One of the hardest parts of taking a family trip or family vacation is trying to get everything in and making the most of the time you have while still enjoying yourself and relaxing. The best way though to manage all of this is to create a family vacation itinerary. This is important because you want to make sure you get the most for your money. It helps to make the trip easier and a little less stressful.
But the question comes up, how do you do it? How do you build a perfect family vacation itinerary and make the most of the trip without making it seem over-planned? This family vacation itinerary example will help you figure out how to do just that.
Table of Contents
Step one is research
When planning a family itinerary, you need to know what family-friendly activities are available near you that you might be interested in. Here are some key components to keep in mind as you pick the activities for your family trip itinerary.
Take into consideration what your family likes to do
This seems obvious but it is good to look up reviews and make sure that the location is a good fit for your family. Make sure they’re age-appropriate and that they have good reviews.
Pay attention to the operating hours
When you plan your family itinerary, you must fit their operating hours into your schedule. There are some states and counties that have local ordinances that require to be closed certain days or times. These may be different then what you are used to. This is just another reason to keep an eye on the hours.
Explore the cost of the activities
Know before you get there what the cost is going to be. This information will help you to determine what your total family trip cost is going to be and to ensure that you are prepared for the expenditure. Being prepared for all the costs also means you won’t go anywhere that is out of your budget. It’s not a good use of your time to show up to a place and then to find out that it’s out of your price range and must re-evaluate your plans.
Pay attention to the proximity of the activities to where you’re staying
Traveling from the hotel to the activities you plan can use up a lot of your time. If you’re going to be travel far to go to an activity, make sure you look at what else might be in the area that you want to get in. That way you aren’t heading far from the hotel multiple times and wasting a trip.
Try to avoid peak times
Weekends are usually the most crowded. If it’s possible to avoid the weekend or other peak times, you’ll be able to get more fun. It also means fewer lines and that opens more time for other activities.
Mealtimes
The next thing you want to consider when planning out your family itinerary is meal breaks. Research what places to eat are there and where you want to go. Planning is key for the activities and the same can be said about the food. Here are things to consider when looking at restaurants.
Hours of operation are key
When you aren’t from an area, you want to make sure you know the hours and want to make sure the restaurants hours fit your timetable. When looking at the hours, it’s also helpful to see if you can work your mealtimes a little outside of the normal mealtimes. That way you avoid waiting for tables.
Check online for the menu
We aren’t saying you have to know what you are going to order ahead, but it’s good to see what the price point is of the restaurant and in line with the budget you set for your family vacation. One thing that can derail a family trip itinerary is blowing the budget.
Keep in mind the location of the restaurant to the hotel and the activities you have planned. It’s important to pick a place that makes sense so that you aren’t traveling out of the way.
Extra Time
Don’t forget about planning extra time into your family itinerary. Nothing can throw off your plans like not having some cushion built-in for when things go the wrong way. Remind yourself that things are not going to be perfect, no matter how well you plan. Here are some small details that might throw off your family itinerary.
Travel Time
While we always do our best to try and plan the places, we’re going based on location, there’s generally some sort of travel you must consider. Forgetting to calculate that time in the plan can throw you off.
Bathroom breaks
These are just a part of nature, but it seems to me like our kids can never pick a less opportune time to have to stop and use a bathroom. Because of this, build in time for these “unexpected” breaks.
Snack time
Snack time is a premier part of our kid’s lives. They love having a snack and they’re always hungry. Especially with young kids, snack time can take up time. Know this before you start, and it will make your family itinerary more effective.
Possible meltdowns
Meltdowns are a natural part of traveling with kids. Embrace the fact that they are going to happen and just be prepared for them to throw you off. This is what having a cushion is all about.
Mealtimes
Remember to build in the time that it will take to eat at the restaurant. If you’re doing a counter service that will be much faster, than a sit-down restaurant. If you’re doing a sit-down, make sure you give time for service to be slower than you would hope.
Write it Down
Another part of building a good family itinerary is to make sure you write your plans down and keep it all organized. This part is important. Keeping everything together on paper makes it easy to remember and helps you find flaws with your plan.
- Make sure to break down the day into parts. We do ours by splitting the day into morning, afternoon, and evening. That way we’re able to keep track of what we’re doing, by the time of day.
- The next part of our family itinerary template is to write down the location or area you’re heading to first.
- Once you have the day broken down into parts and have your overarching destination, fill in your activities. Put what you plan on doing and where. It’s also good to throw the restaurant you picked into that list as well.
Plan for downtime and changes
Remember that while you do want to have a well-organized plan, you need to have some flexibility to make changes or take a day off. Changes can come up for a variety of reasons but knowing that it’s not the end of the world makes it less upsetting. Other tips to keep in mind.
Locals have some great ideas
We’ve had a few trips where someone we met found out we were from out of town and had some suggestions for our family trip. They’re from the area, so they know all the hot spots that you should consider visiting. Being able to have the flexibility to take the advice the locals give is the key to trying things you may not have known existed.
Plan a day to relax
The idea that you want to get everything in doesn’t mean you can have a chance to relax. Having a downtime day is important so that you aren’t burned out from vacation. You can hit the pool or run to a local park. It’s ok to add a downtime day if you get into the week and realize you’re too tired to hit all the things you planned. Not getting to relax at all can make for a not so fun vacation.
Conclusion on using a family vacation itinerary
It’s an important part to have a successful trip. Remember to take the time to plan. Do your research. Know where you want to go and where you want to eat. Then make sure you write it down and organize it so it’s easy to follow. Doing this will make sure you’re ready for the unexpected and can make the most of your family vacation.
If you plan on driving to your destination, here are some tips for taking a road trip with your kids!
We pin helpful tips and ideas on Pinterest here.
How do you keep your vacation plan organized? OR do you usually just go without many plans?
