To Drive or Fly when Travelling with a Baby?

Fri, Jul 16, 2010

I knew that our first destination as a family was going to be to Europe before our son had even been born because good friends of ours had invited us to their wedding in Lake Lugano, Switzerland. My husband and I had a few lengthly debates about whether to fly (at the time this was my preferred option) or to drive (my husband’s). After Euan arrived I quickly realised that with a baby comes a large quantity of baby kit and decided that driving was the best option for us. Anyway, I thought you might find my summary on the advantages and disadvantages of driving useful. Please feel free to add comments.

Advantages of Driving

  • 1. You can take everything you need without having to worry too much about space (we took a whole box of Euan’s favourite toys so that there was always something new for him to play with).
  • 2. You won’t have the expense of hiring a car when you reach your destination.
  • 3. You know the safety features of your own car e.g. you know how your car seat works and that it is the perfect fit for your baby.
  • 4. Your baby will probably sleep in the car.
  • 5. You set your itinerary and this means you can be flexible. If your baby needs fed or a change just before you were about to set off it’s no problem, the car will wait when the plane won’t!
  • 6. You don’t have to worry about receiving ‘those looks’ from other plane passengers because there won’t be any!

Disadvantages of Driving

  • 1. By the time you put the buggy/stroller in the boot there’s not much room for anything else so you may have to borrow or invest in a roof rack and box.
  • 2. It will probably take longer to get there (but you’ll get to see more of the country).
  • 3. If your baby starts crying you may have to pull over which could make your 3 hour trip more like a 5 hour trip with the extra stops.
  • 4. You may pay more in fuel, ferry, road tax etc than you would for flights.

In my opinion, as long as you enjoy driving then it’s definitely the better way to go. We had so many lovely experiences in France and Italy that we would have missed had we just flown over these beautiful countries. People told us we were mad, and I was apprehensive before we set off but we had an amazing trip and I’m sure you will too.

You may also be interested in my related article: packing for a road trip.

Please leave your comments or questions below or feel free to drop me an email.

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