{"id":7137,"date":"2020-07-25T22:22:33","date_gmt":"2020-07-25T22:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/?p=7137"},"modified":"2024-07-19T16:42:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T16:42:41","slug":"driving-holiday-with-the-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/driving-holiday-with-the-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Holiday with the Kids – the planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been eager to go and visit my family in Italy and we\u2019re all desperate to go on holiday. When travel restrictions were eased we started planning. My husband and I didn’t fancy boarding a plane with the kids in the current circumstances. Instead we’ve opted for a driving holiday and booked a crossing on Eurotunnel.<\/p>\n

When I was a kid, we drove to Italy many times so I\u2019m feeling nostalgic.<\/p>\n

Driving holiday accommodation<\/h2>\n
\"Driving

Accommodation in Aosta in Italy<\/p><\/div>\n

Over a bottle, maybe two, of wine Matt and I plotted our route on the map. As opposed to just burning it down to Italy in the fastest time possible, the drive is going to be a feature of the holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve booked several self-contained properties through HomeAway, Airbnb and a private rental for on the way there and back in areas we\u2019re particularly interested in visiting. We’re staying for two or three days at each.<\/p>\n

Our trip will take us down the eastern side of France, into Switzerland, onto the Italian alps and then onto our final destination: Bordighera in Liguria. Then we’ll travel back up the western side of France.<\/p>\n

General holiday preparations<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve got our travel insurance in place, renewed our EHIC cards<\/a> (European Health Insurance Cards), checked passports and are only taking a small amount of Euros we already had.<\/p>\n

We’ve topped up our Monzo<\/a> accounts as this online-only bank doesn\u2019t charge any transaction fees when you use the card abroad.<\/p>\n

Covid-19<\/h6>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Because of the current situation we are taking our face masks. We don\u2019t need to fill out any forms relating to Covid-19 for entering France but will have to ahead of our return to the UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Driving holiday preparations<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve double checked our car insurance cover for Europe and have a European Sat Nav. I have a really comprehensive first aid kit<\/a>, which is coming with us.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We’ll also be packing a few pillows so everyone is comfortable in the back and can have a little snooze if they want.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Driving<\/p>\n

For driving through France specifically:<\/h3>\n

Having a breathalyser<\/a> in your car is mandatory in France; you can get a twin pack for \u00a35.49. It is illegal to have a device that alerts to speed cameras (if caught with one it\u2019s a hefty fine). We will have to disable the alerts on our sat nav.<\/p>\n

For driving in France, Italy and Switzerland you must have:<\/h3>\n
\u2022 Reflective warning triangle
\u2022 High visibility vests
\u2022 Headlamp beam deflectors
\u2022 GB sticker<\/pre>\n
For driving on motorways in Switzerland you need a vignette<\/a> (sticker).<\/p>\n
International Drivers License Reminder<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Before embarking on your driving holiday to Italy, you must check whether you need an International Drivers License<\/a> to drive legally in the countries you’ll be visiting, including France, Italy, and Switzerland. Ensuring you have the proper documentation will help prevent legal issues and ensure a smooth journey.<\/p>\n
Emovis Tag<\/h3>\n
We\u2019ve got an Emovis Tag<\/a> for travelling on the French motorways. This a great idea as it enables automatic payment at motorway tolls. You beat the queues by being able to use any lane with this symbol and there\u2019s often a tag-only lane:\"driving<\/p>\n
It means no scrabbling about for change or a credit card; the barrier automatically lifts on scanning your tag and you just drive right through. You\u2019re invoiced and pay by direct debit later. We also received a free GB sticker with our tag!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Boredom busters for a driving holiday<\/h2>\n
Car games<\/h5>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got quite a few games for the car (other than i-spy) up our sleeves. I\u2019ve written about them here: Car Games for Long Journeys<\/a>. The French car plate game is a must; I\u2019ve downloaded the sheets ready for them to fill. I\u2019ve also got sheets for a ‘motorway treasure hunt’ and ‘minor roads treasure hunt’ courtesy of France for Families<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\"driving<\/p>\n
The girls love traditional Cluedo, so I\u2019ve bought the Cluedo card game<\/a>, which I\u2019ll wrap up as a little surprise for them to open on the way.<\/p>\n
Music<\/h5>\n
We\u2019ve all created our own Spotify playlists. There\u2019s a nifty little gadget
that lets you play your digital music via the car\u2019s stereo. It’s been trialled already and it’s very good!<\/p>\n
Audio books<\/h5>\n
My eldest tends to feel sick if she reads in the car so audio books are the way forward. The kids are recently registered (via school) with MyON<\/a>. It\u2019s a personalised digital library that gives access to over 5,000 digital books, which can be downloaded to read offline.<\/p>\n
Snacks<\/h5>\n
We\u2019re taking an arsenal of snackage both healthy and not: grissini, fruit, nuts, sweets, crisps plus plenty of water and Capri Sun Fruity Water (a new favourite).<\/p>\n
Digital devices<\/h5>\n
The iPods and iPad are coming with us so they can play games. We’ll also download a film or two. I don’t mind them spending some time on them as long as it’s mixed up with other activities.<\/p>\n
A few little pressies<\/h5>\n\n\n
\n
\"Driving<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Driving<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The aforementioned Cluedo card game is one small gift, but I\u2019ve got a few others that I\u2019ll wrap up for them to open along the journey. I\u2019ve bought them some lovely personalised stationery, a new pack of pencils each in a tin, some hair accessories and some cheapo bath bombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wish us luck!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n


<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been eager to go and visit my family in Italy and we\u2019re all desperate to go on holiday. When travel restrictions were eased we started planning. My husband and I didn’t fancy boarding a plane with the kids in the current circumstances. Instead we’ve opted for a driving holiday and booked a crossing on<\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[1098,1099,1097,1101,1103,1100,1102],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/IMG_4103.jpeg?fit=4032%2C3024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3ej6a-1R7","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7137"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10084,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7137\/revisions\/10084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}