Travelling with children; what are your tips? Share them with South Western Railway

[EllieMumsnet]

This activity is now closed

We all know that travelling on family days out with children are not always the cheapest of experiences. However they can provide great family bonding and memories that will last a lifetime and just as importantly don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket every time. With that being said South Western Railway want your top tips for travelling with children, especially your best money saving tips!

Here’s what South Western Railway have to say: “If you’re savvy at looking out for great family deals then sign up to receive our customer newsletters. You’ll receive exclusive offers and inspiration on where to visit on the network, helping you to plan a fun family day out.”

Do you ensure you bring pack lunches and snacks for the whole family so you don't have to spend anything on food? Perhaps you like to bring along extended family or friends? Do you bring lots of fun games to use as distractions if and when needed on the journey? How do you decide where to go if you have children of different ages?

Whatever your tips are for travelling with children and saving money on family days out, share them on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

[Dormouse1940]

Pre-booking tickets is often cheaper, use a comparison site to find the best deals and then take advantage of cashback sites for money back.

Try find a seat near a toilet- coz it's inevitable, isn't it...
reserve seats if you can, table seats give a little bit more space to do activities.

Food! Take food. More food. Think you've got enough? Throw in a few more snacks. Don't forget a flask of tea for the grown ups...

Then a variety of books/games/activity or colouring books. As a last resort, a film downloaded on the tablet saved us on a recent flight, but for the consideration of your fellow passengers PLEASE use headphones!

[Sbaynham]

Always pack lots of snacks and toys to keep the kids entertained. If it’s a long journey try and take breaks if you can

[andywedge]

Hand held consoles with headphones) are great to keep them oxxupied, and tablets with pre downloaded films.

[addverbaan]

Take snacks, activity cars and colouring books to keep them occupied and accept that with children, things dont always go to plan

[lizd31]

Take plenty of healthy snacks & play games to keep them occupied such as i-spy & looking out for Eddie Stobart lorries to see if you can spot the names

[racheybr]

pack lunches essential for us; always take a change of clothes for preschoolers; sticker books are easy to carry and fun to do while travelling

[kerryv]

I print out a map of the route so we can see if “we’re nearly there yet”

[Sparklepants3]

We always make sure that we have snacks and a packed lunch if needed.
We always take colouring books, some toys of their choice/whatever fits in their back pack they can bring and also we have a travel DVD player

[Emmax12]

New toys, lots of snacks. Also the carrier rather than a buggy.

[vonniebab2]

Lots of drinks and snacks plenty of books and crayons also some clean clothes and baby wipes!

[amck13]

Loads of snacks and wine (for me)

[AngelwingsPetlamb]

Take a good supply of drinks and snacks. Use a rucksack so you have both hands free to hold onto your dc when needed. Have some change in your purse for the loos. Take a spare battery pack for phones because you will probably want to take photos.

[sarah25037]

my kids can be fussy with what they will eat sometimes so always make sure to bring snacks and drinks that they will like and something to keep them entertained in case of holds ups in traffic

[BL0SS0M]

Always bring snacks of every kind as you never know when they’ll be hungry or what they’ll want to eat! 😱 Also bring some colouring in, small Lego or a pack of cards to keep them entertained

[MrsMarigold]

Take water, audio books, sick bags, also make sure a change of clothes is available, if travelling far, drive, wake up at 3am put sleeping children in the car in PJs to save hitting rush hour traffic. Books are good and snacks but avoid sweets and crisps as they make kids thirsty and then you end up stopping for more loo breaks. Bribe them with something if there is no fighting on the train, plane, ferry or in the car.

[angela25rose]

Crisps sweets and an iPad and also colouring in pages and pens

[sashh]

My mum occasionally made us 'travel packs' they were an A4 envelope containing individually wrapped treats. On the envelope was a list of things to do/see. When you saw something listed you ticked it off and could open one of the treats.

Thind listed would be along the lines of, "see a boat on water" (on water was added because we went passed one on the motorway once) or, "open when we are on the M6"

You can change the things depending on the journey and the age of a child so for a train journey passing a certain number of stations, having tickets checked or going through a particular station.

[iut044]

Make sure that you have something to keep themk entertained on the journey.

[glennamy]

Think ahead... Snacks/drinks, books, tech for reading or games, change of clothes if they are trying to get dry, pack a lunch if money is tight...

[MrRichTea]

Distractions so they don't get bored / start acting up / fight

[nettymay]

We always play i-spy - my Mum said 'I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'M'! Moo-moos!

Our son said "Nan that should be 'H' those are Hereford cows!" her face was a picture!

[WhiteKnuckleRide]

Always take plenty of baby wipes and plastic bags in case of travel sickness - we have had to pull over on long journeys before to clean up sick in the back of the car! Other than that we usually try to travel at night so DS can watch a video on his tablet and fall asleep when he wants - by the time he wakes up we've usually reached our destination.

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

Lots of food & drink for everyone (I say everyone as I usually forget myself!!)

Plus lots of quiet activities like colouring books & stickers. Even just a pen & a pad can be useful for playing hangman / noughts & crosses etc.

I often get both DC to pack a small rucksack each by themselves with toys they'll want to play with. Again quiet things which require no batteries or plugs!

And we actually use the time to actually talk to each other!!

[Saz990]

A picnic is a must as we have 3 children who just want to EAT! This saves money and allows them to buy ice creams, slushies etc. For plane journeys, I recommend magazines, games consoles, anything really to keep them occupied! For car journeys, we tend to play old games like I-spy and name an animal beginning with A, B, C etc. Music is always a good distraction too. Also, snacks and sweets help :)

[Pjran]

Always carry wipes and a spare pair of pants plus the usual drinks and food including carrot batons. I always carry an old supermarket bag to put the rubbish in too.