50 Great Road Trip Tips

My dream trip is about to become a reality and I realized, I need to gather as many tips from the expert Road Trippers BEFORE I go as possible!!  So I have worked hard to bribe ask all my sweet traveling friends for their experiences.

Get a National Park pass! The pass will pay for itself after a few visits to the more expensive National Parks. Use the restroom at the visitors centre – they almost always have decent baby changing facilities. Pack a lunch and find a picnic area in the park. With the National Park pass you won’t feel guilty about keeping your visit shorter – ducking in to use the facilities is a lot more enjoyable than a greasy fast food rest stop or gas station bathroom.  Bethaney from Flashpacker Family

Look for coupons – groupons, etc. – before you go! Also, in the US, at the first public rest area when you enter a state, they will have whole books of coupons for hotels, attractions, etc. Jessie has a whole article on tips to save money on summer travel.  Jessie from Wandering Educators 

Get older kids involved in mapping and planning. Theodora from EscapeArtistes

Stay at a hotel with a pool so the kids can burn off energy after a long day of driving. Rebekah from The Golden Gleam

Join AAA. Not only can they help with car trouble but their TripTik travel planner can help you plan your route, locate gas stations, hotels and restaurants and lead you to some interesting spots along the way. Jodi from Family Rambling

Packing Tips:

Keep a towel and a change of clothes per person in a small bag in the trunk for quick roadside water adventures. Splashing in fountains makes for fabulous photos and cools kids off before hopping back in the car. Lisa from Trekaroo

Make sure you remember your car charger… Our phone holds our GPS & our road tunes so when the battery is dead we are either lost or moody! Erin from Travel with Bender

Have a plastic bag, paper towels and wipes handy in the car for unexpected car sickness. Rebekah from The Golden Gleam

Put the kids in shoes that are easy to put on and take off so they can be comfortable in the car, but ready quickly at the stops. Annalyn from TravelTurtle

Tips for On the Road:

Give each child an age appropriate “job” while on the road. You can also switch jobs each day. Ex: Pump gas, clean windows, remove all trash from the car, fill water bottles, etc. Katy from Indy with Kids 

Don’t rely entirely on your GPS. When we were in Montana last summer, the GPS was down for an entire day. Thank goodness I had actual maps with me! Alysia from Michigalmom

Don’t be on such a strict schedule that you can’t make unexpected stops. Holly from The Culture Mom

If we were driving at night or if they were likely to doze off, I put them in pull-ups. Wasn’t taking a chance! Also I had a stash of plastic grocery bags within reach. My kids were motion sick once in their lives and it was when I had nothing handy to “catch” it!  Corinne from Have Baby Will Travel

Be on the lookout for those brown roadside signs. The historical markers are pretty fun, quick side trips and teach a thing or two, too  Usually, the “attractions” are a short detour and worth the stop. Lisa from Trekaroo

For road trips in Europe (this is specific to Germany, though could be true in other countries): you have to pay to use the bathroom in the rest stop, but you get a ticket when you pay. You can then use that ticket as a coupon when you buy something at the rest stop. The value of the ticket is a portion of what you paid to use the restroom. For example, pay €0.75, the value is €0.50. Annalyn from TravelTurtle 

Leave at nap or bed time. Nothing ensures quiet as much as a sleeping kid. Jodi from Family Rambling

Boredom Buster Tips:

Fight the urge to start trips with iPads, video games, or movies. Hold back on the electronics and use them AS NEEDED. We always start with conversations, our family sing alongs, books, enjoying the scenery, license plate games, etc. One of our best trips was 8 hours of pure family road trip bliss, with a 3 year old, and no electronic interference. It was a shock and an amazing bonding time. Of course, the next trip called for the iPad before we even left town and it was needed for sanity the entire trip.
Lesson learned: You can always add the ‘kiddo crack”, but it is hard to take it away once introduced. Always have an ace in your pocket. Lori from Expedition Mom

Pack a Secret Weapon: A little treasure trove of boredom busters and new things that can be busted out when kids are getting antsy the drive is getting long or the unexpected ruins your plans! Fill it with fun little items from the dollar store: wikki stix, balloons, stickers, new coloring items, cards, a dice game, kaleidoscopes, things that can be fun in the car, not make a big mess and won’t sugar them up!  Jennifer from Edventure Project

Make a “mix tape” or it’s iPod equivalent–a playlist. Get input from all members of the family.  Vero from All Over the Map

I always have lots of things printed out – scavenger hunts, license plate games, car bingo, fact sheets about the states we are driving through, and quizzes – my kids love quizzes. Miles of Smiles is an awesome book for road trip games – I wrote about it and more here. Shannon from 100 Routes Across America

