FOR1 promotion here

Thanks,

MNHQ

*Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

We book campsites which are near train stations accessible to London.
Makes it cheaper to have a day out in London and nice to come back out into the countryside.

Avoid busier times if at all possible - you're more likely to get a seat.
If possible call ahead to any stations where you need to make a connection/ change so that you will definitely have enough time to get in the lift/ over the bridge between trains.
They will know if it will actually be impossible to get your double buggy and twins over the other side of the station and get the next train or whether it's best to save your sanity and wait!
Be prepared - trains can get cancelled and delayed so have something up your sleeve for entertainment purposes.
When travelling alone with a buggy and toddlers : Young children it might be best to try and travel near the ticket inspector so that of no one else is around to offer assistance (or refuses) they could help. (Although I've always found fellow passengers to be very helpful and accommodating even when I was with double buggy, toddler twins and train was very delayed so we ended up travelling during rush hour!)
Remember front ways on with a bugy and back off - to avoid the heart stopping moment I saw a mother push her buggy off forwards and the whole thing went over - I honestly thought the child had gone under the train . Luckily they were fine and the mum was just very badly shaken - but no one else apart from me offered any sort of help (but that's another thread!!)

I commute to London so have a season tickets for discounts on others travelling with me.

The boys (5 and 3) love the journey in just as much as the destination. Especially if the tube is also involved. I think they'd be quite happy with a trip to London just to ride the Tube!

Anyhow, top tip for the days out is that you need to print the 2-1 entry voucher before you go or have a leaflet. We were lucky once and the nice man at The London Transport Museum gave us a leaflet when we were there which he wasn't really supposed to do. The boys were in absolute heaven there though with different forms of transport to pretend to drive and play in. Kids go free and I got entry for a year having paid once.

Try and get a seat next to the window and a table seat. This makes it easier for 'I spy' games and lets everyone spread out a bit with their colouring/magazines/connect 4 or whatever.

Plenty of snacks (train picnics are all part of the fun) and being near a toilet are always plus points. Also, I have a huge fear of my luggage being nicked, so I like to sit near luggage storage too!!

We always pack plenty of drinks, snacks, pens and activity books for train journeys for my DDs (age 3&5). We always try to travel off-peak and book in advance to save money. Choose the seating location well - keep the toilets in sight for those last minute rushes! We try to do journeys to nice, kid-friendly destinations (ie the seaside) so the girls get excited about where we are heading. They love handing their own tickets to the ticket inspector too!

If the tickets don't cost much, I would always book a seat for your toddler too. The extra space will be helpful (even if it is to store all the colouring books and snacks etc!)

Booking in advance, railcards and split ticketing can all save £££. Definitely book table seats.

I've travelled a fair amount with my dc by train over the years. When they were little snacks were important and being prepared - spare easily accessible clothes etc. Books and games which were new to them or they hadn't seen in a while worked well.

As they got older things like card games were good. I don't feel bad nowadays about them being on phones and ipads either. They still like to play the odd game.

We often had a tradition of buying something new for the journey like a magazine, book or game which worked well.

We live near a train station and love travelling by train 😊 we often book in advance and have a family railcard. Return for me and ds to London almost half the price at £20 sometimes. We do cities and seaside. I do drive but train travel much more relaxing and ds and I get to play games, chat and really connect again which we don't do at home. He's 13 so see little of each other at home! Also great for taking his friends out - little bargains you just can't not really

I think trips are often better than driving as they take you straight into the heart of your destination without the hassle of finding somewhere to park.

My thoughts for a successful train trip with little ones (same tips apply for all days out) are plan ahead, take activities/snacks, don't be too ambitious I what you plan to do in a day.

