We were born and raised in Copenhagen, we now live in Singapore, and somewhere in between we became the kind of family that is always planning the next trip. Our kids have slept on planes, in tents and in too many airport terminals to count. They have eaten noodles on plastic stools in Bangkok and waffles in Tivoli Gardens.

This page is the starting point for everything we have written about traveling with kids. If you take one thing from us, take this. Traveling with children is not a watered-down version of travel. It is a different kind of travel, and it can be better.

Why we travel with kids

People ask us why we put ourselves through it. Long flights, jet lag, a toddler who decides the hotel bathtub is the most interesting thing in Paris. Our honest answer is that kids notice everything. They talk to strangers. They turn a delayed train into an adventure and a puddle into an afternoon. Traveling with them forces us to slow down, and slowing down is how you actually see a place.

Kids are more adaptable than adults give them credit for. Ours have eaten strange food, slept in strange beds and handled long travel days with fewer complaints than we did.

Planning a family trip

We plan less than you would think, but we plan the right things. Book the first night of accommodation before you arrive, especially after long-haul flights. Do not plan more than one big thing per day. Build in a slow morning or an empty afternoon, because that is when the best moments happen.

We pick destinations around one or two things the kids will love, then fill the rest with what we want to see. In San Diego that is the beaches and the zoo. In Singapore it is the food and how easy the city is with a stroller. One kid-anchored highlight and a relaxed pace beats a packed itinerary every time.

Check the boring stuff early. Car seat rules, stroller policies, whether your accommodation has a crib. Ten minutes of checking saves an hour of stress.

Getting there and getting around

How you get there matters more with kids than it ever did before. We have written separate guides on flying with a baby or toddler and on road trips with kids, the two ways we travel most.

Short version for flying. Book seats together early, pack more snacks than you think is reasonable, and treat the flight as part of the trip rather than an obstacle. Short version for road trips. Cap your driving hours, stop more than you want to, and let the drive be the destination. Our Ireland road trip is the best example of a trip where the driving was the point.

On the ground, we walk and take public transit wherever we can. Kids love trains and ferries, and cities like NYC and Paris reward families who use them. In Southeast Asia we sometimes use cars or taxis to escape the heat; with small children, we plan the appropriate restraints before booking a ride.

Where we stay and what we eat

We have stopped chasing fancy. With kids, location beats luxury. A simple place near a park, a bakery and the things you want to see beats a resort across town every time. A kitchenette or at least a fridge is worth paying extra for, because breakfast in the room before a meltdown-prone morning is gold.

For eating out, we go early, keep it simple, and look for a nearby place where the kids can move afterward. Bangkok taught us how to choose busy stalls and simple dishes, while Palm Springs showed how useful a relaxed patio can be at dinnertime.

Our family travel guides

The core guides:

City and destination guides for families:

Start with the guide that matches your next trip, and if you read one thing before you go, make it the packing guide.