Travelling with children allows you to see the world with fresh young eyes. Things that were once trivial are suddenly riveting – like exploring every drawer in your hotel room, watching the luggage carousel whizzing round, or seeing what, exactly, is in the aircraft loo. More importantly, you are making incredible memories together each trip, that your child may want to lovingly repeat with their own kids.

If you’re apprehensive about the challenges of travelling with kids, then Australia is a great place to start – you can choose shorter distances and work your way up to the bigger trips. With such a diverse landscape and climate, you can find plenty of destinations that will make you and your family feel as though you have embarked on a huge adventure.

Try these handy tips for creating happy travel memories:

The nappy years As long as baby has a warm place to snuggle up, a dry nappy, and a satisfied tummy, they’ll be happy wherever you go. So this holiday should be more about you – places you’d especially like to see. Whether you’re by the beach or wandering the halls of an art gallery will make little difference to your baby. To make your trip more enjoyable, be sure that the places you are staying have everything you need for your tiny traveller and if not – check if you can easily bring it yourself. If you’re going somewhere remote, be sure to bring enough nappies, food, and wipes for your trip. If you long for an evening to yourselves, call ahead to see if the place you are going can recommend a babysitting service, or if they offer one themselves. And be sure to bring a camera with a huge memory card or loads of film, as you’ll want to take plenty of photos to show your babies when they grow up.

Toddlers will find anywhere different to be exciting, but will likely get overtired from all the stimulation. If they’re happy to settle down in the stroller wherever you are, then consider a destination with quiet places of interest to you – maybe galleries you can stroll through at naptime, or accessible trails in the country. Otherwise, you might want to pick a holiday home where you can put your tot down for a nap while you relax in another room or on the verandah.

Preschoolers Once you hit the preschool years, you need to consider what will interest them on a holiday. With short attention spans and a burning desire to run, jump, and make lots of noise, an ideal holiday would include time outdoors. Thankfully – Australia has plenty of fantastic holiday destinations that would keep the most rambunctious of preschoolers busy exploring and having fun learning about the world. Your preschooler will be overjoyed if you can include a place they can splash around or climb during the trip as well. Better still – farmstay holidays will be met with endless joy.

How you get to your destination is the bigger question though – the longer you keep your preschooler strapped in, the more frustrated they’ll be. Before going, consider packing some colouring books and crayons, and lots of small cheap toys (like the type you’ll find in variety stores or kid’s meals at burger restaurants). Letting your child do a “lucky dip” every hour or so during the ride will keep them happy and occupied, and if the toy gets lost at the destination – it’s not a problem. A sanity-saver that many people abhor until they have cranky kids screeching “Are we there yet?” and who have exhausted their choices for “I spy” is…a portable DVD player. Yes, this hideous screened monster has been blamed for the dumbing down of society as well as obesity, violence and possibly even the demise of the Tasmanian Tiger, but in reality it can be a lifeline for parents who are just trying to take their family on a lovely holiday. And remember – you can always pack it away again when you get to your destination.

Another sneaky trick is to plan your travel for the evening. If you start driving close to bedtime, your preschooler will have the initial thrill of the voyage, but then peacefully drift off to sleep in their seat.

School-aged - Part of the fun for a school-aged child is the anticipation. They love to count the days, hours and minutes until the trip, look through the brochures or at pictures online, and imagine themselves in their new destination. For this reason, it’s probably a good idea to give them a few weeks’ notice of a trip (if not months). Put a sticker on a calendar to mark the departure date, and let them fill in the boxes until the day you leave. While it may be fun to surprise them – that lasts only a moment, whereas the anticipation can be a joy to them for weeks.

Getting your child involved can add to their excitement. Consider letting them choose the activities for one day – they’ll be thrilled at being able to have a say and have endless fun deciding which one to pick. Show them where you are going on a map, and talk about what makes that place different. They’ll learn a bit of geography and maybe want to look at other places on the map as well.

Australia is loaded with fantastic holiday destinations for school-aged kids – anything with a swimming pool or a beach is a guaranteed hit. Throw in some bushwalking, water sports, playgrounds, or theme parks and they’ll be in heaven.

Consider starting a tradition like journalling for the trip – maybe every night, spend 10 minutes writing or drawing what they liked best that day. When they get home, they can put it all together into a scrapbook with photos and souvenirs like pamphlets, stickers and ticket stubs. An excellent birthday or Christmas gift before the trip would be a digital camera, to enable them to take their own special pics of the trip.

A few handy tips for kids of any age:
1.    Try not to alter bedtimes too much, or if necessary, do it gradually. It’s easy to get overtired on a holiday, which can make the last days when everyone is cranky a bit of a chore. If you stay up late every night, try to sleep in or include naps.
2.    Kids go at their own pace – one moment they’re zipping around, the next they’re dawdling. Go with an attitude of flexibility, as you may not have time to see or do everything you hoped.
3.    Mealtimes can be an adventure if you have a fussy eater. See if you can check out menus in advance, or slip some healthy favourites into your bag in case the menu is met with tears. Better still – rent a self-contained holiday home so that you have more control over the menu. Many fantastic homes and apartments are cheaper or close in price to hotels and you can enjoy separate bedrooms!
4.    Agree on spending money or how special treats will be purchased before you go. If your child knows they are allowed to pick only one thing, or they have a set amount to spend, they can make their choices and learn to live with them. And then you’ll always be able to respond – as the saintly parent rather than the mean parent – “But you already picked what you wanted back in Woop Woop!”

Be sure to check out whether your accommodation is child-friendly; is it near attractions and does it have the space or facilities you need? TakeABreak® offers more than 5000 family-friendly places to stay, ranging from comfortable beachfront homes and resorts to chalets and farms.  It is easy to find accommodation to suit your needs - just use the search panel to select what you want and type in the state and city you’d like to visit. You can even narrow your search to include options like houseboats and farmstays.

Travelling with teens presents different challenges ... read our article for tips on how to enjoy - rather than just survive! - a holiday with your teenagers.

Article courtesy of TakeABreak.com.au the only independent online holiday site specialising in boutique accommodation in Australia. Over 11,000 hotels, B&Bs and guest houses are listed on the site complete with in-depth information and guest reviews. The properties are easily searched via experience – pet, family, seniors, gay and lesbian-friendly and geography.  The booking process is quick and simple with a “Best Deal” guarantee to ensure guests are receiving the cheapest price for that stay. see them online at takeabreak