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

Come up with some exciting games to play on the train, it makes the time go much faster and compared to driving you can engage with your children a lot more!

Travel outside peak time, book seats in advance if possible. I'm lucky in that we normally get on at the end of the line, so lots of time to get on and get settled. So far we've kept the journeys quite short, but I'm considering a day trip to London this summer. May need lots of and !

We've had lots of great days out in Birmingham on the train. The main tips for us are getting to the station in plenty of time (especially for the trip home!) and some playing cards (so many easy ways of keeping DCs occupied).

I love to go into London and do something down the South Bank. London Eye is always good if you haven't done it before.

Take the children for a day out on a steam train. We have enjoyed trips on the Watercress Line in Hampshire.

Family Railcard, tick - but check whether it is worth it for the year. I always take our own sandwiches and cold drinks -or a meal deal, and have a hot drink on the train. Travelling by rail is a great adventure. We never left anything behind, but I'd put luggage tags on / in anything you might forget eg teddies.

Book seats if you can, ideally ones with a table and socket to keep gadgets charged. Colouring, cards and books all good distractions, or spotting things from the window games.

Travel as light as possible, take snacks and drinks and make everyone go to the toilet before you leave. And if you have travel sick children take bags, wipes etc.

Try to be going somewhere near the station, especially if just a day trip. Otherwise you spend more time getting there / back than at your destination.

I never travel anywhere without a pack of cards! It's great way to pass the time and I have many happy memories of train journeys spent playing Uno!

We take some small snack for the journey and play I spy

I take lots of activities including colouring, magazines and download a film to my tablet! I also take lots of snacks and drinks to save money! Playing l spy also passes the time! My girls generally like the train as it's a novelty!

It depends on the length of the train journey as to how prepared I would need to be. I would certainly pack enough food, snacks and drinks for the trip. I would also need to take activities to keep the children occupied, paper, pencils, crayons, water painting, maybe travel board game if your children are old enough. I would also take the ipad and charger as a last resort!

Tissues, wipes and hand sanitizer would also be necessary for me.

It would be important for me to get a table on the train and not be too far from the toilets.

book early, bring activity books, ipad with earphones and some movies (depending on the length of journey!). bring snacks (non messy or sticky ones!). if you get a table bring some cards!

I think the key thing is to plan ahead so you know how to make the most of your day.. use comparison sites to find out the best rail fares, moneysavingexpert and various voucher code sites for discounts for places of attraction, restaurants and so on and make sure you have a bag packed with snacks, wipes, mini juice bottles, lastly make the day fun by introducing games, activities to keep kids amused on the journey itself.

Try not to travel at peak times and pack a picnic

Take colouring books and crayons have plenty of snacks and drinks and try to bag seats close to toilets.Don't forget the wet wipes and a list of simple games you can play

Travel off peak and take some activity books to keep younger children entertained.

Try to travel off peak, nothing worse than not getting a seat and then having to clutch on to your LO whilst trying to stay stood up. I would try to leave plenty of time to get to the station to have some time to look around the platform.

take sandwiches and plenty of things for during the journey, if you can get a table that is good for games, eating etc. look out for discounted tickets and vouchers

We often travel on the train with my 5 year old grandson. I would suggest avoiding peak travel times as the trains can get very crowded. Take some drinks and snacks. Take a colouring book and crayons and maybe have some easy games on your phone or a tablet to entertain the children. Worth looking into buying a Family Railcard if you often travel with children and booking tiockets in advance usually works out cheaper - especially on longer trips. My grandson loves travelling by train.

Snacks. Lots of snacks.

Def use a railcard.

Prebook seats around a table and take lots of activities.

A scavenger hunt - a list of things to collect and see along the way - but different ones for each child to avoid arguments

Got to be snacks for us too! Requesting a table when booking also helps lots and bringing mini games along plus pens and paper. A good old fashion game of eye spy is always a winner or 'I went shopping and bought' memory game.

My tips:

• Save money. Book online for the best price, off-peak times tend to be cheaper as is travelling on certain days of the week. Get a rail card and use vouchers, look for discounts on family fares.
• Seems simple, but always check the weather forecast, you want to enjoy your train journey and one of the best parts is watching the beautiful British countryside, plus you want it to to be a nice day wherever you're travelling too :)
• Make sure the train has all the facilities you need like toilets, nappy changing areas, comfortable seats etc
• Bring snacks, both the kids and the adults might get hungry and it's always nice to have something when you're feeling peckish.

As PP have said buying a railcard is a must to help you get cheaper train fairs. There are often special deals on the family rail card, we got a free 3 months rail card last summer and once that had expired £10 off the cost of a year card.

Book train tickets in advance and try to get a table. Avoid the quiet carriage to save yourself the stress of trying to keep the children quiet!

We take a drink and a few snacks to keep us all going.
A notebook and pens or crayons don't take up too much space in your bag and can be used to play games such as noughts & crosses or squares, they can also be used to draw pictures of fellow travellers or anything else that takes their fancy.

My 3 also love looking out of the window and trying to spot things as we go along.

Already mentioned, take plenty of snacks and drinks, allow for toilet visits. Take magazines/books/tablets, depending on age.

Try one of the old steam train rides, the children absolutely adore the steam puffing out of the engine, and whistle blowing when setting off. I recommend the Blaenau Ffestiniog steam railway; it runs through some lovely North Wales scenery, and lots to see. Children love the ride and it gives them a sense of our history.