Family Travel Essentials You’ll Actually Use

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Packing for a family trip away can be stressful. I’ve packed bags for a family of five tonnes of times and still find myself getting overwhelmed by the whole thing!

I do have some family travel essentials though that make it into the bag wherever we’re going. I’ve compiled a list of our favourite travel items, as I always find personal recommendations really useful.

These are all items that we have used personally within our family unless clearly stated otherwise.

An open suitcase with packing cubes, sliders and dock and bay towels inside.

Our favourite Luggage and packing ideas

We tend to try and travel fairly light when we travel and don’t particularly spend a lot on suitcases/ travel bags if we can help it. Here’s what we mostly use.

Our Favourite suitcase

This is something that Adam and I don’t always agree on. He loves a hard-shelled suitcase, feeling that they are more robust. I’m not always convinced as I feel like we have gone through a few of them. We usually just go to TKMaxx and choose something inexpensive, maybe that’s the problem!

A family sit on the steps at Bratislava train station with a suitcase and several backpacks around them on the floor.

This was us with our luggage, last year in Bratislava. The suitcase is still going strong, despite me overfilling this year and nearly breaking the zip! I couldn’t find a link to the exact brand but it is very similar to this medium sized suitcase.

My travel backpack

I’m a backpacker at heart and got a new travel backpack last year for the first time in forever ready for our train adventure around Europe.

I found the mountain warehouse 60L traveller backpack great for the money. I love that it has different compartments, comes with a handy 20L daypack and has a decent harness making it pretty comfy to carry.

Best carry on bag

When trying to travel on a budget, one of my biggest bugbears is the amount that airlines charge these days for baggage. A couple of years ago we invested in a couple of cabin max bags which is the perfect hand luggage for ryanair flights.

Although compact they fit a lot in and it’s nice to feel confident that we’re not going to get to the gate and be stung for an excess baggage charge. Cabinmax have luggage that is the right dimensions for most airlines so you can search the website based on your airline to find what works best.

Two girls carry their backpacks towards an open door at a ferry terminal. To the side can be seen the slogan 'Europe is calling'.

I’ve used my cabin max for a weekend away and the girls both used them when travelling around Europe by train (we were flying home on Ryanair so still needed to think about the luggage dimensions).

Organising your packing

I have been using packing cubes for nearly ten years now and think they are amazing for organising your packing. It does depend which bag you are using and sometimes if short on space it can make fitting everything in trickier so not everything always goes in a packing cube.

I tend to use one packing cube for all the swimming stuff- I love that if we’ve just arrived somewhere and want a swim I can grab everything out in one go.

Each member of the family tends to then get a packing cube each for their main clothes. Since we tend to move around quite a bit on our holidays it means it’s easy to quickly find each person’s clothes without rummaging through all the bags.

A child packing his clothes into a packing cube ready to go on holiday.

I’ve used the Gonex packing cubes for years and think they are great. Are they the best packing cubes? To be honest I’m not sure, I have tried some others that I wasn’t so keen on (sorry I can’t remember the brand). But they have endured lots of use and look like new still.

When choosing packing cubes I would look at the sizes. I find the really large cubes aren’t as useful as they just get difficult to fit into bags. So, more smaller ones work better for us.

There are lots of options for compression packing cubes now too which would work well if you are short on space.

Packable shopping bag

This is the item which is easily overlooked but is one of my essentials. A small canvas tote bag is ideal (bag for life type bag) that can easily be shoved in a handbag or suitcase but allows for a bit of extra space when needed.

Also comes in really handy when doing our supermarket trips to get things for picnic lunches or snacks etc for self-catering accomodation.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have tonnes of these strewn around the house, although this one looks super lightweight and compact. My current favourite was a holiday purchase actually from our Morzine ski trip earlier this year.

For keeping entertained

Kindle

Books are an essential travel companion for me. Previously on the extended travelling trips of my twenties I would always have a book on the go and then swap in a youth hostel for my next read.

Luckily these days we can keep a whole library of books in our bags easily with a kindle. I do admit that when at home I do prefer reading real books- there’s something about the feel of it in your hand.

However when going on holiday I always take my kindle. It means I can download as many books as I want and top up while away if needed. Definitely saves space from having 3 or 4 books in the bag.

An paperwhite kindle showing the coverpage of Death on the Nile held in a hand on the edge of a balcony. In the background are palm trees, buildings and the river Nile.

(I also love my kindle case, my Mum and I both unknowingly bought the same one so now whenever I’m at her house I nearly bring her kindle home thinking it’s mine!)

Our girls both have kindles now too which are also mostly used for travel.

Best headphones for travel

Headphones are essential for us when travelling. It means we can all listen to music/ watch films/ play games on devices without bothering anyone else on trains/ planes.

Particularly useful for travel days such as our overnight Nightjet train from Amsterdam or this river ferry from Vienna to Bratislava.

Three children sat on the Vienna- Bratislava river ferry with headphones on and looking at electronic devices.

When the kids were young we loved these JVC headphones. They are basic but have noise limits so they can’t turn them up too loud. We had three pairs in all different colours at one point and they have lasted well.

Benjamin is the only one still using his JVC headphones while the girls have upgraded to some Sony Bluetooth headphones. Chloe is hardly without these on her head and for the price I think they’re great. The battery lasts ages as well (over 2.5 weeks away this year I think Chloe only charged hers once and she uses them a lot).

