Would you like to plan your own family holidays to your own dream destinations? Often, at a much lower price?

If you have always used tour operators and package holidays in the past, then the thought of going it alone and planning a trip independently can seem daunting, especially with little ones.

But, honestly, it’s pretty easy ( if I can do it, anyone can!) I don’t think I could go back to a package holiday now as I love to plan my own itinerary, tailor made to us and all the freedom that allows us.

How I plan our trips; Step by step.

• Choose a destination
• Get your visa
• Research and book the travel
• Decide on what kind of trip you want
• Book accomodation 
• Get travel insurance
• Research and book internal travel 
• Budget for spending costs
• Other considerations

First things first

You really need to start by working out how much your budget is for the trip (or, if you are like me, decide where you want to go and then work out how much overtime you need to do!!)

With this figure in mind, you will be able to roughly get an idea of where you could go and how long you could go for. For inspiration, check out our destination guides. Also, bear in mind that some countries – such as North America and Canada, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, to name a few – are notoriously expensive. Conversely, some countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central America can be more value for money.

We still often visit expensive destinations (our most recent holidays were to Switzerland, France and Australia) but we know we will have to do it on a budget, and make compromises on what we will spend our money on, and how long we go for. Also, as most people are aware, the time of year you plan on going will make a big difference in the price; make sure to check your countries school holidays, and public holidays/ school holidays in the destination country too).

Some other considerations; are you heading to one destination, or will it be a multistop trip? I tend to get over excited and end up researching all the amazing places that are nearby and adding on stops!

For me, discussing and choosing where to go is the most exciting part. We love to get ideas from the kids as well and then work out what is feasible. The world is your oyster!

Passports and Visas.

Work out what Visa you need for the destination you have chosen. Do this before you book a flight or pay for anything non refundable!

Also, this has stung a few friends recently, make sure your passport has 6 months left before the expiry date. Unfortunately our friends were denied boarding to the plane and they had to rearrange their plans.

All the information for entry requirements for every country in the world can be found for the UK  on the foreign office website. Check your governments’ website to find out the latest entry requirements. Some countries charge a small fee, some a larger fee and some are free but nearly all countires require a visa of some sort. Mostly, this can be done online, although sometimes ( increasingly rarely) trips to the embassy are required.

Also worth noting, here in the UK, in 2025 the requirement for visas when travelling to the EU are planned to come on to affect.

How are you getting there?

Now you know where you are going, the next big thing to plan is how you are going to get there.

You need to figure out getting there before you can start booking any accommodation. I tend to look at flights/ ferry costs, then scout some accommodation options to see what’s available, but I never book accommodation before I’ve got the travel sorted.

Will you need to fly, or could you drive and take the ferry?  (We often do this on trips to Europe from the UK) The train is also a great option, and we have taken the Eurostar to Paris before. I think you could travel by train to most European countries from the UK if you wanted to, and in the not so distant past, our friends travelled by train from London to China on the Trans-Siberian Railway, although in 2024 the political situation means this is no longer advisable. A fantastic resource for all things related to train journeys is the super knowledgeable man in Seat 61. Any question, route, or information you could need on train travel anywhere in the world can be found here, it’s an amazing resource! 

Most people will be flying, and I have written a post here with advice on how we get the best value flights.

Also, consider and research how you will travel between stops here, if you want to visit various places that are far apart. Will you fly, drive or take the train? For example, in Australia, we drove from Melbourne to Sydney but flew from Sydney back to Melbourne for our flight home to save us time and money.

What do you want to do on your trip?

This is where it’s good to think about what kind of trip you want and what you want to do. Do you mind driving to points of interest? Would you prefer to use public transport? Are there any particular days out/ activities that you want to include?

Will it be a relaxed holiday or an adventure holiday? Are you OK staying in one place for the entire time? Does the location need to be walkable.

Getting an idea of how you want to fill your days will help you decide what accommodation to book.

Accomodation

Next up, sorting out somewhere to stay. Will you go for a big hotel, a boutique place or Air b and b? We normally use booking.com to check out some options, we normally prefer self-catering as we prefer it, and it also helps us to keep costs down. We’ve stayed in some great serviced apartments, and  we also do loads of Eurocamp holidays, in static tents or cabins, which we find are great value for money and always consider camping and glamping too. 

If you are travelling on a budget, we’ve found a couple of things to help lower the cost of our accomodation:

• Booking ahead as far as possible – the later we leave it, the more the prices rise
• If we are in a large city, looking outside of the CBD/ tourist centre and getting better prices in the suburbs.
• Look on the map and explore the areas nearby. We often get a cheaper room by staying in the next town to where we want to visit and commuting in.

Insurance

Once the bones of the holiday are sorted and confirmed, it’s a good idea to make sure you are fully insured, or you risk losing all that you’ve paid in the event of illness or cancellation. As the money guru Martin Lewis says, you should get travel insurance ASAB- as soon as you’ve booked!

We also make sure we have roadside assistance and European breakdown cover plus insurance when driving abroad, and we always pay for the premium insurance when hiring a car or camper. Better to be safe than sorry! 

Internal travel

If you are planning on travelling to more than one destination or a collection of different places,  you will need to decide how you want to get there and put this in to your budget. 

It is well worth researching this in advance, for example the price of hiring a car can shoot up dramatically the closer you get to the date you need it, so it’s good to get a deal locked in early.  Another example is the Japan Rail Pass, or the interail ticket for europe, which offers discounts to tourists as long as the passes are purchased outside of the country they will be used in- therefore takes a bit of forward planning.

Budget for spending money

How much everyone wants to spend on their holidays and trips is always going to vary massively.  The main spending costs I try to estimate are:

• Food and eating out- as we mainly stay self catering I will budget our weekly food shop amount ( same £££ as at home) amd add on the cost of a couple of meals out, and daily ice creams, coffees, and random treats.
• Try and roughly estimate the price of fuel if we are doing a lot of driving and any travel related costs (such as tolls on France).
• Find out the cost of non-negotiable day out or excursions. These can quickly add up and be totally budget blowing, so we like to be prepared and find out how much entry is online.

When we have a rough estimation in mind (Weirdly, it usually comes in at approx £100 per day), we work out how much we will need for the days ofnthe trip and add a little more to be on the safe side.

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Hi! I’m Lizzie, a mum of two living in the Cotswolds. Here on Travel Happy Family, I share all of our travels with you, where we’ve been, how we got there, and how much it cost!

If you are looking for ideas on where to travel with your kids, inspiration for new destinations, or just want to follow us on our journey, welcome, and I hope you find what we write helpful.

Happy travels! Xxx