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20 Expert-Backed Tips To Make Your Family Vacation Even Better

September 1, 2026

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Family vacations are supposed to be bring everyone closer together, but too often they leave parents exhausted and kids glued to their screens. The good news is that simple changes can transform a stressful trip into a memorable adventure.

Create the Right Attitude from the Beginning

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Bringing everyone together for a special trip starts the process in the right way. Susan Groner, author of Parenting with Sanity & Joy: 101 Simple Strategies shares her top tips for planning a vacation everyone will enjoy.

It’s important to include kids in the planning of trips. The more they are involved in this early stage, the more they will enjoy the experiences. This is also very respectful to your children. You’re telling them that they are important members of the family and their opinions count.
The more experiential the trip, the better. Dragging teens through museums is exhausting and they will get there on their own as they mature. A fun cooking class and other hands-on experiences can be more beneficial for family bonding.
Get feedback from the kids. This includes start times. Teens don’t want to have to jump out of bed at 7am when they are on vacation, unless it’s a one-off to see a special sunrise or arrive somewhere to beat crazy crowds. It’s still important to get buy-in or you’ll have terribly cranky kids and it won’t be fun.
Build in some down time every day.
If this trip requires special clothes, plan a time to purchase in advance. You can have your kids order things online, too, if that’s more their speed.
If you have a packing list, send a copy to each family member and let them pack on their own. Packing cubes are often super helpful.
It can be very annoying to see your kids on their phones and not looking out the window, but connecting with their friends and just “doing their own thing” can make the rest of your time together more fun.
Not everyone has to be at every meal. Maybe the kids want to stay in and order room service occasionally. Canceling the dinner reservation is not a bad thing. Be flexible.
If one of your kids is not on their A game, give them a pass.

Vacationing with Teenagers

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As children grow into teens, family travel often changes. While some elements become easier, like no longer needing to change your baby’s diaper in a tiny airplane bathroom, others can become more complicated. “Teens are developmentally wired for independence, social connection, and thrill seeking behaviors,” says Aliah Singh, a credential K-12 school counselor and co-founder of CultivaTeen Roots. “When traveling with family, they are often faced with limited opportunities for personal space or time with peers. They also may want to participate in activities or outings while on vacation that parents feel hesitant about. With all of these dynamics at play, friction and tension often ensue, creating what should be an opportunity for connection into conflict.” Here are Singh’s top tips.

Allow room for moodiness. Traveling can be overstimulating and exhausting, give yourself and your teen some grace.
Don’t take your teen’s attitude or pushback personally. Their emotional dysregulation likely has nothing to do with you.
They may not express gratitude, so don’t expect it. Yes, it would be great if teens thanked their parents for taking them on vacation, but that’s not how teens think. They may need to work on building this skill.
Don’t provide feedback or criticism publicly. Addressing or correcting behavior in front of others causes shame and can lead to unnecessary escalation. Save those discussions for when you have a private moment.

Create Realistic Expectations

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“Remember, your kids are not mini adults,” says Amy Serin, PhD, BCN and Director of Neuropsychology at Horizon Recovery. Teens brains aren’t fully developed, and if we expect them to see things through an adult lens, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. Here, here Dr. Serin shares her top tips.

Honor your teen’s circadian rhythms. Sure, you might want to wake up early to do that 5k or schedule travel in the morning and expect your teen to wake up early without grumbling, but that won’t change the fact that teens have a delayed circadian rhythm. This means that at no other time in their life will their need to sleep in be greater than during this developmental stage. So, unless you have an early riser, think about scheduling activities that honor your teen’s need to get those Zs, and things might go better.
Don’t expecting your child to act out of character. If your teen hates surprises, don’t expect them to suddenly be ok with tons of changes in the schedule. Keep them informed and expect some resistance if things change on a dime. If your teen has social anxiety, don’t expect them to be excited about large family gatherings or events. Respect their need to know what the situation will be like and try to schedule some downtime or decompression time between events.
They may not be able to see the importance of spending time with their grandparents while they still can. Expect their priorities to be self-focused and expect resistance if they can’t be with their friends and are instead “forced” to be with family. Try to be more understanding and less tempted to try to make them feel guilty for thinking and feeling the way that is natural for their developmental stage.
Give teens autonomy where you can. Involving them in a decision can help them be less resistant to plans that aren’t their idea. Letting them know their needs are still important even during a demanding or highly scheduled time can help them feel some sense of autonomy and ownership.
Honor their strengths and what brings them joy and energy. Just like adults don’t love to do everything, being understanding about what your teen likes to do can make for more rewarding experiences.
Reminding yourself that their negativity could be temporary. Even if your teen goes through a phase of saying your family vacation traditions don’t matter or gets grumbly when you make plans, staying centered and understanding can help with the relationship long term.

Be Realistic on Consequences

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“Don’t set consequences that will ruin your trip,” says Joy Lorenzo Kennedy, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at Education Development Center. Taking away the fun ski day or the tour of the Empire State Building is not a good consequence. The best consequences are related to the behavior itself. You keep kicking that passenger’s seat? You must apologize and think of a way to make that passenger’s day better or easier.

Also, respect your children’s independence and interests. You might have a great game of “I Spy” planned, but they might want to sit away from you and just listen to music.