String small beads onto a pipe cleaner and hang from your rear view mirror. Use it as a mileage marker for the days travels. 25 miles per bead. Then you can tell the kids how much further by the number of beads left. Or “we will stop for lunch when we drop 3 beads”. Michelle from Trekaroo

For toddlers and pre-schoolers make a busy kit with different activities they can do in the car with little to no assistance.  Here is the Little Sightseers Busy Kit we made.  Crystal from Little Sightseers

Blue painters tape! Tape is contraband in my house so when I give each of them their own roll and say “go nuts”, it’s like Christmas! Painters tape won’t hurt if it gets stuck to hair or skin and won’t damage the car. Plus it’s cheap so they can use the whole roll. Evin from Food Good Laundry Bad

I gave the littles an old digital camera & ipod and verbal list of things to capture. i.e. only green things, things that make noise, things that have the sound B… Jeannie from For What It’s Worth

A few days before our trip, I’d go to Walmart or Target or The Dollar Store and pick up several new inexpensive “toys” or items for me to pull out as needed throughout the trip. These were never expensive, just something different for the kids to enjoy. Joanie from Zagleft

Create a Survival Kit that is tailored to your individual child’s likes, here is mine.  Marina from Mommy Snippets

 I try to buy a few cheap, new and car-friendly toys and books. To add to the fun, wrap them like a gift and give them out every 50, 75, 100 miles. Jodi from Family Rambling

Eating on the Road:

We try to find alternatives to fast food dining stops, and we love checking out the prepared foods in supermarkets like Wegmans, which has a dedicated hot food bar and a dining room. In this post, I polled other family travel bloggers for their own ideas on eating on the road. Traci from Go Big or Go Home

If you can borrow or purchase the mini-fridge that can plug into your car, it’s a great little thing to have.   Dad can have his cold drink of Mountain Dew to keep him going and we can also pack cold cut meat for lunch. Amy from The Q Family Adventures

Don’t let the kids gorge themselves on drinks. I let my kids have drinks, but I make sure to spread it out. This keeps us from making extra stops.  Megan from Mommy Travels

Don’t disregard highway non-chain restaurant signs. Try out the mom and pop restaurants! Amanda from MarocMama

Check to see if there are any farmers markets in the places that you’ll be passing by. They make a great place to relax, see local life, and get fresh food that is often lacking in restaurant meals. Jenna from This is My Happiness

Because our kids are quite young, we love packing a picnic lunch or dinner instead of eating in a restaurant (which inevitably involves more time having to sit still and behave–precisely what they need a break from!). Then we just stop at a rest area, nearby playground, or state park. I wrote a post about that here. Nicole from Arrows Sent Forth

Pack healthy food like cheese sticks, bananas, nuts, dried fruit and cereal rather than stopping for fast food along the way. Rebekah from The Golden Gleam

We found eating on the road to be our biggest challenge because the Interstate is nothing but fast food chains. Yuck! If you don’t mind taking a little extra time during stops, use your Yelp and/or Trip Advisor app to find healthier (and tastier) options off the beaten path. Save them to your favorites so you’re not trying to find them while on the road and the directions will be right there on your phone. Colleen from San Antonio Mom Blogs

We also use our GPS (not the one on our phones–ours is a Garmin unit) to find restaurants along the way. You can do searches by cuisine/type and also search for options along your route or near your destination(s). We try to eat locally as much as possible to experience local cuisines but sometimes the kids just want something familiar so it’s easy to find them that way. Plus, the GPS helps you estimate how long it will take you to get there! Brenda from Meal Planning Magic

Memory Making

At the end of each day, write down one thing/sentence that each person liked about the trip that day. By the end of the trip, you’ll have a nice keepsake without much effort. Even better if the kiddos write it out! Perhaps, include drawings. Lisa from Trekaroo

Pack crayolas and give each a journal they can draw in to chronicle the journey, as they can hand it down to there kids. Also, have them draw pictures they can hang in their room. Grab a stack of postcards and stamps for each child and let them mail out to themselves telling about the trip this way it will help them remember all the fun they had. Glenda from Mommies Point of View

Give your kiddos a disposable camera to chronicle the road trip. To me, the most memorable part of the trip is the journey there. I like to snap photos as we pass a city or state “Now entering… or welcome to”  Plus if you plan ahead and know memorable sites or landmarks those are fun to snap up too! Alvina from There’s Magic Out There

Give your kids a composition book, a glue stick, tape and colored pencils. Let them put any paper objects they find in the notebook, plus they can draw and add thoughts if they want. Even young kids can do this! Annalyn from TravelTurtle 

Love all these great tips!!  Follow our “Bigger Than Texas Road Trip” this summer and see how we fare!