Summer holidays are just around the corner, and many families are finalizing their preparations to enjoy a few days of well-deserved rest.
Traveling with a large family can be a real logistical and economic challenge. Therefore, if this year you are going to enjoy your vacation for the first time as a large family, we want to share a series of recommendations to make the experience more comfortable, practical and economical. Take good note!
Say ‘no’ to improvisation
Perhaps when you were traveling as a couple – or even when you only had one child – many of your vacation plans were governed by improvisation ; from eating in a restaurant on the beach, to buying tickets for a show or taking advantage of an express train ticket offer and planning an impromptu vacation on the fly.
For this reason, our first advice is that before going on vacation with your family, plan everything as much as possible and always reserve any plan well in advance (food in a restaurant, admission to shows or museums, amusement parks, transport… ). In this way, you will avoid being left without that summer plan that you want to do so much.
Define the budget you want to spend, and if possible save in advance
The cost of traveling with a large family can skyrocket if we do not take into account a series of tips that help us save .
In this sense, the financial consultants of OVB Spain propose us to define a budget to know in advance how much you want to spend . In other words, it would be about having a budget and adapting the holidays to it, instead of doing it the other way around.
And if you still have time before going on vacation, it is also highly recommended that you consider a savings plan. Reducing superficial expenses and allocating a small weekly or monthly amount to your vacation goal will help you reduce the impact of your vacation outlay.
Take advantage of all possible discounts
When visiting museums, exhibitions, theme parks or shows, large families often have discounts, although they are not always clearly and easily visible. Therefore, before getting some tickets, do not forget to ask about discounts or promotions for large families .
Another good trick to save on our vacations is to take advantage of the discount coupons offered by some stores, supermarkets or brands, as well as the loyalty points that hotels or airlines give and that help reduce the cost of the total bill.
Plan the holidays with the whole family in mind
It may seem like an ‘impossible mission’ to plan the holidays according to the tastes and needs of the whole family , especially when we are talking about a large family.
So after first taking into account the demands and needs of the little ones (trying not to alter their routines and schedules too much, mostly opting for quiet plans adapted to them…), we must then adapt the rest of the plans or excursions to the personal tastes of the other members.
The best accommodation for large families
One of the problems that large families face when we go on vacation is that it is not always possible to find hotels that allow joint accommodation in a standard room , since in most cases the occupancy cannot exceed four people.
In this sense, if you want to stay in a hotel you should opt for family rooms, suites or connecting rooms that will skyrocket your spending.
That is why, from my experience, I always recommend opting for other types of accommodation that not only allow us to be together, but are also more comfortable and cheaper than the hotel.
Such would be the case of rental apartments or houses, aparthotels, full rental rural houses, campsites with accommodation in a tent, motorhome or bungalow, among others.
Look for the ‘Family Tourism’ seal
When looking for accommodation, places of interest or leisure activities to do with the family, we recommend choosing those recognized with the Family Tourism Seal.
This seal, which has been created by the Spanish Federation of Large Families, guarantees that all the establishments, activities and tourist destinations that we choose will be designed for families.
Simplify as much as possible (don’t take the house on your back!)
When traveling with children it is important to be proactive and pack carefully , in order to ensure that we take everything our child may need to enjoy a full vacation.
But this does not mean that we should carry the house on our backs, because excess luggage is not only impractical (we probably do not use half of the things), but it also complicates logistics, gives us a lot of work and will occupy a large part of the trunk of the car in case of traveling by road.
To reduce the luggage to the basic and essential , it is best that you prepare in advance a list of the things that your children are going to need in their vacation destination and stick to it.
Do not forget to keep the documentation of all the people who are going to travel (DNI, passport if necessary and family book), as well as the official large family card that will allow you to justify the discounts when getting tickets and tickets.
If possible, travel out of season
And although we know that it is not always possible to travel out of season (because many companies force workers to take their vacations between July and August), if you are lucky enough to be able to choose, do not hesitate to plan your vacations in the months of June, September and October.
In these months of the year there are usually good deals, the hotels are less crowded, there are fewer queues to enter the sites, and in general, everything is much quieter.
Undoubtedly, for large families, traveling out of season is a comfortable, practical and cheaper option, so we did not want to miss out on including it in our guide of recommendations.
