Tips and Hints from our Members
Following our Condor competition, we are pleased to list out our tips and hints from our members regarding their travel experiences.
OUR WINNER!
We stayed a Trevorrick farm (St Issey, near Padstow)
great family friendly self contained cottages based on the farm. You can
have great interaction with the friendly animals. There are many great
walks, an indoor heated pool and a lovely childrens playing area. The
owners were more than helpful. When we arrived, they had put two boxes of
toys and videos for our 1 year old. The cottages are very spacious but
cosy. Its a 4 minute drive to the pretty seaside town of
hour to Newquay. There are so many attractions around the area. We were
there for a week and could have stayed much longer. A fantastic family
holiday location worth a visit.
OTHER ENTRIES
This year we will take our boy to Herm camping which should be great fun.
I think that all families should use this opportunity to explore Herm.
Waking up in a tent hearing birds singing and (hopefully) seeing sunshine
and going to the beach should be an amazing experience.
We have found that the easiest way to travel is by the sea (taking car) as
that way you never need to worry about the extra kilos.
Taking few travel toys is a must for all the children, however to choose
the right ones is very tricky as you don’t want to end up with lots
of toys that your child may not enjoy playing with. We took some Lego
Duplo with us and it was a real success. The best thing is not to show
them the new toys until the moment they get bored with the other toy.
My only travel tips, for travelling with children, are expect all journeys
to be a disaster - then the only way is up!! And ALWAYS have baby wipes to
hand!
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I have two boys, aged 2 and 1, and travel alot back and forward to
to see my family. The boys always have their own little bags with
colouring books, crayons and toys inside. That way they feel like they
have their own luggage plus they stay occupied on the plane.
***
If you can get hold of a portable dvd player, it is great for long car
journey's, or on the boat, or if you want a bit of catching up on your
book or tan!
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If travelling at peak times remember to keep check of your child's
temperature as travelling on a boat can be quite hot!
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If you are going across Atlantic take all the nappies, wipes etc. you'll
need (they have different sizes there) but half the clothes - clothes are
cheap and you'll have tons of space to bring them back on return....and
baby won't be wearing the same thing as everyone else!
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The only time we have taken her daughter away was when she was 7 months
old to see the in-laws. We flew, and on the way back we were delayed. She
had a chest infection and was on anti biotics. Half way through the flight
she had the most explosive nappy ever and we had to try and strip her off
on the plane, and clean her up, and she had also got it all over my
husbands clothes!
***
Condor are fab, when I went in to premature labour @ 26weeks, we were due
to travel on Condor, they gave us a full refund due to circumstances. I
had a little girl weighing 1lb 5oz!. Thanks Condor! X
***
When we took our children away on holiday we always made sure they had
plenty of travel games for the journey and in case of delays. Also its a
good idea to pack a small cooler bag with snacks and sandwiches and plenty
of drinks. Its also better to travel at the start of the day so that the
children aren't so tired for travelling. Also wet wipes are good for
spills and sticky hands. It's also good to have a bright coloured hat for
the children so that you can spot them easily if they wander off anywhere.
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Travel tips - for little ones, a fabric highchair like the totseat is fab!
For older ones, pack a box with odd toys you don't mind loosing - I save
free gifts from magazines and childrens meals, and trawl charity shops
until I have a collection of crayons, paper, little farm animals, sticky
paper shapes, mini books etc. Its great for planes and restaurants!
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If you have young children and have to travel long distances by car when
you are on holiday, try to do at least some of the driving during their
sleep time - they drop off quickly, you don't have to listen to constant
'are we there yet' questions, and they are fresh and ready to go when you
reach your destination.
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Last year we took Evie then 1 to
great fun running around trying things out. Unfortunately after a few
hours shopping we went back to the car to find 2 flat tyres and had to
spend the next 2 hours trying to keep her entertained in the carpark while
we had to wait for someone to come fix the car. Ikea is now a swear word
in our house!
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If you really (really) need to take a long haul flight with an 18 month
old, keep it simple at the other end. Unlike us, who thought it 'do-able'
to attend a wedding in Vegas, followed by a campervan trip across the
desert, up the coast and into
once there, but, oh, what a stressful trip!!!!!
We travel regularly with our daughter. Our nightmare experience was the
volcanic ash cloud and we were due to be in Gran Canaria.....well after
boats and trains we never got there but had a great time!
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We have just had a brilliant couple of days away in france with our 2 year
old little boy, took the car to france and spent a few days going to the
zoo, aquarium and to various parks, weather was brilliant and oliver coped
so well with french food and the time difference.
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We took our baby away for the first time when he was 6 months old. My top
tips are:- don't take too many toys, just a few favourites are fine.
Steralising bags are perfect for when staying in hotels as you just hang
them from a door handle. Disposable bibs are perfect as you will not have
extra washing to bring back with you.
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We travelled to
Ally, was seven months old. We had done lots of short trips to the
this was a whole new experience! A few travel tips:
Jetlag - stick with the home routine including naps until you reach your
destination, then switch immediately to that place's timezone. Allow four
days at least for your baby to adjust.
Flight- we found the attendants to be extremely helpful. Book your baby a
travel cot and baby meals but stock up in boots before your travel and buy
disposable bibs, we could find none in Oz! We were also surprised at the
limited babyfood available there.
If you are breastfeeding, keep it up until your return, it was so much
easier and the milks are different in Oz and your baby may reject them (or
become a little but addicted to an Oz brand as ours did!!)
Travel cot- we found the Littlelife Arc 2 to be very good (available
online) and it comes with an inbuilt mosquito net.
Hats- If it's a hot destination take a few, we lost a couple out of the
buggy!
My top tip would be, don't assume you will be able to get what you need
there, do some research first to avoid having a fraught first few days
away! And take a set of grandparents with you!
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The best way to travel with young children is be useing condor, even tho
the trip is a bit longer there is more space for them to move around, and
they have a fab childrens corner.
We like to take a family holiday each year if we can, we travel to
We always find the staff on the boat are more than helpful.
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