stuck for ideas? TAKE A LOOK AT OUR FAMILY ITINERARIES

A realistic, family‑friendly itinerary for school‑aged children (roughly 6–12), based on what we actually did. Designed to balance adventure + comfort, with clear pacing, practical logistics, and the details that make the trip feel manageable.

road trip itineraries

ITALY

From the Colosseum in Rome to a pizza‑making class and the thrills of Gardaland theme park, this trip mixes culture and fun perfectly.

JORDAN

This incredible road trip World Wonder Petra, float dead sea, desserts nights of wadi rum and beaches of aqaba

COLORADO & SOUTH DAKOTA

Combine these two great states to experience an epic road trip, wide‑open landscapes, and national monuments.

FLORIDA

From Orlando & Miami to the Everglades & the Florida Keys, Florida packs theme parks, nature, & coastline into an ultimate family road trip.

COSTA RICA

Explore jungles and hot springs of La Fortuna and the costal beaches, balancing adventure with rest.

pLANNING TIPS

When to Book

We usually aim to book our trips around a year in advance, as soon as flights are released. This gives the best choice on flight times and routes, and often better value on family‑friendly hotels. In general, the earlier you can book long‑haul summer travel, the more options you’ll have — especially for school holiday dates.

Booking Tools

Start with comparison websites like Trip.com to review the latest flight, hotel, and route options. For long‑haul travel, it’s worth considering a short connection, which can significantly reduce costs. If your itinerary allows, a multi‑city flight can also make sense — for example, flying into one city and out of another, as we did in the USA (into Denver and out of New York), then booking internal flights to travel between destinations.

Trip.com is also a useful place to look for car rentals, hotels, and pre‑booked airport transfers in one place. That said, for accommodation we personally tend to favour Hotels.com and Expedia, mainly because their loyalty schemes have consistently worked well for us on longer trips.

Finding Thing to Do

Start with our country‑specific blog posts, where we share activities we recommend based on our own research and personal experience travelling as a family. We focus on things that genuinely work well with kids, not just the headline attractions.

You can also browse platforms like Get Your Guide and Viator to explore tours and activities — they’re a great way to see what’s available, compare options, and build an itinerary that suits your family’s interests and pace.

Setting a Budget

We always start with a realistic budget for each destination and build the trip from there. For every major trip on the site, you’ll find a full budget breakdown showing exactly what we spent and where — flights, accommodation, activities, transport, and extras — to help families plan future trips with fewer surprises. Find them on the destination pages.

What to pack?

Over the years, we’ve learned a lot about what’s worth packing — and what never leaves the suitcase. That’s why for every big trip we share a practical, family‑tested packing list, designed to help you pack smarter, lighter, and with confidence for the destination you’re heading to. Find them on the destination pages.

A quick note on links: some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to book through them, we may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.

We only ever share places, tours, and experiences we’ve personally used and genuinely enjoyed. If you’re planning your own family summer trip, feel free to use these links as a starting point — they’re the same ones that helped us plan efficiently, avoid unnecessary expense, and cut down hours of searching.