How to travel with a child

The first trip with children, both for parents and for children themselves, is a pleasant, and at the same time, exciting event. After all, going on a trip, we can not always foresee how our child will behave in a particular situation, in an unfamiliar place, with strangers. We begin to worry in advance how the trip will go, what to take with us, how the child will transfer the road, what to do with it, and if he gets sick, where to turn and other similar questions. And for good reason...

Today, more and more families travel with their children, and not only because they have no one to leave them with, but also because they want to show the child new places, introduce traditions, people or just take them to the sea, which is especially important in winter, when everyone lacks sun and heat. And it does not matter, a small child or already at a conscious age, in any case – this trip will not remain forgotten for him and, undoubtedly, will bring benefits.

To travel the whole family was successful, you need to take into account many factors, such as the age of the child, nutrition, hobbies, place of rest and others.

In this article, we tried to collect general recommendations based on our own experience.

Planning a trip with your child

Planning any trip is an important part of a successful trip. This includes the search and booking of tickets and accommodation, sightseeing, attending Entertainment Events, Catering, methods of Transportation. By and large, this applies to independent travel, but also, traveling on a tourist ticket, where some of the issues have already been resolved for you, you should not fully trust, but analyze the issues that arise yourself.

Travel tickets

When booking tickets for any type of transport, you need to keep in mind that the cost of a ticket for a child, depending on his age, is Cheaper by 40-50%. In some cases (for example, if he does not take up extra space or is under 2 years old), you will not have to pay for the child at all. The same rule applies to movement in suburban and urban modes of transport. As we remember in Russia, children under 7 years old have the right to free travel, if they do not occupy a separate place. At the same time, it is sometimes necessary to move away from this opportunity, in cases where long movements are to be made and it will not be easy to keep the child in his arms, and it will not be easy for an adult.

Hotel or rental housing

When searching for accommodation, pay attention to the convenience of the location to places of food, entertainment, recreation, beaches, and do not forget about the night's tranquility, otherwise neither you nor the children will be able to sleep. Sometimes it is not easy to take into account all these wishes, so choose the most preferable option.

Hotels are more focused on accommodation in double rooms, where there is no possibility to put an extra bed; or hostels, whose rooms are designed for 4-8 or more residents, with a shared bathroom and toilet. Of course, such places are not for families with children. At the same time, when booking through search engines, they do not always correctly give the result by the number of people living, and instead of 4 people you can eventually be placed in a 2-bed room, which will not be the most pleasant surprise. Therefore, before booking, it is better to check with the hotel the possibility of settling and the number of beds by contacting by e-mail.

If you can not find something suitable in hotels, then one of the ways out is to rent housing (apartments or rooms). Apartments offer both one-and two - and three-bedroom with furniture and kitchen. Moreover, the presence of a kitchen in the case of traveling with young children helps a lot, you can cook your favorite dishes of the child, and save on food for the whole family.

It is safest to search and book accommodation on special sites, for example on these:

• Sutochno.ru - Russian housing search and booking system in Russia and abroad. Geography does not yet cover the whole world, but it works in most popular tourist countries: Abkhazia, Georgia, Cyprus, Turkey and many more countries.
• Turum – Russian system for finding and booking accommodation. You can find housing, guest houses in major cities of the Russian Federation, resorts, and most importantly – in the Crimea. To date, due to sanctions, many hotel search engines do not allow booking accommodation in the Crimea, and on Turum this can be done without problems.
• Airbnb - is the most popular search engine for apartments and rooms for a short time around the world. Prices landlords expose the same as through ads, but Airbnb adds its commission, for which the client receives a guarantee. Even if the booking is disrupted due to dishonesty of the hosts, Airbnb support will rent accommodation for free or check you into a hotel. Payment is made online on the website.

You can still look for short-term placement through bulletin boards, including the popular Avito, Youla, etc., but be careful, as there you can run into scammers who ask for prepayment, and then disappear. You can also come and look for housing on the spot, but this option is not bad for promoted beach resorts, but does not work well in large excursion cities.

Meals with children on the trip

We will have to take care of the nutrition of children. Take into account that the child needs to eat at least three times a day, food should be full, some children need special food, which can not offer every restaurant and cafe. As you become more, the cost of food increases. Accordingly, you need to look for more budget places for a snack, the search for which should be worried in advance. Try to find places that will be acceptable to both adults and children, read reviews about them. A good option in this case are family cafes, where, in addition to a varied menu, there are small playgrounds with toys for the child to have fun and relax from hiking.

The nearest supermarkets and mini-markets are an excellent help in solving the issue of nutrition. They have more choice and assortment. If the accommodation has its own kitchen, you can always cook what the child will eat.

In addition, it is recommended to take water, cookies, sweets, yoghurts with you on walks in a word, what the child loves. After all, it is not always possible to eat on time, and in cases with small travelers who are not easy to feed, such snacks will be very useful throughout the day.

Attractions and entertainment for the child

When planning a trip, you need to allocate time to visit places that will be interesting to the child, depending on his age and preferences. These can be zoos, planetariums, museums, exhibitions, entertainment centers, parks, water parks. At the same time, you should alternate visiting "adult" and "children's" places so that the child does not get tired, and it was also interesting for him.

Going on a walk around the city with young children, you should also take into account that not all children love and can walk for a long time. In this case, do not forget about the rest of the child: for example, sit on a bench, play on the playground, have a snack in a cafe. It is enough to take only a short break along the route so that the child becomes more cheerful and ready for further hiking.

Try to choose the most optimal hiking routes and follow them slowly, stopping to rest. Lay time to rest. Plan simple routes, it can slightly increase the travel time, but the joy and impressions will increase both you and the children.

Sightseeing of many attractions for children up to 6-7 years is free of charge, from 6 to 12 years, as a rule, 30-50% cheaper. There are benefits for large families and families with disabled children, orphans. For a family ticket for 2 adults and 2 children, there is also a discount.

Do not forget that even in a hotel or in a rented apartment, children want "their own entertainment", i.e. watch cartoons, play games. Therefore, if your hotel or rented apartment does not have a TV with children's channels, you should take a laptop or tablet computer with recorded cartoons with you on the road.

Safety when traveling with children

Children are not only a joy, but also a great responsibility. Therefore, do not skimp on life and health insurance for your children. There are many insurance companies that offer similar services through online insurance. You will protect yourself from accidents and your children, and this applies not only to foreign countries, but also to Russia.

When traveling in Russia, have compulsory health insurance policies with you, according to which emergency medical care must be provided to you free of charge.

If you are traveling on personal or rented vehicles equipped with seat belts, do not ignore child seats and restraints. This rule does not apply to all countries, but for the safety of children, their presence will not be superfluous.

What to take with you on the road for a child

• First aid kit with children's medicines
• Games, books, coloring pages, toys (so that the child does not get bored during the move or during the stay at the hotel)
• Clothing (one to two sets of change clothes, warm clothes, headgear)
• Shoes (depending on the season of the country of rest)
• Food and drink (required for 1-2 days-time needed to reach destination)
• Documents (passport, birth certificate, power of attorney from the parent( s), permission from the parent (if the parents are divorced), insurance policy, etc.)