Tips for Traveling with Kids: Accommodations for Family Travel (Part 2)

tips for traveling with kids accommodations

Since this is travel season, I thought I’d put together a travel series this summer with some of my tips for traveling with kids. Family travel is unique!

My husband is in the US Navy and so we have traveled a lot to move, we have traveled a lot to visit family, and we have traveled a lot because we live in Europe and we want to take advantage of it! We have traveled to seven different countries together – Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, France, Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

If you haven’t read part one “the journey” (all about how the plane and car ride aspect of travel) just follow this link!

Traveling with Kids Part 2 — Accommodations for Family Travel

This post will focus on accommodations on making sure your little ones get the best sleep possible (and you, too). I know that was a major concern for us when we started doing family travel.

  1. Call ahead to your hotel for a crib: Confirm that one will be available for you and don’t rely on your online booking!
  2. Airbnb: We’ve used Airbnb a lot, and you kind of have to comb through the listings for ones that are kid friendly. Sometimes you get lucky and they are very kid-friendly. In Germany, they had listed a crib, but they also had a high chair available for us that was not even mentioned in the listing! Just read the descriptions and see if it mentions kids or cribs and look at the pictures of the house. Lots of stairs? Breakables? Use your best judgment if you think the house will work for you. One road trip, we stayed in an Airbnb that had a lot of stairs, and we ended up bringing our own baby gate to make things easier!
  3. Try Kid n Coe: I haven’t tried this out yet because most of the places we want to go only have a couple listing right now. It’s so new! Kid n Coe is like Airbnb for family travel. I hope they add more houses and cities. I thought I would mention it.
  4. Guava Lotus Travel Crib This thing folds into a backpack. You can take it on the plane. What?! Yes. You will for sure have somewhere for baby to sleep. I don’t personally own this, but have friends who do. Sometimes, when traveling in Europe especially it is tricky finding a place with a crib, so this is a good option.
  5. Try to keep routines the same: This will help especially at bedtime. Bring a sound machine if your little one needs that at home. Bring stuffed friends. Bring books. Think about what you’ll do for breakfast, too! Cranky little ones in the morning are not fun. If you stay at an Airbnb and don’t have groceries yet, you’ll have to go find some quick!

 

NEXT ON PART 3: HAVING FUN

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