How to travel with kids:
what 33 countries taught us.
We once fried a breast pump in a 220-volt country, because a plug adapter is not a voltage converter. A lot of what we know about traveling with our two daughters came that way, one small mistake at a time. These are the rules we kept.
How to travel with kids, in seven rules.
Move less, fly overnight, and plan for the nap you will need anyway. The rest is detail, and each rule below has its own full guide.
| Plan | One home base, four or five nights at least, often a full week |
|---|---|
| Book | Passports first, then flights when the schedule opens, then lodging |
| Fly | Overnight, leaving near bedtime; a baby gets their own seat and car seat |
| Land | Room booked from the night before, so everyone naps on arrival |
| Get around | A carrier over a stroller, even up to around age four |
| Pack | Two checked bags with a toddler; carry-on only once everyone walks |
| Be honest | Name what you would skip, so the next trip goes better |
Pick one home base, not a new hotel every two nights.
Every destination guide on this site is built around a single base with day trips out. We rarely stay anywhere fewer than four or five nights, and often a full week. Kids who sleep in the same bed every night nap better, and nobody spends half the morning repacking. Fewer overnight stops does not mean fewer sights.
It is also why a week is enough for Europe. About a day on each end goes to travel and jet lag, which leaves five solid days in one place. More on both: home base vs. multi-city and is a week long enough.
Book in order: passports, then flights, then the room.
A child's passport cannot be renewed by mail, so every one is an in-person application. At our appointment at the post office in Dover, New Hampshire, both parents had to be there, or the absent one had to send notarized consent. The appointment itself took about 30 minutes. Waiting for the passport to arrive is the slow part, so we handle passports before we book anything.
Flights come next, as soon as the airline releases the schedule, which for many international routes is roughly 9 to 11 months out. Lodging follows right behind, because two-bedroom apartments and family rooms sell out well before standard doubles do. The details: how far in advance to book and getting a child's passport.
Fly overnight, and plan the nap anyway.
We have flown overnight with kids to Athens, Rome, Paris, London, Zurich, Dublin, Shannon, Madrid and Ponta Delgada. A red-eye leaves close to bedtime, so the kids fall asleep on a schedule they already know. Six hours in the air works out to about four hours of real sleep, and most Boston flights land around 7am.
Everyone still needs a nap once we reach the accommodation, adults included. So we book the hotel or rental from the night before we arrive. It costs one extra night, and the room is ready the moment we land instead of at 3pm. After that, daylight and local mealtimes do most of the jet-lag work. See the Boston red-eye with kids and helping kids adjust to jet lag.
With a baby, buy the seat and bring the car seat.
We never flew a baby internationally as a lap infant. Buying the seat meant the car seat came on board, which made the biggest difference on long flights and red-eyes. The routine: push the stroller all the way to the gate, gate-check it, then carry the car seat on and buckle the baby in.
It is still hard. On our overnight flight to Reykjavik, our nine-month-old slept about half the way and spent the other half wanting out of her seat. We would do it again. Full routine in flying to Europe with a baby.
Carry them longer than you think.
We use a carrier with our kids up to around age four. On the Paris metro, where many older stations have only stairs, it beats folding a stroller and hauling it up with one hand. We still bring a stroller for days spent mostly in parks or on wide boulevards. The stations where it fails are in the Paris metro without a stroller.
Pack less as they grow.
With a baby or toddler, we check two medium suitcases for the whole family. Once everyone walks well and is out of diapers, it drops to one carry-on and one backpack each, with no checked bags. Regional trains and small rental cars have real limits on bag space, and laundry is easy to find. See how much luggage a family needs.
The small stuff catches families out more than the big stuff. Check that anything you plug in is dual-voltage, take local cash from an ATM instead of an airport currency counter, and ask for the check at a European restaurant, because nobody will bring it unasked. We collected the rest in things that surprised us flying to Europe with kids.
Write down what you would skip.
Every destination guide we publish has a would-skip note next to the loved-it list: a museum, a pace or a season that did not earn its place with young kids. Skip notes are what make the next trip better, and they are the part almost nobody else publishes. All of ours are in what we would skip.
Phones, the airport and insurance.
Kids traveling with parents rarely need their own data plan. One eSIM on a parent's phone usually covers a family that stays together, and we set it up before we leave so maps work the moment we land (how many eSIMs a family needs). At Logan, almost every international flight leaves from Terminal E, and we wait in the big seating area by Monica's Mercato near Gate E11 (flying out of Logan with kids).
On insurance: most US health plans cover little or nothing abroad, which is the main gap a travel policy fills. It matters least on a fully refundable trip. Our travel insurance guide covers what to ask before you buy.
What families ask us.
How do you travel with kids without wrecking the trip?
Slow the trip down rather than squeezing more into it. We pick one home base for at least four or five nights, fly overnight and plan a nap on arrival, carry the youngest instead of pushing a stroller, and pack less as the kids grow. Most of what goes wrong with kids comes from moving too often, not from the destination.
Is it better to stay in one place or move around with kids?
One place, for most trips. A single home base with day trips out means no packing every other morning and no lost naps to a new check-in time. Two bases can work when they are close together and each one earns three or four nights.
What is the best way to fly to Europe with kids?
An overnight flight that leaves near bedtime. The kids sleep on a schedule they already know, but everyone still needs a nap once you reach the accommodation, so we book the room from the night before so it is ready the moment we land.
Do you need a stroller when traveling with kids?
Not always. We lean on a carrier, even up to around age four, because stairs, metro turnstiles and cobblestones are easier with a child on your back. A stroller still earns its place on days spent mostly in parks or on wide, flat streets.
How much luggage does a family need?
With a baby or toddler, we check two medium suitcases for the whole family. Once everyone walks well and is out of diapers, we switch to one carry-on and one backpack per person, with no checked bags at all.
What is a good first long flight with a baby?
Iceland, if you are flying from Boston. It is about five hours to Reykjavik on the way over, one of the shortest transatlantic flights from Logan. We flew it with our nine-month-old, who slept about half the way in her car seat.