My youngest son age 9 loves the train and enjoys days out on there. we usually take snacks and the ipad and then he is happy to sit there for hours. He is obsessed with trains ,train maps etc and loves to see where we are going. Last year we went to Weymouth and great yarmouth on day trips with him. We hope to go again this year

I love a train journey. When the kids were little I avoided changes and my parents drove 30 miles to pick us up. Now they are 9 and 5, I'm happy to change trains a couple of times and go all the way to their home town on the train. Otherwise it's 220 miles in the car and I can't interact with the kids and drive safely.

My DS is a big fan of trains (thanks to Thomas the Tank Engine no doubt!).

Top tips:
Take plenty of snacks

Take lots of things to do such as books to read, crayons & paper, small toys, and games

Explain to the DC how long they are likely to be on the train for and what they can & can't do - manage expectations!

Family rail card - mine is me and dd (16) as the adults not me and dh.

Music, headphones and a window.

Good planning at the other end so there's not far to trek!

Take plenty of snacks to bribe your child into good behaviour and an IPad or apps on your phone to keep them entertained. Oh, and if your child is afraid of the loos on trains like mine was, keep them in a nappy to avoid unexpected seat puddles!

Both my boys love the train and I find it much easier than driving as there's no traffic jams, trouble finding a parking space or whingy kids in the back!

We play games like "I-Spy" and Top Trumps, follow the route on a map, have a chat, have a picnic, look out of the window and just chill out.

Makes me want to go somewhere on a train now (after spending 2 hours in stationary Bank Holiday traffic yesterday!).

Get older children to work out the timetables before you go, and keep checking and reminding you of change times etc when you're on the journey. A bit of responsibility definitely alleviates boredom.

We love travelling by train! It makes it feel as if the journey is part of the day out.

Top tips - lots of snacks, quiet games to play, and leave plenty of time for changes. Nothing worse than having to run through a busy station with children, luggage and buggies in tow!

We used to go on lots of train adventures - we'd pack a goodie bag with snacks, puzzle books and colouring and a small toy for dd to keep her entertained.
I also used to make a kind of pictorial scavanger hunt list so dd could check off dofferent sights out the window eg. Sheep, a bridge, a forest, horses etc.

The basic, think, are book a table (not in the quiet carriage!), bring lots of snacks, avoid peak time, bring paper and colouring pencils, I'm not a big fan of bringing tablets because it's not very sociable, but I reserve the right to change my mind for a omg journey/when DD gets older. Spotting games and guessing games at great because you can spin them out for ages.

We travel by train where possible as hubby doesn't drive and if it's a long journey we find it easier. We took Ds to Lake District on holiday by train when he was 2. Musts: prebook table seats. Snacks. I spy books, comics, pencils. I try and find out which carriage is nearest exit or which way to head on platform especially if a change of train is involved. Hand sanitiser for grim toilets. And travel light as possible.

Tips for days put by train.

Plan journeys and know other services too.
See if there is a local railway card or whether a friends and family card is worth getting.
Lots of food and drink.
Usborne Cards 100 things to do on a train/journey are amazing.
Antibac soap/ gel for loos. Normally grim!
Pack up 10 minutes before your stop so you can check you've not left anything behind. You aren't rushed and can move towards exit.

Ask for help if necessary. Offer it if you can.
I did a very very long journey with two young kids, a buggy , a car seat and a hiking backpack. We had some unexpected changes and delays. Some people were diamonds. Others were awful. However I still managed to offer help when needed to others - including a seat reshuffle when people using for one stop just couldn't be bothered.

Book in advance, take lots of snacks, pick your travelling time carefully. Be prepared to travel back later in the evening as often that is much cheaper.

If you live close enough, a trip to London always has the attractions to visit as long as you get a good price on train tickets. Have things for them to do like colouring books or for reading. Bring your own snacks and drinks as they cost a fortune on the trains...

Take lots of snacks and Wet Wipes. Quiet activities are a must-the other passengers won't appreciate us singing train-related songs etc.....Colouring books are good-I quite enjoy them too.

Buy a railcard as it will be a lot cheaper