Is Day Tripping Right for Your Family?

Some travel trends are a great fit for families … but others, not so much. So, where does day tripping fit in?

Day tripping is a type of travel wherein travelers choose a centralized homebase near several other destinations they want to see. They’ll book a hotel or rental in that homebase and then, throughout their trip, rather than explore that homebase destination, they’ll take daytrips to other destinations of interest throughout the area or region, returning to the homebase to sleep.

As an example, CIE Tours offers a day tripper tour that situates your homebase in Glasgow, Scotland, but during your trip, you travel to Edinburgh, the Isle of Arran, Abbotsford, Loch Lomond and other nearby points of interest.

For families, day tripping comes with its pros and cons.

If you backpacked in your pre-child days, you may enjoy day tripping, as you can still see a variety of nearby attractions and hop from spot to spot over the course of the trip, but you also get to do so without lugging around all the kiddos’ stuff as you hop from hotel to hotel. You also get the advantage of being able to rearrange your plans and stay near your homebase hotel or rental for a day, if needed.

However, day tripping isn’t always leisurely. If your children get tired easily or are still of the age where they need afternoon naps, you might find day tripping asks too much of them.

While this travel style isn’t one that fits every family, though, it is one to consider, especially if you’re trying to pack as much sightseeing into one trip as possible.