Off on holiday! Tips for relaxed travelling with children

In this post, you'll find practical tips for holiday planning and relaxed travelling with kids. From packing checklists and the right playlist for the music box, to what to keep in mind when travelling with little ones, all the way to great recommendations for your ideal family holiday destination.

Finally, the time has come: the summer holidays are just around the corner and the anticipation of the family holiday grows day by day. Whether by car, train or plane – good preparation makes all the difference for a relaxed trip with young and old alike. In this post, we’ve put together the best tips for planning your holiday with children. So that it can get off to as relaxed a start as possible.

10 Golden Rules for Holidays with Kids

  1. Plan early and prepare packing lists. Our selection of the best checklists below will help you with this.
  2. Check the necessary travel documents (children’s ID, passport) in good time to make sure they are up to date.
  3. Check vaccination status and inspect the vaccination record. Are travel vaccinations necessary?
  4. About a week before packing the suitcase, set aside the favourite (clothing) items that absolutely must come along. Whenever something comes to mind in the run-up to the trip that absolutely must come with you, note it down immediately.
  5. Plan for entertainment for the outward and return journey. For example, fill the music box with the holiday playlist. Crayons, notepads, puzzle books, small games, joke collections, etc.
  6. Anyone travelling by car should plan a short break every 2-3 hours. For eating/drinking, moving around and recharging your batteries.
  7. Keep the right snacks and drinks within reach. You’ll also find tips on this in the checklists below.
  8. Involve children in the travel planning: Even small children are delighted when they are allowed to help decide. Let them pack their own backpack or choose their favourite games. Older children can help with route planning or choosing excursion destinations.
  9. Think about safety: Before setting off, check child seats, seatbelts, bike helmets, etc.
  10. Stay calm. The journey is the destination. Getting there is already part of the holiday. A traffic jam or long periods sitting in a vehicle become more bearable when drawing, playing, listening to music or stories, telling jokes or playing “I spy with my little eye”. ;-) Guessing number plates is also very popular: Which city might be behind the number plate DD, S, ALZ or ES?

Checklists for your holiday

Packing for the family holiday. AI-generated content

These are our hot tips for the best travel checklists:

Eltern.de packing list for family holidays. This has to come along. With PDFs to print out.

Mit Kind und Koffer (car + travel checklists)

Among the things answered are:

  • What belongs in your hand luggage?
  • Travel first aid kit
  • Packing lists for parents, children, summer, winter
  • Documents, finances, safety
  • Car check
  • Snacks & drinks for the journey
  • Entertainment
  • and much more…

Are you driving abroad by car? Do you already know the ADAC info portal with all the information about motorway tolls and options for buying vignettes?

To the ADAC toll portal

The hörbert holiday setup

hörbert absolutely belongs in your hand luggage! Always great entertainment, even with up to two wireless headphones at the same time for environments where you can’t listen out loud.
Long battery life. With the help of 4 x AA rechargeable batteries, hörbert is mobile and always ready to play. Can also be listened to while charging via USB-C cable.

Get ready before your holiday

Restock hörbert’s nine playlists with:

    • Favourite podcasts
    • Favourite audiobooks
    • Add favourite songs for every situation:
      • For the trip / journey
      • For a relaxed morning
      • For chilling at the beach, lake or pool.
      • For your own kids’ disco
      • For relaxing & falling asleep
      • Playlist for parents
      • Playlist for grandparents

It’s all about the mix

  • 50 % familiar favourite songs and favourite stories
  • 30 % new music (for discoveries, e.g. songs in the language of the holiday country)
  • 20 % surprises (e.g. greetings from friends and relatives, self-recorded bedtime stories, new podcast episodes, etc.)

Practical tip

  • Record new favourite songs spontaneously via Bluetooth, even on holiday. Does your child think a song from the kids’ disco is fantastic? Search for it on your mobile phone on Youtube, Spotify & Co, stream the song to hörbert and record it at the same time. Afterwards it’s saved locally and can be played again offline at any time.
  • Create your own audio holiday diary: Use hörbert’s voice microphone to capture the best experiences as memories with a voice recording: As an evening ritual, tell your hörbert what you experienced today, record the favourite hit from the kids’ disco live or the sound of the sea and the crashing of the waves. There are no limits to your imagination! Create memories to listen back to.

More about hörbert’s recording functions.

Our summer song hit tips

Our hörbert editorial team has picked out a few musical treats. Have a listen and add these songs straight to your hörbert playlists. Simply stream and record at the same time. More about hörbert’s recording functions.

Release June 2026: Larissa und die CoolKids: Sommer, Sonne und Meer
Lila Lindwurm: Somme, Sonne, Eiscremezeit / In den Urlaub fahren
Grünschnabel: Album „Tut allen gut” with summer hits, like „Sommer und wir“
DIKKA Feat. Vanessa Mai – Sommer
Quatschsack – Sommer
Frank & seine Freunde – Endlich Sommer
Dirk Paulsen und die Klangwölkchen – Endlich wieder Sommer

The songs are of course also broadcast on our ad-free children’s and family web radio station. Off to the WOLKENRADIO!

In keeping with the temperatures, we can also hotly recommend to you:

  • Summer songs from the “30 best” on our memory card edition „KITA & Co“ .
hörbert memory card Kita&Co.

Pre-recorded memory card for hörbert – Kita & Co. (German and English)

34,90 € incl. VAT

hörbert memory card "Frühling/Sommer"

Pre-recorded memory card for hörbert – Spring/Summer (German)

30,90 € incl. VAT

Insider Tips for a Relaxed Holiday

Wenn du es ruhiger machen möchtest, pack Folgendes in deine Playlists:

  • Akustische Kinderlieder-Versionen (Gitarren statt Beats)
  • Naturgeräusche + Musik (Wellen, Wald, Regen)
  • Instrumentalmusik
  • Entspannungs- und Meditationsinhalte

Great entertainment for the grown-ups too

With hörbert, the adults don’t miss out either!
Dear parents: reserve a button on hörbert for yourself or for grandma and grandpa! How about some great entertainment in podcast format?
Here you’ll find the podcast tips from the hörbert editorial team for adults.

Child-friendly holiday destinations and accommodation

Do you already know our blog article about the best holiday destinations for families with young children?
Whether it’s a farm holiday, children’s hotels in Germany and Europe, or last-minute portals. We’ve put together the best tips for your search for your holiday home.

Here’s the way to the article:
Holiday destinations for holidays with children

Whether you’re making yourself comfortable at home or it’s soon time to pack your suitcase: hörbert accompanies all generations well through every season and on every journey.

We wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday and summer time!

Your hörbert team

We’re curious!

What good ideas for a relaxing holiday do you have for us? Which of our tips helped you? We look forward to your comments.