Knowing that the school holidays are on the horizon once again, we reached out to some of our favourite travel bloggers to discover their top tips for planning and making the most of school holiday travel. Whether you happen to be a seasoned school holiday traveller, or are just starting to get into the swing of things, check out their fantastic school holiday travel tips and help make your next family adventure one to remember for all the right reasons!
Bronwyn from Smithsholidayroad
Our kids are far more engaged in our school holiday adventures if they are involved in the planning. Once we have all decided on where we will go, we head to the local library to research and borrow books about the destination. We watch documentaries on the destination and, of course, the kids love searching YouTube for fun places to visit and what food they will eat. We listen to podcasts, including learning a few key phrases of the language that is spoken, and learn more about the people, landscape and culture. Whether it’s a trip overseas, interstate or road tripping in our own state of Victoria, the kids love to be involved. When they are part of the planning and the process they are far more excited to adventure and try new things. Where will you explore these school holidays?
Leah from Kid Bucket List
School holiday travel can be an amazing adventure with a little foresight and planning. Being peak season for airfares and accommodation, if you’ve left it to the last minute your bank account is certain to suffer. We like to start planning at least 6 months ahead of time, reserving accommodation well in advance. Of course, school holidays also lend themselves to stay-cations where you explore your own city, which is certain to have a plethora of activities on perfect for your family. Remember, travel with kids is easiest when you’re flexible and take things a little slower than your days as a solo traveller.
Jane from Wicked Walkabout
School holidays trips can be wonderful, but can also be difficult to plan when popular destinations get really busy. We have decided to take the kids to the Gold Coast for a week during the next holidays and they want to only go to Dreamworld and Water World (both within the same park).
Queue times can be long when at these places and we intend to let the kids spend multiple days there from opening to closing. Taking time to let kids fully immerse themselves in whatever activity has been chosen is wise.
As the flights are a couple of hours from our home town of Melbourne, it would be easy to try to cram in seeing other places while we are there, but this trip is about the kids enjoying the theme park to the fullest with no time restrictions. It may not be our ideal holiday to spend days in the one spot, but it is what the kids will love. They grow too fast and time flies.
Buying tickets and booking accommodation before hand is definitely a top tip too.
Aleney from Boy Eats World
There’s no way around the fact that holiday prices skyrocket during school holidays but we have learned to manage this as best we can by planning way ahead and shopping around, because even during school holidays there are resorts that offer kids stay and eat free packages, which can really help reduce the costs. We also do our best to save in other ways. We choose destinations that are a little off the beaten path as they tend to be less affected by school holiday surcharges. Staying in an apartment with a kitchen instead of a hotel style resort means we can prepare our own meals, which can mean a substantial saving. And, without fail, we check out exchange rates and average costs at a destination before we book a holiday so we can make sure we’re heading places where we’ll get plenty of bang for our holiday buck.
Christine from Adventure, Baby!
School holidays is a peak travel season, so my biggest tip is to book early to try and keep costs down. If we’re going on a road trip, we try to depart before or after travel peak times so we don’t get stuck in traffic build ups and, if we’re flying, we often fly a few days earlier as it keeps the cost of airfares down. Remember that attractions will be at their busiest during this period so book all tickets online in advance and arrive early everywhere you go to avoid the crowds as much as possible.
Ready to book your own school holiday adventure? Find cheap flights, hotels, rental cars and more with Webjet!
Feature Image Credit: Visit St. Pete/Clearwater / CC by 2.0.
