If you’re planning a long road trip with your kids, you’re probably wondering, “How to survive a long car ride and arrive safely without too much crying and yelling?” We’ve been here! Many time.
In this article, we’re giving you our best tips to survive a long car ride, especially with the kids. While driving on long road trips, you should follow the following tips for an enjoyable ride… or at least a less miserable trip.
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1. Get a Good Night’s Sleep Before Your Long Road Trip
If you’re going to drive many hours a day for a few days in a row, it’s essential to start the journey well-rested. Driving is tiring, and you want to prevent being exhausted when you arrive at your destination. Plus, taking a long trip with kids takes a bit more energy.
You’ll want to be rested.
It’s best to start in the morning after a good night’s sleep, not after a tiring work day.
2. Don’t Start a Road Trip Late in the Night (or Super Early in the Morning)
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I 100% believe you shouldn’t start a road trip late in the night (or super early in the morning).
WHY?
For a few reasons, but mainly:
- You’ll start driving already tired, so imagine after 8 hours. Plus, driving in the dark is always more dangerous and tiring.
- There is no guarantee your children will stay asleep while you install them in their car seats or that they will fall back asleep.
So, by leaving super early in the morning or driving through the night, the entire family will be more tired and more at risk for road incidents (or accidents).
The best thing is to be all prepared the night before and leave as soon as everyone is awake…. after a good night’s sleep.
3. Pack Smartly
Good chances you’re planning a long road trip as a means of transportation to get somewhere, whether to see friends and family or for your vacation. This means you’ll want to pack so that you don’t have to unpack the entire car each night and repack each morning.
Here is what we recommend when it comes to packing for a family road trip:
- Prepare small bags of clothes for the driving trip, which means you would pack clothes for your vacation and small bags for the driving stops. This will help with the packing/unpacking. You’ll only need one carry-on, a small bag or packing cubes.
- Ensure your daily bags are easy to reach to help you load and unload each night at the hotels. Items you’ll only need at the destination should be packed at the bottom of the trunk.
4. Preload Your Route
It’s always a good idea to preload your route when you have WIFI access to be safe for the entire drive in case you don’t have a cell network along the way.
Can you believe we drove the entire 4000+ kilometers in airplane mode? I am surprised too, but we made it safely. We would load the itinerary before leaving the hotel and add the next hotel as the destination. It worked pretty well.
Of course, it would have been better to have internet, but I have a weird internet plan that only allows Canada.
5. Always Have Enough Gas
One of the worst things that can happen on a long road trip with kids is running out of gas. It almost happened to us last summer, and it was a stressful time.
Make sure to regularly check your gas level and try not to go too much under the half-tank level. It’s not a big problem if you’re driving on highly trafficked roads, but if you’re driving through the mountains, forests or more rural areas, you may not see as many gas stations as you may think.
The GasBuddy app is a great app to have on your phone. Not only will it show you the nearby gas station, but it will show you where to find the best price for gas. Saving a few cents per litter/gallon can make a huge difference when driving long distances.
6. Pack a Lunch
Bring a cooler with you during your long road trip and pack daily lunches. You can, of course, stop at a restaurant for lunch or do a drive-thru, but having lunch with you may be a better plan, especially if you have a lot of driving to do each day.
When we do long driving days, we usually prepare our lunch the evening before (or in the morning) and eat in the car.
Some people don’t like eating in the car, which is ok. But it works great for us. When we stop, our kids need to run around and move, so sitting in a restaurant is not a good option for us.
In the summertime, we often picnic in a playground or a park where the kids can run around while we eat, but otherwise, we eat in the car and stop before (or after) an activity.
7. Bring Road Trip Snacks
This is probably one of the most popular road trips with kids’ tips, but it’s an important one.
Plan for healthy options such as veggies, fruits, nuts, and cheese… but also a few fun treats. The days are going to be long and tedious for the kids, so a little treat here and it is always appreciated.
And make sure you bring enough water to stay hydrated.
8. Plan Your Rest Stops
If you can, try to plan some of your rest stops. It wouldn’t matter if traveling with adults only, but kids like to know the plans and, most importantly, when they will get out of the car.
If you do some research in advance, you may be able to coordinate your rest stops at some fun locations such as playgrounds, parks, or any other fun stop for the kids. The GoWheep app is great for finding playgrounds and other fun activities.
Otherwise, RoadTrippers app is also helpful for planning your rest stops and itinerary.
9. Find Lodging With Great Amenities
This is probably one of the most underrated tips for long car drives, but it makes a huge difference in the overall journey.
Choosing a hotel (or any other kind of accommodation) based on the amenities rather than only the price can make a huge difference in your stay… especially with kids.
After a long day stuck in a car, it’s a lot of fun to have access to a pool and/or a hut tub… bonus for a waterpark. Also, having a free breakfast is almost good, but even more when road-tripping. There is no need to stop somewhere else to grab food for breakfast.
We, for example, stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Missoula (Montana) on the way back from our California to Alberta road trip, and it had a waterpark with 2 huge water slides. The kids had so much fun, and no need to say they slept really well that night.
Pro-Tip: Try to stick to one hotel chain to maximize your points (and free stays). We LOVE Marriotts hotels, and we always try to book with them using our AMEX BonVoy credit card.
10. Make Sure the Kids are Entertained
To be perfectly honest, we don’t entertain the kids for the entire drive. We make sure they have games and toys to stay engaged, but we also need some quiet after a few long hours of driving, so we ask for quiet/relaxation time (hoping they will fall asleep, which sadly happens less and less).
Books, coloring books, crayons, stuffed animals and music are our family go-to. We also have a few podcasts and stories. Throughout the day, we’ll play some games such as license plates, I Spy, and other imaginary games.
We also decided as a family not to allow screens in the car (I only allowed it during my solo cross-country road trip with the kids… I needed a little break). That is a personal choice. It would probably make road trips even easier, but we prefer to keep the screen time for a family movie at the hotel in the evenings.
For more inspiration for road trip games, make sure to check our detailed article on road trip games for kids. You can also download our activity set.
How to Prepare for a Long Drive With Kids
Planning a road trip with kids is a little more complicated, as they may or may not go along willingly. One day can go super well: they’re playing well in the car, enjoying the quiet, and sleeping. On other days, they may just fight the whole drive, have thousands of requests, or just freak out.
Here is a traveling schedule that worked pretty well for us:
- 6h30AM: Wake up (the kids’ normal time) and pack the car
- 7h00AM: Breakfast
- 7h30AM: Check out and ready to hit the road
- Drive. Drive. Drive. With a few gas and restroom stops and one longer fun stop
- 3:30PM-4:30PM: Arrive at the hotel. Do a small activity. Enjoy the hotel for the rest of the night.
Rinse and repeat.
Final Thoughts: How to Survive a Long Road Trip With Kids
Long road trips can be hard for families, but there are totally feasible. It’s important to take the kids into account and make fun stops along the way.
It may be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t recommend driving through the night or waiting up super early. It’s not safe, and there is no guarantee your kids will sleep.
Have fun! And get ready to hit the road.
