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

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And that's one way btw, so will have to do it all again a week later!

We've just come back from a trip to Northumberland by train. We are a car-free family so the train is our usual mode of long-distance transport. We love it.

Use a train-price monitor to be aware of when the cheap tickets become available. Increasingly reserving seats is a standard requirement of online train tickets booking.

The children (even now that they are older) always travel with their own small rucksacks containing drinks, snacks and a range of 'entertainment' options (some non digital). That usually keeps them gainfully amused.

Train travel is so much more fun that going in a car - just much more of an experience.

We're off to Chepstow in the train this weekend - no entertainment necessary for our boys as they LOVE trains so will just gaze in wonder out of the window for the whole trip. I spy has proved useful for long connections though - top tip for younger ones is to use colours instead of letters, so "I spy with my little eye something that is red". Saves arguments as to why 'cat' is not a valid answer to 'something beginning with T'!

I've bought a Family rail card for the first time this year, after using a newspaper promotion to get a discount. We are going to take a trip at the end of August and the train cost is cheaper than parking for 3 days near the hotel in the city where we are going.

I intend to use it for a lot more days out now that I have got the card.

DD will have either a book or her kindle for entertainment, although on shorter journeys I would rather she looked out the window rather than be glued to a screen

Lots planned with our family and friends railcard
Ramsgate
Canterbury
Kings Lynn
Brighton
Berkhampstead
And Rochester for starters.

Hoping to visit london by train several times to do various museums - i'd like to go to the brand museum and toy museum. Our beach trips are usually by car - but hope to get to the beach a couple of times too. 1 big theme park trip planned too. Everything else likely to be local.

We always take card games on trains - mainly ones that don't need a table, like top trumps. We'd usually have clipboards and paper too, as DD especially likes writing and drawing.

YES to family railcard, it pays for itself many times over as we are always on trains.

We're going to the seaside next week as DD is doing a circus skills workshop, and we might go to a costume museum.

We're also going to the natural history museum with some friends as DD has a new dinosaur obsession and DS wants to research geology stuff.

We don't have a huge amount planned, the DCs are home educated so the summer is pretty much like any other time. In October we'll be going to Hastings though as DH is doing a run there, so it'll be Battle of Hastings stuff and the aquarium thanks to clubcard vouchers! Oh and crazy golf, that's obligatory :)

If you're travelling by train, put older children in charge of checking train timetables, working out how long you have to catch a connecting train, checking platform information etc. It helps pass the time, and all children love a bit of responsibility. Younger children have to keep a keen eye on the refreshments bag

We'll be taking the train with ds and friend to Bournemouth Air Show later this month. It's not too long a journey but we will break it up with snacks, card games and trips to the toilet - sounds ridiculous but as they have to go individually, just doing that can happily pass half an hour or so! Getting the children to find their reserved seats, monitor stops and make the call to pack up ready to get off all help.

I love the idea of the days out tool but found it a bit mystifying. I guess it will improve with more suggestions?

My DD is obsessed with transport. Taking a tram & bus to the Airport park to watch the planes and have a picnic is one of her favourite days out. True airport is only 15 mins by car but spending 1hour on public transport delights her.

I tried the app - like the idea, but not sure why I'd want to travel over an hour to go to a cinema in a different city!

We used to make 8 hour train journeys fairly often to visit my grandparents. My sister and I used to stand our sylvanians up on the train table and see which ones stayed standing the longest. Kept us entertained for ages!

My son has asked to go to Hever Castle to play in the water maze that he loved last year!!

I'd like to go to Drusillas as I loved it there as a child. Lots to do!

this sounds great!

Would love to see a feature that completes the journey, for example, if you need to walks, get a bus or taxi to get to the location.

We have lots of days out at the coast. We also like visiting Northumberland and London.
Our boys were bought tins with pens and colouring books. I add extra stickers, scissors, paper- bits and pieces and we take these tins on journeys and when we eat out. Keeps everything together.

Get a train from Stockport to London - 2 hours. 1 adult and 3 kids =about £60. See a couple of sites and then get the train home. A great day trip! Simple.

We love using the train on family days out! It saves the hassle of finding a parking space at busy sites, and adds to the "adventure" feel! Here is a photo of DS looking out to sea on our trip to the beach. We are planning on getting the train to the zoo this weekend. My favourite entertainment tip is to play fun games, and to bring colouring in books.

The DDs (5 and 3) love getting the train into the city to go to the museum and out for lunch. We don't take any entertainment with us - the view from the window is enough to keep them entertained. There's plenty to see - the sea, boats, shipwrecks, castles, deer, cows etc.
DD1 is going to a train to London soon and will take some books to read, colouring things, plenty of sbacks (and an iPad with headphones for emergency use).

We love getting the train but there are currently mega issues! We are going to go along the coast to Cornwall and we are very excited. We will probably take colouring books and pencils but as its not a super long journey not much else.

My top tips for keeping the kids entertained on the train are:

-Bring a book of games or puzzles.
-Play paper games such as hangman, nots and crosses, etc.
-Play Neverending Story. Someone starts the story, and everyone else in turn adds a sentence- it can go on and on, and get crazier and crazier!
-Bring some snacks to avoid any hangry complaints! Easy to transport, non-messy options are best.
-If all else fails, a movie, tv show, or an audio book can keep them entertained.

I'm a big fan of public transport but as Southern Rail serves my area, I would run a mile from a planned day out by train especially with the children in tow - sorry

We love travelling by train and make it part of the day out.
I take snacks and drinks, and notebooks/pencils & a book to read, we also play variations of the alphabet game.

We are planning a day in Edinburgh these holidays, also maybe Alnmouth or Berwick, and York.

So far we have been on the train to the beach, the science museum, a crisp factory, the zoo and to the new swimming pool that's opened in the closest city.

We are planning to go to a butterfly farm, a castle and on a shopping trip!

My advice for keeping DC entertained is bringing colouring in books, music to listen to, playing games involving the alphabet, and encouraging them to look outside and appreciate the beauty of their surroundings.

We have already had a train trip to London to visit the Natural History Museum. We also regularly travel to Horsham by train as the station is very close to a fantastic swimming pool (indoor area with slides and outdoor swimming too) and a large park with play park and areas for a picnic. Parking is limited (and charged for) so train is a much better option.

We make up quizzes for each other on the train. We always take books and I live in hope that one day we'll have a blissful quiet reading journey. Hasn't happened yet!!

DD is currently obsessed with trains and makes MIL stand at the edge of her garden until one has gone passed whenever we are over there. We are therefore intending to take her to Thomasland at Drayton Manor as well as a day trip to Lichfield so that she will be able to go on a real one too. Its only ten minutes on the train so I doubt she will have time to lose interest but I normally take a handful of finger puppets with me when we go out.

Eastnor Castle, via Ledbury station.

There's a new train from our nearest town to Manchester so we have a day out travelling on the new train planned to the football museum. Ds doesn't need any entertainment unless maybe eye spy as he's train mad, and dd will take a book.