UK Family Road Trips – Jack Kerouac style

In today’s troubled economy, everyone is looking for cheaper ways to travel and have fun. It can be especially expensive if you have a large family and want to travel. However, there are still plenty of budget-friendly ways to have fun as a family. You can just rent a caravan and drive around the country side, or up and down the coastline. You can also drive over the Yorkshire moors, stopping for castles and other historic stately houses, and picturesque spots along the way.

Yorkshire (Creative Commons)

If you have young children

If you’re travelling with young children of around kindergarten age, then it is better to plan regular breaks on your road trip. Try and fit in a beach or a park or a zoo visit every day so that they get to run around and not cooped up in the car all day. You can relax too and enjoy some sun and sand or lie back with a book while they are enjoying the beach or the rides at an amusement park.

Belfast Castle (Creative Commons)

If you have pre-teen children

Travelling with pre-teens can be a little easier, with not so many bathroom breaks necessary. However, they can start bickering and if they get bored, you will never hear the end of it. So, if you’re planning a road trip across the UK with pre-teens, make sure that their interests are covered. Your football mad son might be patient if he knows that he can see his heroes in action at Old Trafford or Ansfield. Likewise, your daughter might be more co-operative if she knows she can spend an evening at a concert featuring her latest obsession.  You can even ask them to come up with suggestions for fun-things to do along the way.

If you’re travelling with teens and older children:

Be sure to ask them to bring something along to keep them engaged during the long road trip. If they can drive, be prepared to allow them to drive when you deem it safe. Set pre-arranged areas where they can do so, lest they start their constant nagging. As your teens might not need as much constant supervision, you might get to relax too in the evenings and do your own thing, like maybe reading a book, watching a film or enjoying the casino online UK experience only at William Hill Vegas.

Eastern England Landscape (Creative Commons)

Most teenagers will want to be somewhere else, doing their own thing, far away from their parents or little brothers and sisters. So plan your itinerary to give them some space where they can spend time on their own. This will help you to be free of parental duty for a few hours and maybe enjoy some couple-time or just relax over a pint.

The key to enjoying a road trip with your children is to find the right compromise to suit everyone, and also trying to anticipate issues and being prepared to fix them.