Share your top tips for travelling abroad with young children with Brittany Ferries - chance to win a £300 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AmeliaMumsnet]

Travelling with young children isn’t always plain sailing from the start, but, if you get it right, showing your children a new part of the world can be a fantastic experience. So, to avoid those horror stories about packing all the wrong things; choosing a destination that’s not quite as child-friendly as it promised; and temper tantrums along the way, Brittany Ferries want to hear your top tips for travelling abroad with the little ones.

Brittany Ferries say “if having young children has put you off taking that holiday abroad, then think again, think family-friendly France. Sailing from Portsmouth, Poole or Plymouth we offer more choice of sailings than anyone else and our onboard service is designed with little ones in mind. What’s more, we can also arrange your holiday accommodation. Our choice of sail & stay holidays are perfect for young families with a chalet camping holiday offering fun for all with lots to see and do both on and off site. And, as all our holidays include return sailings with your car, so you can pack all you need for your time away.” You can find out more here.

What’s your go-to for keeping the kids entertained throughout the journey and avoiding the dreaded ‘are we there yet’? Do you have any tips for encouraging fussy eaters to enjoy some local cuisine? Is there a particular part of France you’ve come to love as a family holiday destination? Whether it’s useful packing advice or just a recommendation for a great family activity, don’t keep it to yourself. Share yours on this thread to help other parents enjoy their holidays with young kids to the fullest and you’ll be entered into a prize draw for a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

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Thanks, and good luck!

MNHQ

Our top tip is to get a cabin. We do various ferry journeys & always get a cabin. it makes a huge difference to be able to have your own personal space to lie down - stops you having to be on constant micro-child watch as well.

Favourite bit of France is Brittany - finistere. Lots of people just drive straight past but it's beautiful.

When we use Brittany Ferries we head straight for the Children's Play area so that we can set up camp next to there. We then make sure that we plan in visits to the shop, the cafe and the restaurant throughout the trip, as well as walks outside on the deck. Longer sailings and we use a cabin, which is perfect for grabbing some shut-eye and which the kids find exciting. We always take on board books, comics, colouring-in and activity books and have some programmes down-loaded on the iPad. Our children LOVE travelling by big ferry!

Best trip if traveling with kids is to give them a bag each with drinks, snacks and age appropriate entertainment such as a new book, magazine, toy etc. Always pack paper and pens theses are hours of entertainment. Then have a family bag with other stuff eye spy etc.

A child friendly tour guide to the country were visiting is a great addition to the bag I pack which has sticker book, quizzes, pencils, drink etc. DD is 8 so old enough to learn a few phrases or point out landmarks she's identified.

Put some toys away for the few weeks before you go(or get some new things), to keep them occupied on the journey. Plasticine was great for keeping mine occupied on journeys(but was quite hard to find)

We pack snacks. We have a baby, so I take two changes of clothes in the baby bag, so we're ready for anything. I like packing healthy snacks, and I'm a geek, so I dehydrate fruit and make roll- ups, and then I take a range of savoury snacks. We also take sticker books for long journeys for our older daughter. We love Biarritz, and we loved going by ferry to Brittany to stay in a Euro camp resort.
Ferries are much more chilled!

We've been taking our daughter on Brittany Ferries since she was 3 months old. Top tips - get a cabin! Ditch all your extra bags in there. Head to the restaurant and enjoy the food!

Use the cabin for nappy changes, feeds and naps for an easy crossing!

Don't underestimate the time it'll take to get through passport control so have toys/games at the ready!

If you possibly can, schedule any flights, long drives, ferry crossings etc for when your child will be sleeping. Pack plenty of easily openable snacks and bottle water, (Less carnage if it spills!) Oh, and wet-wipes...

Try and travel overnight as far as possible so the kids spend most of the time asleep.

Firstly - don't get stressed yourself. Most people have been there and are understanding of how difficult it can be.
Be prepared - plenty of snacks, toys, download some favourite programmes on your phone or tablet. Think about if you are delayed - will you have enough.
Finally remember - this doesn't last forever. Soon enough you'll be able to travel anywhere with your children without preparing weeks in advance!

A boat trip is always a source of great excitement in itself and what with exploring the ship, the outside, the sea and,of course, the shop! -there's always lots to do and see. The boat is one form of travel where there is never an 'are we there yet' moment!

Wrap a little prezzy up for them to open up every hour or so, it'll keep them entertained for ages, I tend to save small items from party bags received etc,.

Don't fly anywhere! It's stressful enough just with adults. Don't do it! Go by ferry and road and try to stick to short cross channel trips with nearby destinations.

Break the jouney up as much as possible with a plan for each break that the kid are in on.

I've taken my baby boy travelling lots, hours and hours of coach journeys, flights etc...and the best advice I can give is this...get some blinkers and ear plugs so you don't have to see or hear the angry people on the coach/bus/train/plane....becUse when travelling with a little one, no matter how many activities, snacks, songs, drinks you provide...you must expect the unexpected!

Thanks for the comments and tips!
Am pleased to say happysouls is the happy winner of the £300 voucher!
Well done

Travel overnight so little ones will sleep, and have plenty of snacks and drinks available. Also a portable DVD player to help entertain.

Ensure that you have calpol/dioralyte etc so that you do not have to search at your destination if needed. Make sure you have that favourite teddy, comforter and good travel Insurance. Be prepared for little ones not coping with the sudden heat change and make sure you have plenty of fluids that will hydrate.

As for travelling, we found an evening ferry better if travelling to Calais as then the kids weren't too boisterous and the overnight ferry is fab for South of France. Snacks and films are good for the car

Try and make sure that you can travel at night that way they might sleep, if they wont take lots of snacks and activities like games about travel and the place they you are going .Always pack antihistamines and calpol incase they are unwell and try and sneek some back up food in your luggage incase they are being picky and won't eat the food on offer. Lastly enjoy its your holiday aswell

Travelling by car is easier when travelling with kids as we can pack the car out with toys & blankets & food treats. I make sure we have downloaded lots of programmes for them to watch on their tablets. Also headphones as we don't want to be listening to Peppa Pig on a loop. We do all listen to audio books. Roald Dahl are our favourites.

We made our own tick sheets for wild life when travelling abroad. you can buy small clip board and pencils usually £1 and kids binoculars £1.25 - £2.00. Then when travelling to the ferry/on ferry/ in france you can count up the different birds/ animals/ plants /flowers you see on you journey. It really does keep the kids occupied and at the same time makes them aware of their surroundings and the beauty we encounter every day. You can make the charts for any thing cars/lorrys/ buildings etc. Adapt it for your own child

break down trips with stops and activities to prevent the monotony. A few home comforts and treats for when they get cranky.

Try to make the journey part of the fun - journey games that involve spotting sights are better than relying on dvds or whatever.

Try not to stress, lots of entertainment bits, paper, crayons, films for device, travel games etc. Snacks and drinks. Try not to worry about what other people think, most people are kind .... it's meant to be a holiday so enjoy.

Much prefer the ferry with litle ones to the plane. At least unless it's very rough you can walk about and visit differnet places on board

for young children, try to travel overnight so they sleep. Plan toilet breaks and if in the car take some fun games they can play