Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta |
There is no hard and fast rule for how many hours a day you should drive with kids. While some kids may sleep, play games, or watch movies half the day, others may tantrum or puke if you donโt give them very frequent breaks. We were blessed with a child in the latter category, so even 2-hour drives to the mountains used to require pulling over at some point. How did we manage epic road trips? We planned to stop somewhere scenic or interesting every couple hours, and only drove half the day; ย a far cry from the 10-12 hour drives we took in our pre-kid road days. If you have kids and need to cover a lot of ground in one day, what are your options?
- Drive at Nap Time(s) โ Head out right before babyโs first nap, take a lunch and play break when she wakes up, then resume driving right before afternoon nap time. When she awoke, we only had to entertain her in the car for 1-2 hours until we stopped to set up camp and make dinner.ย This method allowed us to drive 4-6 hours a dayย when our oldest was one year old.
- Lengthen your trip โ If you are going somewhere more than 8-10 hours away, consider taking extra time off work, so you can spend the night somewhere on the way there and back. A stopover in the Okanagan is perfect when heading to the West Coast.
- Have an Epic Day (Embrace the Journey)ย โ If you must get somewhere in one day, make it an epic day. Take several breaks throughout the day to avoid mutiny. In the evening, go out for dinner โ even if itโs fast food, get out of the car โ and brush the kidsโ teeth after so if they fall asleep in the car, they are ready for bed. Just transfer your kids from car to bed at the end of the day.*
- Drive at Nightย โ While you can log a lot of miles at night while the kids sleep, I only recommend this to night owls or folks who can stay alert for the drive (e.g. shift workers who are used to being up all night). If you night drive, someone should stay awake with you to help keep you awake and make sure you donโt fall asleep at the wheel.
- Reconsider your destination/mode of travel. If there is no time for stops and stopovers, or you have difficult/carsick-prone passengers, consider flying or going somewhere closer. You want your children to remember the fun they had, not the interminable hours in the car asking once more, โAre we there yet?โ To small children, there is not much difference between Banff or Jasper. They just want to sleep in a tent and roast marshmallows! Save the long drive for when they are bigger and can appreciate the difference and why you are sitting in the car 3 times longer.
Kettle Valley Railway trestle bridge, Kelowna, BC |
Rialto Beach, Olympic Peninsula, Washington |
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- 8 am โ Leave Calgary
- 9:45 am โ 10 am โ Washroom/snack break atย Castleย Junction (157 km)
- 11:30 am โ 12:30 pm Lunch in Golden (109 km)
- 2 pm โ 2:30 pm Walk/snack at Giant Cedars Boardwalk & Picnic Area, Mount Revelstokeย National Park (121 km)
- 5 pm Arrive at Shuswap Lake Provincial Park โ camp for 2 nights (191 km)
2 comments
Thanks Sarah! Maybe we can meet there! And you definitely have to stop at the Enchanted Forest on the way there or back. So much fun!!
What a great article! I'm just at the stage of looking into road trips with a walking toddler so this was all great information ๐ I especially like your itinerary at the end. I might have to borrow & modify that for the summer!
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