The airport check-in queue with the small child is the longest queue in the world: the 20 minutes that feel like the 2 hours, the child who was the angelic in the car, the transformation at the sight of the suitcase, the running, the screaming, the 4-year-old who has the discovered the echo in the departure hall and is the testing the 100 decibels, and the parent who is the already calculating the minutes until the boarding. Travelling with the kids is the hardest form of the travel, and the travelling with the kids is the most rewarding: the child’s face at the view from the castle wall, the discovery of the snail in the campsite, and the gelato in the piazza that is the best moment of the trip. Here is how to make it the breeze.

How to Make Travelling with Kids a Breeze

• The airport and the flight, the essential strategy: The essential airport rule: the arrive early (the 2.5 hours before the flight at the least, the time is the pressure, and the pressure is the enemy of the child who is the already overstimulated by the airport). The essential distractions: the new small toys (the £2 each at the Flying Tiger, the 3 new toys revealed at the critical moments, the check-in, the security, and the boarding, and the novelty that buys the 20 minutes of the peace), the snacks (the essential: the raisins, the rice cakes, the apple slices, the healthy, the slow to eat, and the emergency lollipop, the £1, the 10 minutes of the silence, and the acceptable parenting decision at the 35,000 feet. The essential flight tip: the lollipop at the take-off and the landing, the swallowing is the essential for the ear-pressure equalisation in the children who are the too young to do the Valsalva), and the screen (the iPad, the downloaded, the essential, the CBeebies, the Bluey, the Paw Patrol, and the guilt that is the absent because the flight is the survival). The essential equipment: the Trunki (the ride-on suitcase, the £40, the child sits on the Trunki, the parent pulls the Trunki, and the airport becomes the game rather than the prison), the baby carrier (the essential for the infant, the hands are the free, and the carrier is the comfort for the baby in the noise of the airport), and the change of the clothes (the 2 sets for the child, the 1 set for the parent, the vomit, the spilled drink, and the experience that teaches the value of the spare clothes). More travel tips →
• The destination, the essential resort for the families: The family destination is the Italy, the best country in Europe for the children: the food (the pizza, the pasta, the gelato, the 3 food groups that the every child eats, and the Italian restaurant welcomes the children, the high chair, the “bambino,” and the sense that the child is the guest, not the nuisance), the beaches (the Rimini, the Lido di Jesolo, the long, the shallow, the safe, and the best family beaches in Europe), and the accommodation (the agriturismo, the farm-stay, the pool, the animals, the space for the children to run, and the best family accommodation in Europe. ~€100/night for the family of the 4 in the peak). The essential alternative: the Center Parcs (the Europe, the Erperheide in the Belgium, the De Kempervennen in the Netherlands, and the Whinfell Forest in the UK, the subtropical swimming paradise, the cycling, the activities, and the best European family resort chain. The £500–1,500 for the 4-night weekend, and the essential strategy: the school term-time for the lower price)
• The pace, the essential pace of the family travel: The 1 attraction per day is the maximum. The museum before the 10am (the fresh, the crowdless, and the child is the most alert in the morning), the gelato by the 11am (the reward, the sugar, and the €3 that buys the 30 minutes of the happy child), the lunch in the piazza (the pizza, the pigeons, and the best hour of the holiday), and the afternoon of the pool, the park, and the rest (the siesta, the 2 hours, and the essential for the family holiday that does not end in the tears). The essential rule: the child is the priority, not the itinerary, and the holiday is the success if the child has the laughed more than the cried