Tell Trainline about the family days out you have planned - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Trainline is developing a new days out tool to help with finding new places to visit and they’d love to know which family days out you’re planning this year, and – if you’re going by train – how you plan on entertaining your children on the journey.

They also want you to get involved with helping them to shape their new tool - you can suggest new attractions to be included in the tool using the “suggest” button.

Here’s what Trainline has to say: “At Trainline we’re always looking for ways to make journeys smarter. Clare Gilmartin our CEO, is a mother of three, and keeps us focussed on our customers by reminding us that “it’s the little things that make a big difference”, from saving a few minutes by using a mobile train ticket to getting a great deal using the best fare finder, and this is the ethos that we have at the heart of what we do. Our latest days out tool helps you to find and plan a day out by train, just in time for the summer holidays, but we want your ideas to take it the extra mile.”

So, whether you’ve got educational trips or adventure filled days planned for the summer holidays (and beyond!), let Trainline know about them and your train journey entertainment tips below.

All those who share a day out or tips for entertaining children on the train below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher from a store of their choice (from a list).

Please note that the days out tool is new and development of it is still underway. Some less popular train routes haven’t been added yet, but will be with time. There will also be more attractions added so please make suggestions on what you’d like to see next. Additionally, if you live in London please search from a mainline station to get the best results.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

We had a great trip to Tenby, loads to do and fabulous beaches!

My 2 yr old is train obsessed he even loves watching you tube video's of trains.
We spot things out Windows and I always have colouring books and crayons with me.

We recently used the train to go to an indoor climbing centre in Chelsea. It was probably drivable but I think it's fun for the kids to use the train to get to places - plus less stressful. The journey was so straightforward & I used apps to plan my journey & look up train times.

This week we enjoyed a trip to Hardys Animal Farm in ingoldmells.Its cheap entry and you can buy little bags of feed that is suitable for most of the animals there which the kids loved. The pygmy goats are running free and are so full of character they bring a smile to everyones faces

It's been difficult to get everyone together to do anything this year, as DS1 and DS2 are busy with work and uni. However, we are hoping to have a few weeks together at the end of August/beginning of September, so we are hoping to spend a few days out at the seaside/country parks. We will probably travel by car, as rail travel is so expensive, especially when we are paying for five of us.

I recently had a lovely day out and taking the train was quite a new experience to us as we hadn't done it as a family before. The children loved it and it was stress free for me too.
We didn't go that far - we went about half an hour away to a town we hadn't been before. I met up with an old friend and it was really lovely.
The app sounds like a fantastic idea.
A great tip is to book in advance for cheaper prices. A great way to keep children entertained is with drawing boards. There are new ones now that glow! I think they're great and they don't make any mess. I also take a portable dvd player with me if all else fails!

So far we have travelled into London from zone 4 for the museums but have planned trips to Margate and Hastings.
I have a family rail card which saves some of the ticket cost.
I always make sure DD has plenty of colouring pens and snacks for the train journeys.

A trip to London to ride the London Eye

We almost always use the train for day trips whether visiting family in Kent, visiting theme parks or trips to the beach, and always use a family railcard as the price is totally prohibitive without it. A new magazine at the station, a bag of sweets and a fully charged phone or tablet are essentials to keep the boys amused. If only wifi was available on the train.

Depends on seating. If you have a table you can play mini board/card games etc. If not then probably a tablet is useful for keeping kids entertained on a train.

Day trip to London Zoo next weekend, very excited about it. Although I have to admit... we have chosen to drive as we live in the South East and our train service has been cut by 80% to just three trains a day!

I'm planning a trip to Llandudno on the train with my two children.

I like the new tool, it could give you ideas for places to go which you haven't thought about

We like to visit London by train at least once or twice a year. It's a journey of a couple of hours from where we live but the children think of the train ride as part of the fun.

We've yet to visit the London Aquarium and Madame Tussauds so they are two possible places to visit this year.

It's quite an expensive day out though so has to be planned in advance to take account of discounts and vouchers, etc.

We've got trips out planned to our local beach, the RSPB centre, sealife centre, a pool with slides etc and we'll probably have a trip to Yorkshire at some point, there's lots there to do!

We are luck to live in Devon and are surrounded by many seaside towns. Days planned out will include Looe in Cornwall, Newquay in Cornwall, Bigbury on sea. mostly beach days :)

A trip to the Natural History Museum in Oxford on a sunny day is perfect because the glass roof makes the place a bright and lovely place to be to look at the interesting items on display. We take a picnic to eat in University parks where we can run around afterwards then walk through Oxford to buy an ice cream before catching the bus home.

train to york and then visit the railway museum

easier to go by train as can catnap, do things . son gets carsick on windy journeys. off to thorpe park on saturday.

Love Frinton on Sea so will definitely be having a couple of days out on the train there.

I'm going to recreate days out I had when I was a child - to help educate kids what it was like in the olden days (as they insist on calling it)

We're all looking forward to a trip to the Tall Ships Race at Blyth, Northumberland at the weekend. No train trip though - nearest station 20 miles away!

When we do travel by train my kids like eating, reading and playing games on the tablet.

Hubby and son have had a boys weekend in Falmouth and then last night stayed in exeter so they could do creally theme park on way home.
We also did Legoland in May and stayed in the hotel and stayed at parkdean resort.
We tend to do main holiday may time as we find weather better, prices cheaper and usually a little quieter as son has aspergers

A visit to the Sky Garden followed by the Shrek adventure

Sounds like a useful tool.

Our trips this summer have involved a trip to Edinburgh for the Zoo and to see all the funny stuff around the festival (plenty of kids shows and activity), a trip to the safari park and a trip to Flamingo Land - again for the zoo but also the theme park.

Train can be a great way to get there to take the pressure off the drive and more room for the kids to move so they don't feel contained for too long.