Here’s exactly how we go about the planning stage of a road trip getting us from idea to hitting the road.
Picking your destination
Starts from as simple as picking a string of destinations and then plotting them on a route.
There are so many spots you can grab your inspiration from. We’re of course biased and would say use our website for your road trip inspiration, but of course, their are many other great resources out there.
Pinterest is a great spot to start with road trip inspiration
Ask in family travel groups on Facebook
Planning Your Road Trip Route
Before you dive into the excitement of arriving at a new destination, be sure to think carefully about the route you will be taking. here we’re going to take you through:
Planning Apps
You’ll find our complete guide to road trip planning Apps over here.
Timing
On a family road trip, be realistic how long you can travel; how many hours in a day and how many hours in total over the course of your journey.
Traveling with young kids is a completely different experience to traveling in your swinging single days; be realistic.
Everyone will have their own limits but our combined experience says try and cap your drives to 4 to 6 hours a day. When needs must you can, of course, tackle much longer stretches at once.
Setting a Budget
Route planned, you now need to work out what you can afford. One of your biggest costs is likely to be fuel. The great thing about Road tripping apps such as Roadtripper, you can enter your vehicle details and it will come up with a cost calculation for your fuel.
Hiring a vehicle?
Once you’ve worked out your expected costs, add a buffer of about 25%.
Choosing accommodation
What sort of road tripper are you? Do you pop in your car and head from one accommodation to the next, staying only a night or two at each stop? Or do you prefer the comfort of your own bed and having everything with you?
When traveling with kids, the days of “winging it”, driving as far as you can in one day and then hoping there’ll be accommodation t the other end are well gone.
Motel/Hotel Hopping
Not always the most cost-effective but certainly convenient way to travel with kids. No need to worry about setting up camp, simply flop! We always look for those that include a mini-fridge and a microwave as they allow us to prepare meals for the next day, as well as quick and easy dinners if you can’t bare dining out after a big day on the road!
Essential Gear
Make sure you keep all essential documentation nicely organized in an easy-to-reach location.
You’ll find our complete guide to essential road trip gear here [with a downloadable checklist you can tick off as you go!]
Well done for reading this far! We hope this has helped you in preparing for your next family road trip. There are lots of gear and tool suggestions in this post that may earn us a small commission should you make a booking. We thank you in advance for your support.