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

[EllieMumsnet]

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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

Invest in a friends & family railcard - pays for itself on the first use and book tickets in advance.

Use weekend first to get bigger seats, free WiFi, charging and refreshments if only on the return journey when we’re both tired and just want to relax.

As we usually get an early train it’s home made sausage baps wrapped in foil for breakfast on the train as no catering available on our initial 2 carriage service.

Can’t do much else with Tesco vouchers these days so I convert mine into pizza express vouchers for a free lunch.

Make sure you pack for all scenarios.First aid kit,sick bag,snacks,drinks,toys,Nappies if needed,Bottles,and books are all good.The trunkie is excellent for packing things to do in the car in.Drinks cups that arn't spillable are great and they do some excellent multi section lunch boxes now too.They also have collapsable cups and bowls.

Buy lots of small presents and wrap them and pop in a bag. During the journey let child open one every hour. This helps them understand the timescale of the journey - you could even have a different colour for each hour or a special gift for half way or the end of the journey - don't forget to pack the same for the way home!

We've not had a car for nearly 8 years so we travel by train a lot and use a family & friends railcard. My children are in mid -teens now so they download films & podcasts for the journey or listen to music but we used to make sure they took a book to read when younger. We still always take our own drinks and food from home to save money.

Always take plenty of snacks and things to keep them entertained

Snacks to make sure there’s something they enjoy & is much cheaper!
Any activity to keep them distracted, wipes to keep hands clean & blankets in case the temperature drops

Exercise before you travel then they are chilled out.

Lots of snacks and colouring books and pens/crayons. We drive to France every summer and it is a LONG way - a portable DVD player for the car really helps! X

We usually have a sing along and always take a picnic lunch.

You have a singalong on a train with other passengers all around you?
Bet they love that.

(or do you mean in your own private car?)

ipad and snacks! never heard my daughter so quiet!

A bag with activities is always good. Colouring & dot to dot, where's Wally is good for older kids. The tablet only entertains for so long but education apps are good for an hour too

Become a tour guide for the kids. If you don't know anything just make it up - the sillier the better.

they get a rucksack filled with travel games books, colouring crayons and activities andsnacks they also carry a tr vel pillow and blanket so they can be comfotable if they need to n ap

Friends and Family Railcard. If your kids are too young to have to pay for the train then a Two Together Railcard is great for the adults.

Play games which involve spotting things out of the window (I spy, how many different animals can you see etc).

Take toys and games which don't have small parts you could lose in the cracks between seats! The only small thing I take is crayons - colouring in entertains my wee one long enough to make it worth risking losing a few crayons.

Sit near the loos. Sit at a table seat.

I probably shouldn't say this, but if you have a pushchair you can often put it in the wheelchair space IF there is no person with a wheelchair onboard. Obviously you have to move it straightaway if a person with a wheelchair gets on, bit i 'be only had to do this twice and I travel by train a lot.

London underground - find out which stations have lifts - useful with a pushchair.

Family & friends rail card (for many journeys worth using and buying tickets for kids who don't actually need one as under 5), sticker or colouring books, snacks and a phone with CBeebies game app plus charger and headphones!

Lots of snacks and drinks so only need to buy extras if required. Let them choose something special to take with them. Will often buy or retrieve from the house something new they've not seen before to entertain them.

Pack plenty of snacks, toys, spare clothing..wipes are also a must!!

Stickers, food, colouring, and lots and lots of talking!

have them occupied with games

Lots of snacks and toys are a great help. We recently had a 10 hour flight with a 5 year old and we wrapped up 10 very small things - 1 to open every hour. We had a tub on Play-doh, small colouring book and other little pound shop toys and it really helped to pass the time and keep him occupied!

bring food and drinks the supply lines will need to be opened very early in the journey,

Have a stock of games like I spy to amuse on the journey.

Lots of activities, lots of snacks and a packed lunch usually. If there are new toys/activity books around which they've had for Christmas/birthdays and forgotten about, I resurrect those for long journeys. We also play games (choosing a colour each and getting a point for each vehicle we spot of that colour, ditto with types of lorries) and also sing songs (though not recommended on a train!)

Keep their mind occupied so they don't become bored

Always carry snacks and a spare set of clothes. If travelling in a car I also take the kids tablets for long journeys so they don’t get bored easily.