Adam has been an airpods user for a while while I was resisting (still using the old apple earpods that you used to get free with a phone). This year I finally thought I would upgrade and bought myself a set of airpods with some birthday money and I am totally won over!

My favourite feature is how it can recognise when you’re talking and mute the volume or turn off as soon as you take an ear out- very clever! I know I am very late to the party with this one!

Essential items for the beach or swimming pool

We don’t tend to spend loads of time at the beach in our family. Half the family hate sand, and the others get easily bored of sitting still on a beach all day.

We do like to visit beaches for short stints though and love a pool for a few hours or a lake/ river to swim in. Here’s what we usually take.

Our favourite travel essential: Dock and Bay towels

We have been using Dock and Bay towels for years and they really are the best beach towels for travel. The children have loved their poncho towels (and they do actually make adult-sized ponchos now too!).

Two girls stood wearing Dock and Bay towel ponchos in front of a waterfall falling into a clear green pool of water.

We also have the xtra large beach towels, I think mine is the best travel towel I’ve ever owned. Although they’re huge, they pack down really small, dry super-fast and sand falls off really easily. I also love the range of colours and patterns that they have.

Honestly I can’t recommend these enough. Dock and Bay have also just brought out some large picnic blankets which I now also have my eye on!

For keeping your phone safe and dry

As a family we love swimming and having a go at watersports when possible. A waterproof phone pouch is great for being able to keep your phone with you while enjoying water-based activities.

Perfect for not only safety but meaning that we’re ready and able to get some photos and videos on or in the water. I even managed to get some reasonable underwater shots while snorkelling in the red sea this year.

Man sat on paddleboard with teen girl stood behind him holding the paddle on Llyn Padarn in North Wales.

We have had a few different brands but I think the Jobe phone case is the best one we have tried. It’s a bit more robust than some of the others.

Best snorkel and mask

We introduced our kids to snorkelling for the first time this year while we were at Makadi Bay in Egypt. Having our own mask and snorkels made the whole trip so much better.

The cost of buying the mask and snorkel is easily cancelled out in savings of renting equipment if you’re somewhere for a few days. Chloe and I snorkelled at least twice a day for a week while staying at Jaz Makadina!

Child snorkelling in the Red Sea in Makadi Bay, Egypt.

Having done lots of research I opted for the Cressi Perla mask and snorkel, which I was really happy with.

Keeping everything charged

As our family has grown and the kids gave got older we seem to have an ever increasing number of items that need charging!

Plug adaptor

We usually take 3 adaptors and then rotate round what we are charging. I do keep looking at these adapters that can take multiple appliances with USB and USC power points as well but still haven’t got one.

We tend to take two apple fast chargers with us along with just basic adaptors, meaning we know a phone can be charged quickly when needed.

Power bank

I spent a while researching the best power bank for travel, as my phone battery seems to run out super quickly some days. Probably because I am constantly on google maps working out where we are going!

We have a compact Anker power bank which works well and will fully charge a couple of phones while out and about.

Keeping everything clean!

Toiletries are something that as the kids get older we seem to be needing more and more of. Anyone with teenage girls might also understand the need for endless lotions and potions!

Travel bottles for toiletries

I’ve always been quite a simple girl when it comes to toiletries, keeping it to the bare minimum in everyday life making it much easier to also do so when travelling.

For longer trips we tend to now negotiate what needs taking between us girls and work out what we can share, how much we need.

These travel bottles for toiletries are a great way to be able to fit more in. Particularly good if travelling hand luggage only as it means that everything is fine for taking straight on the plane.

I particularly like these ones as they are clear, so easy to see what is inside them. I have had coloured silicone bottles before which sometimes leaked and I kept forgetting what was in which bottle! These bottles come with labels to take away the guess work and avoid washing my hair with suncream!

Washbag

I have trialled various washbags over the years and I think it’s quite personal in terms of which type suits different individuals.

As a solo traveller in my twenties I always used a hanging wash bag, which is very handy for seeing all your gear and for hanging up when there is limited space to place on a (clean) surface).

After spending many years using a standard wash-bag I have just purchased a new hanging washbag from amazon. My Narwey bag is much more colourful than my previous versions and I love it.

Hanging views of the Narwey wash bag in a blue flamingo print. Side by side photos showing both the front and back of the wash bag.

It’s really spacious so hopefully will do the job well, although I haven’t actually used it yet. I will update when I have!

Best water bottle for travel

I love a nice water bottle and we tend to have a lot around in our house! When it comes to travel a water bottle is a necessity for me. Most countries, particularly in Europe have good drinking water from the tap so it saves a lot of money (and plastic) compared to buying bottles of mineral water.

In many European cities there are also plenty of places to fill your water bottle up while out and about so no need to carry too much at once.

My current favourite water bottle is the Owala. I love that you can chug water from it quickly or sip it using the straw. It keeps things cool too and comes in a lovely range of colours. We now have a growing collection of these in our household.

Our families collection of four Owala water bottles in different colours.

Let us know if you have any non-negotiable travel items that are always on the packing list. Our travel resources page also has lots of hints and all our favourite travel websites to help with trip planning.